1956 Topps Jack Robinson

Notice in the title I have referred the pioneering civil rights leader as Jack Robinson not “Jackie”. That is because in interviews his wife Rachel (Still living at 96!) has mentioned that is what she always called Jack.

I have also chose to use the name Jack Robinson on my latest phungo original cardboard creation

1956 Topps Jack Robinson (phungo variation)

So far I have made about three dozen colored pencil drawings and this is one of my favorites. I think to myself the drawings may not look like who I want them to, but it does sort of look like a person.

While this work is inspired by Robinson’s 1956 Topps card it is far from a replica. First off, as mentioned above, is the name modification. The next major difference is that I changed the play at the plate – I chose the iconic image from Robinson’s steal of home versus the Yankees in game 1 of the 1955 World Series. The play is filled out in color while the portrait side of the card is done with an abstract black & white background. This is a nod to the crossing of the color line – further symbolized by the foul line in the action shot.  This barrier is also illustrated by the staccato lines behind Jack’s headshot which echoes a fence – the line unbroken prior to Jackie Robinson entering major league baseball. 

I added a 42 to Jackie’s uniform. This is not historically accurate for Dodgers jerseys of the era, but I felt the number has become so much a symbol of our cultural memory it belonged in the illustration.

1956 Topps #30 Jackie Robinson

For comparison we present here the original 1956 Jackie Robinson card featuring the full background and original action shot.

Gummy Arts put together this more faithful rendition of the card.

1956 Topps #30 Jackie Robinson (Gummy Arts edition)

One of the other Robinson artworks I spotted today was done by Tim Carroll 

Carroll also uses the B/W vs color to mark the breaking of the color barrier. His works are mosaics created by using discarded baseball cards to create a new image. 

Sources and Links

Jackie Robinson HOF Index

Gummy Arts

Tim Carroll Art
Phungo Artwork

Imdb

Getty images

Topps card database

baseball-ref

Jackie Robinson 1956 Topps, Dodgers, Artwork

1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson and the First Topps Cartoon

To mark the anniversary of Jackie Robinson birth on January 31, 1919 We are going to take a look at the opening card of the 1953 Set.

1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson

We previously covered this card in 2013 and it now serves as the anchor posting for our Jackie Robinson HOF Index. That posting is largely a price guide for the card.

Today I want to take a look at the back of the card.

Cartoons first appear on the backs of cards in 1953. As the resident of the #1 slot in the set Jackie Robinson also has the honor of being the face of Topps first -toon. Ok this isn't in the same stratosphere of the Hall of Famers other accomplishments, but it is of interest to the card collector in me.

The first -toon is an interesting one, I doubt I would have even noticed it on a less noteworthy players card, but Jackie Robinson will make sure I look.

When I read the card I questioned the veracity of the information in the text. It specified that the original Home Plate was made of iron.

Fortunately in the 21st century via the magic of Twitter we can go right to baseball historians who have done much research around such topics.  Here is the question I posed to the MLB official Historian John Thorn.

1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson #1 (b-side)

Soon afterward John Thorn replied!

And he filled in some details. Yes the Plate was originally Iron, and he added some bonus info.

That is a lot of critical historical info in under 140 characters. 

It doesn't end there. One of Thorn's followers fleshed out some details on Home Plate. Those details  were then further elaborated on by John Thorn.

 So there we have the reasons for why we call the base Home Plate and the chronology of from the 1845 disc shape to the present shape.

Topps #1
We have recently been obsessed with #1 Cards. This posting will be a second entry for 1953T #1, which to me is the greatest of all the Topps #1 cards.

Sources and Links
Jackie Robinson HoF Index
Topps #1 Club
Our Game John Thorn
Twitter John Thorn
Twitter Peter Alexis

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter's #31 Jackie Robinson

On Wednesday April 15th Major League Baseball will hold Jackie Robinson Day. Once again every player on every team will wear Robinson's uniform number, 42. 

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter's #31 Jackie Robinson

This year the Phillies will don their #42 Jerseys while visiting the Mets for Jackie Robinson Day. The Mets have honored the baseball heritage of the area in their new home at CitiField with numerous references to Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The facade on the front of the building is an homage to Ebbets Field, Home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The entry way is a rotunda with a large Blue 42 honoring Robinson as a focal point.

