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Visually stunning, the '33 Goudey Set is one of the most coveted in the entire hobby

Recently, a gentleman from California who received two baseball card scrapbooks from his grandfather in the late 1980's contacted us. He had held on to these for more than 25 years before deciding to solicit offers and potentially sell the collection. We reviewed images of the cards and negotiated a price before eventually purchasing the group.

One scrapbook contained the complete 1929 Kashin Publication Set of 100 cards including an extra Babe Ruth that had been glued to the cover of the scrapbook. The other contained a near set of 1933 Goudey baseball cards, including three of the four different Babe Ruth cards, both Lou Gehrig cards, and a monumental number of other Hall of Famers. The colors and registration were absolutely stunning as they had been in the scrapbook for decades and not exposed to the elements. Unfortunately, way back when, the grandfather had trimmed the Goudeys before he used cloth tape to affix them into the scrapbook.

We had to be extremely careful not to damage the cards while removing the cloth tape.

The trimming, while not at all unusual, is extremely detrimental to the overall value of a collection. A collection like this, if untrimmed and properly stored, might have been worth tens of thousands of dollars. Sadly, trimming the cards and taping them into an album significantly reduced (but did not completely remove) the value.

Notice the trimming across the top and bottom edges of the cards

Today’s cards are usually housed in custom boxes, Lucite holders, Mylar baggies, "top loaders," album pages in binders, and a myriad of other condition-preserving ways. But a century ago and through the 1940's, very few people cared about collecting baseball cards. “The hobby” as we know it today really didn’t exist yet. Back in the day, cards were typically kept in either cigar boxes or scrapbooks.

Scrapbooks were extremely popular because they allowed the collector to build and store their collection as they saw fit. Scrapbooks often took on the personality and the interests of the collector. Favorite players adorned the cover of the scrapbook and cards would be affixed into the albums with glue or other adhesives. It was not uncommon for the scrapbook builder to trim or cut their cards to fit on pages or to accompany an article that had been removed from the local newspaper.

The cover of this scrapbook featured one of the two 1929 Kashin Babe Ruth cards in the collection. 

Baseball card collections stashed away for decades are always turning up --- sometimes in some pretty strange places. Sometimes they’re carefully stored in cigar boxes, paper bags, and photo albums. Sometimes they’re taped to poster boards and sometimes they’re glued to scrapbooks. Others are carelessly strewn in drawers, cabinets or even forgotten behind walls.

This collection, along with many more that we’ve acquired through the years, demonstrates that even if stored in a manner that damaged the cards, there may still be a surprising amount of value left.

So before you toss that old scrapbook or poster aside, contact us for a FREE baseball card appraisal and we’ll help you learn the value of what you have. Many of our clients have been shocked at what was right under their nose. We’re always purchasing vintage sports cards, non-sports cards, memorabilia, and even select modern sports cards.