Clean Sweep Auction Catalog

I received this Clean Sweep Auctions catalog in the mail two weeks ago. Full color and great glossy pages. 112 of them. About a quarter of them are actually sale items.

There are 837 lots in this auction that ends on June 3rd. The bulk of the items are baseball, but there are the usual smattering of football, basketball, hockey, boxing, entertainment and presidential items.

The centerpiece of this auction is a near complete set of T206 cards. This near complete set is missing six cards. It started at $10,000. Current bid is $19,489.

Nice, but too high-endy for me. This time around I'm going to focus on lower cost items. Clean Sweep offers quite a range of items, both for auction and for sale. I decided to stay with any item that started for $50 or less. I'm following my basic criteria: Would I want to have this item as part of my personal collection? I've selected five lots.

Lot #151
1922 Neilsons Chocolate Type 1 # 44 Waite Hoyt
Condition: PSA 4
Starting Bid: $50
Current Bid: $61

Lot #194
1941 W754 Cardinals # 13 Edward Lake
Condition: PSA 7
Starting Bid: $16
Current Bid: $16

Lot #232
1959 Fleer # 60 More Records for Ted
Condition: PSA 8
Starting Bid: $17
Current Bid: $21

Lot #276
1968 Kahns # 34.1 Torre (large)
Condition: PSA 8
Starting Bid: $36
Current Bid: no bids

Lot #673

1959 Topps # 514 Bob Gibson (Rookie Card) - Autographed
Condition: 9.5
Starting Bid: $50
Current Bid: $55


For $169 of opening bids, those five cards could be mine. Or yours. If the auction were to end right now, they could be had for $189. This does not include any sort of buyer's premium.

As far as the catalog goes, the pictures are nice, but small. A few typos here and there. Not terrible, but enough for me to wonder who was proofing it. They have a very nice collection of signed baseballs and they tend to focus on cards made before the 1970s.

If you really want to get in on an auction that you can afford, consider Lot #239, a 1959 Topps Ernie Johnson, graded/slabbed card that hasn't yet been bid on. You can start the bidding at $8.

* Note: Current bids are as of 10:00pm, KnoxVegasTimezone, Wednesday, May 27, 2009.

It is all the rage

There are new blog site designs popping up faster than fake patch cards.

So, I figured I'd make mine a bit cleaner, as well. I just used a standard Blogger template, Minima Stretch. I wanted to make sure that the images would fit. (See this entry for an example of how it should work.)

I'm headed out to Michigan for a nephew's High School graduation party on Thursday. I'll be back after the weekend. I've delayed-posted a few entries. That should keep my readers satisfied until my return.

Thanks for playing.

Mail Day from Dad

 

Actually it was from Estate Sale Liquidation, but I think that my dad is behind it.  It was a box of 17 baseball card packs and three rack packs.

Packs

1986 Topps

1987 Topps

1988 Donruss 

1988 Topps

1989 Bowman

1989 Donruss 

1989 Fleer

1989 Topps

1990 Bowman

1990 Donruss

1990 Fleer

1990 Score

1990 Topps Traded

1991 Fleer Ultra

1991 Leaf (Series 2)

1991 Topps Stadium Club (Series 1)

1991 Upper Deck

1992 Upper Deck

Rack Packs
1989 Topps

1990 Fleer

1990 Topps

I'll be opening them in the coming days/weeks.

Thanks, Dad.

 

Memorial Day

T206, Bill Chappelle

Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial, Belgium

What do Bill Chappelle and Memorial Day have in common?

They were both born in Waterloo, New York.

Bill Chappelle, a pitcher, was born in 1881 in Waterloo. He played for the Boston Doves in 1908 and 1909 before being selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds early that season. He played one game for the Reds before being purchased by Rochester club. He later played for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in the Federal League in 1914.

In 1866 the village of Waterloo honored fallen Union soldiers by decorating their graves. In May of 1966 the US Congress and President Truman recognized that Waterloo was the birthplace of Memorial Day.

I selected the photo of the Henri-Chapelle Cemetery because of my grand-uncle, Orville Hodlin, who died in Europe during World War II while serving in the US Army. Orville is interred there.

