"Welcome back to our 30 for 30 documentary short series. The latest film is Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner from Nick and Colin Barnicle. The T206 Honus Wagner is the most famous baseball card in the world. Bought and sold many times over, the copy once owned by Wayne Gretzky has now appreciated to nearly $3 million. But, this gem may have been doctored. From mere speculation, the accusations of alteration have risen all the way to federal indictments. But this is still 'just' a baseball card. It is a small square in the tapestry of our national pastime. And, as the art world readily illustrates, it may be that no matter what was done or not done to 'The Card,' its value really does lie in the eye of the beholder."
Grantland (Video)
"... The film, which features interviews with the Daily News’ Michael O’Keeffe and broadcaster/collector Keith Olbermann, tracks how sports memorabilia king Bill Mastro bought the Gretzky T206 Wagner in the 1980s and turned it into the most desired and expensive baseball card in history. The short also examines how longstanding rumors that the card was trimmed sparked an FBI investigation that resulted in a fraud indictment for Mastro and several associates. Mastro was expected to plead guilty to one count of fraud earlier this month in Chicago federal court – and to acknowledge that the T206 Wagner had been trimmed. But the judge rejected his plea deal, and Mastro is scheduled to return to court on March 19."
NY Daily News
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| 1903 photograph of Honus Wagner. Chicago Daily News |
"The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card depicts Pittsburgh Pirates' Honus Wagner, a dead-ball era baseball player who is widely considered to be one of the best players of all time. The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. Wagner refused to allow production of his baseball card to continue, either because he did not want children to buy cigarette packs to get his card, or because he wanted more compensation from the ATC. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 60 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US$50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card in the world at the time. The most famous T206 Honus Wagner is the 'Gretzky T206 Honus Wagner' card. The card has a controversial past, as some speculate that it was once altered, based on the card's odd texture and shape. The Gretzky T206 Wagner was first sold by Alan Ray to a baseball memorabilia collector named Bill Mastro, who sold the card two years later to Jim Copeland for nearly four times the price he had originally paid. Copeland's sizable transaction revitalized interest in the sports memorabilia collection market."
Wikipedia
The Card: Collectors, Con Men, and the True Story of History's Most Desired Baseball Card"Only a few dozen T206 Wagners are known to still exist, having been released in limited numbers just after the turn of the twentieth century. Most, with their creases and stains, look like they've been around for nearly one hundred years. But one—The Card—appears to have defied the travails of time. Its sharp corners and still-crisp portrait make it the single-most famous—and most desired—baseball card on the planet, valued today at more than two million dollars. It has transformed a simple hobby into a billion-dollar industry that is at times as lawless as the Wild West. Everything about The Card, which has made men wealthy as well as poisoned lifelong relationships, is fraught with controversy—from its uncertain origins to the nagging possibility that it might not be exactly as it seems. In this intriguing, eye-opening, and groundbreaking look at a uniquely American obsession, award-winning investigative reporters Michael O'Keeffe and Teri Thompson follow The Card's trail from a Florida flea market to the hands of the world's most prominent collectors. The Card sheds a fascinating new light on a world of counterfeiters, con men, and the people who profit from what used to be a pastime for kids."
amazon
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