Dear Babe: I have a Chris Long autographed rookie card from 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces. It is a Stroke of Genius card (SOG17). I also have a Terrell Owens Masterpieces card that is numbered 1 of 25. I got these out of a box that my parents gave me as a birthday present. -- Noah Lewis, Norco, Calif.
Your parents know how to take care of their young card collector. As for the 2000 Masterpiece SOG17 Chris Long card, Beckett's annual football card price guide lists it at $5-$12. The only listing I see for a Terrell Owens card that could be numbered out of 25 is for a burgundy parallel card. Those book at $10 each.
Dear Babe: I have a baseball signed by Larry Berra, Mickey Mantle, Don Larsen, Casey Stengel, Al Cicotte, Bob Richardson and Bob Turley among others. My grandfather gave it to me in the 1980s. -- Cobey Cooper, Kansas City, Mo.
Cicotte helps date the baseball. He was only with the Yankees in 1957. The Yankees won six World Series titles in the 1950s, but 1957 was one year they came up short, losing in seven games to the Milwaukee Braves. They repaid the Braves in 1958, winning that Series in seven games.
"A World Series winning team is always better -- one exception may be the 1919 Black Sox," said Mike Heffner, president of www.Lelands.com. "If (the ball is) in average condition, the value is around $1,000. A ball from the winning Yankees team of 1958 is worth $1,500 in nice condition."
Dear Babe: I have a mint condition copy of "The San Diego Superchargers Theme Song" by Captain QB and the Big Boys on a 45 rpm record. The sleeve is dated 1979. -- James Donis, Riverside, Calif.
Now, this is what you'd call a conversation piece. Me thinks this was probably the high-water mark for "Captain QB and the Big Boys." You can find just about anything on eBay, and lo and behold, a record similar to yours sold recently. It went for $4.95 plus $3.32 S&H for a total of $8.27. That's right in the $5-$15 range that would have been my guess.
Dear Babe: I have two 1941 Play Ball baseball cards. One of the cards is Bill Dickey and the other is Hank Greenberg. -- Don Rystrom, Richvale, Calif.
Based on the images you attached, it appears that the cards have perforated edges on a couple of sides, which means they are reprints that were included in collector books -- probably in the early to mid-1980s. Dover produced some of these, but their reprints usually said "Dover reprint" or something like that. The fact that your cards don't have that line indicates that someone probably copied the legally reprinted cards for their own use. Even with the Dover info, these reprints have little if any, value. For the record, an original 1941 Play Ball Hank Greenberg (No. 18) books at $300-$500 in Beckett's Almanac of Baseball Cards and the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards from the editors of Sports Collectors Digest. Dickey's card (70) lists for $350-$400.
BABE NOTE: Bryce Harper is the poster boy for this year's versions of Bowman baseball and Topps Pro Debut, which features minor league players. Harper has a variety of cards in each product, including autographed cards. There is a 1-of-1 cad in Pro Debut, featuring a cut signature card in Pro Debut from a baseball used in his first professional game in the Arizona Fall League.
(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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