OT - Vintage paper cut outs - This guy is way, way smarter than me

[ramram]

I'm floored. I came across this and sent a message to the seller asking why he was calling a cut out from a newspaper a "card". He sent me a terse response asking if I had any clue how rare the item was, etc, etc. I laughed to myself and then I looked at this guys completed auction sold items. HOLY CRAP! He's making BANK off of people collecting every kind of paper cutout your scissors can get to. $10 - $20 a pop. Hundreds of dollars a day! He could make a fortune just on his shipping charge and volume. $3.00 shipping to stick a cutout in an envelope with a $.47 stamp.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351814975558...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.com/sch/r.cedeno/m.h...p2046732.m1684

[brian1961]

Ram, pick yourself up off the floor, bub!

Granted, this EBAY vendor makes a poor word choice of "card" to describe his newspaper/magazine clippings. This aspect he should clarify right now!!!!!!!

However, he makes no bones about precisely what he is selling. Furthermore, his skimpy $2 shipping and handling charge is fair. As long as those clippings are original from way back when, I think he's hit on a good idea. Some are as he says---rare. Some are probably not. Regardless, if you like this sort of collectible, I really don't see the problem if it's actually E Pluribus Unum. If everyone on my block had a clipping, but I did not, and wanted one, I would want to buy it. A picture is a picture, whether on a card, from a newspaper, a publication, or book. Naturally, a card is worth a lot more, but in the example you kindly provided for us, if I were a big Hank Greenberg fan, I might just want it.

If he makes BANK, good for him. Furthermore, he clearly says in his listing that his stuff is 100% money back guaranteed. What more could you want? I probably shouldn't ask that, but come on?

My nickel pack's worth. ---Brian Powell

[ramram]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Ram, pick yourself up off the floor, bub!

Granted, this EBAY vendor makes a poor word choice of "card" to describe his newspaper/magazine clippings. This aspect he should clarify right now!!!!!!!

However, he makes no bones about precisely what he is selling. Furthermore, his skimpy $2 shipping and handling charge is fair. As long as those clippings are original from way back when, I think he's hit on a good idea. Some are as he says---rare. Some are probably not. Regardless, if you like this sort of collectible, I really don't see the problem if it's actually E Pluribus Unum. If everyone on my block had a clipping, but I did not, and wanted one, I would want to buy it. A picture is a picture, whether on a card, from a newspaper, a publication, or book. Naturally, a card is worth a lot more, but in the example you kindly provided for us, if I were a big Hank Greenberg fan, I might just want it.

If he makes BANK, good for him. Furthermore, he clearly says in his listing that his stuff is 100% money back guaranteed. What more could you want? I probably shouldn't ask that, but come on?

My nickel pack's worth. ---Brian Powell

Oh, I agree Brian. When I said he was way,way smarter than me, I wasn't being sarcastic. He is, for the most part, describing accurately. But...the buyer side of the market. I'm blown away! I never dreamed people bought this crap (my opinion) in this quantity. He's found a niche I would have, and still do, laugh at.

Rob M

[h2oya311]

I'm still looking for a 1936 Boston Sports Stamps of Feller. This seller is on the right track...wrong newspaper and wrong HOFer though... I'll just have to keep looking.

[rjackson44]

Pure garbage

[brian1961]

Rob M. --- Sorry I misunderstood your sarcasm. Sometimes I don't catch the intended points of view. That happened to me recently on the PSA Community Forum; boy, did I ever catch some flak! What a lard head I was!

Three things have come to my mind in the intervening hours since you posted and I responded.

For many of us who are fans of certain players, their respective cards are virtually priced out of our means to buy. I hate to admit it, but it is what it is. Perhaps your OP points to an ever so subtle desperation to own period "scraps" that are (hopefully) eye-appealing, pretty scarce, and therefore respectable. I mean, when the cost is less than $25, one is not spending serious money for the given item, and if it offers some decent eye candy, well, that must be enticing to a multitude of collectors.

Second, I remember 40+ years ago, I had an obsession with collecting anything I could on Ted Williams. Back then, I could purchase just about any of his cards, except for his magnificent 1954 Wilson Franks. For a measly couple bucks, at a major show in 1973 I purchased a 1940 Reach-Spalding co-produced baseball guide. The cover and some of the pages were damaged; hence the cheap price, but many of the pages were in great condition for a then 33-year-old softcover guide.

Long to longer, with my Swiss army knife, I carefully cut out Ted Williams's full-length batting pose photo, and glued it to some thick navy blue Crescent Matte board. About the size of a Goudey, it turned out beautiful to me, and was much more appealing than the rookie card I owned of Ted. It must have meant something to me because I still own that hand-made fantasy card.

I still hurt for not getting the 1954 Wilson Franks Ted Williams. The sad story of how I almost got one became chapter 12 of my recently-released E-book on a CD, NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN. If interested, Rob, PM me.

