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Leon Luckey is the owner and moderator of, arguably, the hobby's most popular message board, the Network 54 Vintage Baseball Card Forum, http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/. With 900,000 views per month and 10,000 unique IP addresses, it may not even be that much of an argument.

Last week Gavel Chat had a chance to talk with Leon Luckey for the first installment of this week's series of Q&As.

Gavel Chat: Did you start the message board?

Leon Luckey: No, I did not start it. The Network 54 Vintage Baseball Card Forum(VBCF) was started by Elliot Bassin back in September 2001. He managed it for approximately a year and then handed it to another collector, Bill Cornell. After approximately a year-and-a-half of moderating it, he handed it over to me. I've been running it for the last two-and-a-half-to-three years with the help of two other moderators.

There was no advertising at that time on the Net54 VBCF. It was basically given to me to take over and moderate and I felt advertising would allow me to put more time into it, develop it operationally, and to make it into what it is today.

GC: Did you ever think the board would be as popular as it is?

LL: No, not really. It wasn't started out to go that route. It was started out to stay small, and then when I took it over I knew a lot of people personally in the hobby and they kind of came over to it with my invitation. Then when I added the banner advertising it seemed to double in size almost overnight.

GC: Just because the banner ads legitimized it?

LL: It's hard to say. More people started looking at it for whatever reason. It did seem to legitimize it though I would not want to say ad banners specifically did it.

GC: Would you ever consider selling it?

LL: I've been approached by some companies and I am not interested. You never know what the future holds, but it's a hobby and I enjoy it, and as long as I enjoy it I will probably do it. Certainly if someone else took it over it would change the demeanor, at least a little bit, because whoever is running it is going to have their own little pet peeves and so forth. But, for right now, I'm enjoying it and I'll continue doing it.

GC: How tough is it to moderate the site?

LL: Not that tough. Most of the time it's a lot of fun. Numerous times there are decisions that have to be made when someone is asking for something and no matter what decision I make, one of the people involved in the situation is going to be unhappy. People will say 'Why did you lock a thread,' or, ' Why did you delete something.' No matter what I say it's not going to be a good answer for them.

As most people know, my biggest pet peeve is anonymity on the board, which is allowed in benign-type threads, but when there's any controversy or strong opinions, anonymity is not allowed.

GC: Is that to protect you?

LL: That's to protect everybody. It has nothing to do with me. As the owner of the board, or moderator of the board, I am not legally, or otherwise, responsible for what anyone else says. I've been threatened to be sued at least a half a dozen times for what other people have said. There's a federal statute, the Blogger's Statute Section 230, which protects chat board moderators. I mention that statute and those people seem to go away. It’s a very strong statute and protects me well.

GC: Do you have any interesting stories that happened on the board?

LL: Yes, a few. During the last seven years of the board there have been quite a few different interesting threads. One that comes to mind is the longest running thread that there ever has been, which had to do with fake autographs, and it had approximately 800 posts on that one subject. That thread received some national media attention too. It really brought to light some of the problems in the autograph industry. I would say that was one of the best threads that the board has had.

GC: I notice a lot of auction house owners and big collectors participate. How important is that to the board?

LL: Well, it adds some credibility. Certainly there are some of the biggest collectors in the hobby that do participate. Many of the other ones at least lurk, which of course is not actively participating other than reading the board. I get e-mails weekly from people who lurk and who would be considered hobby icons.

GC: Do you think that the board has impacted the way grading companies do things or the way results on vintage cards in auctions take place?

LL: Absolutely. Since there are so many people who participate and talk about the grading companies, there is no doubt that the board has led to some positive changes in the hobby. One such subject is the authentication of memorabilia, where the ownership is by the same person who authenticated the item up for sale. I'm pretty sure the board had a hand in the transparency of that ownership. In other words, if you're authenticating a bat, and you're selling it and you own it, then that information needs to be disclosed. That has not always been the case. That one change in particular has come about much to the credit of the Net54 Vintage Baseball Card Forum.

GC: You are a collector, correct?

LL: Yes, I collect prewar baseball type cards, meaning I'd like one card from every set, pre-World War II. I also collect the packaging and other ancillary items surrounding the cards. It's been a lot of fun.

GC: Where do you display your collection?

