Willie Mays

[Fuddjcal]

Wow, nice Willie card last night

[packs]

My lone Willie:

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Someone is gonna work some magic and get this into a 6 or better holder.

Yeah would like to see the bidder IDs on that one.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Yeah would like to see the bidder IDs on that one.

Could be a third party who hires people.. who knows where it would lead. Peter is it me or does his face look out of focus??

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Could be a third party who hires people.. who knows where it would lead. Peter is it me or does his face look out of focus??

The registration is way off. Pretty much everything, including his face is out of focus.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Could be a third party who hires people.. who knows where it would lead. Peter is it me or does his face look out of focus??

Looks good to me. The 51 and 52B Mays can sometimes give that initial appearance for some reason, but if you look closely you don't see any print shift or stray color in the eyes or any other signs of a print problem. For example

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Could be a third party who hires people.. who knows where it would lead. Peter is it me or does his face look out of focus??

Below is a side-by-side of the '51 Bowman Mays SGC 3 sold last night in REA on the left, and one that is in focus on the right.

Look at the outline of the jersey and how there are double-lines. Also, his eye has extra lines.

But hey, it was dead-centered.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Subtle, but nice catch. To me even the one you call focused has an initial slightly out of focus appearance for some reason.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Below is side-by-side picture of the '51 Bowman Mays SGC 3 sold last night in REA on the left, and one that is in focus on the right.

Look at the outline of the jersey and how there are double-lines. Also, his eye has extra lines.

But hey, it was dead-centered.

Slightly OT, but do the TPGs downgrade cards for less than perfect registration? My experience says 'no', unless it is way off.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Slightly OT, but do the TPGs downgrade cards for less than perfect registration? My experience says 'no', unless it is way off.

I certainly don't think they take it into account enough. Supposedly PSA has an OF qualifier for Out of Focus. Not sure I've come across many of these.

When BGS grades cards--their 4 categories are 1) centering 2) surface 3) Corners 4) Edges. Not sure if focus/registration is taken into account with surface.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I have seen some comically out of register cards with huge print shifts in the face without qualifiers or deductions.

[jsfriedm]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

The registration is way off. Pretty much everything, including his face is out of focus.

+1 I wouldn't take that card for 1/10th of the price. Registration is the first thing any card needs to have.

[Scocs]

Has anyone determined what the small “paper flaw” on that 51 Bowman SGC 3 Mays is — surface wrinkle? Other?

[CurtisFlood]

Originally Posted by Yoda

I believe we can all agree (I know, this is Net 54) that Willie Mays is the greatest living ballplayer and certainly among the top 5 of all time. I know nothing more than he is 90+ and in good health and long may he continue to be so.
I have watching the price movements of his vintage cards for about a year and it is clear to me that the gap between Mantle and Willie's cards is shrinking. For example, in the current Premier Auction, or whatever they call it, there are 2 beautiful PSA7 1951 Bowman RC's of both. At the moment, Willie's bids are around 9k ahead of the Mick. Early days, but I have never seen that scenario before. Perhaps due his longevity collectors are beginning to realize what a fabulous player he was.
I actually had the pleasure of seeing Willie play in 1954 when my Dad took me to the old Polo Grounds for a game. He electrified the field.

I saw him once, he got 4 hits and two home runs. !967. He was a player, he got knocked down once or twice every at bat, just got up and hit the ball.

[Bigdaddy]

A couple of my favorite Mays:

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Below is a side-by-side of the '51 Bowman Mays SGC 3 sold last night in REA on the left, and one that is in focus on the right.

Look at the outline of the jersey and how there are double-lines. Also, his eye has extra lines.

But hey, it was dead-centered.

Low "Eye appeal" to me

[Johnny630]

Willie Was an Outfielder who was (OF) outa focus on that card...

[Svabinsky78]

There are just some players that get more hobby love than others........Ruth, Cobb, Mantle, Speaker, Mathewson, Walter J, Clemente, Gehrig, Ted Williams, Koufax.....

There are some baffling examples though of greats who don't get as much hobby love as they really deserve....the most glaring example to me is Frank Robinson....he truly was one of the great players of the game (check out his HR, hit, RBI totals) yet his cards can be picked up on the cheap, relative to his contemporaries.....which is great for collectors