1936 sports stamps

[nolemmings]

I do not know but I would guess they will holder the pair so long as it fits within a holder they regularly use, which might be problematic depending on the length of the bios. Also you probably know that very thin paper issues tend to move around in the holder or gasket. so I'm not sure how much preservation protection is really provided by a slab.

Question though--aren't these always graded only as authentic due to their hand-cut status?

[gonefishin]

They will actually grade them using their normal grading scale, however from what I've noticed is the stamps that contain backing's from scrap books, etc. always receive a grade of Authentic. Only the ones that show the actual back newspaper side have a number grade. Of course if the condition is very poor they will only receive a grade of authentic. Hand cut is noted on the label. The stamps are very sensitive due them being on plain newspaper and of course their age. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Exhibitman]

PSA will numerically grade them:



BUT not for every newspaper. They rejected my Joe D:



because of the newspaper. That was several years ago, so not sure what they do now.

Hope this is helpful.

[gonefishin]

Great Ruth and DiMaggio. I know they will grade them individually, but I am curious about an uncut panel, specifically an uncut panel with 6 players.

I find it interesting they wouldn't grade the DiMaggio. What does the back look like?

I see your Babe Ruth is in a suit. I have one from the Chicago American where he is in a uniform. That's probably why a checklist doesn't exist because there are so many players and variations.

Thanks for the pics and reply.

[gonefishin]

I just figured out how to add a photo, so I attached the Ruth so you could check it out.

[Casey2296]

Welcome to the sub Gonefishin'.

[Exhibitman]

The backs are fine; when I questioned the rejection the PSA rep told me that they only grade certain publications. The newspapers were a chain so there are 'cards' from coast to coast. Detroit was in the old big book, which seems to drive a lot of TPG decision-making. Funny story there. I sent in a boxing card to PSA for slabbing and they turned it down because it wasn't catalogued. Well, I wrote the damn catalog and I know it was so I sent them excerpts. They then said it wasn't in their catalog. I asked what version. Turned out they were several years out of date. The card got graded.

I started trying to catalog the 1936 newspaper cards some time ago and built up a good partial database, but it is really challenging due to the different publications and variations. Like in LA, they made 'cards' of amateur athletes because there were no major league franchises in BB or FB west of the Rockies. Makes for some interesting stuff. Speaking of variations, that's a nice Ruth. I've not seen that one before.

There have been other newspaper issues too. A very similar one was called "This Day In Sports" and ran in the late 1950s-early 1960s. I got a stack of them when I bought a collection. Here are a few:

[BobC]

Great Ruth's, and DiMaggio. Sports Stamps are not often seen as great collectibles since they aren't true cards. They rarely, if ever, come up for sale at AHs. There are some on Ebay, but they can have ridiculous BIN prices, and otherwise don't seem to ever sell for much, if they sell at all. For some reason, they are possibly looked upon a lot like pictures and articles cut from newspapers, the kind of things you often see in old scrapbooks, that never get much in the way of prices it seems.

As for grading complete panels, I've got a small collection of various Sports Stamps, with full panels. I've always seen the Sports Stamps have two different athletes making up their panels, sometimes side-by-side, and other times top-and bottom. Depended on the individual paper it seems, and how much room they had and what else was on the page when they printed them. So, for a TPG to grade them, there wouldn't be one single oversize slab they could use to encase them. Also, the Sports Stamps aren't all just baseball players. They are often seen with boxers, race car drivers (including midget race car drivers), football players, and others, and as far baseball, even seen them with Pacific Coast League players.

gonefishin, your Ruth looks like there are some stains or something on the back, possibly glue marks or something from being in a scrapbook possibly? That might keep your Ruth from getting anything other than an Authentic grade if you send it to a TPG. Still a nice piece.

And when you compare it to Adam's Ruth, you can also see that the different papers didn't necessarily have the exact same player images or bios on their Sports Stamps. I've also seen a much different image and bio for the DiMaggio Sports Stamp than the one Adam has, on one that was in the Los Angeles Examiner. In that LA one, DiMaggio literally looks like some teenage kid. And the bio talks about how DiMaggio, Giuseppe, Crosetti, and Lazzeri, San Francisco Italians, are Yankee manager Joe McCarthy's nemesis when they all start talking in Italian around him.

The old Krause/Sports Collectors Digests used to have checklists of just the ballplayers for two or three of the different newspapers that printed these Sports Stamps, if I remember correctly. And they definitely were not identical checklists. So, there could very easily be different baseball players included on Sports Stamps published in these other newspapers for which Krause/SCD published no checklists. I would guess someone could look to see if there are archives for the other newspapers known to have included Sports Stamps in 1936, and if so, search them to come up with additional checklists.

If you check the Pop Reports for PSA, they do show some graded full panels including two individuals on the Sports Stamps. So they do grade the full panels in that regard. And obviously from Adam's graded Ruth Sports Stamp, you can see they also grade them with the stamp AND the full bio, and not just the stamp itself. What is very odd though is that PSA's Pop Report doesn't show that they have graded any Sports Stamps that did not come from the Detroit Times. Not sure why that is the only newspaper they show as having graded Sports Stamps from. The Sports Stamps appeared in eight different newspaper publications across the country I believe. I'm pretty sure that Krause/SCD included a checklist for the Detroit Times Sports Stamps. I wonder if PSA was following Krause/SCD, and would only grade items that were listed in it? Just a wild guess as to maybe why PSA doesn't seem to have graded any Sports Stamps from other newspaper publications.

Anyway, here's a link to the Pre-War Cards site, and an article about these Sports Stamps, and which newspapers they were printed in. Getting your Ruth Sports Stamp graded should help the value, even if it only gets an Authentic grade, if that is what you're looking for. Unfortunately, it may still not get what you think a Ruth item should be worth, based on what all the other Ruth cards and items seem to be going for these days. It is from a newspaper, and is not from Ruth's playing days. Good luck with your Ruth Sports Stamp. Still a great item in my opinion.

https://prewarcards.com/2016/09/09/1...and-checklist/

[Leon]

Reading the caption, that doesn't appear to be a "1936" Joe D. More like a 1940? Unless they are counting his minors as professional. Otherwise, not sure why they wouldn't grade it, if they do the others. Maybe the top is cut too short?

update...doing a little more research it does look like it's a 1936.

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

PSA will numerically grade them:



BUT not for every newspaper. They rejected my Joe D:



because of the newspaper. That was several years ago, so not sure what they do now.

Hope this is helpful.

[benge610]

Originally Posted by Leon

Reading the caption, that doesn't appear to be a "1936" Joe D. More like a 1940? Unless they are counting his minors as professional. Otherwise, not sure why they wouldn't grade it, if they do the others. Maybe the top is cut too short?

update...doing a little more research it does look like it's a 1936.

Well, they do, "Chicago American" now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28507826452...Bk9SR6KG97KkYQ

Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."

[Exhibitman]

Guess I can send in my Joe D.

[benge610]

It may be a long shot;
but most times, they are;
I am looking for a Sport Stamp of:

Johnny Dickshot!

To add to my, IL ballplayers;
from my home state. (Waukegan, IL)



Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."

[benge610]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Guess I can send in my Joe D.

That caption (above) on the Joe D. is so cool.
I see that one on eBay has a different caption; not as good, IMO.

Asking permission, of Leon or Adam; to take a snip of the Joe D. to put in my frame/collage in place of the Diamond Matchbook.



Ben

"I love baseball history backstory; especially when it involves cards."