LL: Well, most of the valuable stuff is in a safe deposit box. I do have a website, which is www.luckeycards.com, where I have my personal collection and offer a few other things for sale.

GC: And you started an auction?

LL: Actually “we” did. A friend of mine, Scott Brockelman and I, three to six months ago, did start an auction house- Brockelman and Luckey Auctions. It's going very well. We're having a lot of fun with it and taking in consignments every week. We're set to have our second one in a couple months, September 29th. We plan on having two to three per year. Our first auction went very well. We certainly learned a few things in the process. As we go forward we expect it to be better and better. The website is www.b-lauctions.com or brockelmanluckeyauctions.com.  Our goal is to be the friendliest and most cost effective way to sell your valuable pieces of history (mainly baseball cards). As of now almost no one in the hobby offers as low of rates as we do, which is very important to many collectors. We give as much attention to a $200 lot as a $10,000 lot, whereas most of the larger venues either won’t, or don’t.

GC: The gas prices, the poor economy, do you think collectors are spending less on pre-war cards?

LL: For the most part, I believe we (vintage collectors) are a different demographic. I do think it affects some of the collectors, but the majority of prewar collectors, while not immune to the economy, have discretionary funds to buy the things that they really want. I do think that some of the mid-range items and some of the lower valued items have decreased in price, a little bit, due to the economy. But the really rare crème de la crème have continued to go up.

GC: Where do you see the prewar card hobby going?

LL: I think it will keep increasing, though probably not quite as quick as it has over the last five years. I think it will continue to increase as more collectors come into the vintage market.  Also people realize that money in a CD or a fund or a treasury note isn't quite as fun as what a collectible is.  It seems the Net54 board has also helped the hobby in that there is a venue to discuss what is going on in a very safe and friendly atmosphere.

GC: How's eBay been lately, as far as buying and selling?

LL: To me, my personal trend with eBay has been that I have quit selling very much through it. There are several reasons for that. The fees have gone up exponentially over the last year, they've hidden bidder’s identities and buyers can no longer receive negative or neutral Feedback from sellers. They've really taken what used to be a great system and messed it up, in my opinion. I would say that there are less people than before participating on eBay, in the prewar space. Even after all of that, it's still the biggest prewar venue there is. So, it's still out there and still relevant, but in my opinion it's gone down a tad.

GC: What's your take on shill bidding in major auction houses? Do you think it goes on?

LL: Well, I do think it goes on. Whether it's shilling by the auction house or shilling by a friend of somebody who’s consigned an item. My definition of shilling is placing a bid that is a false bid with no intention of buying the product. So, hypothetically, if I had a friend bid on one of my items in an auction because it’s not selling for enough, he wouldn’t really have to buy it if he won it. Most auctions don't allow you to bid on your own item, though there's nothing they can do about a friend bidding on your item for you. In our Brockelman and Luckey Auctions we have made every effort to address this situation with some unique rules and made it where there is no reason for shilling to take place.

GC: You have a banquet at the National for board members. Tell me about that.

LL: It's a lot of fun and it started seven years ago. In 2002, there was about 20 of us going for a steak dinner and it was Dutch for everyone. In '03, make that about 35 people, '04 make that about 55 people and in recent years it has kept getting bigger and bigger. Last year we had about 125 folks attend it and this year we are expecting about the same number. About two to three years ago, after I took the board over and since I had some funds coming in from ads, I went ahead and used some of the funds on the dinner to help subsidize it. There have also been good sponsors the last few years, including the SGC grading company. This year SGC and Beckett are helping to keep it free to all participants, with myself kicking in what is left to pay, from the ad monies. This will be the third year that it will be catered and free with an open bar for six hours. It’s a really good time to get together with your hobby friends, sip a few cocktails and have some good ‘ole fun!

Last year, we had the Old Cardboard magazine editor, Lyman Hardeman, speak at the banquet. We also had Doug Allen of Mastro Auctions and Brian Wentz from BMW Cards say a few words. This year, tentatively, I’ve scheduled for a couple auction house presidents, a writer of a book, a grading company director of grading and their senior grader to say a few words.

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Last week, some Gavel Chat members and myself had some debates about Mr. Mint and other dealers' buying practices. Some people have a problem with hard-nose dealers, and some even question how honest certain dealers are.

