ROBERT EDWARD AUCTIONS...Has anyone ever seen one of these before????

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Posted By: Shempdevil

While I was paging thru the REA Catalog, this caught my attention.
I don't think too many people even know this thing exists!!! What do you guys think?

http://robertedwardauctions.com/site/bidplace.aspx?itemid=3956#desc

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Posted By: Bob

Geez, that looks like a mark which might be easy to forge/counterfeit. Scarey.

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Posted By: dstudeba

There was an article on the card and the search for it in a previous issue of SGC's magazine

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Posted By: Richard Simon

I think the scary thing about this is that someone devoted their life for who knows how many years to finding this card.
That is scary to me.
Somebody should have told him to get a life a long time ago.
Collecting should be fun and enjoyable, the description of this in the Robert Edward catalog describes one very strange individual.
--

I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
Unknown author
--
We made a promise. We swore we'd always remember.
No retreat baby, no surrender.
The Boss

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Posted By: Marc S.

All of us spending hundreds, or thousands of dollars on pieces of cardboard with pictures can be strange. Some of us collect errors, variations, etc. - and this is one of the rarest variations in one of the most famous, well-known sets of all time. Perhaps not my cup of tea, per se, but each of our individual collecting interests is probably considered 'strange' by at least some fellow collectors, all the more so to an everyday Dick and Jane.

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Posted By: Al Crisafulli

I was going to say the same thing. There are people on this board who chase after obscure card types of all kinds. There are people here who look high and low for uncatalogued cards, and try to get them catalogued. There are people here who are so familiar with the sets they collect that they can recite even the most minute details about a set or particular card. There are some of us who collect one primary set, and buy the same cards over and over again, looking for minor upgrades.

I don't see anything wrong with a guy who finds a tough variation that he's been chasing for a long time. He sounds like a collector to me, just like any one of us.

-Al

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Posted By: jackgoodman

I don't think it's so strange either. For years, I would look thru 1957 commons at shows looking for the (at that time) little known Gene Baker error card. It wasn't an obsession, just a game I played trying to use my knowledge to find a gem in the rough. As a result I was able to find a handful of the error card in some of the major dealer binders being sold as a mere common. I didn't stalk the show floor, just would take the occassional look-see if I saw a box/binder of 57s. Ok, not pre-war, but standing up for all of our idiosyncrasies.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

that scares me..how many of you know about the '52 Topps Robinson and Mantle variations? Now that's at least a little interesting.

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Posted By: Shawn Adkins

Well, if we are going to talk about the Mantle and Robinson variations, let us not forget to mention Feller, Bobby Thompson, Rojek, Crandell, the four cards each for Boone & Wehmeier. Yes, I love variations but rarely get to talk about them on this board.

The Campos card is tough but has been well known in variations circles for quite some time. Finding it now is a bit easier since it has be added to the 2006 SCD Guide and with the aforementioned article in the SCD mag which brings the information to the normal collector. Variation information is tough to pry away from those that have spent the time to find and catalog them, much like when someone finds a new undocumented addition to certain prewar sets...they simply want to keep the information to themselves for various reasons.

Personally I find the chase of new variations to be quite enjoyable. Most would not agree but it's something I enjoy very much.

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Posted By: Chris

I have to agree that it's not all that strange -- actually I think it's a pretty good story. Dude wants baseball card, dedicates time to finding it, finds it. Have to give him credit for his persistence.

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Posted By: Zach Rice

What I think is strange is another collector putting down a collector because he doesn't like the way he collects. Personally I say let the guy collect whatever and whoever he wants. Let me ask you this Richard, do you know this guy wasn't enjoying himself and having fun while hunting down this rare seldom seen error cards ? I bet he was. You seem to draw very fast conclusions about someone who you don't even know.

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Posted By: Al Crisafulli

All I know is that this is a great hobby with lots of subtleties and niches, enough to satisfy all of us. I was there when this gentleman received the card back in the holder from SGC, and his enthusiasm over finding it was infectious. It was great to see a collector get some joy out of his hobby.

And as soon as I got home, I rummaged through my small stash of 1952 Topps to see if I had one of those in my collection (I didn't).

-Al

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Posted By: jackgoodman

Al,

Funny, I also went thru my small stash of 52s. No luck either. It is the thrill of the hunt tho'.

(edited to correct poorly worded sentence the first time)

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Posted By: Richard Simon

It appeared to me from the description in the catalog, that the hunt for this card had turned this collector into an obsessive compulsive individual.
I quote from the catalog:
"he began a dedicated mission to check all 1952 Topps Frank Campos cards to find a "Black Star" variation. Undeterred by countless failures, for years he checked every #307 Frank Campos possible at every opportunity, including conventions, advertisements, dealer inventories, and eBay. Requiring superhuman persistence, he remained confident that because the card is so rare that virtually no one even knows of its existence, this would allow him the opportunity to eventually find one. Years of searching 1952 Topps cards, checking literally thousands of examples at shows and conventions across the country, finally resulted in "hitting paydirt." He was not planning on stopping until he finally found an example."
Collecting is one thing, serious collecting is fine, I am a serious collector too, and I too enjoy a great find. I have no wall space in my living room or bedroom because much of my collection has been framed for display.
This was not hunting to complete a card set, to complete a collection of Hall of Fame autographs, to complete a team set of cards or autographs, this was a hunt to find one fluke card, and this man had devoted years of his life to the search.
I just felt this guy was way over the normal line for collectors.
Apparently some on this board disagree with me.
--



I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
Unknown author
--
We made a promise. We swore we'd always remember.
No retreat baby, no surrender.
The Boss

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Posted By: Al Crisafulli

There truly is something to be said for auction catalog hyperbole, no?

-Al

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Posted By: leon

For what it's worth I thought it was a little obsessive too....but I am very obsessive so didn't say anything. Kind of like calling someone bald...when I am almost there myself.... Oh well...we're all freaks if you ask me .

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Posted By: vintage52

I have been acquiring 1952 Topps cards for over 16 years.
I have assembled several complete sets in varying grades.
I have acquired several copies of the Sain, Page, and zernial variations, and have even grabbed up copies of both variations of the Mantle, Robinson, and Thompson.

I have seen probably 500 copies of the Campos.
I had begin to believe that it didn't exist.
Then I saw the half-page add in the Robert Edward Catalog.

Any ideas of what it would take to win the auction?
I would guess that the bidding could get pretty ridiculous.

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Posted By: Mike Ernst

To take this thread in a new direction, is it my imagination, or does the rear "surface chip" extend from the back of the card onto the front of the card, like "tack hole"?

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Posted By: dstudeba

vintage -

It is my understanding that Levi has a few of these. I would contact him. Whether Levi's price is retail is another matter, discussed in plenty (too many) threads. I think I also know of one other collector who has one.

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Posted By: Marc S.

As a comparison - is it any more obsessive than what Larry Fritsch did with the T-206 Doyle card before the variation was known....?

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Posted By: Rich Klein

In our Beckett guides (without prices), for the last few years; so the card was believed to exist but finally confirmed at that time.

Rich

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

that "surface chip" goes all the way through to the front, and is not a surface chip at all. My guess is that it's a stock flaw, a pulp "knot" in the paper, rather than a repaired tack hole.