Dear Babe: I was going through some of my older cards the other day and came across a 1935 Rice-Stix Paul "Daffy" Dean. As I understand it they were a clothing manufacturer in St. Louis and made only two cards in their history. One of Dizzy and one of Daffy, and they placed them in dress shirt pockets that they have sold. -- Bob Hugus, Westville, Ind.
You definitely pulled out a winner from those older cards. Rice-Stix was a huge dry goods company in the early 20th century -- probably the largest business in St. Louis at the time. As you noted, in 1935 they put cards of Paul "Daffy" Dean and his brother, Dizzy, into packages of shirts that they sold. The Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards from the editors of Sports Collectors Digest says a set of both cards in "near-mint" condition is worth $3,250 down to $975 for cards in "very good" condition. Dizzy's card booking at $2,500 down to $750 with Paul's listing for $950-$280. Beckett's online price guide has Dizzy at $400-$800 and Paul at $250-$500.
Dear Babe: We have a Spalding baseball signed by the entire 1949 Cardinals baseball team. This has been passed through the family without any real proper handling. Some of the signatures are very difficult to read or smudged out entirely while others are very visible. It appears there are 18 signatures on the ball. The ball did not pass PSA/DNA authentication. The PSA letter says "Autographs are a rubber/steel stamp or printed reproduction." -- Jerry and Karla Vasser, Menifee, Calif.
A stamped baseball is nothing more than a conversation piece. There's probably a story on how it was obtained many years ago. A ball that was actually signed by the 1949 Cardinals would be worth $200-$300, said Mike Gutierrez, consignment director for Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com).
Dear Babe: I have yearbooks for the New York Yankees (1976) and the Boston Red Sox (1976 through 1978). -- Maryjane Quimby Nashua, N.H.
Phil Regli, owner of P&R Publications in Irvine, Calif. and a long-time magazine dealer, said the Yankees yearbook is worth about $20 with the Red Sox valued at around $15.
Dear Babe: While cleaning out my garage and some old toys that belonged to my sons, I came across some old baseball cards. They look to be in prime shape. They include Randy Milligan (No. 8 IT), Jamie Moyer (85T), Chris James (56T) and Mike Greenwell (Fleer No. 90). -- John Mathena, Redding, Calif.
The simple answer is that if this is all you found, you have some 1989 Fleer and 1989 Topps Traded cards. They're all commons that book at a nickel but really have no value.
If, as they say in all those TV commercials, "wait there's more..." and you find a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card hidden in the garage. The reason is the 1989 Topps Traded set of 132 cards was released as a box set. That begs the question, where is the rest of the set? More than likely a dealer or a collector opened the set to get at a Griffey Jr. rookie card that lists for $8 in Beckett's Almanac of Baseball Cards and $6 in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards from the editors of Sports Collectors Digest. Your sons' ended up with some of the commons from the ToppsTraded set.
(Send card questions to Babe Waxpak, PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397 or e-mail babewaxpak@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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