The Post War Cards Newsletter #40
WHA HK Sets, A '54 Bowman Berra Sample, An '03-04 SP Authentic BK Case, The 3rd NSCC Program, And A '52 Topps Ad
Happy Thursday!
🏒 Four High-End WHA Hockey PSA Sets
Classic Auctions wrapped up its most recent auction on June 24th. The pricey highlight was Bobby Orr’s 1968-69 Boston Bruins Game-Worn Jersey that sold for a whopping $209,455. The fact that it was repaired by the team so many times appears to have made it easier to photo match the jersey to Orr’s James Norris Trophy-winning season.
Not as pricey, but perhaps just as hard to have put together as the jersey, were four complete, PSA-Graded, high Set-Registry ranked, O-Pee-Chee WHA sets.
1974-75, 2nd Current Finest Set, sold for $4,562
1975-76, 3rd Current Finest Set, sold for $7,352
1976-77, 2nd Current Finest Set, sold for $4,562
1977-78, 3rd Current Finest Set, sold for $2,290
I also highlighted the lot featuring the four 1965-66 Hood Ice Cream "Playing Better Hockey" booklets, which failed to sell, on the blog preview for the auction due to their relation to the baseball and basketball booklets.
📺 A Unique 1955 Bowman Yogi Berra Salesman Sample
I’ve covered salesman samples a few times before—highlighting a 1962 Topps Tom Tresh cut sample in NL #17, a 1953 Topps panel in #30, and 1966 Topps panels in #36. But a unique one popped up on eBay a few weeks ago (originally shared on the Net54 boards back in February) that’s definitely worth spotlighting: a 1955 Bowman Yogi Berra, cut from a three-card panel. It sold for just $202.50.
While 1955 Bowman samples are among the more common ones floating around today—I’ve got dozens archived—I’ve never seen a complete panel featuring Berra. Maybe none survived.
I did, however, recently feature two of the three known 1955 Bowman samples with Willie Mays over on the blog.
✍️ Great Hobby Writing
The Topps Archives: Flip Your Lids
Topps Rippled: The Negro Leagues and The Hobby
Sports Collectors Daily: How 1950s Fleer Tried to Woo More Players After Landing Ted Williams
Nippon Baseball Retro: 1973 Calbee Flag-Back Primer
Nine Pockets: Some Original Checklists
The Chronicles of Fuji: Is Bigger Better?
Beckett: How to Identify Fake Magic Cards
Sports Collectors Daily: The Steward of Story: How Justin Shuman Rebuilt a Grandfather’s Baseball Card Legacy
Cardboard History: Mysterious old ladies
🏀 Unopened Item Of The Week - 2003-04 Upper Deck SP Authentic Basketball 12-Box Case
It happened a little while ago, but it’s still worth highlighting: at the end of May, a BBCE-wrapped 12-box case of 2003-04 Upper Deck SP Authentic Basketball sold on eBay for $36,800.
This set features the legendary rookie class of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. For context, during the peak of the hobby boom, Heritage sold a 4-box lot for $25,200 in July 2021—and a full case for $40,800 just eight months before that. It’s a reminder that modern unopened is fickle, and to be careful using boom-era prices as benchmarks.
Enjoying the newsletter? Considering upgrading for the weekly Unopened Market Report! Monday’s highlighted …
📝 On The Blog
June 18, 2025: The Lone SGC 10 Pee Wee Reese Could Be the Nicest One Yet
June 19, 2025: The Trader Speaks, March 1976
June 20, 2025: An REA Marketplace Discovery: A 1988 Fournier Estrellas Unopened Factory-Set Box
June 21, 2025: Mantle Meets Rawlings: A Rare Early-’60s Advertising Gem
June 22, 2025: Then & Now: One of the Hobby’s Best “Hits” Came in 1993 Upper Deck
June 23, 2025: The Trader Speaks, November 1976
June 24, 2025: Original Diamond Stars Artwork for Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx Heads to Auction
June 25, 2025: Double Take: David Greenwood’s Extra Feature in the 1986 Fleer Basketball Set
📚 The 3rd National Sports Collectors’ Convention Program
The National is just a few weeks away! To get you in the spirit, here’s a bit of NSCC nostalgia, a look at the program from the 3rd National, held in August 1982 in St. Louis.
It’s just nine pages long and includes the following contents: Dear Conventioner, Guest Information, State of the Hobby, Are We Really Enjoying Our Hobby?, Film Schedule, Seminar Schedule, Schedule of Events, About Your Hosts, List of Tableholders, and Convention Room Layout.
Eventually, the whole thing will be scanned and uploaded to the Hobby Resources page, but for now, here’s the list of table holders, which includes many individuals who significantly contributed to growing, researching, and improving the hobby.
🪧 Another 1952 Topps Baseball Advertisement
A collector recently emailed me about a 1952 Topps advertisement they spotted on TCDB. I had never seen it before and had no idea where it originally appeared, so I turned to social media for help.
Sure enough, I got an answer on X. A user shared a link to an article on The Topps Archives, which revealed that the ad came from the 1953 edition of the American Card Catalog. (And yes, this copy is in my Hobby Library🤦.) According to the article, “Topps had a big ad in the back of the 1953 ACC, the only one to use photographs in fact, with 1952 Baseball as the centerpiece.”
Happy collecting!