Jackie Robinson retired 42 at CitiField 

I remember hearing some complaints regarding the amount items in the Mets new stadium that are dedicated to the legacy of the Dodgers. It may be a legitimate concern, but he Mets to have a nice albeit small museum/Hall of Fame off the rotunda. It appears to feature rotating exhibits, we were in New York when the Mets were hosting the All-Star game and they had several artifacts dedicated to past ASG hosted by the Mets and past performances by Mets in other mid-summer classics. The Museum also had both of the Mets World Series Trophy's on display.

Sources and Links
Phungo HoF Index - Jackie Robinson
New York Mets

2008 Topps Stadium Club #91 Jackie Robinson

Today marks the 67th anniversary of the day that Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. To honor the occasion players across the Majors will be donning Robinson's retired #42 for one game. 

2008 Topps Stadium Club #91 Jackie Robinson

I am typically not a fan of photos taken from the back of the subject, but this one works. First off we see Robinson's 42 which has of course been a significant symbol of courage and progress. And despite the shot being from behind, we still see a bit of Robinson's face. As a bonus he also appears to be smiling as he approaches the plate.

I am not sure what exactly was done with the photo, whether it was colorized or if perhaps Topps accented Robinson, but he pops off the rest of the card.

Stadium Club
Topps has announced that they are bringing the brand back for 2014. The 2008 edition featured above was a bit crazy - It had a very high Hobby Price of $25/pack while retail went for a more budget friendly $3. In 2014. It appears that the new edition due out just in time for the Playoffs on October 1, will be Hobby only and has strange configuration. The brand has been known for it's photography in the past, I look forward to weeing what Stadium Club can bring us this year.  

Jackie Robinson HoF Index
1953 Topps #1

Sources 
Baseball Cardpedia
Cardboard Connection

1951 Bowman #56 Ralph Branca

I Haven't seen 42 yet but I have seen the ads as well as the trailer and some promotional interviews. Ralph Branca has been featured in the interviews and appears to have a prominent role in the film.   

1951 Bowman #56 Ralph Branca

Ralph Branca is one of the Brooklyn Dodgers that befriended Jackie Robinson rather than shunning the new player. According to wikipedia Branca stood with Jackie Robinson for Opening Day lineups in 1947, when other Dodgers refused. Nothing quite like being on the right side of history.  

Branca is also known for giving up "The Shot Heard Round the World" to Bobby Thomson in 1951.  The Home Run by Thomson completed a victory for the Giants in a 3 game series to determine the NL champ.

The three time all-stars career was much bigger than that single game. He pitched for a dozen years almost entirely with the Dodgers - He pitched in two World Series (1947, 1949).  

Jackie Robinson's first season (1947) was Branca's best as he posted a 21-12 record with 4 shutouts and loggged 280 innings. The 21 Ws and his 147 Ks were both good enough for 2nd in the league while his 2.67 ERA was 3rd.

Ralph Branca is still alive at age 87 and can be seen promoting the film 42 on several baseball and sports outlets. There is also an official Ralph Branca website for fan who are interested in autographs and other memorabilia.

For the Collector

I picked up the above Branca card for $1 at a show last April. The card may be a little rough, but any vintage Brooklyn Dodger card for a buck is like stealing. The Lo E-Bay for a really rough 51 Bowman Branca among recent closes is $3.78, for $4.04 you could get a much nicer card.  The card peaks at $69 for a PSA 7 NM.   

1949 Bowman #194
The Bowman RC of Ralph Branca started at $66.  High numbers for the 1949 Bowman set start at #145 - Hall of Famers and Stars like Branca are virtually impossible to find.  Best of luck to anyone looking to build that baby.  The card peaks at $109 (BVG 7.5 NM+)

Topps
The only Topps card for Ralph Branca is from the iconic 1952 set #274. The low recent auction for an acceptable condition card was $11.94.  A PSA 8 NM-MT went for a tidy $414.  If your willing to settle for PSA 5 EX you can get the card at the far lower price of $95.   It should be noted that the card is part of the middle series of 1952 Topps which runs #251-310.  I have found commons in this series run 2-3x higher then the low series, stars and HoF vary but typically multiply more. 

Oaks Card Show Express Report

The Oaks Card Show has free admission on the first day, I only had a small window but decided to pop in since the price was right.  Here is a brief synopsis of very off-condition vintage cards that were found - Lots of 1951 Bowman.  

