Most Significant Hobby Find

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hey guys..Yes were in the pre-WWII section of this forum; however, I agree with all the folks who posted here regarding Al Rosen's tremendous find in the mid-1980's
of the 1952 TOPPS Hi#'s (and Semi-Hi #'s) cards. Can you imagine 40 near mint Mantle cards ! ?

Including 21 complete runs of Hi#'s (#311 - 407). Furthermore, 37 complete runs of Semi-Hi#'s (#251 - 310). If you do the math, this find totals approx. 5000 cards.

I remember this "happening" very well; and, the significance that I am trying to convey to all of you is....this post-WWII card find affected the value of all cards across
the spectrum (1887 - 1967).

For example....prior to this find you could purchase a T206 Cobb (Ex) for less than $100. Within a year (or two), vintage cards doubled and tripled in value, as a result
of this find.


TED Z
.

My recollection is that Rosen quickly sold 15 complete runs of the Hi #'s (97 cards) for $15,000 per run.

And, you'll love this....I was acquiring near mint Hi # commons for "pennies". I had hoarded 1984 Topps Mattingly and Strawberry rookie cards.
And, I was trading them to dealers for the 1952 Topps Hi #s from Rosen's find. For example: four Mattingly's for a 1952 Topps Burgess.

You just have to love this hobby....and, certainly back in the 1980's.


TED Z
.

[111gecko]

Great topic. Knowing about all of these 'finds'; I often wonder about the ones that weren't public. I can imagine over the years collectors have picked up monster deals that either 1) didn't want to flood the market with cards, or 2) bought the deal for virtually nothing and don't want anyone to know about it.

[soxinseven]

I agree with Alan Rosen's 52 Topps find being the most significant but I was more fascinated by the Beantown find because it involved the board and had multiple issues that were found. I have to think that most board members have a card from that find in their collection.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by tedzan

And, you'll love this....I was acquiring near mint Hi # commons for "pennies". I had hoarded 1984 Topps Mattingly and Strawberry rookie cards.
And, I was trading them to dealers for the 1952 Topps Hi #s from Rosen's find. For example: four Mattingly's for a 1952 Topps Burgess.

You just have to love this hobby....and, certainly back in the 1980's.


TED Z
.

I don't mean to derail the thread, but for some reason this post reminds me of an eBay listing I saw a couple days ago. Look at the article in the background. A dealer purchased 40,000 Gary Sheffield rookies for $30K. As Ted said, "You just have to love this hobby....and, certainly back in the 1980's."

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Donruss...p2047675.l2557