T206 "Wagner" of Soccer Cards - Proposal

[Collect Equity]

Originally Posted by Ulidia

I am a member and season ticket holder of Internazionale in Italy so I can say with some authority that cards / stickers are not the primary soccer collectable there. The money goes to shirts, especially vintage shirts, and pennants.

Walk into any of the large soccer museums in Milan (for example, the San Siro Museum) and you won't see anyone fawning over a card - rather it will be old shirts, photos, medals and trophies. Have a look at soccer auction results and cards don't get the largest prices.

You may be right that the most collected items currently are shirts and pennants, especially by adults.

However, the reason I collect cards is because as a child it let me get close to my baseball heroes. I love baseball and was never very good, and loved to pull out my cards so that I could feel close to the game. Also, cards make a good collectible because of their size.

So, Ulidia, I am curious if you were to take a poll of 20 kids in the neighborhood or at the soccer stadium, how many collect soccer stickers and if not, do they collect anything else that does let them feel close to the game (magazines, jerseys, etc.)?

My hypothesis is that lack of nostalgia from kids not collecting baseball cards today will lead to a dearth of baseball card collectors in 30 - 40 years. But because kids today collect stickers around the world (especially Panini WC stickers), that soccer cards will become more and more popular over the next 30 - 40 years.

I really am interested in knowing if kids in your neighborhood or who you meet at the soccer stadium collect stickers now.

[aljurgela]

OK guys, some of you may have seen my posting on Leonidas Da Silva, but probably my favorite card of his (and one of my favorite soccer cards in general), if the 1950 Tinghalls Leonidas.

This card (and all of the Sao Paulo issues) of Tinghalls are exceedingly rare and I know of just three copies of this card. It appears that they were made to celebrate a tour of the Sao Paulo team in Sweden.

The last time that I saw this card at auction was about 5 years ago or so and it brought $800. I did not win that card and had to pay much more than that to get this copy. Anyway, enjoy.

[Anish]

Originally Posted by aljurgela

OK guys, some of you may have seen my posting on Leonidas Da Silva, but probably my favorite card of his (and one of my favorite soccer cards in general), if the 1950 Tinghalls Leonidas.

This card (and all of the Sao Paulo issues) of Tinghalls are exceedingly rare and I know of just three copies of this card. It appears that they were made to celebrate a tour of the Sao Paulo team in Sweden.

The last time that I saw this card at auction was about 5 years ago or so and it brought $800. I did not win that card and had to pay much more than that to get this copy. Anyway, enjoy.

Wow. That’s actually the best candidate yet. Tough (short printed?) card of an all-time great from an iconic set.

[Collect Equity]

Originally Posted by Anish

Wow. That’s actually the best candidate yet. Tough (short printed?) card of an all-time great from an iconic set.

I'd agree that this has some good attributes, with the short print and iconic set. But the year is later than the original qualification.

And in my opinion, it still doesn't quite have the same draw as the T206 Wagner yet. But maybe in 10 years after it continues to get more publicity . . .

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Collect Equity

I'd agree that this has some good attributes, with the short print and iconic set. But the year is later than the original qualification.

And in my opinion, it still doesn't quite have the same draw as the T206 Wagner yet. But maybe in 10 years after it continues to get more publicity . . .

Agree on the date of issue and the potential for this card.... it is perhaps too rare, however. I have not seen enough copies to comply with somebody else’s standard of “at least getable” by coming to auction every now and then.

[Anish]

Originally Posted by Collect Equity

You may be right that the most collected items currently are shirts and pennants, especially by adults.

However, the reason I collect cards is because as a child it let me get close to my baseball heroes. I love baseball and was never very good, and loved to pull out my cards so that I could feel close to the game. Also, cards make a good collectible because of their size.

So, Ulidia, I am curious if you were to take a poll of 20 kids in the neighborhood or at the soccer stadium, how many collect soccer stickers and if not, do they collect anything else that does let them feel close to the game (magazines, jerseys, etc.)?

My hypothesis is that lack of nostalgia from kids not collecting baseball cards today will lead to a dearth of baseball card collectors in 30 - 40 years. But because kids today collect stickers around the world (especially Panini WC stickers), that soccer cards will become more and more popular over the next 30 - 40 years.

I really am interested in knowing if kids in your neighborhood or who you meet at the soccer stadium collect stickers now.

I think video games (eg FIFA) have replaced cards.

That being said, many people collect items from before their time (myself included) as opposed to items from their childhood.

[Ulidia]

Originally Posted by Collect Equity

So, Ulidia, I am curious if you were to take a poll of 20 kids in the neighborhood or at the soccer stadium, how many collect soccer stickers and if not, do they collect anything else that does let them feel close to the game (magazines, jerseys, etc.)?

My hypothesis is that lack of nostalgia from kids not collecting baseball cards today will lead to a dearth of baseball card collectors in 30 - 40 years. But because kids today collect stickers around the world (especially Panini WC stickers), that soccer cards will become more and more popular over the next 30 - 40 years.

Here in the British Isles, until today, the main soccer collectible has been the match program (programme) because it has related to a specific game. That has been the primary collectible because those kids attending games got one and kept it and those kids who weren’t able to attend wished they did.

Program collecting would be the closest UK sports comparable to baseball card collecting albeit much smaller values at the high end i.e. it still raises eyebrows when a program sells over $10k or equivalent.

However, program collecting is slowly declining - prices have been falling generally (or at best static for really top end items) for over a decade. More so, this will be significantly impacted by the increasing decision of clubs not to issue program for individual games - so fewer kids will get into the hobby. Ultimately, the match day program may, to some extent, go the same way as the daily newspaper.


Cards were collected in the past. Since Panini (and a number of rivals) made it big here some decades ago, cards were eclipsed by stickers as a collectible. Kids do collect Panini stickers but, in the 1980s and 1990s they sold much higher numbers than today. Interestingly, the attraction to Panini stickers here tends to be more from adults who did collect them and swap them in the prior generations.

To give you an example, my beloved Northern Ireland qualified for the 2016 European Championships, the first tournament they qualified for since 1986. It elicited excitement for many people of my age (heading towards mid 40s) because it meant we’d have Northern Ireland in a Panini sticker album for the first time since the 1986 World Cup. I’ve got completed 1982 & 1986 Panini albums because of the Northern Ireland team.

So there’s definitely a place for stickers / cards but, of the serious collectors over here (serious in terms of money spent, albeit generally modest versus US), they don’t want to spend their money on stickers or cards of players.

[Ulidia]

For anyone interested in the UK soccer sticker craze (started by Panini) of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, there is a very good documentary called “Stuck on You”.

For some reason, I do not appear able to add a link but search “stuck on you Panini” on YouTube to access it.