Flash Market Report — What Old Baseball Cards Sold Big This Week? (8/19/2018)

Does the baseball card market heat up or cool down in the dog days of August?

Hard to say for sure, but judging by the lots that changed hands on eBay over the last week, there’s nothing at all wrong with the market for beautiful old (or not so old, in some cases) baseball cards.

To wit, here are five extraordinary listings that sold on eBay during the week ending August 19, 2018.

Try to control your green-eyed monster as you ogle these puppies.

(Note that these listings contain affiliate links, which means if you click over to eBay and buy something, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.)

Huge Lot of Star (Only!) Cards (60,000+)

We’ll take care of my biases right away this week … if you’ve read any of the posts in this series, you know I’m a sucker for big honkin’ lots with mucho variety.

This one hits on both counts, plus it adds in plenty of star power.

Offering more than 60,000 cards from 1974 through 2018, this listing contained nothing but stars (according to the seller).

It was like an aspiring dealer’s dream, with Luis Aparacio right there beside Charlie Blackmon, Albert Belle teamed up with Ron Cey.

This glut of cardboard went out the door at the $2299 Buy-It-Now price, which seems like a deal for the fun it’s going to provide the buyer.

Heck, the gaudy images alone are worth you click even after the sale.

See the original eBay listing here (affiliate link).

1955 Bowman Baseball 5-Cent Unopened Pack (PSA 5)

Have you ever lost something dear to you and then rued the fact that you didn’t cherish it enough when you did have it?

“If I had known that was the last time my mule would kick me in the chest before he ran away, I would have relished that breathless burst of pain.”

Well, if you were a collector in 1955, chances were you didn’t know that those 1955 Bowman 5-cent packs would be the last Bowman packs you could buy until 1989, when Topps issued not-really-Bowman packs.

This lot gave you the chance to remedy that oversight with a PSA 5 unopened 1955 Bowman 5-cent pack. What gems are contained among the nine cards within?

Hard to say, buy you know they have wood-grained borders and you know someone will cherish them.

The $3999.99 sales price provides evidence of that.

See the original eBay listing here (affiliate link).

1978 Topps Alan Trammell & Paul Molitor Rookie Card (PSA 10)

For years, Alan Trammell was the big star on the 1978 Topps rookie card he shared with Paul Molitor simply because Molitor couldn’t stay on the field.

But late in his career, Molitor found a home at designated hitter and poured on the gas to secure his berth in the Hall of Fame.

All along the way, Trammell plugged away at steady, superstar levels and was finally reward, in 2018, with his own Cooperstown plaque.

The double-dose of HOF greatness has propelled this card to all-time classic status, but there is usually a problem — namely, this thing is smudged more often than a Sharpie signature on an old baseball

But not this copy.

This copy rated a perfect 10 from PSA, with no qualifiers.

Is it any wonder that this beauty — one of the most valuable cards from the 1970s — attracted 55 bids and brought in $8500 when PWCC auctioned it off this week?

Wow!

See the original eBay listing here (affiliate link).

1977 Topps Tom Seaver (PSA 10)

Man, PWCC was on a 1970s roll this week, huh?

Not only did they offer up the 1978 Topps Molitor and Trammell rookie above, they also brought this gorgeous 1977 Topps Tom Seaver to market.

The last card to feature Tom Terrific as a member of the New York Mets before he landed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1977, this action-packed issue is always a hit.

Another perfect 10, this one brought in $2368 on the strength of 15 bids.

See the original eBay listing here (affiliate link).

1972 Topps Complete Set

If you like psychedelic baseball cards, they don’t come much better than the 1972 Topps set.

And if you like big baseball card sets, you won’t do any better than the 1972 set until the 1980s.

This particular lot featured a complete 787-card 1972 set that the seller lists as NM-to-NM-MT — not graded, but all the stars were in top-loaders, and the rest of the volume in a binder.

The cost for this type of pristine nostalgia?

$2325 on 12 bids.

See the original eBay listing here (affiliate link).

(Check out our other Flash Market Reports here and our other posts about card values here.)