The Card: Collectors, Con Men, and the True Story of History’s Most Desired Baseball Card – A Gripping Investigation into the T206 Wagner Forgery and Sports Memorabilia Fraud
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Description
Only a few dozen T206 Wagners are known to still exist, having been released in limited numbers just after the turn of the twentieth century. Most, with their creases and stains, look like they've been around for nearly one hundred years. But one—The Card—appears to have defied the travails of time. Its sharp corners and still-crisp portrait make it the single-most famous—and most desired—baseball card on the planet, valued today at more than two million dollars. It has transformed a simple hobby into a billion-dollar industry that is at times as lawless as the Wild West. Everything about The Card, which has made men wealthy as well as poisoned lifelong relationships, is fraught with controversy—from its uncertain origins to the nagging possibility that it might not be exactly as it seems.In this intriguing, eye-opening, and groundbreaking look at a uniquely American obsession, award-winning investigative reporters Michael O'Keeffe and Teri Thompson follow The Card's trail from a Florida flea market to the hands of the world's most prominent collectors. The Card sheds a fascinating new light on a world of counterfeiters, con men, and the people who profit from what used to be a pastime for kids. Read more
Publisher : Dey Street Books
Publication date : June 17, 2008
Edition : Reprint
Language : English
Print length : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 0061123935
ISBN-13 : 31
Item Weight : 8.6 ounces
Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.61 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #439,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #15 in Antique & Collectible Sports Cards (Books) #16 in Antique & Collectible Care & Restoration (Books) #24 in Antique & Collectible Books (Books)
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Paperback
"The Card" is a fantastically written story about thy card ... a PSA 8 NM-MT T206 Honus Wagner ... and the unusual history & conflicting stories surrounding the mystery of what is now know as "The Gretzky Card"! The path this specific card has taken from its discovery & introduction to the public back in '85 by Bill Mastro (now a convicted felon), after purchasing from a small time card dealer, is simply amazing! This book takes you on a compelling journey on how this card was originally purchased for $25,000 by Mastro, with the financial assistance of Robert Lifson (President of Robert Edward Auctions, LLC), to eventually being sold/auctioned off another 6 times culminating in a $2.8 million purchase (presently owned by Ken Kendrick/owner of Arizona Diamondbacks). "The Card" keeps you captivated and does a nice job filling in the back stories and developing the characters who have been influential in either purchasing and/or buying The Card! Its a fun read and highly recommended!
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Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2016 by Marlin T. Carlson
"The Card" shows that if a reporter has a very narrow, but compelling subject, he can create a really readable narrative - even if the subject doesn't seem all that vital to the larger world. Anything where that's lots of money at stake often leads to corruption or lies, etc. Baseball cards are no different. O'Keefe does a good job of showing the underbelly of "graders" who carry so much control over what cards are worth. I knew about the Honus Wagner card that's his subject, but I didn't know even slightly the backstory he gives all the detail about. A previous reporter noted correctly that the card's history prior to 1985 isn't dealt with - maybe because it simply couldn't be. I don't know. But it is a question left unanswered in a confusing way. This book might be best read in combination with Dave Jamieson's "Mint Condition," which covers the same subject from a much broader perspective. In addition, one of O'Keefe's main characters - Bill Mastro - is only briefly interviewed in "The Card," while Jamieson interviews him quite a bit more in his book. That is probably because Mastro wanted to rebuild a reputation somewhat tarnished by how he comes across in "The Card," which involves potential alterations to the 'card' in question - the rare Honus Wagner card. It's a detective story, history lesson and solid gumshoe reporting all the way through. We have these pop culture examples that we see in a brief newspaper story - "baseball card sold for record price at auction" but we don't really know the backstory. A book like gives us the entertaining, character-filled narrative to make it worthwhile to learn a little more.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2011 by ERB
Format: Kindle
Remember the cafe scene in Indiana Jones, where Belloq holds up a cheap pocket watch and explains what will happen if you bury it in the sand for 10,000 years? Turns out, he should have just saved the cardboard advertisement that came with a pack of American cigarettes for 90 years... In any case, reading the story of how one of those cardboard advertisements became a priceless treasure, and, along the way, reading about both the Indiana Joneses and Renee Belloqs seeking that treasure, is an absolute delight. Great coverage of the subject of that treasure, as well: Honus Wagner. Great book to get excited for a trip to a baseball game (or to remind you to be cautious on your next trip to eBay for baseball cards.) Kindle formatting was excellent.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2013 by Paul Bolstad
Format: Kindle
This book is fascinating and focuses on the darker side of baseball collectibles. It details how card collecting went from a hobby that some true baseball lovers enjoyed to a greed driven business. It’s sad that a few greedy people have almost destroyed baseball card and memorabilia collecting in the interest of lining their pockets. Bottom line - the hobby is rife with fake memorabilia and altered cards. This is a well told tale of caution.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2019 by KWH