 1951 Bowman #256 Ken Silvestri 

1951 Bowman #260 Carl Erskine
1951 Bowman #56 Ralph Branca
1951 Bowman #122 Joe Garagiola  

1966 Topps #195 Joe Morgan

1960 Topps #173 Billy Martin 
1963 Topps #439 Don Zimmer

The 1951 Bowman Cards were $1.00 each as was the '66 Joe Morgan.  The Martin and Zimmer were in a 3 for a buck bin. 

The 1966 Topps Joe Morgan is his 2nd year Card and the first card of his where he appears solo.  It is in ok condition - some creasing.     

The Silvestri and Erskine cards are both HI numbers in the 51 Bowman series.  Any Bowman Brooklyn Dodger is probably worth a buck unless it is in really horrible condition.

Joe Garagiola was a big part of my youth as he commentated on the game of the week when I was a kid.  Glad to have finally picked up one of his cards. 

So yeah I had a real successful show on Friday and fully intend to get back to the show for a fuller day on Sunday.   

Card Show Report 2011 11 11 - Oaks PA - CSA Show

Sorry not enough time to commit to a thorough write-up so I am just going to post a few snapshots and pricing when I remember the $$ - These are some of the Vintage cards I picked up at the show. Later in the week I will feature the dime box specials.  


Phillies Great Richie Ashburn

1955 Bowman #130 Richie Ashburn $2



Home Run King Hank Aaron

1975 Topps Mini #1 Hank Aaron '74 Highlights $2.00
1974 Topps #2 Hank Aaron Special (1958-61) $1.00

More HoFs

1960 Topps #450 Orlando Cepeda ($1)
1962 Topps Warren Spahn All-Star ($1)
1953 Topps Dick Williams ($2.00)
1959 Topps #147 Cubs Clubbers ($1 - w/ Ernie Banks)

The weekend of the Oaks Show was a busy one for me an dI dint' get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I did well for the brief time I was there.   The Bowman Ashburn was a steal at the  price of $2.  I already had the Cubs Clubber card, but this one was a definite upgrade.

$2 for the Hank Aaron mini was a pretty good deal as well - One of the projects that is dancing in the back of my head is building a set of the HoF 75 Minis.  There are quite a few of them in that set and they are basically the biggest names from my childhood.
T

2011 Phungo Cards - #42 Retired Number Series

For 2011 We here at Team Phungo are proud to announce the premier of a brand new insert set that we are very excited about.

2011 Phungo Retired Number #42-PHI


The first card in the debut edition of the Phungo #42 Retired Number Series is dedicated to Jackie Robinson whose number was retired across baseball on April 15th 1997.

This is Robinson's Retired Number at the Phillies Home in Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The #42 Retired Number Series is a continuity series.  I envision adding cards to the series each year until I get tired of making Phungo Cards.  The inaugural issue consists of 3 cards.   Going forward I anticipate adding five cards to the set each year.

The cards will eventually feature as many stadiums as I can attend.  Jackie Robinson's number is retired by all 30 Major League Clubs, therefore it is likely we could feature a Robinson card for the insert set every year for some time.

In honor of Jackie Robinson all cards in the series will start with the prefix #42 followed by the card number which will reflect the team/ballpark and the players Number.

Philly Card Show Report - Splurge the 1959s

1959 Topps #514 Bob Gibson

If you are building a vintage set you at some point have to decide how you are going to handle the star cards, special cards, short prints and Hall of Famers. Because of the laws of supply and demand, these cards are typically both harder to locate and more expen$ive.

For the most part my 59 set is made up of cards I would describe as in good condition. I avoid cards that are written on, torn cut up etc. Dinged Corners and surface wear don't bother me to much.

That brings us to 1959 Topps #514 Bob Gibson. This is THE rookie card of the 1959 Topps Set. It is also part of the somewhat scarcer high number series of 59 Topps. I already have all three Mantle cards from the Set and the Mays base card, so I was well aware that this was likely the next big fish from the set.

This card has some minor creasing, surface wear and soft edges. If I were a Cardinals fan and wanted a Gibson Rookie to be the center of my collection, I would probably have passed on this card.

But as a good card of a big name Hall of Fame player that I need to build a 50 year old vintage set - This card is perfectly fine.
For the Collector

This particular card went for $30. On ebay a card in similar condition just sold for $34.99 shipped. A noticeably better conditioned card went for $39.98 which appears to be a pretty good deal to me. Beyond that there are several auctions that finished in the $85-$100 range. A really crisp graded card top ended at $1384.00 on November 22nd.



