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JERRY REED BASEBALL CARDS FOR SALE ON COMC

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Jerry Reed was an American country musician, session guitarist, songwriter, comedian, and actor who passed away in 2008 at the age of 71. Though best known as a country music singer and for his roles in films such as ‘Smokey and the Bandit,’ Reed began his career in the 1950s as a session musician in Nashville, playing guitar on recording sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, and Marty Robbins.

Reed likely never imagined at the height of his music career that over 60 years later, collectors would be seeking out Jerry Reed baseball cards from his time as a young athlete prior to establishing himself as a musician. A small set of rare vintage cards featuring Jerry Reed from his teenage baseball playing days in the early 1950s have become highly sought after pieces for collectors on Comic Connect (COMC), one of the largest online marketplaces for buying and selling collectibles.

Born in 1937 in Atlanta, Georgia, Jerry Reed Roberts (he later changed his name professionally to Jerry Reed) showed athletic prowess from a young age. He excelled at baseball and briefly attended Brenau College on a baseball scholarship. During his teenage years in the early 1950s, the burgeoning musician had hopes of a professional baseball career. It was around this time that a small set of Jerry Reed baseball cards were produced by Conlon Companies, likely in short print runs distributed locally in Georgia.

Only a tiny handful of these exceedingly rare Jerry Reed baseball cards are known to exist today. They depict a clean-cut teenage Jerry Reed in a baseball uniform from his time playing for the Conlon Cardinals, an amateur/semi-pro baseball team sponsored by Conlon Chewing Gum and based in Newnan, Georgia. The simple, yet historic, cards show a photo of Reed on the front alongside basic stats and info about his playing career up to that point on the back.

Because they were produced in such tiny quantities over 60 years ago specifically for local/regional distribution, finding high grade, intact examples of Jerry Reed’s baseball cards in modern times is no simple task. Serious vintage card collectors who seek out obscure and rare pieces to populate the edges of their collections covet these windows into Reed’s early life and career prior to widespread fame and fortune in country music.

As one of the most respected online marketplaces for vintage and modern collectibles, Comic Connect (COMC) frequently hosts listings of the elusive Jerry Reed baseball cards when they surface from an elderly Georgian who held onto a reminder of their community’s native son or from an estate sale of a dedicated memorabilia collector. Buyers eagerly watch for when the highly conditioned gems become available, knowing just how few high grade copies remain in the collecting population after six decades of existence.

On COMC, Jerry Reed baseball cards in top-shelf near mint to mint condition regularly sell in the $150-300 range when they pop up, with the most pristine specimens occasionally reaching the $400-500 range if two or more qualified bidders get involved in a bidding war for the rare piece of sports and entertainment history. Copies that have issues such as creasing, corners cuts or edge wear may sell in the $75-150 range depending on the extent of the flaws for more casual collectors looking to add any example of the historic card to their holdings.

Beyond their obvious rarity and appeal to vintage baseball card collectors, the Jerry Reed cards also intrigue country music and memorabilia aficionados. They represent one of the only widely distributed works that depict Reed prior to leaving behind baseball hopes to pursue music full-time. For country music historians, they offer a unique snapshot into Reed’s early life ambitions before the success of songs like “Guitar Man,” “U.S. Male,” and “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” redefined him as an entertainer for generations.

Interestingly, Jerry Reed himself was actually quite athletically talented beyond just baseball in his youth according to those who knew him. He also showed prowess in basketball and was said to have nearly walked on to the University of Georgia basketball team before deciding to focus exclusively on a musical career. This makes his baseball cards an especially fascinating period piece from what could have been an alternate path as a professional athlete had his musical talents not developed and defined his legacy.

While Jerry Reed may primarily be remembered today as one of country music’s great singer-songwriters and character actors from the 1970s, the scant few baseball cards produced of the teenage Reed offer collectors and historians a singular portal into his early ambitions and athletic talent that nearly defined his future before the guitar became his passion and professional path. Rarely do such obscure period relics from a celebrity’s youth pop up in the collecting world, making these Jerry Reed cards highly valued one-of-a-kind editions for vintage enthusiasts when they surface on COMC or in the broader marketplace.

