Blog Bat Around #4

I decided to wait until the #4 spot in the order came up before I would take my hacks.

From Dinged Corners, the question(s) this time:

Which baseball card or set do you believe will be valuable in ten years? In other words, no matter what happens with the player(s) or industry going forward--injury, steroid accusations, drugs, gambling charges, the demise or ascendancy of Topps, Donruss and Upper Deck--what single card or set from baseball cards past or present do you believe is an absolute BUY and HOLD?

Valuable is term that I stopped using a long time ago. I forced myself to stop thinking that my collection is valuable. Something only has value if you can sell it. I have never put any real effort into selling cards.

As to what card or set will be valuable in ten years... I look forward to everyone else's answers.

Of course, I will always value Tony Gwynn cards. His 1983 Topps card will always hold a special place in my heart.

As for BUY and HOLD... I am waiting for the complete set of Goose Joak Originals to be completed. You can't beat the BUY price, and they have nowhere to go but up!

Turning Treasure into Trash...

I got my first pack of 2009 Upper Deck today. I was surprised to pull one of the 2009 Historic Firsts Predictor cards. I guess they are not very rare, but this card really caught my eye. Just yesterday, the Dinged Corners blog had posted the photograph used on the card! Strange coincidence?

Tony Gwynn - a History (Part 9-16)...

Everybody knows the history and statistics of Tony Gwynn's career. I would like to see who knows the most...

Send an email to me with an interesting story and a brief statistical breakdown of the seasons that correspond to the following cards:

1979 Topps - Tony Gwynn #100

1980 Topps - Tony Gwynn #250

1981 Topps - Tony Gwynn #19

1981 Fleer - Tony Gwynn #17



1981 Donruss - Tony Gwynn #88

1982 Topps - Tony Gwynn #400

1982 Fleer - Tony Gwynn #19

1982 Donruss - Tony Gwynn #75

Don't feel like you have to submit an entry for each card. Send whatever you like to travis@punkrockpaint.com

Thanks for your help.

Witness Statement #3 (Doubting Thomas)

In the PunkRockPaint chat room, several conversations have focused on my reliable witnesses. The following quotes are taken directly from the boards:

"He probably gave Dayf a stack of Chipper cards and Rod a pile of Padres autos to lie for him."

"I still have'nt (sic) seen teh (sic) card. They are porbably (sic) lieing (sic) for the publisity (sic)."

"If they don't show us the card, I am calling bulls#*t!"

Like I said before people... You're gonna have to pay to see it, just like everybody else.

One message on the boards caught my attention. Dave from Tribecards had the following observation:

"His witnesses are beyond reproach; his Gwynn collection is world class; his research for his blog is top notch... I just wish I could see the card."

Well, Dave, flattery gets you nowhere. On this blog, flattery gets you a sneek peek. I sent the evidence to Dave, and he returned this statement:

When I was first asked to serve as a 'reliable witness,' I have to admit, I was skeptical. After all, it is well-known that PRP has a knack for creating cards with amazing detail and accuracy.
I reviewed the card in question (one 1978 Tony Gwynn 'error' card), encased within the PSA garding sleeve. I suggested that PRP suppply a photo of himself holding said card. In the meantime, I contacted a friend of mine at PSAP in regards to this card.
My connection, who shall remain nameless under the guidelines of the ECWPA (Error Card Witness Protection Act), requested some time to research and verify. The following is what I received:
"Dave, you are NOT going to believe this! This is totally legit, man! I checked with internal records, and sure enough, the card number and serial number match the 1978 Topps Tony Gwynn error card! I had never seen the card before, and the owner of that puppy is one lucky guy!"
I, therefore, have no choice but to unequivocally hereby witness that this is, in fact, an amazing specimen of one 1978 Topps Tony Gwynn error card!

