Walter Johnson 1907 Postcard--Wow!

[Hankphenom]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291708391170...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[rhettyeakley]

That is awesome with the 1907 postmark from Weiser!

A true Walter Johnson "Rookie" card!

[Leon]

Great looking postcard. The Big Train never looked so good!!

[shernan30]

That is really cool!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[philliesphan]

absolutely amazing!

Really shocked by the price -- but three people in over $20k-

[h2oya311]

if I weren't closing on a house in April and if I had an extra $25k sitting around, I would have been all over that one! The 1907 postage date is absolutely awesome!

Congrats to the winner...hopefully it's a Net54 member!

[Jobu]

Thanks for posting that Hank, that is incredible. Great PC, great cancellation stamp, the only thing this is missing is a note about baseball on the back. I get visions of someone grabbing a stack of PCs at the general store, paying no mind to the strapping young lad on the front.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Thanks for posting that Hank, that is incredible. Great PC, great cancellation stamp, the only thing this is missing is a note about baseball on the back. I get visions of someone grabbing a stack of PCs at the general store, paying no mind to the strapping young lad on the front.

Amazing to see an item of this quality on eBay, and also that the seller had the confidence and courage to let it run after several questions had alerted them that this was something special. Good for them, and I would say that the gamble paid off handsomely, I'm sure they were shocked by the price. I can't imagine a major sports auction doing better, but you never know, maybe we'll have a chance to find out. How many dealers wouldn't have pulled it from eBay and gone the auction route instead? Not many, I don't think. And wouldn't you love to know who got it?

[bcbgcbrcb]

Great postcard, very surprised at how high the price went. When the Novelty Cutlery postcard was believed to be 1907-09 for a while, price never approached anything like that. Rose Co. did bring quite a bit of money though.

Agreed, great job by the seller having the guts to fetch such a big number.

[prewarsports]

That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

[GasHouseGang]

The postcard is great, but that price! Wow, I'm totally blown away that it went for that much.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Great postcard, very surprised at how high the price went. When the Novelty Cutlery postcard was believed to be 1907-09 for a while, price never approached anything like that. Rose Co. did bring quite a bit of money though.

Agreed, great job by the seller having the guts to fetch such a big number.

Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.

September 1907

[Hankphenom]

[QUOTE=Vintageclout;1520254]Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.[/QUOTE

So the consensus seems to be that 24K was a good deal for the buyer. I must be out of the loop on postcards, that seems like a lot to me, even for such a great card. How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?

[bcbgcbrcb]

How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?


1915 Red Sox spring training Ruth, a few different images exist. I believe a couple of private transactions on these exceeded this number.

[botn]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?


1915 Red Sox spring training Ruth, a few different images exist. I believe a couple of private transactions on these exceeded this number.

For an unsigned postcard, this one..http://catalog.scpauctions.com/CIRCA...-LOT10864.aspx. Suspect it would bring far more than 22K if sold today.

[Vintageclout]

[QUOTE=Hankphenom;1520290]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.[/QUOTE

So the consensus seems to be that 24K was a good deal for the buyer. I must be out of the loop on postcards, that seems like a lot to me, even for such a great card. How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?

Hi Hank its JoeT and I hope all is well with you. Considering that for years, there has been ZERO resolution with regard to the specific release date of the various Walter Johnson Weiser Wonder post cards (other than the one found with a 1910 postage stamp), this 1907 stamped one is HUGE! It now irrefutably resides as the "Big Train's" earliest known card via its 1907 stamp, and I firmly believe it would have achieved an even higher figure in a major auction. As you know Hank, any level of "ambiguity" is a collector's worst nightmare, and this Weiser Johnson now stands as the TRUE earliest known Johnson cardboard collectible in the hobby...Wow!

As always, best regards,
Joe

[Hankphenom]

[QUOTE=Vintageclout;1520738]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Hi Hank its JoeT and I hope all is well with you. Considering that for years, there has been ZERO resolution with regard to the specific release date of the various Walter Johnson Weiser Wonder post cards (other than the one found with a 1910 postage stamp), this 1907 stamped one is HUGE! It now irrefutably resides as the "Big Train's" earliest known card via its 1907 stamp, and I firmly believe it would have achieved an even higher figure in a major auction. As you know Hank, any level of "ambiguity" is a collector's worst nightmare, and this Weiser Johnson now stands as the TRUE earliest known Johnson cardboard collectible in the hobby...Wow!

As always, best regards,
Joe

Hey Joe,
I'm not arguing with you at all, in fact I would accept your opinion more than just about anyone I can think of, certainly more than mine on vintage high-end stuff. Maybe a dealer did buy it, and we'll see it again in an auction. It would be interesting to know where 24K ranks for a non-signed postcard.
Look forward to seeing you in A.C.
Hank

[ls7plus]

[QUOTE=Hankphenom;1520290]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.[/QUOTE

So the consensus seems to be that 24K was a good deal for the buyer. I must be out of the loop on postcards, that seems like a lot to me, even for such a great card. How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?

It won't be too long before Cobb's 1907 Dietsche Fielding Pose and 1907 Wolverine News rookie postcards (especially the portrait, which has already traded hands twice at approximately $11K in Ex) look like a tremendous bargain at that price. I heard at the 2015 National that a Dietsche Fielding Pose Cobb in Ex went for $8K right around that time. Both quite rare, with significance beyond enormous. Postcards are baseball cards like any others--no different at all from Topps without the gum! As someone recently said on this forum, they are "near-sacred relics that enable the collector to connect physically with the game's heroes and traditions." I like to think of them as two dimensional slices of a single moment in a player's three dimensional life and career.

Re the Johnson, the buyer, long-term, got a bargain, IMHO.

May collecting bring you great joy as you hold the very history of the game right in your own two hands,

Larry