1959 Topps #317 NL Hitting Kings Ashburn and Mays

I believer there are three cards featuring Willie Mays in the 1959 Topps set, this one also features Phillies Hall of Famer and fan favorite Richie Ashburn. This went for a reasonable $4.50. I also picked up the #20 Duke Snider card for $2.50, but it is in really poor condition, and looking back I probably should have bypassed that card.
Commons



1959 Topps #517 Joe Koppe
1959 Topps #440 "Lou" Burdette
1959 Topps #206 Carl Furillo
1959 Topps #359 Bill White

The Koppe card is really not a common, it is part of the High Numbered Series which start at #507. The "Lou" Burdette card is notable for the misspelling of his first name LEW short for Lewis. This card "inspired" the much derided 2007 Topps Heritage super-scarce parallel "Jon" Smoltz card. What is Carl Furillo doing in the bargain bin??. And finally Bill White, who was one of the first black players in the Majors and as the President of the National League (1989-94) was the first African-American to hold such an office for a Major Sports League.

The Joe Koppe card as well as 7 other hi numbers went for $1.75. The regular set commons of which I picked up about 30 went for 35 cents each.

If you would like to contribute to the Phungo 1959 Topps Set Building challenge please let me know, I have lots of common duplicates to trade. My 1959 Topps Want List is chronicled here.

Speaking of 1959 Topps and 2007 Topps Heritage

Yep this was Team Phungo's last splurge of the 2009 Collecting Year. I finally broke down and decided to build the Topps 1959 Homage set - 2007 Topps Heritage. The two boxes went for a reasonable 90.00 combined and I got the dealer to toss in some new hobby packs 09 Heritage High Numbers at a discount.

2004 Topps Heritage Faux Blaster - 1955 Topps Returns

The Phungo Faux Blaster is basically $20 worth of cards out of a single product or in a certain theme. Today we are examining 2004 Topps Heritage.

04 Heritage looks back at 1955 Topps, the first of the Topps Sets to feature Landscape/Horizontal cards. Here is one other link dedicated to 1955 Topps.

I picked up Five packs of the 04 Heritage at a show last month and opened the first pack over at A Pack to be Named Later. Recently Matt F of Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius has been busy opening a lot of quality 1980's and early 90's wax.

Here is what came out of the remaining 4 packs

Pack 2
304 Rocco Baldelli
1 Jim Thome
160 Carlos Quentin (early card but not a RC)
66 Kyle Davies RC
NPA15 Josh Beckett
67 Tim Salmon
270 Ramon Ortiz
103 Hideo Nomo

The Inserts (click to Enlarge)

Pack 3
86 Ray Durham
325 Alex Gonzalez
212 Darrin Erstad
133 Wes Helms
F10 Flashback Robin Roberts
4/4 Checklist (on some really thick cardboard)
277 Ty Wiggington
178 Shane Reynolds
322 Junior Spivey

Thome Short Print with Thome Base (Click to Enlarge)


Pack 4
353 Brad Lidge (Astros)
372 Eric Karros
189 Braden Looper
392 Jamie Moyer (Mariners)
1 Thome (SP)
76 Placido Polanco
285 Neifi Perez
199 Javier Vazquez

Phillies Past and Present

Pack 5
44 Jimmy Haynes
143 Brad Fullmer
280 Brian Giles
55 Brendan Donnelly
195 Flash Gordon
53 Jose Contreras
215 Randy Johnson
107 Jarrod Washburn

The five packs pretty much came up as promised. The lot didn't contain a "hit", four of the five packs contained either an insert or a short print. As far as I can tell the last pack does not contain an insert. The Short Print I pulled was of Jim Thome and 1 of the three inserts was of Robin Roberts - Very happy on the Phils meter. Pack four was probably the pick of the lot as it contained two Phils including the Thome SP, plus two future Phils who would make up part of the 2008 World Championship pitching staff.

Whenever I pick up packs in bulk from the a dealer at a show, I try and get a then to throw in some sort of a bonus. With the 5 packs of 04 Heritage I also picked up a pack of 2003 Fleer Tradtion which is featured in this post. That pack produced 10 cards the Highlights were a Sammy Sosa insert, Drew Henson SP, and an early Jake Peavy card.

