Conference school::sports_memorabilia

    Clark will most likely be a Garvey-type player.  I've seen the same
    pattern in the "wanted" sections of Sports Collectors Digest for
    the past year.  Little known piece of trivia, Will the Thrill is
    one of the last two players to hit the center field wall at Fenway
    above the bleachers.  He did it when the olympic team played at
    Fenway in 1984.  The last to do it was Bo Jackson.  Good advice
    on Clark.  Topps rooks are still relatively cheap.
    Mike aka Hometown Hero
    

    
    
    
    Does anyone know why Topps did not include Clark in among its 15
    olympian players in its '85 set?                              
    
    
    Bob

    He was a junior in college. If you weren't a senior you didn't get
    your picture on a Topps card.
    
    Ed

    Re .2
    Keep in mind that Canseco had a Joe D. type of Year.
    In the Future people will forget the live ball, deleted talent,
    small parks and the chemicals.  How much is Joe D's rook?
    Mike aka Hometown Hero

    When I wrote note 368.0 I said that dealers were asking $5.00 for
    Will Clark's 1987 Fleer rookie. Now, (here in the S.F. bay area)
    it's up to $7.00 - $10.00. Get 'em while you still can! The Topps
    and Donruss don't seem to be affected as much;wonder what's unique
    about the Fleer?


                    John D.

    re .6
    I looked at a Joe D. rook last week that had a 900.00 price tag.
    My point wasn't that Jose=Joe, my point is that given that 40/40
    is as rare as 56 the ratio of rookie prices isn't out of line.
    If Jose has 25 dingers by the all star break, and a shot at 50 SBs
    his card will be unaffordable ( same as Joe D.'s ).  If asked to
    choose between cards and players I'd take Joe; if asked to explain
    the Jose price I'd repeat my previous comment.

    re .0
    Whats the price of the 86 Fleer update doing.  Isn't that his true
    Fleer rookie? Arn't there fewer of those than 87 Fleer? I think
    I'd rather have the update that is still relatively "cheap".
    Thoughts??
    Mike aka Hometown Hero
    
    

    I've been lead to believe that the first regular issue of a given
    player is his "official" rookie card. Beckett's denotes it that
    way, anyhow. The Fleer, Topps, and Donruss Traded (or whatever)
    all contain a Clark card, but the '87's are considered his rookie.
    Your right about the update being hard to find and I agree it wouldn't
    hurt to have a few. My point was that the 87 Fleer was the one everyone
    was after, and the demand makes it worth more. If nobody is interested
    in the '86 update, they'll be harder to trade or sell.

                                              John D.
    

    You aroused my curiosity about the update, so I did some checking
    with a few local dealers . To a man they all said that the hardest
    Will Clark card to find is the regular issue 1987 Fleer. There must
    be alot of these cards around, but nobody seems to have them. Because
    I live in the S.F. bay area, I decided to check aeround the country.
    I called about 15 different places around the country (Texas, Georgia,
    Arizona, Illinois, Florida, South Dakota, Indiana, Michigan, etc.)
    and came up with a grand total of six. What this proves exactly
    I don't know execpt that it convinces me that either there aren't
    any (ha, ha) or dealers are banking it for speculation on a big
    season for Will. Anyway, I repeat: Buy 'em while you still can!!
                    
    
                                   John D.

    RE .11
    Thanks, I'll take your advice.  One final question, does it make
    sense to purchase the set (factory) rather than the inflated cost
    of one card?
    Thanks, Mike aka Hometown Hero

    re .12
    It depends on what you want. I collect Giants team sets (Topps only)
    so I don't have much use for complete sets, with a few exceptions.
    The reason I'm trying to get many Will Clark Fleer rookies is the
    hope that at mid-season I can sell them for a profit and use the
    proceeds to cover my collecting expenses or trade them straight
    across (at a higher dollar value than I paid) for cards I need.
    By the way, the only card shops that are charging more than Beckett's
    are the ones here. The six that I did get out of my area cost me
    the $2.50 book price. I did get four on my first and only call to
    Mass. and the reason that I brought this whole thing up was to give
    all of you guys a chance to search them out localy at a time when
    you can still get them for book. I don't know what the 1987 Fleer
    set is going for and don't have a feel for whether it is a good
    one for speculative buying.
                               John D.
    

    re .10 etc
    
    Everybody pays lipservice to the idea that only a regular issue
    card can be the "official" rookie card.  But look at the prices
    for the '83 Traded Strawberry vs. the '84 regular issue. Or the
    '84 Traded Gooden vs. the regular issue. Big difference.

    How bout two Donruss Rated Rookie cards for Danny Tartabull (85
    and 86) or, not to spare Topps, two rookie cards for Bill Buckner
    (70 and 71)?
    
    The prices of several cards in Traded/Update sets seems to make
    this issue irrelevant.
    
    The 83TT Strawberry is at $60 (SCD) and the infamous 84 Fleer Update
    set is listed at $250 (it contains first cards of Clemens at $85,
    Gooden at $70, and Puckett at $75).
    
    Mike

    This is all true and valid. However, the *book* definition of a
    rookie card is the players first regular issue card. The others
    are XRC, or extented rookie cards. Value has nothing to do with
    it. Of course, in the cases cited, I would rather posess the XRC
    instead of the RC.
    

    Do minor league cards count as rookie cards?
    
    -=chris

    I have a friend who at one time was interested in selling his 1950-ish
    little league team picture.  Sal Bando was on his team.  Does this
    qualify as Big Sal's pre-rookie card????  :-) 8^
    
    joe-with tongue firmly planted in cheek

    Well, looks like I got lucky with my prediction. Currently, here
    in the S.F. Bay Area, Will's fleer rookie is going for around $15.00,
    and there's none to be found. I had one dealer offer me 7 1952 commons
    and 2 1953 commons (all Giants, which I collect) for 9 Clarks and
    9 Kevin Mitchell second year Fleer Traded. Four of the '52's were
    in the 1 to 80 numbers. He was really hot to get those Will Clark
    cards! Needless to say, it was a good investment and I think it
    still is, if you guys can still get them for book value in your
    neck of the woods. Anybody got some they want to sell or trade??
    
    8^)
    
    John D.
    

    

    	I'll trade you all the Will Clark's ya want for air fare from
    Mass. and dinner for two at Scomas !!!
    
    					Tony

    Tony, 
       
    I don't know about the air fare bit, but I'll buy you a dinner at
    Scoma's. I'm always looking for an excuse to go there!! 

    8^)
    
    John D.
    

    I've seen an interesting new Will Clark card lately that I thought I'd 
    mention. It seems the guy that did the original photos for the 1985
    Topps Olympic team set took the picture of Will he had in the olympic
    uniform and produced a card with it. The front of the card looks very
    similar to the original 1985 Topps olympic set, but with a much
    glossier finish. The back is plain white with two lines of stats, one
    for the olympics and one for Will's college record. It's not a bad
    looking card, and not too expensive ($3.00) yet. I doubt it will be
    worth any significant amount of money, but if you collect Will Clark
    cards or are interested in a nice addition to the 1985 olympic set
    (some might say incomplete without Will) it's a nice card to acquire.
    
    Has anyone seen them in any other parts of the country, or is this a
    regional thing (S.F. Bay area)?
    
    
    John D.