I stick to my thoughts that as long as nobody is forcing someone into selling something, no matter how much under market value they might be paying the person, that there is no problem with how the dealer going about this. It is the seller's responsibility to research what they are selling and charge an amount at what they are comfortable with.

I thought it would be fun to get Gavel Chat Nation's opinions on the following four scenarios.

If you were the buyer in these four instances, what would you do?

1.) There is a Michael Jordan UDA signed basketball on eBay. The min. bid is $9.99 with a "Buy It Now" of only $300 (way less than market value).

2.) You are at a rummage sale and someone has an authentic EX+ Roberto Clemente 1955 Topps rookie card for sale for $10.

3.) You are set up as a dealer at a card show and someone has $10,000 (current market value) of baseball cards from the 50s to sell you. They are requesting that you pay them $1,000 for the lot of cards.

4.) That same lot of cards comes up and this time the person has no clue what they are worth, but doesn't request the $1,000 and is taking offers. How do you go about that situation?

Here is what I would do... I would like your thoughts. Please respond in the "Comment" field.

What I would do:

1.) I would have no problem hitting the "Buy It Now" button and paying $300, even thought that is way less than they should be asking for this piece.

2.) I would get my Alexander Hamilton out so fast that I might tear it in two.

3.) I would pay the amount he requested. $1,000.

4.) I would explain to the person what the current market value is and offer him about 30 percent.

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Henry Yee has an eye for quality vintage photography. Whenever Yee lists photos for sale on eBay you can be sure that they're some of the most clear and unique images out there of a particular player. That said, I can't get over some of the prices Yee got for some of his images in his past eBay auctions.

More than $2,000 for a Ted Williams photo and an Ernie Banks photo?? What's going on here? I know that Yee has a pretty solid client base and these were all killer pieces, but $2,000 for a photo from the 1950s seems a bit over the top.

Check out his recently completed auctions. Click here.

Very interesting stuff, and at least worth a peak.

Sorry, but I always wanted to get a "Rounders" reference in the title of Gavel Chat.

Now that the July 4th holiday is over, and football training camp is right around the corner, it seems that it's time for the hobby to start heating up. Hunt's All-Star FanFest is next week and the National isn't too far behind.

There always seems to be a lull in the collecting world during the early part of the summer, but people start buying like crazy again in the fall. I don't expect this year to be too much different.

Oh ... If you have the chance to see the new movie "Diminshed Capacity," it is at least worth the eight bucks at the theater, as it provides an off-the-wall look at the hobby of baseball card collecting. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILOR

Here is a New York Daily News article talking about the movie and the character who mimicked Mr. Mint Alan Rosen.

Speaking of Rosen ... Have you ever seen $80K laid out on a kitchen table? Click below to watch the last part of his buying trip he made two weeks ago in Wisconsin.

Well, it was a busy week for me ... I wrote an article for next week's SCD about professional wresting memorabilia. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but I think it turned out pretty well.

The news coverage on the Brett Favre thing is getting way out of hand. Why did I know this was going to happen? For like the last five years, the media always tried to make it seem like he was going to retire and now that he has hung them up the media is trying to hint that he may want to come back.

Who do they thing this guy is, Elvis?!

The only way Favre is going to come back as a Packer is if Aaron Rodgers gets hurt in training camp. Rodgers has been preparing mentally and physically for the upcoming season and it's not fair or smart for the Packers to bring back Favre.

Anyway, don't blow off your hands with any sparklers this weekend and have a great weekend!

Check out some '50s Bowman cards from Mr. Mint's buying trip.
 

Two big features today on the sports memorabilia world's favorite blog ... First, I have prepared, for your viewing, my latest column about ticket collecting. This article appeared last week in SCD and here it is. The ticket experts' Top Ten Tickets of All-time. Please feel free to list your own top ten in the "comment" field of the blog, or email me your list to chris.nerat@fwpubs.com.

Also below is Part II and III of the trip I went on with Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen.

Both pieces are very interesting, so make sure you check them out!

As PSA President Joe Orlando told me on the phone the other day, and I agree with his sentiments, “Tickets actually do link to the event. A baseball card is a wonderful collectible, but the ticket, that was used to get into the event. It’s a part of the sports history, where the collectible is a part of our culture and collecting, but it’s not an actual part of the event.”

