Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyCox3
As someone already mentioned, many people likely view these as nothing more than newspaper clippings. I'm steadfastly in that camp. Can't see any value there. That's not to say enjoyment can't be derived from them.
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Some people do, and to each their own. But that doesn't change the fact many more people do think of them as a collectible, with value. And the rarity of these is beyond question. With their fragility, it is amazing how many have actually survived in decent shape. The fact that Bob Lemke had them included in the old Krause/Sports Collectors Digest catalogs is also proof of them being considered as serious collectibles as well.
However, in the old SCD catalogs they did not list or mention all the different newspapers that did print these Sports Stamps back in 1936. I've never confirmed this, but it seems that in regard to the question of PSA grading Sports Stamps from some newspapers, but not others, I get the impression that PSA only recognizes and grades the specific ones that got mentioned and listed in the SCD catalogs. If that is actually the case, it seems rather odd that a TPG of any size. reputation, and expertise would still have to rely upon a publication that hasn't been around for almost 5 years now to justify what they deem as an acceptable issue to be graded. Especially when all these different Sports Stamps are virtually identical in their formats and how they are printed. The only real difference between them was the name of the newspaper they were printed in.
So why a TPG would grade a Sports Stamp printed in a newspaper that was once listed in the SCD catalogs, but not grade one from one of the other newspapers SCD chose not to list in their catalogs, is beyond me. Anyone at a TPG could probably do a simple 5 - 10 minute online search and quickly find evidence to see that the Sports Stamps from various newspapers that weren't listed in the SCD catalogs are just as real as the ones that were listed.
As I said earlier, it may just go to show that the TPGs do not care as much for pre-war items and collectors as many of us would like to believe. They'll grade Funko Pops, but not take the time nor make the effort to grade all the different versions of Sports Stamps. My guess is that a huge factor in such a decision is that the TPGs will make waaaayyyyy more money grading Funko Pops, going forward, than they could ever hope to from grading a few more Sports Stamps.