1914 B18 blankets

[MGoBlue2007]

I have an opportunity to purchase 32 blankets, no Cobb or Jackson, or other major stars that I'm aware of. The blankets are in great shape. No gluing or major staining.

My main questions are, are these sought after? What's a good average price on a relative common in good condition?

Thanks in advance.

[D. Bergin]

I don't have anything to add specifically. Just to say I love these. I tried to build a player set once (had no ambition to go for all the many variations), and even had several of the bigger stars...when I discovered...I'm lousy at building sets.

Lost my patience and sold them off when I needed to pay off something else...which was really just an excuse to stop obsessing about these cool little blankets.

[mrreality68]

Great items and they are desirable as a unique and more affordable option to many players like Cobb, Jackson, Johnson etc.
Depending on the player/players and their value some may be worth getting authenticated/slabbed. Many true/old school collectors do not care if they are slabbed but newer collectors and those in experienced will not buy it if they are not slabbed and thus you have a smaller market.
Some auction houses maybe a good option to partner with for the best way to sell them and perhaps sell in small groups or individually for the more appealing ones

[MGoBlue2007]

Thank you so much

[todeen]

To answer your question about a price for a common felt, it has to do with condition. Some are stained or faded. Some colors are rarer. Some names are recognizable. But if I was to buy one, I would assume $15 - $25 for a common (not on ebay). The last time I bought one, circa 2000, I paid about $10 - $15.

On ebay there are a bunch listed for $25 - $30. But the sellers have fees etc that create inflated prices. So if you are buying all 30+, push the price down to the lower end.

As for desirability, type collectors all want one. If we have to buy one, a recognizable name would be more sought after than a common. The biggest issue arising from the felts is ability to display. This decreases desirability to collect the whole set. They are diamond shaped, and not the easiest to display without the picture being off kilter. The way I displayed mine was using acid-free backing (like picture matting), then cutting a thin plastic comic book sleeve to fit snugly. At that point you can display them on a plate holder and the diamond shape will sit properly. I think more then a few people on this site want to find a pillow or quilt that still has the felts sewn together. How cool.

Mine are not on display anymore. I moved them to a scrap book. I used double sided tape on the back of the comic book sleeve and they present nicely within the scrap book.

[FrankWakefield]

1- Yes.

2- $25 to $30 each, a few might fetch more (condition is a yet to be known factor); $700 to $800 for the bunch would be a good price for the seller, and maybe for an interested buyer.

[Ray Van]

If no major stars and overall decent condition ...
$900 is a good price for the seller
$500 is a good price for the buyer
Commence negotiations.

[scooter729]

The one variant which is super rare and valuable are ones with red infield backgrounds.

Here is an article which tells you a bit about these, with a picture of a blanket with the red background.

[Leon]

Nice post. Ones with errors can command higher prices too. I paid about double of a common for this new pick up below...But then again, I like kind of weird stuff sometimes.

Originally Posted by todeen

To answer your question about a price for a common felt, it has to do with condition. Some are stained or faded. Some colors are rarer. Some names are recognizable. But if I was to buy one, I would assume $15 - $25 for a common (not on ebay). The last time I bought one, circa 2000, I paid about $10 - $15.

On ebay there are a bunch listed for $25 - $30. But the sellers have fees etc that create inflated prices. So if you are buying all 30+, push the price down to the lower end.

As for desirability, type collectors all want one. If we have to buy one, a recognizable name would be more sought after than a common. The biggest issue arising from the felts is ability to display. This decreases desirability to collect the whole set. They are diamond shaped, and not the easiest to display without the picture being off kilter. The way I displayed mine was using acid-free backing (like picture matting), then cutting a thin plastic comic book sleeve to fit snugly. At that point you can display them on a plate holder and the diamond shape will sit properly. I think more then a few people on this site want to find a pillow or quilt that still has the felts sewn together. How cool.

Mine are not on display anymore. I moved them to a scrap book. I used double sided tape on the back of the comic book sleeve and they present nicely within the scrap book.

