WTB 1939 Goudey Premium Ted Williams

[Knoxy24]

and again were up

[Knoxy24]

Bump....again!

[Knoxy24]

Can anyone help me out??

[Knoxy24]

bump.....still on the hunt

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Up...still looking

[Knoxy24]

Still looking....come on guys!!! Anyone have one or a lead on one?

[DanP]

Hi Dan,

It took me a few years to find this one. I bought it in 2015 on eBay. After losing out on one in an auction I decided to pay what they were asking. I probably overpaid but at least I finally got it. It was an SGC 30 and it crossed over to a PSA 1.5.

Good luck with your search.

Dan P

[Knoxy24]

Originally Posted by DanP

Hi Dan,

It took me a few years to find this one. I bought it in 2015 on eBay. After losing out on one in an auction I decided to pay what they were asking. I probably overpaid but at least I finally got it. It was an SGC 30 and it crossed over to a PSA 1.5.

Good luck with your search.

Dan P

Wow!! thats exactly what Im looking for! You sure its not for sale?? Lol!!!
I love your display! I really need one of those in my life!!

[Knoxy24]

Bump...still looking....anyone??

[Knoxy24]

To the top

[Knoxy24]

Still lookin'....please someone give me a lead or something!

[Knoxy24]

still looking...finders fee of $100 paid if someone turns me onto one and I make a deal.

[ls7plus]

Hi Dan.

It is my opinion after almost three decades in our hobby that this card is following the same path blazed by the '25 Exhibit Gehrig rookie, and that similar quantities of each exist. It took me 3-5 years of looking in the days before ebay and most of the large auction houses existed to find the Gehrig in VG (at the 1998 National, for $500, from a somewhat naive seller who didn't know that when they surfaced, which was extremely rarely, they were going for $1100 in that grade. I still have to laugh when I recall how hard he thought he had to work to sell it to me for the lesser price). It took a few years for prices to rise to the point that collectors/sellers who knew what they had were willing to part with them (unfortunately, I sold mine several years later for $6500 to put towards some ultra-high-performance modifications to my '72 Corvette--stupid!!!).

I believe that you'll start to see more of the Williams R303A available when G-VG's are going for $7500+, and even more surface when they're $12,000 to $13,000. And I don't believe it will take all that long (a few years for the former; perhaps a decade or so for the latter price range). No, I don't think this is an outrageous $$ range for this card. After all, you're going after a rookie card of a player that is very scarce to what some would consider simply rare who was certainly either the greatest or 2nd greatest hitter who ever lived. I personally believe Ted was the greatest, based on his having created 250% of the runs a league average player created over his career (a Bill James derived stat--the Babe comes in second in this category at 240%. Mantle, incidentally, was at 215%). Others would rank Williams second based on being about 12 points behind Ruth in OPS+, but the Babe had a somewhat unfair advantage in this category, as he was truly a pioneer of an entirely new hitting style.

Wish you the best of luck in your search--persevere and you will prevail. Then go after the 1939 V351--the R303A is downright common compared to that one!

Larry

[Snapolit1]

Really interesting, thoughtful post and I enjoyed reading it. I don't want to go on at length on someone's BST thread, but I have serious doubts that Ted Williams cards however rare will ever approach the rarified air of a Gehrig 25 Rookie. An amazing baseball legend, and singular talent, but frankly has little of the star mystique needed to catapult one into the realm of Gehrig / Ruth / Jackie / Mantle. Just my opinion of course.

Originally Posted by ls7plus

Hi Dan.

It is my opinion after almost three decades in our hobby that this card is following the same path blazed by the '25 Exhibit Gehrig rookie, and that similar quantities of each exist. It took me 3-5 years of looking in the days before ebay and most of the large auction houses existed to find the Gehrig in VG (at the 1998 National, for $500, from a somewhat naive seller who didn't know that when they surfaced, which was extremely rarely, they were going for $1100 in that grade. I still have to laugh when I recall how hard he thought he had to work to sell it to me for the lesser price). It took a few years for prices to rise to the point that collectors/sellers who knew what they had were willing to part with them (unfortunately, I sold mine several years later for $6500 to put towards some ultra-high-performance modifications to my '72 Corvette--stupid!!!).

I believe that you'll start to see more of the Williams R303A available when G-VG's are going for $7500+, and even more surface when they're $12,000 to $13,000. And I don't believe it will take all that long (a few years for the former; perhaps a decade or so for the latter price range). No, I don't think this is an outrageous $$ range for this card. After all, you're going after a rookie card of a player that is very scarce to what some would consider simply rare who was certainly either the greatest or 2nd greatest hitter who ever lived. I personally believe Ted was the greatest, based on his having created 250% of the runs a league average player created over his career (a Bill James derived stat--the Babe comes in second in this category at 240%. Mantle, incidentally, was at 215%). Others would rank Williams second based on being about 12 points behind Ruth in OPS+, but the Babe had a somewhat unfair advantage in this category, as he was truly a pioneer of an entirely new hitting style.

