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Oscar Taveras fire sale!

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fordman

Well-known member
Feb 22, 2013
3,190
32
Ohio
Went to a card show in Cincinnati, Ohio today. and everyone was selling Oscar Taveras cards CHEAP! I mean $2-$3 for auto'd and mem cards. Guess with his untimely passing, dealers feel they better dump their investments.

Decent card show with dealers from NW Indiana and Kentucky mixed in with the regular crew of dealers. It was noticeable that several of the regular dealers wasnt there. I asked a few questions and was told that they didnt get the invite because they owed too much 'paper'.

Fordman
 

linuxabuser

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2011
2,364
50
Well it's not like he's going to be some All-Star stud. Look at Greg Halman autos (not that they were the same caliber of player, but still).
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,188
4,100
Taveras will be a curiosity to autograph collectors moving forward. He didn't exactly accomplish enough before he died for people to really remember him. There is probably sufficient supply to satisfy the demand of team, players and set collectors who may want one. There are the dead player buyers too, who grab any player who is dead, often with the odd expectation that they will rise in value. Unless the player did something of significance, who needs an autograph and they really aren't worth much more than a living semistar, if that.

Doug Million, Dernell Stenson, Mike Darr, Jose Oliva, Joe Kennedy, Nick Aidenhart, Geremi Gonzalez, Josh Han****, Andujar Cedeno, Cory Lidle and Greg Halman are a few that come to mind that died young and during or shortly after their careers ended. The key here is that most either had a decent supply of certified autographs or have very little demand for their signature much after the news of their death settled.

Now take this back 20-30 years and the autographs are harder to find and what was out there is tucked away in personal collections. Guys like Danny Thompson, Dan Frisella, Bob Moose, Thurman Munson, Lyman Bostock and others come to mind. Most of these guys were better players, but demand is higher and supply is lower. maybe this shows there is hope one day for the first list, but I doubt it.

One example I have for my collection is Brian Traxler. He was a Dodger prospect in the late 80s/early 90s. He played in 9 MLB games in 1990 for the Dodgers. I wanted a signature for my Dodger collection despite the fact that he did nothing of significance in his career. He died in 2004 at age 37, after his baseball career had ended, but his signatures seem to be somewhat scarce. He missed the certified autograph era and being a career minor leaguer, I guess he didn't sign a bunch while he played or people just didn't hold on to them? Not sure about demand past me though.
 

wallyscards

Member
Sep 13, 2009
131
0
South Dakota
I think another player to add to list of short supply is Glenn Burke. I have to admit that the only thing I knew about him was that I remember sorting a bunch of '78 & '79 Topps and seeing his name. After I read his book Out At Home I started to collect him. He was the first openly gay Baseball player and some say he invented the high 5. He lived from 1952-1995 and didn't have much of a career but his story has caused a lot of interest in his signature. I have a few in my collection but they are hard to come by.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,188
4,100
Burke would fall into the 2nd category I described though, where he played before autograph collecting became as popular as it is now and he has a special collecting interest that most of the other newer players don't. Had his sexual orientation not come to light, he would probably just be in the category of players who died young and are mildly collected. Who knows though? he was of interest to me because of his time with the Dodgers.

Besides my 78T card, here are a couple of my favorites. One was, I believe, for the player signature plaques that they sold in the mid-late 70s and the other was for those facsimile baseballs:

 

wallyscards

Member
Sep 13, 2009
131
0
South Dakota
I had never thought to check before now...



I think we have a match with #1 !!
That's awesome. I have a few of his cards signed, a couple of team signed minor league baseballs and a check. I remember those that you posted pictures of. I'm sure I bid on them but couldn't go very high because I had just bought a huge collection. It never fails that when I find something I want for my personal collection that an awesome deal pops up for me to make a lot of money on so I have to pass on a few things.
 

rsmath

Active member
Nov 8, 2008
6,086
1
One example I have for my collection is Brian Traxler. He was a Dodger prospect in the late 80s/early 90s. He played in 9 MLB games in 1990 for the Dodgers. I wanted a signature for my Dodger collection despite the fact that he did nothing of significance in his career. He died in 2004 at age 37, after his baseball career had ended, but his signatures seem to be somewhat scarce.

I feel his auto wouldn't be that scarce - he was a very willing signer and I'm sure I must have at least 5 Brian Traxler autos in my collection if I go through all the 3x5's from the 1980's/early 1990's timeframe of getting autos at the Sports Stadium.

I guess someone else is like you and feels the auto is scarce - a Traxler auto has popped up on ebay in the last month with a (ridiculous IMHO) $50 BIN and keeps getting relisted so obviously not selling at $50 but I guess the seller is hoping there will be a sucker to hit the BIN.
 

Mighty Bombjack

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
6,115
12
It is pretty wild to see all of the Taveras autos coming out in the end of the year products (Dynasty, Q, etc.). Dude signed a lot right before he passed, that's for sure.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,188
4,100
Is it Alohasportscards or something like that? He probably paid that and wants to try to recoup…good luck there!!

I feel his auto wouldn't be that scarce - he was a very willing signer and I'm sure I must have at least 5 Brian Traxler autos in my collection if I go through all the 3x5's from the 1980's/early 1990's timeframe of getting autos at the Sports Stadium.

I guess someone else is like you and feels the auto is scarce - a Traxler auto has popped up on ebay in the last month with a (ridiculous IMHO) $50 BIN and keeps getting relisted so obviously not selling at $50 but I guess the seller is hoping there will be a sucker to hit the BIN.
 
Jun 26, 2013
388
2
Chicago
Hey Fordman did you buy any of these? I should ask if you are selling if you did. I started collecting OT shortly before he passed. I have about a 150-175 diff cards of his and figure i might as well keep on collecting him.
 

fordman

Well-known member
Feb 22, 2013
3,190
32
Ohio
Hey Fordman did you buy any of these? I should ask if you are selling if you did. I started collecting OT shortly before he passed. I have about a 150-175 diff cards of his and figure i might as well keep on collecting him.

Sorry [MENTION=10304]bigdcardinals7[/MENTION] I did not. Since he was a Cardinal and Im a Reds guy, we're like oil and water, he wasnt on my buying radar.

All kidding aside, Im not a prospector so I really dont pay that much attention to that market.

Fordman
 

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