JERRY OWENS BASEBALL CARDS

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Jerry Owens has been an avid collector of baseball cards since he was a young boy growing up in the 1960s. Back then, collecting cards was a hobby enjoyed by millions of American children and it helped foster Owens’ love for America’s pastime of baseball. Now in his 60s and retired, Owens’ collection has grown tremendously over the decades to include some truly rare and valuable cards.

Owens began his collection in the late 1960s by buying packs of cards at the corner drugstore or grocery store. Some of his earliest cards included the 1967 Topps set and 1969 Topps set. These common cards from his childhood hold nostalgic value for Owens but are not particularly rare or expensive compared to what he collects now. Through the 1970s, Owens continued adding to his collection with each new season’s set of cards as the hobby boomed in popularity during that period.

In the 1980s, Owens’ interest in collecting intensified. By then he was an adult with more disposable income and he began searching for older, more collectible vintage cards to add to his growing collection. Some of the key vintage cards Owens acquired during the 1980s include a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth card, a 1952 Topps Willie Mays rookie card, and a 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card. These considered some of the true ‘grail’ cards for any serious collector and finding high grade examples was no easy feat during that time period.

The money Owens spent on vintage cards in the 1980s seems like a bargain now compared to today’s skyrocketing prices. For example, Owens paid $2,500 for a near mint-condition 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie that in today’s market could fetch over $150,000. His 1933 Babe Ruth Goudey card, which he acquired for $750, would be worth around $25,000 today. Acquiring these true vintage cornerstone cards early in his collecting career set Owens up with a blue chip investment portfolio in the hobby that has greatly appreciated over the decades.

By the 1990s, Owens had amassed a world-class collection of over 10,000 total cards valued at around $250,000 at the time. He continued selectively acquiring rare vintage gems as they became available, including a 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner card graded a PSA 2.5 that he paid $75,000 for in 1995. That Wagner is considered the crown jewel of his collection today and is worth an estimated $1 million or more. Having an investment-grade T206 Wagner so early in the modern collecting era gave Owens’ collection instant prestige and credibility with his collecting peers.

Along with pursuing vintage cards, Owens also began investing in prospects and stars of the modern era in the 1990s that he believed could potentially become the investment icons of the future. Some prescient investments he made included 1991 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. and 1992 Bowman’s Best Chipper Jones rookie cards. Today, pristine specimens of those rookie cards can fetch over $10,000 each. Owens’ foresight to selectively invest in the next generation of stars while building his vintage collection proved to be a savvy dual strategy for appreciating asset growth.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Owens watched his collection balloon in value as the sports collecting economy entered a new boom period fueled by Wall Street investment dollars and internet bidding wars. His 1956 Topps Mantle and 1933 Goudey Ruth cards blossomed into six-figure valuations. Even his everyday player cards from the 1970s were now considered vintage collector’s pieces worth hundreds of dollars each in top grades. With careful inventory management and long-term storage in temperature-controlled safes, Owens’ collection maintained its condition grades which maximized returns.

Today, at age 64, Owens estimates his collection is worth well over $5 million based on current market prices. He no longer adds many new cards, preferring to hold and selectively sell pieces over the decades to fund his retirement. While money is not his primary motivation, appreciating the investment aspect of the hobby has allowed Owens to enjoy collecting at a world-class level. He remains an active member of hobby community through membership in authentication services and industry conventions. His collection stand as a shining example of how patience, foresight, and care over decades can exponentially grow the value of sports cards from a childhood pastime into a serious asset.

In conclusion, Jerry Owens’ lifelong dedication to collecting baseball cards represents the potential for sports memorabilia to not only bring enjoyment, but also serve as an investment opportunity for future financial security. Starting from an early interest in affordable packs of common cards, Owens nurtured his hobby into a blue-chip collection worth millions through strategic acquisition of icons from every baseball card era. His story demonstrates how combining nostalgia with savvy long-term management can turn a childhood passion into one of the finest baseball card collections in existence.