Jackie Robinson autographed cards

[bleeckerstreetcards]

Some data from PSA pop and VCP sales history since 1/1/2022.

1948 Leaf - 4 total signed... 1 sold in last 2 years @ $588k

1949 Bowman - 8 total signed... 1 sold in last 2 years @ $96k

1950 Bowman - 8 total signed... 4 sold in last 2 years @ ~$25k (avg)

1952 Topps - 7 total signed... 4 sold in last 2 years @ ~$160k (avg)

1953 Topps - 13 total signed... 1 sold in last 2 years @ ~$40k

1954 Topps - 12 total signed... 0 sold in last 2 years

1955 Topps - 16 total signed... 5 sold in last 2 years @ ~$30k (avg)

1956 Topps - 11 total signed... 0 sold in last 2 years

So 79 total signed cards in the pop, 16 have sold in 2023 and 2022.

[uniship]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing. I don’t have the first clue if these are overvalued or undervalued. Either way though they’re pure fire.

[Snapolit1]

I think it's nuts that you can get a nice signed Jackie letter for well under 10k, but people pay three or four or eight times that for a signed card. To each his own as they say.
Jackie's life was way too short but there is no shortage of signed stuff.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I think it's nuts that you can guy a nice signed Jackie letter for well under 10k, but people pay three or four or eight times that for a signed card. To each his own as they say.
Jackie's life was way too short but there is no shortage of signed stuff.

I will never get it either. The letter contains Jackie's thought process, a lot more content and a ton more of Jackie's handwriting than a signed card. The Letter would be worth 4 times the Card's value if it was up to me. But as usual in this hobby, it's not, and I'm in the minority.

[bleeckerstreetcards]

it's an interesting comparison. i feel the same about those beautiful cards hiding in PSA 4 and 5 holders that sell for a fraction of the PSA 8's and 9's of the same card with better corners, older certs, etc. but there's no wrong way to hobby

[packs]

I like cards as a medium. I think they also set some players apart when the hobby is crowded with their stuff. I'm thinking of a player like Mantle who signed a million baseballs. It's a lot harder to find him on a card.

[Snapolit1]

Also a Jackie Leaf card signed in 1947 outside Ebbetts Field is amazingly cool, a Jackie Leaf card signed in 1970 is significantly less cool. Someone just took a really nice old card and asked him to sign it. He had it in his hand for, oh, 10 seconds? But cards run the hobby.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by packs

I like cards as a medium. I think they also set some players apart when the hobby is crowded with their stuff. I'm thinking of a player like Mantle who signed a million baseballs. It's a lot harder to find him on a card.

I think also that has a lot to do with the sentiment around players signing cards, and how that has changed over the years. I made a thread about this a while back. Where people wouldn't get their cards signed because of the concept of "defacing" the card, or it becoming less valuable.

I can't remember which board member posted about it, in the thread. But they told the story about how someone at a show,a while back, brought a 1952 Topps, Andy Pafko, to Mr. Pafko to have it signed at a show. Pafko tried to talk the guy out of it, everyone tried to talk the guy out of it, guy wasn't having it. Pafko reluctantly signed it, everyone cringed. Looking back on it, that was probably the smartest move in the book. But who would've thought, that at the time? Hindsight is 20/20

As a Mantle Collector, pretty much everything you buy with a Mantle signature on it, goes for a premium. A Nice Bobby Brown Baseball with his clean signature? $600.

A crisp Mantle Signature on, lets say, a 1954 Red Heart issue? One just sold in August of 2023, for 10K at heritage.

[Republicaninmass]

I can't fathom how anyone could consider a letter in the same league as a signed gum card. The sheer difficulty of having/finding a card to be signed vs a literally a blank piece of paper, not to mention eye appeal.

Content shomn-tent, gimme signed cards all day long over any other medium

[Snapolit1]

Sheer diffiicilty? Every signed letter is by definition a one of a kind item!!!



QUOTE=Republicaninmass;2402363]I can't fathom how anyone could consider a letter in the same league as a signed gum card. The sheer difficulty of having/finding a card to be signed vs a literally a blank piece of paper, not to mention eye appeal.

Content shomn-tent, gimme signed cards all day long over any other medium[/QUOTE]

[bleeckerstreetcards]

no denying that letters can be defined as one-of-a-kind based on content. the way I look at it is I'm a card collector, not a letter collector. and if I want a 1950 Bowman Jackie Robinson for my collection, I'd much rather have one of the 8 signed examples that he held and appreciated and has a story of a fan/kid getting it signed behind it over most any other version of that card.

in the 50B case, you can get a PSA 8 for ~$25k which is a pop 48. or I can put that money towards one of his signed copies. it's a decision we all have to make, but if I'm going to collect his cards that's the version I want. if I also want to collect letters and other autographs then there's a treasure trove over there too, I just don't enjoy those as much as a card.

[Exhibitman]

I've seen a comparatively large # of Exhibit cards of Robinson sold in the last few years. I've been tempted to go after one but I am kind of leery. I never saw one for sale then all of a sudden it seems like there is one in every auction, and the signatures are not the typical nice, smooth ones. They just don't sit right with me.

