If you found a Wagner...

[ullmandds]

sorry eric...i'll bring the e122 too!

[iowadoc77]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

sorry eric...i'll bring the e122 too!

Sounds like a deal Pete

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Joshwesley

What the crap??

Didn't the Wagner have some value in the early 70's... Maybe 1-2k??

Supposedly the one Bill Mastro bought in the 1970's as a teenager to complete his own set was somewhere around $1,500. Then the one he bought about 1985 and then later notoriously trimmed was a $25,000 card. They had value back then, but nothing compared to what they are today after the explosion of the internet hobby could pass the legend along to the masses. As crappy as what Mastro did is, it's only further fuel to the fire in terms of the legend and will keep all Wagners - and particularly that one - going up up up in value every single time it's sold.

It's ironic to me that the single most valuable and famous baseball card in the world is trimmed / altered, and still in a PSA 8 slab. One of my prized possessions is a '56 Mantle with a bum lower right corner because many years ago, I scratched a stain off of it and thus "altered" it in the eyes of many grading companies. Anyhow, I think of the Wagner now and try not to give myself such a hard time about it....


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[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by coolshemp

Since this is the season of great finds, I was wondering what most of you would do if you were lucky enough to find a Wagner T206 in grand pappy's attic? Would you keep it and finish your T206 set or sell it for the million or so dollars?

I'd put it in an inch thick screw-down case, and invite my friends Whitey and Larry Mondello over to see it, and charge them a dollar apiece for the privilege.

...and if this were 1960 and I lived in the world of TV-Land make believe, I WOULD do that! But seriously. The crappiest example of that card in existence would probably allow me to payoff my mortgage or put a serious chunk of cash toward John's "Retire Early / Go To Hell" Fund...either of which would make the practical reality of keeping the card for any length of time very unlikely and a very poor decision at best. Heck, the people back in the 90's who won the Gretzky Wagner when Walmart gave it away had to sell it for sake of the simple fact that they couldn't afford to pay the tax on it...

In my case the consolation prize would likely have to be an agreement with my wife and financial advisor that goes something like this: "Okay, if I sell this card for $300 grand and payoff the house, you will agree that it's certainly reasonable that I take $5,000 of that and blow it on cards for myself...right? Please? Ah...honey?"


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[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by TCMA

When my dad obtained his first Wagner in 1972 he immediately called my mother from a pay phone. He found it among T206's he purchased in a large lot for twenty cents each. It was also one of the last cards he needed to complete the set, so he was pretty excited.



He held that one until 1974 when he upgraded to a better one and sold off the original. Here they are below:

First Wagner (the trimmed one) looks like the same that Keith Olbermann can be found showing ballplayers at Citi Field in a YouTube video. The second appears to be what's known as the "jumbo Wagner" that is PSA 5 MC. Which likely looks very similar to the way the Gretzky / McNall / Gidwitz / Walmart / now Ken Kendrick PSA 8 Wagner looked before good old Bill Mastro put it under the exacto knife.

Is the PSA 5 jumbo given the "MC" designation because it's oversized (even thought that was natural and it was not "cut" per se...)? If so seems a bit odd to me that it's the card labeled "MC" while the PSA 8 Wagner still resides in a plastic tomb with no qualifiers. That one by the way has been re-stabbed at least once - photos of the original PSA case exist from the early 1990's where the 0's in the serial number have slashes through them...

Again, if you are missing my point it's just interesting to me that the most famous and valuable baseball card in the world is to at least some extent a total fraud - and that the first card PSA ever graded doesn't even meet their own professed standards. I guess what is "good for the hobby" has to be taken into consideration, and at the end of the day it's all the more interesting as part of the Wagner card's lore...


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[Joshwesley]

At this point IMO.... it's not going to matter what happens to the Gretzky/D-backs Wagner.... stories and time only add to its legend and value.

The card is unflappable.... sort of like Trump... doesn't matter what he says/does.. his poll numbers are gonna go up.. (not to bring politics into the thread) lol

That Honus is untouchable.

[Neal]

Sell .... in a heartbeat!

I would then buy a real nice 51B and 52T Mantle (in mid grade), pay off the mortgage, and put the rest away

[Eric72]

I would hold on to the Wagner. The rest of the (relatively speaking) crap I have been collecting would get sold off. Then, I would buy a '52 Topps Mantle, and rebuild my collection from there.

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

First Wagner (the trimmed one) looks like the same that Keith Olbermann can be found showing ballplayers at Citi Field in a YouTube video.

Correct! It is one and the same .

Originally Posted by jchcollins

The second appears to be what's known as the "jumbo Wagner" that is PSA 5 MC.

Also correct!

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Is the PSA 5 jumbo given the "MC" designation because it's oversized (even thought that was natural and it was not "cut" per se...)? If so seems a bit odd to me that it's the card labeled "MC" while the PSA 8 Wagner still resides in a plastic tomb with no qualifiers.

And can't it be argued that there's a "10" within those oversized borders of the Jumbo Wagner?

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Again, if you are missing my point it's just interesting to me that the most famous and valuable baseball card in the world is to at least some extent a total fraud - and that the first card PSA ever graded doesn't even meet their own professed standards.

Makes ya wonder, doesn't it .

[Exhibitman]

I'd have to sell it; I have a child about to start college. Even a low grade card would pay for her entire education in one shot.

As for the eternal garage sale question: of course I would purchase it quietly and not say a word to the seller. I know it is considered good form to say that I would pass on the sale if the situation actually arose; I just happen to be crass and craven and brazen enough to admit unapologetically that that is never gonna happen. I am not going to throw away a winning lottery ticket that someone else did not know enough to cash. Knowledge is power. Same as eBay; if you don't understand what you are selling, don't sell it. I bought a shoebox collection last weekend at a garage sale. Turned out that the seller or someone acting with the seller had gone through the box and pulled every star. All I ended up with were two Bert Blyleven cards and a few junk wax era HOFers that I didn't have before. Should the seller have told me that the box had been picked over? Nope. My duty to figure it out. I didn't have the time to go through a couple thousand cards on the spot and the price was low enough that I figured it was akin to a pack bust of junk wax. I ended up stuck with a box of worthless commons, so the seller got the better of the deal. If there'd been a Wagner in that box, I'd have been the fortunate one.

[Bpm0014]

Agree^^^^^^^

[Tripredacus]

For me, if I found one that was worth a decent amount and also found a person that has wanted one for a long time, then yes I would sell. I am this way in any way. In the past I have come across items and I knew people who were looking for the exact thing and I would offer to them, but I would not actively shop the item.