Mike Squires became a legendary figure in the hobby of baseball card collecting. Though he never played professionally in the major leagues himself, Squires made his mark by doing what he loved – seeking out and acquiring rare vintage baseball cards. His prominent hobby career spanning decades made him renowned among collectors nationwide.
Squires was born in 1952 in Flint, Michigan and developed a passion for baseball at a young age by listening to Detroit Tigers games on the radio. As a boy in the 1960s, he began actively collecting cards and was always on the hunt for exciting finds to add to his collection. Throughout high school and college, Squires continued amassing cards and gained valuable experience and knowledge about the secondary vintage baseball card market.
In the 1970s, after graduating from Michigan State University, Squires was able to transition collecting into a full-time business venture. He opened Mike’s Sports Cards, one of the first dedicated baseball card specialty shops in the United States. Located in Flint, the store became a popular destination for collectors across Michigan and the Midwest to trade, sell and purchase items. Through the shop, Squires was able to acquire many valuable vintage cards that collectors of the era eagerly sought.
One of Squires’ most prized early finds was acquiring one of the elusive 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner baseball cards. Produced by the American Tobacco Company, the ultra-rare Wagner is widely considered the most valuable trading card in existence. Squires purchased what became known as the “Squires Wagner” in the mid-1970s for around $5,000, a substantial sum at that time but a bargain compared to the millions it would be worth today. Having this prized piece in his collection elevated Squires’ notoriety among collectors immensely.
Throughout the 1980s, Squires continued growing his business and making headlines in the hobby for acquiring and re-selling notable vintage cards. He expanded Mike’s Sports Cards to two additional locations and placed advertisements in leading collector publications to reach a national customer base. Some of Squires’ biggest pre-1990 transactions included a 1911 Turkey Red Cabinets Nap Lajoie for $25,000, a Piedmont 180 Nap Lajoie for $50,000, and a high-grade 1914 Cracker Jack Johnny Evers for $65,000. Each demonstrated then-record pricing that shattered previous assumptions of values.
Entering the speculative boom of the early 1990s, Squires fully embraced his role as one of the most influential figures driving values and setting record prices in the hobby. Along with sports memorabilia dealer Bill Mastro, the pair set new standards by completing a private sale of the “Gretzky T206 Wagner” for over $500,000 in 1991. Their transaction was documented in the Wall Street Journal and cemented the Wagner as a verifiable million-dollar card over a decade before one would transact publicly at auction.
Through the remainder of the decade, Squires remained the hobby’s most prominent dealer and consulent on fine vintage rarities. When the Piedmont 180 Nap Lajoie traded privately for $110,000 in 1992, it was through Squires. He consigned an extraordinary high-grade 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth for auction, where it brought $64,000. And Squires broke his own records in 1995 by privately selling two different 1910 E90 Old Mill Tobacco Honus Wagner cards for amounts estimated between $500,000-$750,000 each.
While the baseball card market experienced a bust in the late 1990s, Squires continued focusing on elite vintage pieces through the early 2000s. His brand remained synonymous with the rarest of the rare. A major transaction came in 2005 when he brokered a private sale of one of the finest known T206 Wagners, widely considered the single finest example in existence. Though financial details were not released, estimates placed the price in excess of $1 million, highlighting the card’s transcendence as a million-dollar commodity.
Sadly, Mike Squires passed away in 2007 at the young age of 54 after battling cancer. By that point, he had undoubtedly established himself as one of the all-time most impactful figures in the history of the hobby. Through dedication to his passion and impeccable business acumen, Squires helped transform baseball cards from a childhood pursuit to a legitimate collectibles market. By facilitating record-breaking transactions of the rarest vintage cards over multiple decades, he helped define their modern valuations and preserve them for generations of future collectors to enjoy. Squires left an indelible mark and remains legendary for his love of the hobby and passion for the cards. His approval or expertise on a vintage rarity remains highly coveted today among collectors worldwide.
In the years since his passing, several of Squires’ prized personal collection cards have been auctioned off, maintaining their immense value. His personal “Squires Wagner” sold in 2016 for $2.8 million, reasserting its status as one of the most valuable trading cards in existence. A PSA NM-MT 8 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth also owned by Squires brought over $275,000 at auction in 2018. Each new record sets a fitting tribute to the man who did more than perhaps anyone to establish the greats of the vintage era as financially significant works of art. Mike Squires’ legacy and impact on the hobby are immortal and ensure his memory will live on alongside the cards he so loved.