This book, written by two New York Daily News sportswriters, provides what is likely to be the definitive account of the Honus Wagner T206 baseball card. The card, once owned by Wayne Gretzky, is probably the most famous baseball card and is certainly the highest priced. In 2007, it was sold to an anonymous collector for $2.35 million. The Wagner cards were originally issued in 1909 in packs of cigarettes by the American Tobacco Company. Fewer Wagners were issued than other cards in the set, either because Wagner objected to being associated with cigarettes or because he hadn't been paid enough for the use of his picture -- the authors aren't sure which. The "Gretzky card," as it has come to be known, first surfaced in 1985. The authors quote a number of people who believe that the card was never in a cigarette pack but was instead cut from a sheet of cards. This difference matters because Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) the leading card grading company refuses to grade cards that have been cut from sheets. Nevertheless, PSA graded the card in 1991, giving it a grade of 8 (Near Mint-Mint), which is by far the highest grade ever received by a Wagner T206. Tracing the fairly brief history of the Gretzky card would not provide enough material for a book. So, the authors devote significant time to recounting Wagner's life -- which is fairly interesting -- and to describing the often unsavory machinations that go on in the sports collectibles business. Apart from the leading card grading firm having possibly violated its own rules by grading a card cut from a sheet, the book discusses many other even worse shenanigans carried out by dealers and collectors. Suffice it to say that after reading this book, any inclination I might have had to spend a significant amount of money on a sports collectible is dead. The book is well written and fast paced -- as we might expect from a book written by journalists. The lack of an index reduces its value to anyone who might want to use it for research.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2011 by Hal Jordan
Format: Kindle
Like any true baseball fan, my first trip to Cooperstown is one of the enduring memories of my life. Unfortunately childhood memories fade over the decades, and these days I would be hard pressed to name the five most memorable moments of my visit. I can, however, easily name the most vivid highlight: seeing the T206 Honus Wagner card in person for the one and only time of my life. Here it was: the unattainable card, an avatar for an entire hobby. A masterpiece. One never really forgets the T206 Wagner, but the sense of awe that I felt that day was not re-awakened again until I watched the magnificent 30-For-30 Shorts film by the Barnicle Brothers. Shortly afterwards, I purchased "The Card," and promptly devoured it. As the first comprehensive telling of the story of the most prized baseball card ever collected, O’Keefe's book works on a number of levels. It is at once a history of baseball card collecting, a history of the groundbreaking T206 set, and – not immaterially – a history of the great Honus Wagner himself. Above all, though, the book is a history of the "perfect" Wagner card, most famously owned by Wayne Gretzky. It is this card’s story that makes and breaks the book: a tale of intrigue and skullduggery worthy of any mystery novel. The "genesis" story of the Gretzky Wagner is of particular fascination. How did the most prized baseball card of all time appear at a Florida flea market; possibly in an unheard-of format? How did it end up in the hands of a down-on-his-luck Long Islander, and what became of it in his possession? And what happened in the back room of a shabby card shop in Hicksville, New York before the card set off on its incredible journey to becoming the world’s most famous piece of cardboard? I could have read 200 more pages about these events. As the tale unfolds, and the Wagner’s murky past is drowned out by the blur of millions of dollars, one unfortunately begins to wonder if O'Keeffe himself got in too deep in the course of writing the book. Whether he's cynical by nature or just became that way after peeling back the curtain on a bloated, oversaturated hobby rife with hucksters and grifters, at times there is a sneering undertone to "The Card" that makes it a little difficult to truly love. As an unapologetic child of the junk wax era, I could never really identify with the book’s quixotic Wagner-chasers, the men with "holes in their psyches," but neither did I find them as contemptible as O'Keeffe seems to. "The Card" reads like a book that still wants to believe in the romance of the Wagner and the fun of collecting, but has seen too much and been let down from too great a height to really see past the monolith of "The Hobby." For someone who still finds enjoyment in the simple pleasures of a white elephant like the 1987 Topps baseball set, "The Card" is a bit like the Wagner T206 itself: fascinating, but always just out of reach.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2013 by A. Chichester
Format: Hardcover
Authors Michael O'Keefe and Teri Thompson tell an interesting and entertaining story about "The Card"--the most valuable Honus Wagner T206 card as well as the card collecting and sports memorabilia "hobby." The Wagner card sold for $2.35 million in February 2007. It is, as the authors write, "the symbol of a hobby out of control." As one prominent collector said, "Too much of this hobby's driven by greed." The authors chronicle the transformation of the hobby into a $2 billion a year, Internet-driven business, which attracts more than its share of unsavory characters. While slightly familiar with the Gretzky Wagner T206 card (so named because hockey great Wayne Gretzky and a partner once purchased it), I had no idea about its history and the controversy that surrounds it. The authors present a strong case that the card was actually cut from a sheet of cards, trimmed and altered. If this is the case, the value of the card should have been drastically reduced. It seems, however, that too many people have too much to lose, if it was actually proven. "The Card" is an intriguing story that will keep you turning the pages. Kudos to the authors for also providing a couple chapters on the career and post-career of Pittsburgh Pirates great Honus Wagner, one of the five original inductees in the Hall of Fame.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2007 by Barry Sparks
Format: Hardcover
A person may have never collected one baseball card, but the T206 Wagner transcends that industry. And with any item worth millions of dollars, the pop culture publicity surrounding it has been a curse and a blessing. Authors Michael O'Keeffe and Teri Thompson take the reader on a wild ride of the history of the Honus Wagner tobacco card through the fiction that has oftentimes shuffled the facts to the clubhouse and the legacy of "The Card," the ultimate T206 that is worth at least $2 million. From cards as fake as the slimy smiles of a con-man to the high-stakes game in the art of the deal to obtain the ultimate collectible, the story is a home run that is hammered out of the stadium.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2008 by Best Of All