I’ve written about tickets in previous columns, and I still think stubs and fulls are the most undervalued pieces of memorabilia in the industry. Even though they’re really starting to take off in popularity, they still haven’t even come close to their peak as far as value and demand is concerned.

There’s no question ticket collecting took on a life of its own when PSA started slabbing them. In addition to the excitement, collectors are really starting to realize just how tough it is to obtain some of these treasures.

I recently interviewed five of the hobby’s most influential ticket gurus to get their opinions on the top 10 tickets of all-time. As I explained to them during our discussions, I have no real criteria for these compilations,  just that historical significance, scarcity and value should all be taken into consideration.


Chris Corso
  Bio: Chris Corso (corso68@aol.com) is a life-long Yankees fan with his hobby passion focusing mainly on the 500 Home Run Club. Corso is still in search of a Jimmie Foxx and Willie Mays 500 HR ticket for his collection. Corso is a true collector and is a very important ambassador of the ticket-collecting niche in the hobby.

#1 1929 Babe Ruth home run No. 500 – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 1 stub
#2 1962 Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 9 stubs
#3 1997 Masters – Tiger Woods first Major victory – PSA Population Report: N/A no holder
#4 1919 Black Sox World
Series Game 1 – PSA
Population Report: 0 fulls, 2 stubs
#5 1940 Jimmie Foxx home run No. 500 – PSA
Population Report: 0 fulls, 1 stub
#6 1935 James Braddock vs. Max Baer – None graded by PSA
#7 1961 Roger Maris home run No. 61 – PSA
Population Report: 0 fulls, 4 stubs
#8 1965 Willie Mays home run No. 500 – None graded by PSA
#9 1937 Triple Crowns - War Admiral and Joe “Ducky” Medwick – PSA Population Report: 1 stub 0 fulls for
Kentucky Derby and no stubs or fulls graded for
Medwick’s Triple Crown
#10 1956 World Series Game 5 – Don Larsen’s perfect game –  PSA Population Report: 5 fulls, 27 stubs

Al Glaser
   Bio: Al Glaser owns and operates SuperbowlTicketCollector.com and gradedtickets.com. Glaser is a
collector first and a seller second. He enjoys
educating fellow ticket collectors via his websites, and currently owns the No. 1 finest set of
all-time on the PSA Set Registry.

#1 1932 Babe Ruth Called Shot Game 3 – PSA Population Report: 5 fulls, 17 stubs
#2 1969 Super Bowl III – PSA Population
Report: 10 fulls, 64 stubs
#3 1956 World Series Game 5 – Don Larsen’s perfect game – PSA Population Report: 5 fulls, 27 stubs
#4 1980 Miracle on Ice – U.S. defeats Soviet Union – PSA Population Report: 21 fulls, 1 stub
#5 1960 World Series Game 7 - Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run – PSA Population Report: 4 fulls, 13 stubs
#6 1974 Hank Aaron career home run No. 715 – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 8 stubs
#7 1988 World Series Game 1 – Kirk Gibson walk-off home run – PSA Population Report: 6 fulls, 17 stubs
#8 1982 NCAA Finals Game – Michael Jordan game-winning shot (UNC) vs. Georgetown – PSA Population Report: 8 fulls, 6 stubs
#9 2000 U.S. Open 4th round (final round) - Tiger Woods wins by record 15 strokes – PSA Population Report: 10 fulls, 0 stubs
#10 1977 World Series Game 6 - Reggie Jackson three consecutive home runs – PSA Population Report: 8 fulls, 15 stubs

Dennis Jose
Bio: Owner of one of the most heavily trafficked ticket memorabilia websites in the hobby (chicagotix.com). Stationed only blocks away from Wrigley Field, Jose has specialized in tickets for many years.

