Tough 1970's & 1980's Autographed Cards

[butchie_t]

Originally Posted by btcarfagno

Speaking of tough Dodgers, Brian Traxler. Doesn't have any cards I am aware of, but I had a heck of a time tracking down the index card I have now

Tom C

I remember seeing Brian play during 88-89 in the Cal League. We were living in San Jose and had season tix in 89. He spanked the heck out of most any S.J. Giants pitcher he faced. Even Rod Beck....... I wondered where he had gone.

I was not into getting autographs at that time. That did not happen until the 90's when we moved to Colorado Springs and followed the Sky Sox. I have ~3500 cards autographed of many players and coaches in the PCL between 93 - 2000 +/-

So if anyone is looking for some obscure minor league autographs of PCL players I may have some.

Butch

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Trax has cards. I have the 1991 Topps MLB Debut signed.

[Cliff Bowman]

I guess it probably isn't possible for a signed 1970 Topps Miguel Fuentes to exist?

[dgo71]

I guess in this digital age it is harder for players to just "disappear", and more and more guys seem to do private signings now and remove themselves from this list. Any player still living could suddenly become quite attainable for a price, and once set collectors are satiated the market all but disappears. Examples that come to mind are John Christensen, Al Pulido and Jim Traber.

A few guys in the popular 1987 Topps set can be very pricey on that specific card, but cheap to downright common on other issues. Players like Tony Bernazard, Mike Brown (the Seattle pitcher), Rod Scurry (also insanely tough on 89 UD) and Frank Wills come to mind in that regard.

That said, a couple toughies that have yet to be mentioned in this thread are former Mets infielder Kelvin Chapman and Astros pitcher Mark Lemongello, even though the latter recently did a fairly expensive private signing. His story is definitely worth looking up if you are unfamiliar.

[akleinb611]

This references 1950's cards, but a good example of a player who was once considered very tough - almost Holy Grail tough - and then became common was NY Giants utility infielder Foster Castleman. His signed cards retailed in the hundreds of dollars, and then it was discovered that if you made a modest contribution to his church, he would be happy to sign. He died a few years later, but by then, anyone who wanted Foster Castleman had Foster Castleman.

Okay, I'll admit that I really like saying Foster Castleman...

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by akleinb611

This references 1950's cards, but a good example of a player who was once considered very tough - almost Holy Grail tough - and then became common was NY Giants utility infielder Foster Castleman. His signed cards retailed in the hundreds of dollars, and then it was discovered that if you made a modest contribution to his church, he would be happy to sign. He died a few years later, but by then, anyone who wanted Foster Castleman had Foster Castleman.

Okay, I'll admit that I really like saying Foster Castleman...

Dave Revering and Allen Ripley are in this category too. It was long believed they were completely non-responsive to mail requests, but turns out that bad addresses were out there for both of them. Once their correct addresses were discovered, they quickly and consistently started answering their mail. Before he passed away, Ripley had even commented that he had zero problem signing autographs and often wondered why he didn't get more fan mail.

[gawaintheknight]

I think I figured out how to share the list.

Here's the link:

I would welcome any opinions on whether there are any diamonds in the rough here. These would have been acquired 20 or 30 years ago, so maybe some of these guys no longer sign?

Thanks for any help.

Ted

[mr2686]

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

I guess it probably isn't possible for a signed 1970 Topps Miguel Fuentes to exist?

I believe you're correct. Fuentes was killed on Jan 29th, 1970, and the set would have been released sometime after that. You can occasionally find a 3x5 signed by him.

[butchie_t]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Trax has cards. I have the 1991 Topps MLB Debut signed.

I went searching through my minor league cards to see if I had a Trax card signed. Surprisingly enough, I did.

Here it is. A grand total of one.

[gawaintheknight]

Followup question: if I wanted to sell these in smaller lots, would it be best to do it by team, or by year, or by set, or....?

[gawaintheknight]

Anyone?

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by gawaintheknight

Followup question: if I wanted to sell these in smaller lots, would it be best to do it by team, or by year, or by set, or....?

There is no secret formula. Selling individually almost always makes more more than selling in lots, but takes the most time and effort. Selling in groups might make them easier to sell, but there is no guarantees there either. There is no best way.

Sent from my SM-F946U using Tapatalk

[MooseDog]

Originally Posted by gawaintheknight

Followup question: if I wanted to sell these in smaller lots, would it be best to do it by team, or by year, or by set, or....?

If you are going to do it that way I'd suggest:

1-Team
2-Set
3-Year

You will sell the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Cardinals and maybe Red Sox right away and struggle to sell the rest. Some popular sets like 87T will sell but others will not.

As Lordstan said, there is no best way. If you are determined to squeeze every last dollar you can out of these then price them individually and start posting the list to as many autograph forums as you can. There is one collector who has a similar list that's been on the B/S/T board for well over a year, good stuff, but the market for autographs isn't that big unless it's a big or rare name.

Just be prepared for a long slog and to be sending out a lot of single cards. And if you don't do tracking (and I wouldn't) then be prepared to lose a few in the mail.

Honestly for the trouble and what you have there I'd probably just come up with a price for the lot and be done with it. From my own experience you'd probably sell right away for $1/per card and probably not sell at $5/card. I don't buy any more so I'm not exactly sure where lot prices are these days.

In 2014 I sold/traded my last 350 common autographed cards, pretty much the same era that you have there to a big dealer for $225 in credit and was fine with that. I could kept trying to sell them off individually for $3 here and there and probably sold the bulk of them but I'd still probably be at it. I picked up a bunch of needs for my Oakland A's run in the trade.

Good luck with whatever you decide.