Please don't forget those that have given the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country.

(Photo of the T206 card lifted from an ebay auction.)

Accountability Time

I have a tendancy to overextend myself. I have a lot of ideas. Some good. Some not so good. But I spend time thinking about each type. I've come to realize that I need to stop thinking up ideas. That will give me more time to do other things. Like things I should be doing.

I have stacks of cards scattered around the computer that need to be put away. I have an IOU to a blogger to send out some cards. I'm about six weeks late on that promise.

I wander the backstreets of ebay, hoping to find the next card I need. But I don't need them.

I did sort out my Hershiser cards that I'd like to scan and post to Zistle (as compared to the ones that I've already scanned or that they have). I'm making some small headway there. I came to the realization that I don't need to scan and post them all this week.

Releasing the hit counter from this blog has freed me up some.

No, I'm not OCD, but I do like things in order. Not my office, mind you, but cards. I'm struggling with how to organize my Hershiser cards in the binder. By manufacturer? By year? By team? I'm leaning towards year.

All that to say, I'm going to get the cards out this week for Sean. I'm going to clean up some of the cards around the computer.

I've also started to bid on HOF relic/auto cards on ebay and elsewhere. I won a few on sportlots.com. I need to be more discriminating when it comes to which HOF relic cards I pick up. I've seen some with a player depicted with a team that he spent one season with. I'd rather have the card showing them with the team that they entered the Hall for.

And now a card or two.

1987 Fleer Record Setters (card # 16)

1989 Baseball Wit (card #1)

The Fleer Record Setters card is from one of those Fleer mini box sets. There were 44 cards in that box. I'm not sure off the top of my head what record Orel set that year.

The Baseball Wit card is from a set of trivia cards. Similar to the Classic game cards.

So, to recap... I'm busy and need to focus. By sharing my thoughts with you here I hope to better fulfill them.

Auto Cards

 

No, not autograph.  Automobile.

I don't know where I got this pack, but I've had them for quite some time.  In honor of the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 I thought I'd open it.

My guess is that these cards were issued in conjunction with Alex Gabbard's book of the same name.
The backs, though informative, don't give much clue to the set of cards.  The highest numbered card I pulled from this pack is V1-64.

From a google search I found Alex Gabbard's website (where he sells his books), that he is involved in a writer's guild in KnoxVegas, and that someone is selling a box of these cards on ebay.

I'm going to try to contact Mr. Gabbard to find out more about the cards.
 

New Shop ideas

--David (Indian Baseball Cards. And then some...) asked some questions about opening a new card shoppe. I thought I'd rework a comment I left several months ago on another blog. I thought it might be worthy of a blog entry.

1. Have reasonably priced cards. A few boxes of 10-cent and 25-cent cards. Little Timmy might like cards, but might not be able afford to buy the latest high priced pack for $5.

2. Have an area for younger collectors. They'll be the future of the hobby. Entice them now, keep them for life. Really, who cares if the 1990 Topps singles box gets dinged around while they paw through it?

3. Have a trading night every few weeks. A few tables where collectors/traders can come in and do actual trading. No money exchanges hands between the traders. Some oversight might be required so that new traders don't get taken by crafty, cunning types. Sure, in a trade, someone will get the "better" deal, but it is all perception. Be the referee/judge if asked. What you want to do is get the customer into your shop and keep them there.

4. Have a trading bulletin board so that collectors can see what others need. A physical cork board.

5. Sponsor "Bad Mustache Card" day. Customers need to bring in a card with a player's bad mustache in the photo for 5 % off all purchases. This can be expanded upon. "Bad Haircut Card" day. "Worst ERA" day. "Worst Batting Average" day. You get the idea.

6. Don't check the price guide on every card you sell. Especially singles from the mid eighties. And if you are going to use a price guide, then also pay very close attention to the condition of the card. Is it centered well? No? Then don't try to charge me a NMT-MT price.

7. Supplies. Have supplies.

8. Know what you're talking about. Or, if you don't, let me know that you don't have a clue about it. I'll respect you a lot more for that answer.

9. Have fun.