[Hankphenom]

They are so cool, and SO hard to find in great condition. A perennial question on the forum is "what is undervalued?" B-18s are my candidate for the answer. There does seem to be a lot of them out there--though few in top condition--but sooner or later collectors going for them will realize that they are getting collected up and rarer and will start driving up the price. Here's my Washington display:

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by Leon

Nice post. Ones with errors can command higher prices too. I paid about double of a common for this new pick up below...But then again, I like kind of weird stuff sometimes.

I also have a preference for the oddities. Here is the Wheat I purchased off the BST section.

[conor912]

Very cool issue.

[D. Bergin]

Love those diamond framed displays. Wish I'd have thought of doing that when I had a stack of them.

[IndyDave]

I've been messing around with this set for a few years. Not necessarily trying real hard, but never passing up a chance to buy some at a "fair price". Sometime in the last 12-18 months I went from "I'm paying less than $20 for a common" to "I will pay $22-$25 for a nice common".

I've probably bought more from auctions and shows than I do from eBay.

At this point my "goal" is one blanket of each player, regardless of color etc. I have Cobb but not Jackson or Johnson so this has a long way to go.

[nolemmings]

I started collecting these about 20 years ago, but soured when my house was burglarized in June 2006 and this one was stolen:



This caused me to move on from the set and I only have about a dozen or so left (no red infields), although I sometimes pick up a nice example when my addiction gets the better of me. I would be more interested if all teams were represented, but alas they are not.

[Vintagedeputy]

I only have these three but I think they’re so cool.

[BabyRuth]

A pair of Cobbs

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Love those diamond framed displays. Wish I'd have thought of doing that when I had a stack of them.

The coolest thing about the Washington version is that every player is in his actual position, all nine of them! I don't know if that true for every team, but when I started playing around with them and realized that they would frame out that way in a diamond, I really freaked out. In addition, that team was completely intact for the first good four years the franchise ever had, 1912-1915, after Clark Griffith took over as manager. Griffith called it "my little ball club," and it finished second, second, third, and fourth in the American League with great defense and speed on the base paths. It didn't hurt that Walter Johnson was in his prime, putting up staggering numbers all around and winning 36, 33, 28, and 27 games in the time this team was together. This is one of my favorite pieces.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

I started collecting these about 20 years ago, but soured when my house was burglarized in June 2006 and this one was stolen:
This caused me to move on from the set and I only have about a dozen or so left (no red infields), although I sometimes pick up a nice example when my addiction gets the better of me. I would be more interested if all teams were represented, but alas they are not.

So sorry to hear about that, Todd, and your example was a beauty. But if ever there was a WaJo that could be replaced cheaply and probably even in as good or even better condition, his B-18 fits the bill. Unless I'm terribly behind the curve on this, can't you grab one in great shape for two or three hundred bucks? What other WaJo issue could you touch for that these days?

[Leon]

+1
That's a gorgeous Wajo..
.

[matty39]

red infields

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by matty39

red infields

Gorgeous!

[cliffyb]

Just picked up my first B18.

IMG_2261.jpeg

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by cliffyb

Just picked up my first B18.

Seriously, dude? It's all downhill from there!

[JustinD]

Been looking for a sewn aged pillow or throw for a bit myself, I just love when they are creating something as it really shows the beauty of the history to me.

I find them constantly freshly cut apart from something with stitch remnants and for sale individually. Makes me bummed every time. Seems like they are the most common vintage baseball item for me to randomly find at flea markets or antique shows, one of these days i'll get there before they massacre something.

[mr2686]

Picked up my first late last year, but have a few more I have my eye on.

[ctownboy]

B18's (as they were intended ) sewn to make a pillow top.

[Hankphenom]

Truly amazing how good the artwork on these is, especially the facial likenesses, which are spot on. Either some kind of photographic process was used to create them or they had a terrific artist doing the players with very little space to work with, but it's one of the amazing aspects of these beauties.