A Letter From Sy Berger
If your one of the many people that have started a blog about sports cards and/or memorabilia, you probably get asked a bunch of questions from collectors every week. Some people may find this annoying, but I enjoy it a lot.
This past week, I received an e-mail from a collector that began opening packs at a time when cards were still being placed into bike spokes trying to emulate that classic motorcycle sound. This person told me that they found an old letter from Topps containing Sy Berger's signature. Along with the letter was the original envelope it was mailed in dated "March 1965." He was contacting me to see if I knew how much it might be worth. I told him that Sy Berger is one of the most influential people to work within the trading card industry. One of Berger's crowning achievements was designing the highly regarded 1952 Topps Baseball card set. Berger has only one autographed card from the 2004 Topps Fan Favorites set, which usually sells between $10.00 and $20.00. I also told him that the Topps Vault sells extension contracts with his signature and can be picked up for around $30.00 depending on the player. After that I explained to him that he would likely run into problems selling the letter because of the fact that it has not been authenticated by a reputable third party. Based on this information, I estimated the value of the item to be $50.00 - $70.00.
This artifact really shows how the hobby use to operate before the proliferation of the Internet. If collectors wanted information about a set they would have to sit down and write a letter to one of the heads of the company. If I were him, I'd keep the letter and envelope and frame it. The hobby in 1965 was still in its infancy. Collectors couldn't turn on their computers and post a message on their blog or message board displaying their "wantlist". They needed to place ads in newspapers and other trade publications just to finish a set. The hobby has come a long way since then, and I can't wait to see where it will be in another 44 years.
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