Third, earlier this year an eBay vendor in Canada was offering some Sunday Parade Magazine clippings of Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, and a few others. The listings were separate for each given player. The Maurice Richard color portrait looked devastatingly beautiful. I had never seen this particular portrait before. The condition of the early-to-mid-50s clipping seemed very well-preserved. I believe the minimum bid was $9.95, or so. Anyway Rob, I won it. When I opened the package, the condition was even a bit nicer than the scan, because the rich Canadien uniform colors, as well as the beautiful blue-green background color, were substantially more intense than the scan showed. To me, this little item was worth every penny. Very glad I beat the opposition on this one. The portrait is much, much more compelling than any of The Rocket's beloved Parkhurst cards.

So you see, I guess I am one of those customers who has shelled out for the flimsy paper stuff. But, I did not buy them as cards, and they were very well preserved for their age. I turned one into a card; for the Rocket Richard, I have a fantasy premium card set project. If it turns out as I intend, it will be perfect!

Anyway, thanks for listening, mate. I guess I've given you lots to chew on. Please don't miss the idea I threw at you of my E-book on a CD concerning postwar regional / food "free" prize cards and coins. IF you at all enjoy the era of 1947 - 1971, I think you'll love it. I do understand we are speaking on the Net54 pre-war forum. Hey, at least my fantasy 1939 Ted Williams was pre-war!

Best regards, friend. ---Brian Powell

[ramram]

Thanks Brian. I'm learning I guess. I'm just fascinated with the business model. When cut outs first started hitting ebay years ago it was really mocked on here. Now, apparently it's found a niche. I'm a dinosaur in that regard. Cutting photos out of the multitudes of newspapers, books, programs, manuals, etc, etc and selling them and having buyers? That's awesome but way out of what I would have ever imagined for a collecting niche.

[clydepepper]

Just wait...we are just touching the tip of how very many stupid people there are...stay tuned!

[wnp22]

In his defense, I don't find complete and intact Sport Stamps that much different in theory than many "W" cards. Granted, this one is hacked up, but still.

[buymycards]

Over the past few years I have purchased a few items from this dealer. I collect items from local baseball teams and from fairly obscure local players. These items are very difficult to locate.

Thanks to this dealer with the cut outs I have been able to purchase photos of a local Wauzeka, WI team from 1912, 1913, and 1914. This is a small town of 300-400 people so there aren't many items around.

I also collect items of Otey Clark, a Boscobel,WI native who played with the Red Sox for a short time and he played with about a dozen minor league teams in the 1940's. The dealer that we are discussing had newspaper cut outs of Otey from the LaCrosse, WI team from 1940 and from when Otey played with the Red Sox in 1946.

No, they aren't cards, and even though the description may list them as cards, the scans are good and it is easy to tell that they are newspaper cut outs.

Rick

[Exhibitman]

I too buy cuts when they match my interests and are cheap.

IMO the sports stamps and the newspaper cards from various years are decent strip style cards and merit serious attention.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I too buy cuts when they match my interests and are cheap.

IMO the sports stamps and the newspaper cards from various years are decent strip style cards and merit serious attention.

IMO some were made to be cut out such as the Sports Stamps, 1949 Phili pictures etc.... Then there are other pictures in magazines that weren't meant to be collected individually or cut out. To me there is a difference, but to each their own.

ps...I should add that I have bought a cut out before, of a Joe Jackson team. Cut outs can be collected like anything else but I consider them cut outs and not cards. The 1936 Stamps are closer to cards to me than these other magazine and paper cut outs.

[bgar3]

He currently has pages from Spalding's America's National Game, which I hope was already damaged. I understand cutting magazines, newspapers etc, but draw the line at books, unless already severely damaged or incomplete. Just old fashioned I quess.

[CobbSpikedMe]

I've bought cut outs from a different seller. I collect Jersey City Skeeters stuff and have bought several team composites that have been cut out of guides from the era. I have several years of composites now and they are really pretty cool little pieces. What I don't like are the cut outs that are in screwdowns and look like graded "cards" from AAA grading. I'm not sure why I feel differently about those but I do.

AndyH




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[Chris Counts]

Like any genre of baseball memorabilia, all cutouts are not created equal. In particular, the color Sunday News and Sunday Parade images that Brian refers to are, in my opinion, some of the finest images of baseball players ever created — and they are still VERY cheap to acquire. You can pick up the wonderful color pages from old Sport Magazines from the 50s and 60s for even less. At the same time, it makes no sense to pay dollars for old magazine or newspaper pages that you can get for pennies if you simply buy the publication and cut it up yourself. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time cutting up old publications. Here are just a few items I've picked up over the years that were cut out of something, and you can decide if they are "complete garbage" ...

Here's a link for more: http://www.imageevent.com/ccmcnutt/1...ndaynewsphotos

[mrmopar]

There have been sellers of this type of item in the past (and maybe still are out there) that are purposefully deceptive. I don't think it was him, but one I saw was selling pages from sports periodicals as poster/inserts and if you are not familiar or can't tell from the photo, that is crappy. I personally believe that if you are selling something that was cut from a book or magazine, that this fact needs to be stated clearly, along with the original source of where the item came from.

I have an interest in newspaper "cards", but I prefer they be formatted to at least look like they might have been meant for clipping and saving. This guy does stretch the boundaries of a card at times, but would agree that as long as the description is clear and not deceptive, then he is just taking advantage of a collector need.