Mike Schmidt Topps Contract on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0468833552


I think it's kinda cool! IT's going for a over 1k...

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

I didn't see that it ended... cool piece though!

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

Pre rookie sig on it. Amazing piece, Topps has been putting up some really nice contracts up in the Vault program as of late. W has been scoring some of these. Looks like he got outbid on this one. Don't see that very much.

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

I am hopefully going to hit a few lower ones (they go for around 10 bucks) and then have them framed.

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

I see the Mantle only went for $900

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

The Lombardozzi went for $17.94 delivered.

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

TBTwinsFan said:

I am hopefully going to hit a few lower ones (they go for around 10 bucks) and then have them framed.

Click to expand...

Great idea. I picked up the contract below.

Just realized Fernando doesn't have a ton of autos which makes me like it more

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

uniquebaseballcards said:

TBTwinsFan said:

I am hopefully going to hit a few lower ones (they go for around 10 bucks) and then have them framed.

Click to expand...

Great idea. I picked up the contract below.

Just realized Fernando doesn't have a ton of autos which makes me like it more

Click to expand...

It would be better if it were a name that I knew, but I will take any contract I can get my hands on. I think they are unique!

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

TBTwinsFan said:

It would be better if it were a name that I knew, but I will take any contract I can get my hands on. I think they are unique!

Click to expand...

If they don't sell at auction, Topps will usually put it in its store for $9.99 BIN. You can usually find players you've heard of before if you've collected cards back when they issued these contracts. Good stuff!

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

does anyone know the types of things in the Topps catalog?

For the $75 they get to be spent in the catalog, does Topps put stuff in there like $50 IPODs or $75 PS3's so that a player's payment can actually buy something desired right away?

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

rsmath said:

does anyone know the types of things in the Topps catalog?

For the $75 they get to be spent in the catalog, does Topps put stuff in there like $50 IPODs or $75 PS3's so that a player's payment can actually buy something desired right away?

Click to expand...

Back then, they only had one or 2 sets and no autographs... so they didn't get paid anything compared to today. I saw that Viola got like $15 for a contract.

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

A few months back, the Topps Vault was selling off the records of what each player ordered from the catalog! No signature or anything, just a record that Claude Osteen got an 8-Track player in February 1971 and now has a balance of $38.71 remaining on his Topps account. I remember seeing types of things ballplayers might want - stereo stuff, outdoor equipment, that sort of thing. They're not ordering Topps Factory Sets if that's the question.

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

mudflap02 said:

I remember seeing types of things ballplayers might want - stereo stuff, outdoor equipment, that sort of thing. They're not ordering Topps Factory Sets if that's the question.

Click to expand...

I was looking at the Lombardozzi contract earlier in this thread and saw he was paid $75 in Topps Catalog money.
I know that was in the 1980's, but assuming it was today, you know a player couldn't care less about Topps products (except for Pat Neshek. :lol: ) so I was wondering how it would work today if $75 was the standard fee. If players wanted MP3 players,r Blu-Ray Players or hunting rifles, you know those would cost more than $75, so I'd have to think Topps might list those things in the catalog at "discounted" prices so a player wouldn't have to accumulate lots of years of Topps Catalog payments in order to buy something.

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

I know anything Schmidt is worth more now a days, but back then Fernando was a stud!
For a personal collection point of view with value aside, Id MUCH rather have the Fernando contract over the Schmidt contract...... and his sig is very tough compared to most players of that era. Very cool!

These types of unique card related items were more unusual and rarely seen 20+ years ago.... now that Topps is dumping all their basement garbage (ie printing plates, original artwork, contracts, etc.), its not as big a deal IMO, but still cool for the player collector who wants everything.

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

fkw said:

I know anything Schmidt is worth more now a days, but back then Fernando was a stud!
For a personal collection point of view with value aside, Id MUCH rather have the Fernando contract over the Schmidt contract...... and his sig is very tough compared to most players of that era. Very cool!

These types of unique card related items were more unusual and rarely seen 20+ years ago.... now that Topps is dumping all their basement garbage (ie printing plates, original artwork, contracts, etc.), its not as big a deal IMO, but still cool for the player collector who wants everything.

Click to expand...

Or too the General collector who wants everything :lol:

*looks around and whistles

EDIT: I changed the spelling for Schmidt. That was bothering me.... ::facepalm::

Re: Mike Scmidt Topps Contract on ebay

uniquebaseballcards said:

TBTwinsFan said:

I am hopefully going to hit a few lower ones (they go for around 10 bucks) and then have them framed.

Click to expand...

Great idea. I picked up the contract below.

Just realized Fernando doesn't have a ton of autos which makes me like it more

Click to expand...

That Fernando is awesome. That was the first "big" card that I remember.

They intereviewed Sy Berger, IIRC, in the Great American Baseball Card Flipping and Trading book (Must read for any collector, BTW), and he mentions the payments. After the Maury Wills fiasco, they signed everyone they could, but it was for something like $10 per year per player, enough for a nice steak dinner at the time, with amount going up the longer you were a player. He mentioned someone like Al Kaline saving up his contract money to buy a big freezer or something out of the catalog.

I really like these contracts. I keep hoping to find a Bake McBride, or other obscure '70s Phillies one. There was a Luzinski up years ago, but I missed it. I would've settled for a Schmidt, but $1000 is out of my price range. Great pickup for someone, though.

i was trying to get this, but once it got beyond 400 i gave up on it.

Fernando facts....

As a teenager straight from Mexico, he didnt give up a single earned run in 10 games with the Dodgers.

In his rookie season of 1981 (prestrike) at 20 years old, speaking no English and with a Ruthian physique, he started out 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 5 complete game shutouts. He had 8 total shutouts in that strike shortened season (Andy Pettitte has 4 in his 16 year career)

Rookie season of 1981, led league in strikeouts... and became the only player in Major League history to win the Rookie of the Year award, the Cy Young Award, the Silver Slugger Award and a World Series championship in the same season.

He pitched 26 complete game shutouts before his 26th Birthday.

In 1986 he had 20 complete games, and at the 1986 All-Star Game, Valenzuela made history by striking out five consecutive American League batters, tying a record set by fellow left-handed screwballer Carl Hubbell in the 1934 contest.

In 1990, his last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Valenzuela hit .304 in 69 at-bats, with one home run, five doubles, and eleven runs batted in.
He hit 10 home runs, 26 doubles, and had 84 RBIs in 936 career at bats (less than 2 full seasons of ABs for an everyday player)


200+ Strikeouts 3 times in career
In career, he gave up 200+ less hits than innings pitched.

I had a chronic case of Fernandomania when I was a 14-year-old yute. The latest 30 on 30 on him was pretty cool - brought back a lot of memories.