“We’ve come a long way …”
Archive for Walter Johnson
Instagram Portrait: 1909-11 T206 Walter Johnson / 2010 Topps Chrome Refractor Autographs Stephen Strasburg
Posted in Instagram Portraits with tags autographs, baseball, baseball cards, Instagram Portraits, Stephen Strasburg, t206, Topps, Walter Johnson on July 26, 2012 by Cardboard IconsLatest BGS order received; Babe Ruth rookie has come home
Posted in Newspaperman with tags Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Cy Young, Goudey, Hall of fame, rookie cards, Steve Carlton, Topps, Walter Johnson on May 5, 2012 by Cardboard IconsI took advantage of the April grading special offered by Beckett Grading Services, which allowed for 20-day service at $7 per vintage card. I sent seven cards that needed to be slabbed in BGS cases for my collection.
A few of these were previously slabbed by other companies, but I just wanted them in BGS cases, which are my favorite. Along the way, I got a few grade bumps (Cy Young), and some nice returns on some raw cards (Ron Santo and Hoyt Wilhelm).
But the grand daddy of them all is the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth, which previously was encapsulated by SGC. No grade bump there, but it was nice to re-assure me that it was authentic. It might be considered “poor” but it looks a hell of a lot better than a lot of 1s I’ve seen. The issue? Some paper loss on the back bottom corners and a tiny pinhole on the left border.
1965 Topps Steve Carlton rookie card BVG 3
1957 Topps Bill Mazeroski rookie card BVG 5
1961 Topps Ron Santo rookie card BVG 6
1909-1911 T206 Polar Bear Walter Johnson BVG 1
1909-1911 T206 Piedmont Cy Young BVG 2.5
1952 Topps Hoyt Wilhelm rookie card BVG 3
1933 Goudey Babe Ruth rookie card BVG1
Cardboard Icon: 1909-1911 T206 Polar Bear Back Walter Johnson
Posted in Cardboard Icon with tags baseball, baseball cards, Cardboard Icons, Hall of fame, Walter Johnson on February 16, 2012 by Cardboard Icons
I like to show off my cards from time to time. You know that. I show them off because these are not cards you typically see on other blogs.
I show them off because I am proud to own them. I show them off because I’m hoping to turn some of you onto some of the true Cardboard Icons. I show them off because these are the kind of cards that YOU could own. Yeah, you.
Today I present the newest Cardboard Icon: The 1909-1911 T206 Polar Bear back Walter Johnson.
Johnson was part of the inaugural class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. He was inducted along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner. Yeah, he was pretty good.
Dubbed the “Big Train,” Johnson hurled his way into history by playing 21 seasons during which he won 417 games (including 110 complete game shutouts), struck out 3509 batters, and posted a career 2.17 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.
This PSA T206 Johnson came to the Cardboard Icons collection in February 2012. While the overall grade leaves much to be desired, the card presents nicely. Johnson T206 cards in this grade usually are offered for $250-$350, and they are usually of the more common “Piedmont” back. This slightly tougher version went below that market.
Tip: Remember, if you’re in the market for one of these century old cards, make sure they are already graded by PSA, BVG/BGS or SGC. There are a lot of reprints on the market, many of which are falsely altered to look old. Buying a card not graded by one of these three top grading companies could lead to an expensive mistake.
Baseball Hall of Famers: Class of 1936
Posted in Hall of Famers with tags Babe Ruth, baseball, baseball cards, Christy Mathewson, Hall of fame, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, vintage baseball cards, Walter Johnson on May 7, 2010 by Cardboard IconsGot an idea I’m unveiling here. As I move into a new era of card collecting, I’m going to showcase my cards from another era simply by grouping them by the year the depicted player was inducted into the Hall of Fame. We start at the beginning: 1936
Ty
Cobb
1909-1911 T206 Piedmont Ty Cobb Red Background
Babe
Ruth
1933 Goudey Babe Ruth
Christy
Mathewson
1909-1911 T206 Sweet Caporal Dark Cap Christy Mathewson
Walter
Johnson
1909-1911 T206 Polar Bear Walter Johnson
Honus
Wagner
Baseball Greats post card Honus Wagner -- circa 1960s
Updated 2/26/12
I made it into Beckett
Posted in Newspaperman with tags baseball, baseball cards, Beckett, San Jose State, sports, Tommie Smith, Walter Johnson on September 21, 2009 by Cardboard Icons
Getting published is something that is not new to me. I write for a living, so seeing my name in print isn’t a huge deal anymore. But when it happens unexpectedly, I must say there is a sense of giddiness.
Big thanks to Tom at South Bay Sports Cards for pointing out to me last week that I had been published in Beckett. I swung by the card shop last Friday for the first time in about six weeks to buy some supplies, and Tom asked if I was the guy who was published in Beckett. Turns out the magazine ran my letter in the “Readers Write” section.
In a nutshell, Beckett had created a list of most significant Allen & Ginter autographs since the set’s re-released in 2006. I noted that the 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Tommie Smith card was not on Beckett’s list, but that I had considered it one of the most significant non-cut signatures Topps had released in the last decade. (You can probably click the image posted here and read the letter for yourself.)
What’s funny is that I had kind of stayed away from Beckett magazines in recent months because of my inactivity in the hobby so I had no intentions on buying the magazine. I actually held a copy of this same issue just days earlier while getting my oil changed at Wal-Mart, but I put it down before actually flipping to the Readers Write section. Had Tom not pointed out that I was in it, I probably would have never known.
This is the first time I’ve had my name in the magazine, but the second time something I did was recognized in print. In 2001, the magazine noted my $3,605 sale of a 2001 Upper Deck Hall of Fame Walter Johnson cut signature. And yes, I am kicking myself for not keeping a scan of the card or taking a picture with it. Gah!
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