195? brooklyn Dodger autograph many questions

[dennyvr]

Hi all, new to the forum, first time poster.
My Dad as a kid got 18 dodger autographs (see pics below) I have many questions.
the autographs are in a book which is sealed by a zipper so the paper and ink are in pristine condition, also in the book are signatures from his classmates.
He got the signatures after a team function at the Hotel Brossert in Brooklyn after a team function.
1. my best guess is 1956 but the Don Elston signature leads me to 57 what do you think? Did Elston join the team late in 56 without dressing?
2. I am not concerned of the authenticity as only my Dad and myself have had this book. Should I still get it authenticated? why?
3. I do not wish to sell the book but what is the value? I feel I should have it insured. (Don Zimmer and Walt Alston are the only two that are back to back)
4. I want to be able to display the autographs but to do that I would need to cut the pages and spend some money to frame into a nice piece with artwork, what affect would this have on value?

Thanks for any input.

[dennyvr]

here is the book and a sked that he kept in it

[ocjack]

First, great gift from your dad.

Second, and as a note of nostalgia, I grew up in New Jersey in the '50's and those autograph books were the "thing" to do when you graduated 6th grade (elementary school). 6th graders would try to get as many of their classmates and teachers to sign their book and there usually was a section at the front where the student could list their favorites songs, best friends, etc. I'm in my 70's and I have my autograph book somewhere in a box somewhere in my home. No ballplayers though.

But my best friend at the time (and still in touch) lived with his parents above a liquor store they owned. Elston Howard was a frequent customer and signed his autograph book to the envy of all of the rest of us.

You have a great keep-sake there. I'm envious. (and love the socks!) (oh, and I would keep the book exactly as it is. The value is more its history than the autograph imho.)

[mr2686]

With just a quick look, they all look legit so I personally wouldn't bother to get them authenticated. Second, since it's a part of your dad's history, I would keep the book intact. I'm sure if you decide to sell it somewhere down the line, someone will take it apart, but I always hate to see that. If you do decide to sell, I'm sure someone on here would want to snap it up.

[mr2686]

As for Elston, he was in the Dodger minor leagues all of 1956 but made the early 57 roster, so it could have been anywhere from off-season 56, to early 57 because he was traded back to the Cubs in May of 57.

[rlevy]

Robinson was traded in Dec. 1956 and I don't believe there were any team dinners after the 1956 WS before he was traded because the team was in Japan playing exhibition games. So it was probably from 1956 at a dinner before the season started and the players flew down to Vero for spring training. That would explain Elston on there as well. I know there was a dinner at the Garden City Hotel with team members and the Dodger Boosters Club in Feb 1956 because I have a copy of the menu.

I would keep it together even if difficult to display because of the history, but if you separate pages there is certainly a market for many of the signatures, especially JR and Campy. There probably is a slight premium in value together, but I don't think the difference is very substantial.

[Duluth Eskimo]

Sweet auto album. I agree they all look legit. If you want to display without damaging you could remove the pages from the binding. Generally rose autograph books are held together with two or three threads. In other books I’ve had, I’ve removed the string and that way you wouldn’t damage anything. Take a look at the make up and see what it looks like. Jason

[dennyvr]

Thanks for this, seems to make sense to me. My Dad has a pretty good memory and has a strong recollection of getting them in the lobby of the Hotel Bossert On Montague St.
I will keep the book in tact, I just wish there was a way I could enjoy it and share it.
Any clue on overall value?

Originally Posted by rlevy

Robinson was traded in Dec. 1956 and I don't believe there were any team dinners after the 1956 WS before he was traded because the team was in Japan playing exhibition games. So it was probably from 1956 at a dinner before the season started and the players flew down to Vero for spring training. That would explain Elston on there as well. I know there was a dinner at the Garden City Hotel with team members and the Dodger Boosters Club in Feb 1956 because I have a copy of the menu.

I would keep it together even if difficult to display because of the history, but if you separate pages there is certainly a market for many of the signatures, especially JR and Campy. There probably is a slight premium in value together, but I don't think the difference is very substantial.

[Bigdaddy]

Take good photos or scans of the autographs and cut the copies all down to the same size. Then mount them with a team photo from 1956.

Very cool item. I would not take the album apart.

