| In the world of sports card and memorabilia | | | | One of the most notorious of all the Wagner |
| collecting there are a few sought after pieces | | | | cards has to be the "Gretzky T206 Honus" Card, |
| that hold a tremendous monetary and historical | | | | mainly because of the story of how this particular |
| value to them. One of these cards is the T206 | | | | card traded hands from an average collector, to a |
| Honus Wagner vintage baseball card, considered | | | | sports memorabilia shop, to a top sports |
| to be the Holy Grail of all sports cards by some | | | | memorabilia dealer; who later founded Mastro |
| collectors. The main reason for this is due to the | | | | Auctions. The card then again changed hands to |
| rarity and age of the card. It is rumored that | | | | another prominent business man who was |
| there is possibly between 50 to 200 cards in | | | | affiliated with George Steinbrenner and the New |
| existence only, and a few of them may still be | | | | York Yankees, long story short the Honus card |
| lurking out there in the market place. | | | | ended up with a memorabilia collector named |
| Honus Wagner, as depicted in the card itself, was | | | | Copeland who eventually decided to sell off his |
| a player for the Pittsburgh Pirates during what is | | | | entire personal baseball collection which consisted |
| referred to today as the 'dead ball" era. | | | | of around 873 pieces. |
| Considered to be one of the greatest players of | | | | The Wagner card being apart of this collection, |
| the game, it is no surprise that between the | | | | Mastro Auctions contracted Sotheby's New York, |
| years of 1909-1911 the American Tobacco | | | | to take the collection on consignment. There was |
| Company (ATC) wanted to have Wagner's image | | | | a lot of publicity surrounding this collection going up |
| put on a card as incentive for people to purchase | | | | for sale, and it brought out a large number of |
| their particular brand of tobacco. Wagner's picture | | | | hobbyist and curious a like. Many of the items that |
| was to be apart of the T206 series, but certain | | | | were up for sale went for much more than the |
| issues arose surrounding the authorization to use | | | | estimated pre-auction price. The initial pre-auction |
| his image, which is what led to the low print | | | | price for the Honus card was set at around |
| numbers of his card. | | | | $114,000.00 but within minutes of the opening bid |
| There are two theories floating around that could | | | | it had swelled to a whopping $451,000.00, which |
| explain the reason as to why Honus Wagner | | | | was paid by Mr. Wayne Gretzky and Mr. Bruce |
| stopped production of his card. The first school of | | | | McNall who was the owner of the NHL team the |
| thought was based on Honus Wagner's personal | | | | L.A Kings, the pair purchased the card via phone |
| ethical feelings about having fans that were | | | | in bidding. After this the card became known as |
| children, purchasing cigarette packs in order to | | | | the "Gretzky T206 Honus." |
| obtain his card; he did not feel that was right. The | | | | It was determined that the purchase of the card |
| second school of thought has to do more with | | | | was orchestrated by Mr. McNall. He stated that if |
| the fact that Wagner was said to be a very | | | | you purchase the best in the world, there will |
| shroud negotiator and he did not like the | | | | always be another buyer who would want to |
| compensation that was being offered to him by | | | | purchase the best as well, so it was bought as an |
| the ATC. | | | | investment for both individuals. Gretzky did |
| From January of 1909 the ATC looked for | | | | eventually resell the card, and he of course made |
| permission from the player themselves, in order | | | | a profit, so I suppose in the end Mr. McNall's |
| to be included in the T206 series of cards, I | | | | thoughts regarding the purchase of the Wagner |
| believe the whole set had about 524 major league | | | | card were correct. None of the other Wagner |
| players at the time and roughly 76 of these | | | | cards have been quite as successful in terms of |
| players then went on to be inducted into the | | | | having such a story to tell. The publicity that the |
| Baseball Hall Of Fame. The ATC was anxious to | | | | Gretzky T206 drew to the existence of the card |
| get Honus to be apart of their Ad campaign, | | | | propelled the card even further into the collecting |
| seeing as he was rated one of the best players in | | | | stratosphere. While the Gretzky card has great |
| the league at that time. Wagner had done | | | | entertainment value, it is not the most expensive |
| previous Ad work with other companies such as, | | | | card to be sold. In fact, the most expensive card |
| a gunpowder company, a soda drink company, as | | | | to be sold was indeed a Honus Wagner T206, and |
| well as a chewing gum company. Whether it was | | | | that took place on an eBay online auction put up |
| his strong moral feelings, or his tough as nails | | | | by Robert Edward Auctions. The card sold for an |
| negotiating skills, no one knows for sure why he | | | | insane $1.265 million! So in closing this card |
| actually put a stop to the printing of his cards, but | | | | currently holds the world record for the most |
| it has kept his cards to a small number, which has | | | | expensive baseball card ever sold. |
| now rocketed it's price value sky high. | | | | |