Summarizing the 2004 Topps Heritage Faux Blaster: No big hits a couple of inserts and short prints. Who knows maybe the packs were searched, or I got the end of the Heritage box.

Overall I came away with 50 total cards broken down as follows:

36 2004 Topps Heritage Base Cards
1 Short Print Variation (Thome)
3 Inserts (Robin Roberts, Josh Beckett, Herb Score/Kerry Wood)

7 2003 Fleer Tradition Base Cards
1 Short Print (Drew Henson)
2 Insert (Sosa, Jeter Puzzle Piece )

The Heritage cards included 7 Past, Current or Future Phils of some significance which made the Faux Blaster a success, otherwise I would have considered it mediocre. Regardless, I think I would prefer this Blaster to a Blaster of 90 current topps cards.

1955 Topps

Lets take a look back at some of the other 1955 Topps related cards in the Phungo Collection:
1955 Topps #11 Ferris Fain

Ferris Fain played his first 6 seasons (1947-52) with the Philadelphia Athletics. During his career he posted an On Base Percentage of .424, which ranks 9th all time! Fain was basically a singles hitter (48 career Homers) with a lot of walks and it is doubtful he would have ever gotten consideration for the Hall of Fame. He also only played 9 seasons, one short of Hall of Fame qualification.

2004 is not the only time that Topps has recycled the 1955 design. They have done this as far back as 1975 when Topps had a subset featuring the Topps cards of the Leagues previous MVPs.


I am sure that most of you are also aware that Topps has used the design for a Mantle Subset and included a handful of 1955 style cards in their Fan Favorites Series:


2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #84 Johnny Podres
2008 Topps Mickey Mantle Home Run History #HHR536 Mickey Mantle
(click to enlarge)

Phungo 5 with Night Owl Cards - Guest Card Matt Kemp

This week the Phils face the Dodgers for the first time since the 2008 NLCS. To find out whats going on with the Dodgers we called upone the wisdom of Night Owl Cards. NOC covers a wide range of topics but centers around two areas, Cards photographed during night games and the Dodgers. I also enjoy the early 70s vintage on Night Owl's site. Night Owl was also an active participant and runner-up in the Spot The Sig! competition. Team Phungo thanks the NOC crew for their participation and would like to let everyone know that we are in the preliminary stages of putting together some interesting stuff for Spot The Sig! series 2 in the fall.

Here is Night Owl Cards Phungo 5.

1) Night Owl Cards features many in depth posts - on many varied subjects. Which takes longer finding the right cards for the post or writing up the copy?

Oh, probably writing up the copy. Since I’m an editor by profession, I’m particular about the way things are written, and I get paranoid that people who know I am an editor will see grammatical issues and call me on it. So I have to go over what I’ve written a few times. Plus, I like to give readers something to think about, so it takes some time to decide how to write something. As for finding the cards, I have a lot scanned and on file. But when something comes up unexpected, and I have to dig up a bunch of cards, that can be a royal pain in the bum.

2) There is a lot of talk about the Mets new stadium homaging Ebbets field - as a Dodgers fan on the east coast does this pique your interest in visiting the stadium?

It’s a little unsettling to me that the Mets are paying homage to Ebbets Field/the Brooklyn Dodgers. I’ve come across a lot of Mets fans. I don’t know many who are Dodgers fans. A bunch of them hate the Dodgers. I know back when the Mets first began that a lot of Brooklyn Dodgers fans became Mets fans. But that’s not so much the case anymore. So, nah, it wouldn’t make more interested than going to any other new stadium.

3) The Dodgers have a mess of quality young hitters (Kemp, Ethier, Loney) who do you think will ultimately emerge as the best of this group.

Oh, geez, it’s Matt Kemp. When he puts it all together – and I hope that’s “when” and not “if,” he’ll be a flat-out star. You’re already seeing what he can do a bit more this year.

2007 Upper Deck Rookie Sensations #RS-MK Matt Kemp

4) Who will be the Dodger players of the game for each of the three games in the Series - and give me one Blob - Phillie or Dodger.

For Tuesday, let’s say Randy Wolf. He’s gonna have a little extra motivation going back to Phillie. For Wednesday, I’d like to say Kershaw, but I don’t know how that’s going to go. I’ll say, Andre Ethier. For Thursday, I’m going with Juan Pierre. It’s JuanPierreWood now!