Dave,
Thanks for your kind words and all the gifts of cards you shower on your readers.
PRP

Witness Statement #2

This comes from Rod Richards of Padrographs:

After viewing the card in Mr. Peterson's possession I can verify its authenticity. On the back is a small roller mark on the lower left corner. This is the card that I pulled from a pack, which I purchased at a 7-11 in Escondido, when my ship pulled into San Diego. I kept the card in the pages of a book by Pat Conroy, until I decided to buy a house. I sold my card to a gentleman in Rancho Santa Fe and was able to purchase a small home in Portland, OR. I used to show this card to a select few other Padres collectors. I did some research into the identity of the young lady on the card and found out that at the time of the photo she was a 21 year graduate student at San Diego State, who did what she did to win a $500 bet. I talked to her last week and she is doing fine, wondering how something she did in a moment could make something so valuable. Punk Rock Paint is extremely lucky to have this card, it is good to know that the card is in the hands of a true fan of Tony Gwynn.


Authors note:
Thank you, Rod. I am blessed to have it in my collection. And thank you for the offer to get the card autographed, but I will have to pass. Last time I showed it to Tony, he offered to trade me his 1980 NL MVP award for the card. I was shocked that he did not own one! He said he hadn't seen one since the early '80s. He thought at the time that the card was one of the many forgeries. He confided in me that, to that very day, he still remembered the look on the crew-cut, young man's face when he refused to sign the card. That heart-broken look is the reason he never turns down an autograph request.

I guess that young sailor was you, Rod. It really is a small world.

Witness Statement #1

From Dayf at Cardboard Junkie:

Ok. I got the e-mail and checked out the scan. Now, there are a bunch of fakes of this card floating around the hobby, but this one is legit. I've only seen one copy of this card in person. There's an old guy at the flea market near me who's been collecting cards since he was a kid in Brooklyn in the '50s. His shop is like a museum, there's every kind of card there going back to to tobacco cards, old SIGNED Goudeys, piles of Topps from the '50s and '60s, even a healthy collection of bizarre '90s inserts. This guy has seen everything. He also happens to have a MASSIVE collection of old porn in the shop. Cards and porn. The guy makes a lot of money. One time be bought a stash of old Playboys from a lady whose husband had recently passed. I say bought, but it was more like "Just take 'em and get them out of myhouse". Well, inside the issue with the Pete Rose interview was this card, tucked right next to the Vargas Girl. He let me take a good look at it and then I checked out the card too.
A lot of the fakes are easy to spot. Inexperienced forgers use a blond girl, put her up too high so you can see everything, some even performed a little "surgical enhancement". This one at least has the right gal streaking in the background. You can tell that this is the original error card by the dot pattern. On the original card the pattern looks smooth and everything blends together. The copy is taken directly from the card image, but the reproduction wasn't perfect and there's a slight moire pattern if you look closely at the girl. Very,very closely. Experts have been known to examine the card for up to an hour before giving it a stamp of approval. Now, PSA grading has their problems, but this is one of the premier error cards in the industryand if they graded it, I'm positive they were extremely thorough. This is the real deal, brother. Congrats on having a fantastic cap to yourTony Gwynn collection!

Error cards...

There has been some question as to the veracity of my last post.

First of all, the history of Tony Gwynn's 39 years in the Major Leagues is not something I would ever attempt to hyperbolize about. The statistics don't lie!

Secondly, one reader stated that card #200 from the 1978 set is Reggie Jackson. DUH!!! Of course it is... now!!! For those of you that can't remember the story of card #200, let me refresh your memory:

When the controversy settled down after the "Nudie" Gwynn card was pulled from circulation, Topps went into damage control mode. The Reggie Jackson card was moved from card #77 (a number of honor for the newly crowned "Mr. October"). The vacated #77 was filled by Ed Kirkpatrick. Ed finished his 16 year career splitting time with Pittsburgh, Texas, and Milwaukee in 1977. Please try doing some research before bashing me in the comments.

I pulled this picture from checkoutmycards.com a few months ago. I don't own the original checklist. The card was substantially discounted, but I couldn't see spending $2,800 on a checklist card.

Lastly, for any of you that don't believe that I actually own one of the error cards. I am willing to show a scan of the slabbed card to TWO reliable witnesses. Please send a brief card collecting resume to travis@punkrockpaint.com with the subject line "1978 Gwynn error". I will notify the winners within the week. Witnesses will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement and provide a brief statement (which will be posted on this blog) upon viewing the card.