Top 1%
- Complete sets. Easy to collect before 1981, it's more difficult today due to the explosion of the number of sets. Older sets can still bring amazing values; a 1953 Bowman set sold at auction in 2007 for $94,800.
- Unopened packs. New packs were once relatively cheap, but today, because of inserts in packs, they can cost as much as $100. Vintage unopened packs from the 1950s and earlier can still go for thousands of dollars.
Batter Up
Leila Dunbar, director of the collectibles department at Sotheby's BID, has some valuable suggestions to avoid striking out in the field of other baseball collectibles. "The bigger the moment, the pricier," Dunbar says -- Mark McGuire's record 70th home run ball sold for $3 million. Look for less dramatic items, too: a piece of paper that L.A. Dodger's pitcher Don Drysdale used as a pitching crib sheet in the 1965 World Series is worth about $1,500. Accordingly, Dunbar adds that players are more valued dead than when alive. Billy Crystal paid $225,000 for a game-used Mickey Mantle glove, the value of which soared even higher after Mantle's death. As Dunbar points out, the holy trinity of baseball collectibles are items from Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb. A1933 Babe Ruth All-Star Game jersey sold for $657,250; Lou Gehrig's game-worn jersey from his final appearance on April 30, 1939, sold for $389,500; Ty Cobb's 1928 signed Philadelphia Athletics jersey sold for $332,500. Signatures from Hall of Famers who died before the advent of card shows are valuable because their autographs are rare. A signed Walter Johnson ball can bring $4,000; one signed by Christy Mathewson can sell for $15,000. Do note, however, that today's players are prolific signers of anything and everything.
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