Cardhound is excited to announce a partnership with Cuban Baseball Auctions. Cuban Baseball Auctions focuses not only on Cuban baseball cards, but also Caribbean and South American issues. Think Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, and more. For many Negro League players, these are the only cards ever printed.
Effective immediately, I (Matt) will be helping with all aspects of the auctions, with a focus on marketing. Victor Pina is joining the team as consignment lead.
The site is owned and operated by my good friend Ryan Christoff. It is the premier destination for Cuban and Caribbean baseball cards and memorabilia. A little-known fact is that for the 20+ years of business, Ryan has simply been selling his own cards. Almost no consignments! But Ryan is turning his focus to building his collection–not selling it–and so we are transitioning to consignment model.
Cuban Baseball Auctions Reboot
We have been working on many things–most notably, an all-new web site. I have been managing the web site build for the past month and we are really excited about how it turned out. The fact that the great Graig Kreindler gave us permission to use his stunning painting of Bill Foster is a humbling honor!
Create Auction will still power the auction side. We have also been busy developing consignment forms and spreadsheets, forming an LLC, opening bank accounts, and all of the other behind-the-scenes “stuff” needed to run a consignment auction.
Cuban Baseball Auctions History
Here is some history from Ryan’s most recent newsletter:
“Many of you have been bidding in my auctions since auction #1 back in 2003. That auction saw a bidder win a lot containing nice examples of 1945-46 Caramelo Deportivo cards of Martín Dihigo and Ray Dandridge for a whopping $190 total. It also saw a 1946-47 Caramelo Deportivo Buck O’Neil with a starting bid of $125 get zero bids. Auction #2 had a 1924-25 Aguilitas Oscar Charleston with a starting bid of $2,000 that went unsold.
The Cuban card market has come a long way since then. Fast forward 20+ years and the highest auction price ever recorded for a Cuban baseball lot closed in this auction, when a complete 1923-24 Billiken set sold for over $370,000. Staggering! And we think there is room to grow, as the awareness of Negro Leaguers is still low, interest is growing, and supply is incredibly limited.
If you follow this site you know that Cuban cards are my PC focus and passion. This set is my pride and joy. But as an English teacher, current values have mostly outpaced my income! But I’m really excited to help curate the legacy of these players and leagues via working with Cuban Baseball Auctions.
Auction Coming Soon!
If you are interested in learning more about these auctions, please Join the Mailing List! You can also Register to Bid, check out the Blog, or view the upcoming Auction Calendar!
Cardhound regulars will receive auction updates soon–watch your inbox!
