Huggins & Scott: Goudey Signed Cards

[Jasonxmay]

Earl Clark is tough for many reasons. The first, and most obvious, is that he died in 1938. However, a secondary reason is that he played a total of 30 games between 1933 and 1934 and then retired. Most of the Goudeys that you see bearing vintage signatures were likely signed at ballparks on game days, meaning there were only 30 opportunities for Earl Clark to sign this card. Additionally, he was by no means a star, so the likelihood that anyone took the time to track him down and send him a Goudey to sign through the mail is very unlikely.

I agree that the auction house did a good job of hyping this card up. I was tempted to buy it, but I showed restraint and I'm glad that I did. If another Clark does pop up I wouldn't expect it to sell for over $5,000. In fact, if the buyer decides to flip the one that just sold it very well may not clear $5,000. Last night's auction clearly got the attention of a few people who are probably new to the set and overreacted by the self-proclaimed "holy grail."

Jason