[mr2686]

It does make me chuckle that Jim Hughes's sig is just as bad in the 50's as it was later in life. LOL

[doug.goodman]

Fantastic book! Please don't cut it up. Pretty please.

When you sell it, you will get good money for it, but you will regret doing so for the rest of your life.

Doug

[dennyvr]

Thank you all for the great feedback, I will keep it in tact, and I will not sell it. Still wondering if someone could give a "ballpark" value. Just for curiosity more then anything but may insure it also.

[rlevy]

Originally Posted by dennyvr

Thank you all for the great feedback, I will keep it in tact, and I will not sell it. Still wondering if someone could give a "ballpark" value. Just for curiosity more then anything but may insure it also.

I think a rough ballpark, based on the individual autos, is around $2,000 retail. I think most of the value if separated is in the JR, Campy, Hodges, and Koufax, although there may be some value in the others as well. Hope this helps.

[mr2686]

I would say $2000 would be the very rock bottom end. It's getting harder and harder to find really nice, and very clean Robinson, Hodges and a pre-accident Campanella. I could see Robinson and Campy going for 1500 each, and Hodges and an early Koufax going form 350-600 each. The others are really nice, but you can find nice examples of most of them for reasonable amounts.

[mrmopar]

Awesome item. That book is probably dismantled and sold off separately the second it ever leaves your hands. I would agree that keeping it whole is best, but the sentimental value fades outside of your family. Other collectors who had a book like that or would like one would probably keep it whole, but most are going to pull the couple sigs they really want to keep or flip for the most profit (Jackie/Campy/Hodges/Koufax). I bought a similar book, for the Robinson, but mine is not as sharp as yours. That Campy is great too. You are very lucky to have that great item passed down to you.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Fantastic book! Please don't cut it up. Pretty please.

When you sell it, you will get good money for it, but you will regret doing so for the rest of your life.

Doug

I understand that sometimes folks need to sell things like this, but I strongly agree with this.

[Klrdds]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Fantastic book! Please don't cut it up. Pretty please.

When you sell it, you will get good money for it, but you will regret doing so for the rest of your life.

Doug

Agree 100%
In the case if it were mine sentimental value wins out over selling / monetary value

[mr2686]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

Agree 100%
In the case if it were mine sentimental value wins out over selling / monetary value

+1

[rlevy]

Originally Posted by mr2686

I would say $2000 would be the very rock bottom end. It's getting harder and harder to find really nice, and very clean Robinson, Hodges and a pre-accident Campanella. I could see Robinson and Campy going for 1500 each, and Hodges and an early Koufax going form 350-600 each. The others are really nice, but you can find nice examples of most of them for reasonable amounts.

In advising someone as to the value of what they have, I feel it is important to show them numbers based upon what they would net after taking fees and expenses into account. Maybe you can find that specific buyer who would pay top dollar without going thru an auction company, but I don't think you can rely on that. And I try to base my response using recent sales, so I was waiting to see some auctions close.

A beautiful Roy Campanella GPC dated 1949 (Campy's second year), with the salutation "Best wishes, Sincerely Roy Campanella", just sold at REA for $1200 including the 20% vig. Assuming the seller only paid a 5% commission, the net would be $900. Getting it PSA certified cost another $100, reducing the net to $800. And a beautiful dated GPC should always receive a premium over a signed page removed from an album.

A dated PSA Jackie Robinson dated GPC from 1952 sold for $930 including the vig in 2019. Net would be around $600. His signed GPC's have regularly sold for $900-1200, except for one dated from 1947. So let's assume a net of $800 here as well.

Koufax signed GPC's are rare, but his signed index cards, even with his vintage autograph, sell for $150. I know, I have sold several. This particular one is an early signature style, so you may get a premium, but an album page won't exceed $300. A Hodges GPC, with PSA cert, sold for $156 earlier this year at REA (although it was personalized, reducing the value). Another one, dated from 1948 (his rookie year), not personalized and with the PSA cert, sold for $300 earlier this year at Heritage. So $350-600 net for each just isn't realistic, and the more likely net result, after fees and expenses, is $400 for the pair.

The rest of the auto's are nice, but most wouldn't be sold for more than a few dollars. Drysdale, Snider and Alston are nice but don't sell very easily.

When you add it up, I think $2000 is the likely number that could be realized from a sale.

