Sunday, February 24, 2019

Price Explosion: 1973 Calbee Edition


 I've noticed recently that prices on vintage (pre 1997) Calbee cards, and those from the 1970s in particular, seem to be selling for a bit more than they used to.  While I'm still getting pretty good deals on stuff, it also seems like I'm getting outbid more than I used to on stuff and am having to up my bidding strategies a bit to stay competetive.

Some cards in particular though seem to be going through the roof in price.  Yesterday an auction for 1973 Calbee card 125 provided a good example of this.  The card features Motoi Mitsuo and Higashida Masayoshi who played for the Lions in Fukuoka.  Neither is a hall of famer, though Motoi could be considered a "Hall of Very Good-er".

The card is one of the harder to find ones in the 1973 set as it was regionally issued only in Kyushu that year.  But the price it went for blew my socks off: 311,000 Yen!  That is about $3,000 US.

As I noted in an earlier post, Japanese collectors in general aren't too fussy about condition and this one isn't in the best, its got some stains on the back:
 And rounded corners too.  Basically its a mid grade card that I would love to have in my collection because its a beautiful card to look at, I love those Lions uniforms from the 70s:
The price though is notable since my copy of Sports Card Magazine from 2010 lists this as a 30,000 Yen card, so it sold for more than 10 times what it was listed for 9 years ago.  It isn't even the most valuable card in the set according to that, there are several which list for higher.  Yet here it is getting 94 bids and being driven up to the price of a used car.

I think 1973 Calbee set collectors have been driving the price of these regional issues through the roof like this, there just aren't enough of them out there to satiate demand.  This is one of the main reasons that, despite my love for the 1973 Calbee set, I've kind of written off the idea of ever being able to put it together, the regional issues have become just way too expensive.  Its also a reason why I'm really in a hurry to finish off my 75-76(-77) Calbee set as soon as I can, its got a lot of regional issues in it too but thus far the prices on them havne't exploded like this!



10 comments:

  1. Wow! That is crazy! A truly beast of a set to put together as there can’t be many of these singles out there. I wonder if the seller was surprised...what was the starting bid?

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    1. Yeah, crazy isn't it? It was a 1 Yen starting bid. The 1973 Calbee Sumo cards seem to be getting pretty expensive too, I hope you can finish that off while they are still obtainable!

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    2. Wow, even crazier. The sumo set is going to run me $2000-$2500 for the 36-Card set.

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    3. That is an expensive one! I'm hoping my 75-76 Calbee set will set me back under 3,000 when I'm done with it, but that is for a set of 1472 cards!

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  2. Yet another example of an early Calbee card with a decent view of the ballpark in the background. I'm assuming this is Heiwadai Stadium in Fukuoka since they're in their home uniforms.

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    1. Yeah, the cards from the 70s are the best for stadium backdrops like this one. I'm pretty sure that is Heiwadai Stadium. I've been to the stadium numerous times, but its just an archeological site now (when they tore it down they discovered the remains of a 7th century structure underneath it!)

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    2. I plan to pay my respects to the site when I'm in Fukuoka in early June

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    3. Its right next to the beautiful Ohori Koen Park, so definitely worth a visit! Its pretty easy to walk to from downtown too.

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  3. that is a really neat card, with a excellent background.that is a pretty steep cost to put that set together.

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    1. Yeah, its a great background all right! I don't think I can do the 73s at these prices though!

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