Minor League photos and postcards from 1914-1917 Cedar Rapids Rabbits

[KNH]

This is part of a collection which used to belong to a minor league player named Roy Mellinger who played for the Cedar Rapids Rabbits in the Central Association from 1914-1917. There are postcards, photos and a team picture which has the bottom corner broken off but can be repaired. I only posted some of the pictures. There are 4 postcards and 19 photos with names on some. Any idea as to the value of these items? Here is a link to Mellinger's stats which also has team roster links. Thanks. http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...d=mellin001roy

[drc]

My conservative estimate would be $400-600 for the collection.

[KNH]

I should have mentioned that the names appear to have all been signed by the same person.

[slidekellyslide]

I think David is about right...I'd say in the $300-$400 range, unless you can find a Cedar Rapids or perhaps Iowa minor league collector who may pay a bit more. I know I'd kill to find something like that for Lincoln and would easily pay David's high estimate or more.

Nice find.

edited to add: Any photos of Bill Wambsganss? Could be the first professional photos of him.

[drc]

I looked at the whole, but also the individual items. If you sold each small photo/postcard for $10 each, as an example, and the cabinet for $60, that would be $300 right there. The cabinet of an identified minor league team has to be worth more than $60, and there's a premium in that they belonged to one of the players.

The cabinet has got that damage, but, still, I wouldn't be surprised for it to sell for over $200 on its own. Identified minor League team cabinets are uncommon.

My original estimate was was just my calculated guess. I don't profess to be a pricing Svengali.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by drc

I looked at the whole, but also the individual items. If you sold each small photo/postcard for $10 each, as an example, and the cabinet for $60, that would be $300 right there. The cabinet of an identified minor league team has to be worth more than $60, and there's a premium in that they belonged to one of the players.

The cabinet has got that damage, but, still, I wouldn't be surprised for it to sell for over $200 on its own. Identified minor League team cabinets are uncommon.

My original estimate was was just my calculated guess. I don't profess to be a pricing Svengali.

I wasn't criticizing you David. Minor league photos from the midwest are a bit of a specialty to me and I buy minor league cabinets like that....I usually pay in the $100 range. There just isn't much interest beyond local collectors unless there is someone who made an impact in the majors on the cabinet. Only the Pacific Coast League has a large enough collector base to see high dollars for minor league stuff like that in my experience.

Edited to add: I must have glossed over the part about there being postcards in the lot too...that takes things to a whole different level. Your high end estimate is probably correct. Minor league postcards from that era are highly sought after....moreso than regular snapshots and even cabinet photos.