T206 Eddie Plank sells for Astounding record price in low grade: $230.

Over the years I’ve been involved with the purchase and sale of approximately 50 T206 Eddie Planks. Some of these may be double counted as the same card was bought and sold more than once.  But for whatever reason, I have always been a “magnet” for Planks.  This cancelled 1974 check to Pat Quinn for $230 (pictured above) which I recently found was the VERY FIRST! And such a “prize find” that I thought I’d give it its own post rather than throw it in a longer post with many others. 
 
I remember the thrill of buying this card like it was yesterday. The seller was legendary Chicago dealer Pat Quinn. He was from a different generation than me. I was, after all, literally a kid in 1974 (I was in the 7th grade!) Pat Quinn was an adult. In my very earliest organized hobby days I’m not sure he took me totally seriously as a dealer (because when I first encountered Pat, at my age, how could he?) I was sort of a curiosity. I remember the first time I met Pat and Frank Nagy, around 1973 at a District Center 65 show in New York, talking with both of them near the entrance of the show about what vintage cards I was looking to buy. They were both humoring me is the best way I can put it, looking at each other as if to say “what the heck is going on here?” because they were really bewildered. But still being very respectful and giving me feedback to my questions, explaining to me that they had mail auctions, and sometimes joking with each other slightly above my head. I appreciated the interaction. I learned from everything they said (that I could understand!) And just a few years later, while I was still a kid, I was a slightly older kid, and I think fair to say a peer as a dealer.
 
I soon came to see that Pat was one of just several prominent hobbyists that “owned” Chicago, and one of the most well-known and established dealers in the country. I got the impression that he actually did this for a living even at this early date (which in retrospect was no small feat), but he probably had some regular job at some time, at least in earlier years. I remember that his close associate and future partner Don Steinbach, a very affable man with an infectious laugh who was impossible not to like, worked at a bank before going full time into sports cards. As the hobby exploded in the 1970s, the transition from “real jobs” to full time hobbyist was made by a handful of collector/dealers who just fell into it. They loved collecting, loved cards, enjoyed the “action,” and found themselves making more money playing with their cards and memorabilia than at their “boring bank jobs” (or whatever jobs they had). And, at the same time, building a great collection. Because these early 1970s dealers, almost to a person, were first and foremost true collectors. They wanted to make a living but wouldn’t have even been involved were it not for their sincere interest in collecting.

Chicago was a hotbed of hobby/collecting activity. Pat Quinn was one of the Kings. As I continue rambling here, literally typing “freestyle” as I am thinking, with no outline or structure, I should add that Pat and Don (along with Mike Keasler, who as I recall was a high school basketball coach, and Roger Marth, who may have joined a year or two later and I’m not sure but I think he was a teacher), opened The Sports Collectors Store in Chicago in 1976. This was a huge store that eventually had MILLIONS of cards in inventory! It was a big deal to have a retail establishment like this. They were kind of like “professionals” who sold only sports cards and memorabilia, and this was very new at this early date.

Don and Pat were like sitcom TV characters to me: Don was always laughing and fun; he could transition to being serious at any time, especially when negotiating a big deal, and then he’d go back to joking and laughing and just having fun. His low voice would even get lower when he was being serious. And after the deal or serious discussion, he would just as quickly transition to joking and merriment. His laugh was infectious. Which brings me to Pat…Pat was the perfect foil for Don. Handsome and kind of swashbuckling, Pat was the muscle of the duo, ready to scare away problem customers and appear to be ready to snap when someone was being unreasonable or cheat them.    
 
 
In my mind, as a tag-team, Don played the “good guy” and Pat played the “bad guy.” Roles that naturally suited them. After all, at all of 5 feet 4 inches tall on a good day, balding, overweight, and laughing like a loveable hyena, Don was not very intimidating. Pat had to take up the slack and he was always very prepared. I should make clear that Pat was (and still is) a great guy. Nothing but good things to say about him! But he could be aggressive, intimidating, and just give the impression he had a short fuse (even if he didn’t), like a hockey player ready to throw down on a moment’s notice. Pat cursed like crazy and could be confrontational, even if it was an act, and he had a heavy Chicago accent that made him seem like he was a gown-up Chicago version of one of the Dead End Kids or the Bowery Boys from the 1940s movies about wayward kids who were tough and got in trouble. Which he sort of was. At least I think he was. No one’s that good an actor! But make no mistake: he was brilliant, and with good reason loved by those who dealt with him and knew him. With his sometimes rougher and more easily annoyed exterior in comparison to Don’s jovial demeanor, he was also amusing to his many friends, who knew Pat’s occasional expletive-infused explosions of discontent were just his way of communicating. And when Pat would yell at something or someone, Don’s shoulders were usually going up and down a little as he laughed. He could not contain his amusement. Are my early impressions of them accurate? I really don’t know. A young kid sees things through his or her young eyes. Right or wrong, these are just some fun impressions of how I remember these two giants of the hobby in the early days. There’s obviously much more to them!
 
Don unfortunately passed away very young in the 1990s. Pat is still out there somewhere (Hi Pat!) and while he’s got to be getting up there in years, I trust he is still cursing up a storm (Warning: Don’t cross this man!)  Their impact on the hobby has been enormous and incredibly positive.
 
 
Back to Plank (I have a rambling style sometimes, by design, as where else could I possibly write this stuff). Pat advertised this Plank in The Trader Speaks, the premier hobby publication of the day. The Trader Speaks was a monthly publication. When I found the check I went digging around for the issue of the “Trader,” armed with the date of the check to help me as I went through a pile of old issues. And there it was! 

I won the auction. This was March 1974. I’m sure Pat was probably thinking “What the hell is this kid doing? How old is this kid anyway?” Followed by a declaration of amazement disguised as a string of expletives. 
 
 $230 was a lot of money for a Plank in 1974. It was a lot of money for any card. Frankly, the ONLY card in the entire field worth more than a T206 Plank or 1933 Goudey Lajoie was a T206 Wagner. And this card was in rough shape. Not just a little rough, but REALLY rough! In my mind I called it “the card with 1000 creases.” It didn’t really have 1000 creases but did seem to have so many I could not begin to count them. I thought it might be the most beat up T206 in the world and just happened to be Plank. But I loved this card! Though condition was nowhere near as important to collectors back then as now, this card was so beat up that its condition no doubt made it more affordable. Condition may not have mattered much back then but collectors weren’t blind. There were limits. This card was in poor condition. 
 
I’d love to show a picture of the card but looking online I just can’t find a Plank that I am certain is the card. I think I know exactly what it looked like. It may be that a picture of the card is just not online anywhere to reference. So, rather than potentially identify the wrong Plank as the 1974 Pat Quinn auction Plank, I’m picturing an example in somewhat similar condition that I know is NOT the card. This is Lionel Carter’s T206 Plank:

Actually, Lionel’s card is probably in better shape than the 1974 Pat Quinn auction Plank. But at least it gives some idea of what the card looked like. Yes, it was wrecked. But it was still beautiful! 

I hope you have enjoyed reading these scattershot memories of the hobby in the early 1970s. I’ve enjoyed writing them!
 
Robert Lifson
 
 
PS What happened to the Plank? I wish I could say I still have it but within a couple of years I had sold it. I can’t even remember who I sold (or traded) it to. Which is kind of incredible to me as it was such a thrill to get. But I've handled so many Planks. And it has been over 50 years. It's out there somewhere.