[packs]

I think you will miss it more than you'll appreciate the money from the sale. I have several cards in my collection that remind me of time spent with my dad that I'll never sell.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by rlevy

In advising someone as to the value of what they have, I feel it is important to show them numbers based upon what they would net after taking fees and expenses into account. Maybe you can find that specific buyer who would pay top dollar without going thru an auction company, but I don't think you can rely on that. And I try to base my response using recent sales, so I was waiting to see some auctions close.

A beautiful Roy Campanella GPC dated 1949 (Campy's second year), with the salutation "Best wishes, Sincerely Roy Campanella", just sold at REA for $1200 including the 20% vig. Assuming the seller only paid a 5% commission, the net would be $900. Getting it PSA certified cost another $100, reducing the net to $800. And a beautiful dated GPC should always receive a premium over a signed page removed from an album.

A dated PSA Jackie Robinson dated GPC from 1952 sold for $930 including the vig in 2019. Net would be around $600. His signed GPC's have regularly sold for $900-1200, except for one dated from 1947. So let's assume a net of $800 here as well.

Koufax signed GPC's are rare, but his signed index cards, even with his vintage autograph, sell for $150. I know, I have sold several. This particular one is an early signature style, so you may get a premium, but an album page won't exceed $300. A Hodges GPC, with PSA cert, sold for $156 earlier this year at REA (although it was personalized, reducing the value). Another one, dated from 1948 (his rookie year), not personalized and with the PSA cert, sold for $300 earlier this year at Heritage. So $350-600 net for each just isn't realistic, and the more likely net result, after fees and expenses, is $400 for the pair.

The rest of the auto's are nice, but most wouldn't be sold for more than a few dollars. Drysdale, Snider and Alston are nice but don't sell very easily.

When you add it up, I think $2000 is the likely number that could be realized from a sale.

Welcome to net54!
Beautiful album and signatures, and I concur with several board members about not ever breaking up the album. I would have a tendency to agree with Rick on value net all fees if you were to ever sell it.
I also believe it's more valuable as the album.
Congrats & I do love it.

[scmavl]

Denny, if you do decide you'd like to sell this, I would give you a fair value and a promise that I would never break it up. I would love to own this beautiful piece for myself, just as it is. Thanks.

[dennyvr]

Thanks for the offer.
First, I am not so sure I want to sell, second, even if I did I still can't get an accurate read of the value??? Not being a subject matter expert, I would need to figure out the value somehow.
If I decide to sell I will refer back to this forum and thread to make it known.

[mrmopar]

I see a couple good assessments of value above. You can't pin a firm number on something like this because you never know what it might sell for. It just takes 2 bidders who must have it to drive something up way higher than previously thought. At the same time, it could sneak by with less fan fare depending on how it was sold.

I think a lot of people would value this item much more as a whole, but those same people may not pay a strong premium for it that way. They may have a lot of the individuals signatures already, but a cool piece like this could tie a random signature collection together very nicely. I have all those players on one thing or another and even have an album with several of those players, but not as nice or complete as yours. I would love to own that, but because I already have them all, I would not want to pay a fortune. Although, if I did own that, I'd probably be more than willing to part with all my individual signatures to help defray costs.

Resellers looking to buy something like this are going to calculate what the individual pieces likely would sell for and go from there, keeping in mind that want to turn a profit too. Odds are good that this book is parted out if sold, which would be a shame.

Originally Posted by dennyvr

Thanks for the offer.
First, I am not so sure I want to sell, second, even if I did I still can't get an accurate read of the value??? Not being a subject matter expert, I would need to figure out the value somehow.
If I decide to sell I will refer back to this forum and thread to make it known.

[perezfan]

Late to the party here, but I agree with all that's been said....

DO NOT dismantle that book!

DO NOT send it anywhere for grading (all sigs are 100% clean/authentic)

Monetary value is $2,000 - $2,400 as-is.

Historical and sentimental value is priceless.

Wonderful inheritance from your Dad!


I fully understand the temptation to separate/frame/mat the Jackie/Campy/Hodges autos for display. But perhaps (as stated above) make photocopies of those sigs, and frame them with your favorite photos of the players. Few people will know the difference, and you'll know these are images of the exact sigs your Dad acquired.... still safely protected within the book.