Walter Johnson 1907 Postcard--Wow!

[Hankphenom]

[QUOTE=Vintageclout;1520254]Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.[/QUOTE

So the consensus seems to be that 24K was a good deal for the buyer. I must be out of the loop on postcards, that seems like a lot to me, even for such a great card. How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?

[bcbgcbrcb]

How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?


1915 Red Sox spring training Ruth, a few different images exist. I believe a couple of private transactions on these exceeded this number.

[botn]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?


1915 Red Sox spring training Ruth, a few different images exist. I believe a couple of private transactions on these exceeded this number.

For an unsigned postcard, this one..http://catalog.scpauctions.com/CIRCA...-LOT10864.aspx. Suspect it would bring far more than 22K if sold today.

[prewarsports]

I am not the only one in the hobby that thinks that Joe Jackson postcard is completely bogus, a cutout from a book or something glued to a postcard back and turned into a baseball card.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Agree with Mr. Yeakley on that Joe Jax postcard.

The 1907 Victor Mills (w/Joe Jax) is a big ticket item though, albeit a team photo. Sorry, I don't have a scan of that one to post.

[botn]

Forgot about this one...

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by botn

For an unsigned postcard, this one..http://catalog.scpauctions.com/CIRCA...-LOT10864.aspx. Suspect it would bring far more than 22K if sold today.

Agreed--figure on at least $40-$50K, IMO. Baseball cards connect you to the player and take you back to the time, and that attribute is enhanced with the quality of the visual image of the player. Some of the best of the latter appeared on postcards, versus rather crudely colored drawings/images of the players of early times on regular cards of the same vintage.

May your collecting fare well,

Larry

[Hankphenom]

Any guesses on what the Johnson card would do in a big auction?

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Any guesses on what the Johnson card would do in a big auction?

If appropriately marketed, $35/$40K would not surprise me at all....maybe more if a war develops between 2/3 collectors with a "must have" attitude. We've seen it happen so many times before. Bottom line is...find another one with a 1907 cancellation date!

[GKreindler]

Not for nothing, but I'd kill to paint that image!

[Vintageclout]

[QUOTE=Hankphenom;1520290]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.[/QUOTE

So the consensus seems to be that 24K was a good deal for the buyer. I must be out of the loop on postcards, that seems like a lot to me, even for such a great card. How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?

Hi Hank its JoeT and I hope all is well with you. Considering that for years, there has been ZERO resolution with regard to the specific release date of the various Walter Johnson Weiser Wonder post cards (other than the one found with a 1910 postage stamp), this 1907 stamped one is HUGE! It now irrefutably resides as the "Big Train's" earliest known card via its 1907 stamp, and I firmly believe it would have achieved an even higher figure in a major auction. As you know Hank, any level of "ambiguity" is a collector's worst nightmare, and this Weiser Johnson now stands as the TRUE earliest known Johnson cardboard collectible in the hobby...Wow!

As always, best regards,
Joe

[Hankphenom]

[QUOTE=Vintageclout;1520738]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Hi Hank its JoeT and I hope all is well with you. Considering that for years, there has been ZERO resolution with regard to the specific release date of the various Walter Johnson Weiser Wonder post cards (other than the one found with a 1910 postage stamp), this 1907 stamped one is HUGE! It now irrefutably resides as the "Big Train's" earliest known card via its 1907 stamp, and I firmly believe it would have achieved an even higher figure in a major auction. As you know Hank, any level of "ambiguity" is a collector's worst nightmare, and this Weiser Johnson now stands as the TRUE earliest known Johnson cardboard collectible in the hobby...Wow!

As always, best regards,
Joe

Hey Joe,
I'm not arguing with you at all, in fact I would accept your opinion more than just about anyone I can think of, certainly more than mine on vintage high-end stuff. Maybe a dealer did buy it, and we'll see it again in an auction. It would be interesting to know where 24K ranks for a non-signed postcard.
Look forward to seeing you in A.C.
Hank

[GasHouseGang]

I feel we should show copies of what was sold on Ebay, or soon the listing will disappear along with the pictures of what was sold. So, for those who follow this thread later and wonder who all these people named Archive are, here are pictures of the front and back of the postcard sold on March 23, 2016 for $23,557.98.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Just playing devil's advocate here but haven't we questioned the authenticity of some news service stamps on the back of vintage baseball photos before? Does the same possibility exist for a postmark stamp on a vintage baseball postcard?

I wonder if we can track back any previous sales/auctions for this exact postcard based on condition details where back scans are available to ensure that the date stamp appears on previous sale(s) as well?

[ramram]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Just playing devil's advocate here but haven't we questioned the authenticity of some news service stamps on the back of vintage baseball photos before? Does the same possibility exist for a postmark stamp on a vintage baseball postcard?

I wonder if we can track back any previous sales/auctions for this exact postcard based on condition details where back scans are available to ensure that the date stamp appears on previous sale(s) as well?

Well, I'm not much of one for conspiracy theories but, let's run with that a minute. Does anybody else see the horizontal line above the postage stamp and the vertical mark just to the right of it that look like dirt or smudges? Kind of look like the rough edges of an old stamp? Also, how come the stamp marks, the ones that run slightly upward and to the right, in several places on the postage stamp don't run off the stamp anywhere (I'm not talking about the circle date stamp)? Especially the one at the very top.

stamp.jpg

Rob M.

[shernan30]

Originally Posted by ramram

Well, I'm not much of one for conspiracy theories but, let's run with that a minute. Does anybody else see the horizontal line above the postage stamp and the vertical mark just to the right of it that look like dirt or smudges? Kind of look like the rough edges of an old stamp? Also, how come the stamp marks, the ones that run slightly upward and to the right, in several places on the postage stamp don't run off the stamp anywhere (I'm not talking about the circle date stamp)? Especially the one at the very top.

Rob M.

Interesting

I see what you are talking about. Its almost like a canceled stamp was used.

[ls7plus]

[QUOTE=Hankphenom;1520290]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Due to the 1907 postage stamp, this card has ZERO ambiguity with regard to its 1907 origin. Not surprised at all with the price, and I firmly believe its new owner got a great deal in lieu of that March 1907 stamp.

JoeT.[/QUOTE

So the consensus seems to be that 24K was a good deal for the buyer. I must be out of the loop on postcards, that seems like a lot to me, even for such a great card. How many postcards have gone that high, and what are some comparables?

It won't be too long before Cobb's 1907 Dietsche Fielding Pose and 1907 Wolverine News rookie postcards (especially the portrait, which has already traded hands twice at approximately $11K in Ex) look like a tremendous bargain at that price. I heard at the 2015 National that a Dietsche Fielding Pose Cobb in Ex went for $8K right around that time. Both quite rare, with significance beyond enormous. Postcards are baseball cards like any others--no different at all from Topps without the gum! As someone recently said on this forum, they are "near-sacred relics that enable the collector to connect physically with the game's heroes and traditions." I like to think of them as two dimensional slices of a single moment in a player's three dimensional life and career.

Re the Johnson, the buyer, long-term, got a bargain, IMHO.

May collecting bring you great joy as you hold the very history of the game right in your own two hands,

Larry