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by bleeckerstreetcards

no denying that letters can be defined as one-of-a-kind based on content. the way I look at it is I'm a card collector, not a letter collector. and if I want a 1950 Bowman Jackie Robinson for my collection, I'd much rather have one of the 8 signed examples that he held and appreciated and has a story of a fan/kid getting it signed behind it over most any other version of that card.

in the 50B case, you can get a PSA 8 for ~$25k which is a pop 48. or I can put that money towards one of his signed copies. it's a decision we all have to make, but if I'm going to collect his cards that's the version I want. if I also want to collect letters and other autographs then there's a treasure trove over there too, I just don't enjoy those as much as a card.

My view is a letter is more likely to be real. Tend to think 4 of those 8 cards are fakies.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Sheer diffiicilty? Every signed letter is by definition a one of a kind item!!!



QUOTE=Republicaninmass;2402363]I can't fathom how anyone could consider a letter in the same league as a signed gum card. The sheer difficulty of having/finding a card to be signed vs a literally a blank piece of paper, not to mention eye appeal.

Content shomn-tent, gimme signed cards all day long over any other medium

[/QUOTE]


It's a blank piece of paper!

[vthobby]

Every thread needs a pic!

I also like to think of a player's thoughts when signing certain items and you can see by the boldness of the pen that he must have felt a lot of pride by signing this Hall of Fame Postcard!

It REALLY pops!

IMG_4238.jpg

[Snapolit1]

That’s a great signature indeed.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by vthobby

Every thread needs a pic!

I also like to think of a player's thoughts when signing certain items and you can see by the boldness of the pen that he must have felt a lot of pride by signing this Hall of Fame Postcard!

It REALLY pops!

Attachment 604317

Looks to be very undergraded to me at an 8.

[Republicaninmass]

Appears to go off the edge of the card. Trying to understand how psa determines an auto grade is akin to understanding quantum physics

[Seven]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Appears to go off the edge of the card. Trying to understand how psa determines an auto grade is akin to understanding quantum physics

PSA's grading tactics make my head spin more than Calculus 2 did in college

[rlevy]

I would rather have this letter than a signed card any day. Jackie's competitiveness comes shining through.

Rick

Jackie Robinson letter resized.jpg

[bleeckerstreetcards]

love the chock full o nuts and the HOF postcard. here are my signed jackie's

[vthobby]

Nice run! Wow!

[Topnotchsy]

I think that those of us who collect memorabilia over cards might sometimes marvel at the differences in price. I've mentioned this in the past, but I am blown away by the fact that I was able to buy Roy Campanella's 1st Dodgers Minor League contract (which is literally the paper that connected Campanella to the Dodgers as the 4th black player to sign after decades of no black players in baseball. And I got it for less than a high-grade Campanella rookie would cost.

But the reality is that these market function almost completely independently. People who collect cards mostly don't even look at game-used items or programs or tickets etc. There are of course some cross-over collectors, but they are a rare minority.

And the same way that a sports collector might have played video games as a child in the 80's and think the retro games are cool, but not ever feel the need to pay money to collect them, card collectors can appreciate game-used items and never remotely look to buy them.

Even within a niche area, player collectors or set collectors or team collectors can focus on an area and ignore everything else.

Cards have a number of factors that make them incredibly good collectibles. They have a huge nostalgia factor (people had cards as kids, very few had GU jerseys as kids, so that requires more of a leap). Cards have checklists so there is a clear, discrete process to success and also knowing what there is to chase. There are registries and lots of others who collect so the community is large. They are small, so they store easily, display easily etc.

Also, entry into collecting cards is very simple for some of the same reasons.

Personally when it comes to a signed Jackie card vs a signed letter with random content, I would definitely take the card. But I would take a signed contract or something more historical over a card. I have a bunch of Jackie items pre-MLB debut (high-school signed yearbook, junior college signed yearbook, college signed team sheet etc) for me, items like that are much more interesting than cards (and thankfully way more affordable).

But I get that cards have a confluence of factors that make them incredibly popular.

(Also,the market for signed cards like these reminds me of the market for Type I photos of images that were later used for cards, because it has enormous crossover appeal and capitalized on the standard card collector market, even as it is a bit unique and different.

[Snapolit1]

Campys 1st contract. That it amazing. Cherish that. Wow.

Campy has never gotten his due. Terrible accident overshadows a great great catcher and a legendary baseball figure. He was a ground breaking player. Just like Jackie, he is an icon.

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Campys 1st contract. That it amazing. Cherish that. Wow.

Campy has never gotten his due. Terrible accident overshadows a great great catcher and a legendary baseball figure. He was a ground breaking player. Just like Jackie, he is an icon.

Thanks! It is a centerpiece in my collection and I am thrilled to own it. At the same time I know that there are 24 PSA 9's of Campanella's 1949 Bowman, and that card sells for more than 5x what I paid for the contact. Even if I assume the contract has increased in value in the few years since I bought it, I am sure that card is still worth 2x-3x more at a minimum.

I'm fine with that, as otherwise I would never had been able to afford to purchase it. But it is a reminder that the memorabilia world pales in comparison to the card world.

A Babe Ruth jersey would sell for $5M+. But a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 10 would be a $20M-$30M card or more.