2. 2005 National Sports Collector's Convention (A Brief Overview)

Taking advantage of a late July cool spell, the National Sports Collector's Convention kicked off in Chicago with strong interest in vintage cards and memorabilia.

The 26th annual event was held Wednesday, July 27 through Sunday, July 31. A few of the highlights included a display of a major portion of the well known Frank Nagy collection (the T206 Wagner from that display seems to get overshadowed by the towering stacks of other vintage cards from the collection). Other displays featured a high-grade complete set (said to be be second finest ever) of T205 Gold Border tobacco cards and an original 1918 letter from Red Sox management offering Babe Ruth a bonus based on Ruth's pitching record for the then current season. All of these display items are scheduled for auction over the next few months. Perhaps more importantly for vintage collectors wanting to return home with purchases in hand were the seemingly endless rows of dealers, many of whom were buying, selling and trading vintage cards and memorabilia.

Most vintage collectors appeared very pleased with the offerings of vintage material although some expressed apprehension over the prices a few of the cards and sets were bringing. If there was any underlying topic of discussion, it was the dearth of caramel cards found at the show and the high prices that were bringing (see separate article below).

At least on the surface, most all dealers seemed very pleased with strong sales. One dealer even stated that he exceeded his sales expectations for the entire show even before the first session ended on Wednesday evening.

On Friday evening, following a day of buying, selling and trading vintage cards at the show, members of the Network 54 Vintage Baseball Card Forum converged on nearby Shoeless Joe’s Sports Bar for an evening of fun, food and lively discussions about their latest vintage baseball card finds. With more than 35 people in attendance, the group is among the largest (if not, the largest) gathering of collectors of old cardboard ever assembled in one place. The forum consists of members from a large cross-section of geographically dispersed areas. The members also represent a wide variety of vintage collecting interests, with specialists in 19th century cards and memorabilia, early 20th century caramel, candy and tobacco cards, postcards, Exhibits, newspaper supplements, and much more.

The Fall 2005 issue of Old Cardboard magazine will provide more detailed coverage of the show along with photos of all of the displays mentioned above. The Collector's Dugout section will be expanded (this issue only) to include a group photo of the Friday evening gathering with each of the attendees identified. More than any other "Dugout" feature published to date, it will provide a venue for readers to "meet" dozens of their fellow collectors. It's the next best thing to being there!

4. Book Review: A Portrait of Baseball Photography

Collecting baseball cards prior to the 1960s was accomplished mostly on uncharted ground. Checklists were not widely circulated, there were few reference points for determining value, and most collectors had little information available about the various cards that they sought to collect. Such is the case now, more or less, for baseball photographs as we enter the twenty first century. The lack of a common "play book" from which collectors can evaluate baseball photographs has until recently deterred collectors from venturing into this branch of the vintage baseball collecting hobby.

The new book, A Portrait of Baseball Photography, provides that needed foundation. Published by MastroNet and introduced at the 2005 National Sports Collector's Convention in Chicago last week, the book is written by seasoned baseball photograph collectors Marshall Fogel (profiled in Old Cardboard's Collector's Dugout section of Issue #4), Khyber Oser and Henry Yee.

Beginning with the basics, the book details the origins and classifications of news and wire photos and provides historical overviews of the major news photo services. A large section documents the careers of some of the great baseball photographers including Joseph Hall, Carl Horner, Charles Conlon, George Burke and others--many of whose photographs were used in the production of baseball card sets well known to vintage card collectors today. An appendix details the various photographic processes from the earliest daguerreotypes to the silver-gelatin paper prints that dominated photographic printing in the twentieth century.

The volume is lavishly illustrated in black and white and printed on quality coated paper for enhanced image detail. Further, many of the illustrations are as compelling as the one found on the cover (shown above), which shows Babe Ruth behind the lens of an early camera and Lou Gehrig looking on.

For the vintage collector with even a passing interest in photo history, we grade the book NrMt.