Wish you the best of luck in your search--persevere and you will prevail. Then go after the 1939 V351--the R303A is downright common compared to that one!

Larry

[Peter_Spaeth]

New York-centric bias.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Really interesting, thoughtful post and I enjoyed reading it. I don't want to go on at length on someone's BST thread, but I have serious doubts that Ted Williams cards however rare will ever approach the rarified air of a Gehrig 25 Rookie. An amazing baseball legend, and singular talent, but frankly has little of the star mystique needed to catapult one into the realm of Gehrig / Ruth / Jackie / Mantle. Just my opinion of course.

I'd have to strongly disagree on that one. Williams has had many, many more books written about him than Gehrig has, who was almost completely lacking in color. Teddy F---ing Ballgame (as he would often call himself, was just the opposite--just oozing with color. Can't disagree with Pete about the New York mystique, but Williams has also had numerous television specials done about him and his career, while Gehrig has had just one that I can recall in more than three quarters of a century. Plus, Ted is a god in Boston, along with Larry Bird and Bobby Orr (witness the TWT("Twit") = Ted Williams Tunnel). Also not to be forgotten is the incredible reception he received from the all-star players and fans alike at the 1999 All-Star Game. Plus, you're inescapably, undeniably dealing with the best of the best at what many would consider the most important part of the game--hitting (as noted, depending on the measuring stick, either Ted or the Babe comes out on top)! He is indisputably what an old collecting friend and I called a "transcendental" player.

There is a lot of pent-up demand for the "right" Williams card (there are simply too many of the 1939 Play Ball, and it is really an ugly card compared to the Goudey premium). Before the advent of third-party grading and the pop reports, for example, the 1954 Bowman #66 Williams was thought to be far more rare than it turned out to be--consequently, prices of $12,000 for a NrMt-Mt and $20,000 for a Mint example were being asked and paid in the '90's--the '90's, for goodness sake, for what was not even a rookie card!. With the rise of TPG companies and their pop reports, it became known that this card was not even close to being as rare as had been thought, and prices dropped. What the R303A (and the V351, for that matter) lacks with the collecting body at large is simply recognition. The exact same thing was true of the '25 Exhibit Gehrig in the '90's. When it got that, "ZOOM!"

Don't be too shocked when my forecast becomes reality. I also predicted the rise in Ty Cobb rookie postcards, especially the ultra rare ones, well before it occurred.

Best of luck in your collecting, Steve--may your own choices bring happiness to you!

Larry

[ls7plus]

Hopefully, our discussion will assist Dan in getting his card!

Best of luck to you, Dan!

Larry

[Snapolit1]

Thanks. Enjoyed your posts a lot. I hope you are right and you and the OP stick it to me in few years. I lived in Mass for 4 years and know the incredible fervor up there for all things BoSox. Take care.

Originally Posted by ls7plus

I'd have to strongly disagree on that one. Williams has had many, many more books written about him than Gehrig has, who was almost completely lacking in color. Teddy F---ing Ballgame (as he would often call himself, was just the opposite--just oozing with color. Can't disagree with Pete about the New York mystique, but Williams has also had numerous television specials done about him and his career, while Gehrig has had just one that I can recall in more than three quarters of a century. Plus, Ted is a god in Boston, along with Larry Bird and Bobby Orr (witness the TWT("Twit") = Ted Williams Tunnel). Also not to be forgotten is the incredible reception he received from the all-star players and fans alike at the 1999 All-Star Game. Plus, you're inescapably, undeniably dealing with the best of the best at what many would consider the most important part of the game--hitting (as noted, depending on the measuring stick, either Ted or the Babe comes out on top)! He is indisputably what an old collecting friend and I called a "transcendental" player.

There is a lot of pent-up demand for the "right" Williams card (there are simply too many of the 1939 Play Ball, and it is really an ugly card compared to the Goudey premium). Before the advent of third-party grading and the pop reports, for example, the 1954 Bowman #66 Williams was thought to be far more rare than it turned out to be--consequently, prices of $12,000 for a NrMt-Mt and $20,000 for a Mint example were being asked and paid in the '90's--the '90's, for goodness sake, for what was not even a rookie card!. With the rise of TPG companies and their pop reports, it became known that this card was not even close to being as rare as had been thought, and prices dropped. What the R303A (and the V351, for that matter) lacks with the collecting body at large is simply recognition. The exact same thing was true of the '25 Exhibit Gehrig in the '90's. When it got that, "ZOOM!"

Don't be too shocked when my forecast becomes reality. I also predicted the rise in Ty Cobb rookie postcards, especially the ultra rare ones, well before it occurred.

Best of luck in your collecting, Steve--may your own choices bring happiness to you!

Larry