ShareThisDear Babe: I have an 18-x-29 inch poster of Pistol Pete Maravich that I laminated. It is autographed in the upper left hand corner and has the ticket stub attached also. On Dec. 5, 1973, the Atlanta Hawks played the Kansas City-Omaha Kings at Omaha Civic Auditorium. It was "Pistol'' Pete Maravich night. The poster is priceless to me, but my seventh-grade students wanted to know how much it might be worth. -- Tom Northup, Grand Island, Neb.
"This would certainly command a great price if two things were different: If it was in better shape and the autograph was of a better quality,'' said Mike Breeden, an autograph expert and editor of Tuff Stuff's autograph guide. "The lamination and attachment of the ticket stub doesn't help matters, but the poster looks to be a little rough outside of those factors.
"The autograph is Maravich's customary 'Pistol Pete' version without his last name, but that was par for the course from him. The quality of it leaves something to be desired as well. The autograph looks hurried -- probably because it was signed freehand without Maravich having the benefit of leaning on something to sign it.
"All that aside, the poster is still a nice piece. Certainly there are very few of these around to begin with -- and even fewer that were signed. I'd put the value of this item in the $1,000-$2,000 range, noting that a rabid Maravich collector (and there are a few of them) might go beyond that to add this item to his collection."
Dear Babe: I attended the 1961 All-Star game at Fenway Park with my dad. I have both tickets. One has the rain check attached and the other does not. Don Drysdale signed the back of the ticket without the rain check. -- Glenn Ricciardi, Milford, N.H.
Your ticket stubs are from the days when there were two games each year. The Fenway Park matchup ended in a 1-1 tie when the rains came. The stub would be worth $100-200 with a full ticket double that. I don't think the Drysdale autograph adds a lot if it is hard to read on the back.
Dear Babe: I have a Babe Ruth souvenir pocket knife that says "Babe Ruth 1927, 60 Home Runs, Souvenir New York Yankees.'' It has a small chain attached with a baseball on it as well. -- Beanie Jansky, Lakewood, Colo.
"The knife is an item that was produced many years (at least 50) after the 1927 season,'' said Mike Heffner, president of www.lelands.com auction house in South Dennis, Mass. It was sold in the 1970s and 80s and has little value -- $25 at best. It is common.
"The little Ruth knife is also not period,'' said Robert Lifson, president of www.RobertEdwardsAuctions.com in New Jersey. "It is technically not a reproduction as there is no original that looks exactly like it. These have been around since approximately the 1970s. They are not old, though they may have been made to look old."
Dear Babe: I just read your article about the 1955 New York Yankee baseball. My mom has the same ball only it is signed by Mickey Mantle. My uncle, Bob Cerv, also signed the ball and gave it to his sister, my mother. My uncle is still alive, living in Nebraska. What is the value of this ball? There are over 22 signatures on the ball. -- Pam Sanders, Blue Springs, Mo.
Those were the days of Yankees dominance. They won eight A.L. titles from and six World Series crowns from 1950-58. In 1955, they won the pennant but dropped the Series as Brooklyn captured its only title. A ball signed by the Yankees team should be worth $1,500-$2,500 -- maybe more if it is in really nice shape, said Mike Gutierrez, consignment director for Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com) in Dallas.
BABE NOTE: 2009 Topps Heritage Baseball celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1960 set, the last set that featured all cards in horizontal design. There are 500 cards in the set with 426-500 being short-printed. There should be one autograph or relic card in each hobby box. Autograph cards feature signatures on the cards. The bulk of the signatures are from players whose final year was 1960, but there are signed cards of five stars from 1960 and five active players.
There are also 10 cards signed by a retired player and active player from the same franchise. Those are hand-numbered to 25. The same also signed 60 cards in red ink. There are also original 1960 "buy back'' cards with special 50th anniversary logos. Every $3 pack has a stick of gum. There are 24 packs to a hobby box. For more details on the set, visit my blog at www.scrippsnews.com/waxpak.
(Send card questions to Babe Waxpak, PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397 or e-mail babewaxpak(at)charter.net. If possible, include card number, year and brand or a photocopy. Please do not send cards. For Babe Waxpak's blog, see www.scrippsnews.com/waxpak. Babe Waxpak is a feature of The Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