#1 1973 Super Bowl VII – PSA Population Report: 66 fulls, 40 stubs
#2 1969 College All-Stars Game – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 1 stub
#3 1972 Roberto Clemente hit No. 3000 – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 6 stubs
#4 1930 Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown (Gallant Fox) – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 1 stubs
#5 1969 Super Bowl III – PSA Population Report: 10 fulls, 64 stubs
#6 1959 Ali Golden Gloves (March 11) – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 1 stub
#7 1992 Nissan Los Angeles Open – Tiger Woods’ first pro tourney – 16 years old – PSA Population Report: 12 fulls, 0 stubs
#8 1981 NFC Championship Game - “The Catch” – PSA Population Report: 7 fulls, 0 stubs
#9 1975 World Series Game 6 – Carlton Fisk’s historic home run  – PSA Population Report: 6 fulls, 4 stubs
#10 1998 Game 6 (Game K) NBA Finals Bulls vs. Utah – Michael Jordan game-winning shot vs. Utah – PSA Population Report: 1 fulls, 12 stubs

Chris Nerat
Bio: I really got interested in collecting tickets due to my interest in vintage Green Bay Packers memorabilia. Through that venture, I started picking up significant tickets from other sports and have had great enjoyment in this segment of the hobby.

#1 1967 Super Bowl I –  PSA Population Report: 20 fulls, 53 stubs
#2 1974 Hank Aaron career home run No. 715 – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 8 stubs
#3 1919 Black Sox World Series Game 1– PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 2 stubs
#4 1932 Babe Ruth Called Shot Game 3 – PSA Population Report: 5 fulls, 17 stubs
#5 1928 “Win one for the Gipper” Notre Dame vs. Army – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 1 stubs
#6 1962 Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 9 stubs
#7 1961 Roger Maris home run No. 61 – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 4 stubs
#8 1967 Championship Game “Ice Bowl” – PSA Population Report: 12 fulls, 10 stubs
#9 1997 Masters – Tiger Woods’ first Major victory – PSA Population Report: N/A no holder
#10 1980 Miracle on Ice – U.S. defeats Soviet Union – PSA Population Report: 21 fulls, 1 stub

Erik Olson
Bio: Erik Olson got his start in collecting in the early 1980s while focusing mainly on trading cards. His hobby interests still remain with cardboard treasures, although Olson has been getting more and more into the ticket niche recently, collecting mostly NFL Championship, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods tickets.

#1 1941 (June 6) Joe DiMaggio last game of hit streak – PSA Population Report: None graded by PSA
#2 1962 Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 9 stubs
#3 1967 Super Bowl I –  PSA Population Report: 20 fulls, 53 stubs
#4 1980 Miracle on Ice – U.S. defeats Soviet Union – PSA Population Report: 21 fulls, 1 stub
#5 1982 NCAA Finals Game – Michael Jordan game-winning shot (UNC) vs. Georgetown – PSA Population Report: 8 fulls, 6 stubs
#6 1956 World Series Game 5 – Don Larsen’s perfect game – PSA Population Report: 5 fulls, 27 stubs
#7 1967 Championship Game “Ice Bowl” – PSA Population Report: 12 fulls, 10 stubs
#8 1960 Cassius Clay vs. Zbigniew Pietrzykowski – Gold Medal – PSA Population Report: 1 fulls, 0 stubs
#9 1973 Kentucky Derby – Secretariat – PSA Population Report: 1 full, 5 stubs
#10 1973 NCAA basketball UCLA vs. Iowa – Bruins 88th straight win – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 1 stubs

Joe Orlando
Bio: Joe Orlando is the President of PSA and has been an advanced collector of sportscards and memorabilia for more than 20 years. Orlando recently completed his second book about the hobby, Collecting Sports Legends.

#1 1932 Babe Ruth Called Shot Game 3 – PSA Population Report: 5 fulls, 17 stubs
#2 1962 Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 9 stubs
#3 1971 Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier I – None graded by PSA
#4 1969 Super Bowl III – PSA Population Report: 10 fulls, 64 stubs
#5 1974 Hank Aaron career home run No. 715 – PSA Population Report: 0 fulls, 8 stubs
#6 1956 World Series Game 5 – Don Larsen’s perfect game – PSA Population Report: 5 fulls, 27 stubs
#7 1988 World Series Game 1 – Kirk Gibson walk-off home run – PSA Population Report: 6 fulls, 17 stubs
#8 1938 Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling II – PSA Population Report: 1 fulls, 0 stubs
#9 1986 World Series Game 6 – Buckner’s blunder –PSA Population Report: 2 fulls, 5 stubs
#10 1989 Texas vs. Oakland Nolan Ryan’s 5000th strikeout – PSA Population Report: 10 fulls, 2 stubs