For the blob, Tuesday, it’ll be Matt Stairs, because I hold a grudge. Wednesday, it’ll be Russell Martin ‘cause I think the Phillies will win that. Thursday, I’ll go with Pedro Feliz. He’s an ex-Giant.

5) Are you a believer in the Tommy LaSorda Slim Fast Diet?

Have you seen Tommy the last few years? I don’t think it’s been working for awhile now.

Another fun and informative Phungo 5. Kudos for bringing up Randy Wolf. He is a Phungo house favorite and we are looking forward to seeing him back in town. I will award a 4 out 4 to Night Owl Cards for this one with the point for question 4 pending the blob predictions - I personally like Ethier he is a bit steadier for my tastes, but Night Owl is correct, Matt Kemp definitely looks like an every year All-Star in the making. The Dodgers should be a competitive club for several years and I am happy the Phils took advantage of their opportunity in 2008.

Thanks to Night Owl Cards for this weeks Phungo 5. If you want to look at a past Phungo 5 click here and you can find out what Waxaholic had to say about the Braves.

Roy Campanella Night

This past Thursday marked the 50th anniversary of Roy Campanella night. A car accident left Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella paralyzed. In support of Campanella and his family the LA Dodgers and New York Yankees played an exhibition game on May 9th 1959. 93,000 fans attended the game.

The anniversary is being marked by a program on MLB Network on Monday Night May 11th.

I could not find anything on the MLB Network's woefully underwritten site, but found several blog postings on the show including this one one by Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News.

1959 Topps #550 Roy Campanella Symbol of Courage (with b-side: click to enlarge)

Topps also recognized Roy Campanella in the 1959 high numbered series. As far as I know it was the first time Topps had created a baseball card that marked a baseball related tragedy. Since then Topps has issued several cards of players that died during there playing careers. One recent example was of former Phil Cory Lidle who perished in a plane crash in 2006.

For the Collectors

In my opinion this is a great card to have in any novice vintage collection. In a recent ebay auctions a couple of these ungraded cards in fair condition (about same as card pictured) have sold for $6.75 and $11.22. Higher quality graded cards have sold for $37 - $50.

As always the Phungo quoted prices include shipping and handling charges.

Hall of Fame Thursday - Jackie Robinson

1997 Upper Deck #3 Jackie Robinson (The MVP Season - 1949)

Today is April 2nd or 4-2, which happens to be the number worn by Jackie Robinson. Robinson is, of course, the player that is remembered for breaking the Major League Baseball color barrier and leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to the 1955 World Championship - The last title the Dodgers would win in Brooklyn.

Robinson was a 28 year old rookie when his career started. Baseball reluctance to add black players to their rosters likely cost Robinson four or more years of his career, which spanned 10 years. Still Robinson accumulated 1518 hits, 137 Homers, 197 Stolen Bases and was a career .311 hitter. He had a tremendous 740-291 K/BB ration which help him carry a .409 OBP number.

Jackie Robinson was inducted to the Hall in his first year of eligibility (1962) and his uniform number 42 has been retired across baseball. On April 15th of each year Major League Baseball marks the anniversary of Robinson's 1947 debut by hosting Jackie Robinson Day. Teams and players often where the number 42 in recognition of the event.

On April 15th the Dodgers host their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants on Jackie Robinson day. The Phillies will travel to DC to play the Nationals.

The Jackie Robinson Foundation was founded by Rachel Robinson in 1973 to honor the memory of Jackie Robinson and facilitate the education of minority youth's in need. JRF aids these youths by providing a scholarship fund for continuing education. The Foundation also provides additional support through an extensive mentoring program.

For the Card Sharks

The Jackie Robinson 1949 #79 Leaf card has recently sold for over $400, while his 1949 Bowman #50 went for over $500. The 1952 Topps #312 Jackie Robinson is priced in the $400 range but off condition cards can be had for as little as $175. Many of the 1950s Topps Jackie Robinsons run from $100 to $200. If your on a budget fair condition cards can be had for as little as $45 (1954 Topps #10 ). A rough 1953 #1 has gone for $58 - which is pretty good for a significant HOF and first in set card.

At this time there are no Jackie Robinson auto cards in the recently completed auctions. There are a few cut signature Buy it Nows available for well over a thousand dollars.