Dear Babe: I have a book "The Pittsburgh Pirates, An Informal History" by Frederick G. Lieb with a 1948 copyright. There are two Honus Wagner signatures inside the book. One is from "Uncle Honus Wagner" and the other is just "Honus Wagner." There are several hand entries referring to Honus that were made by his niece. Along with the book are three scrapbooks with newspaper articles about Wagner and other great ballplayers. I also have a "Honus for Sheriff" campaign card and a Flying Dutchman fan. -- Randy Carter, Salina, Okla.
"The Wagner stuff sounds cool," said Mike Heffner, president of Lelands.com auction house in New York. "The book could be sold whole or one of the pages removed and sold separately. If sold complete it should be $1,500 to $2,000 with two sigs. If taken apart the one page might bring $1,000 while the whole book (minus one page) with sig would sell for a bit over $1,000.
"The other items sound good and can't say I have ever seen them but might recall with photos. If the card has his photo on it, then it might sell for $500 to $1000. If it has no photo, the value would be around $300. I have never heard of the fan. If it has his photo it might be real good -- maybe $2,000 or more. I would need to see it. The scrapbook is not a big deal -- maybe $200."
Dear Babe: I have two pennants. I purchased the first one at Ebbets Field in 1954. It has a picture of Ebbets and "National League Champs" on it. The second pennant was bought at Yankee Stadium from the Dodger kiosk in 1956 during the preseason exhibition game the teams played. It's plain with the Dodgers script and "World Champions." Both are in good shape considering 50-plus years of gentle display. -- Ron Dean, Atlanta
"There are many variations out there even when narrowing purchase down to a certain year," said Dave Stark, of Pennantking.com in San Diego. "In general, Brooklyn Dodgers pennants have always done well in the market. They transcend team loyalty lines and are one of those teams that go hand in hand with baseball, apple pie and the good old days. The N.L. Champs (probably a 3/4-size) would be valued at $250 or so and the World Champs (probably a 3/4-size) $150-$200. This design has traditionally brought less because of its simplicity and lack of reference to Brooklyn. The market is still soft, and these are great pennants but would probably rate on the lower end of the scale for interest in Brooklyn designs. There was a time when you could not find a Brooklyn pennant for less than $400. These sound like great ones to pass on to family members."
BABE NOTE: Autograph collectors should be pleased with 2009 Playoff Contenders Football, Panini's first release of the year. Twenty-four pack hobby boxes have on average four autographed cards per box along with the usual array off inserts and numbered cards. Five-card packs come with a $6 SRP. For details, visit www.paniniamerica.net.
(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.)
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