Vcbc

[Yoda]

For those who don't know, there was a great magazine published around the turn of the century, Vintage & Classic Baseball Collector, which was an oasis for prewar collectors, as it focused exclusively on prewar with lots of 19th century. It was the brainchild of Dennis Purdy, a very nice man with a passion for rooting out the bad guys in the hobby, especially Alan Hagar. Dennis also promoted the Northwest National. I believe he may have passed away. Leon would know.
One of the features of the monthly magazine was the auction report. I was thumbing through the July 2002 issue, the grotesque prices paid in the REA auction still buzzing in my brain, and thought the prices fetched in various auctions 23 years ago would be off interest.

N28 Cap Anson, PSA8, $11k
T206 Ty Cobb Red, PSA8 $6.8k
1915 Cracker Jack, Eddie Cicotte SGC 8, $1.6k
E95 Ty Cobb, PSA7, $4.1k
E90-1 Joe Jackson, PSA5, $8.7k
1914 Cracker Jack, Joe Jackson, PSA7, $19.6k
1933 Goudey, Babe Ruth #149, PSA8 $44k
W514 Joe Jackson, SGC5, $2.4k

The prices realized in REA relative to the above makes me fear we are rapidly heading towards a bubble if we are not already in one. Institutional buying of vintage has narrowed the market considerably for the majority of folks who frequent this board. My strategy, if you can call it that, is to focus on the smaller houses like SB1 and LOTG and hope opportunities arise. The increases in BP by Heritage, Goldin and REA are good examples of American greed. I cannot afford them anymore.