Ken Oberkfell had a 12-year career as a Major League Baseball player primarily as a first baseman and third baseman. While his playing career was solid if unspectacular, Oberkfell found greater notoriety and financial success after retiring through his ownership and operation of a baseball card business.
Born in 1951 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Oberkfell showed an early interest and passion for baseball cards and collecting them. Even as a young player rising through the minor leagues, he would supplement his income by selling and trading cards. After making his MLB debut with the California Angels in 1974, Oberkfell continued to build his own personal collection and gain knowledge of the baseball card market.
In 1981 at the age of 30, Oberkfell signed with the Cincinnati Reds and returned to his hometown. It was during his time with the Reds that he had his best season statistically, batting .270 with 12 home runs and 57 RBI. It was also at this stage of his playing career that he started to look past his life on the field and consider new business ventures for when baseball was over.
Drawing on his expertise in the field of sports memorabilia from years of collecting and dealing, Oberkfell formulated a plan. In 1985 after one final season with the St. Louis Cardinals, he retired from baseball at the age of 34. Oberkfell took the considerable financial cushion from his MLB pension and career earnings and invested it toward launching a new company dedicated to the buying, selling, grading and authentication of vintage baseball cards.
He called the company Ken Oberkfell’s Collectibles and opened its doors in his hometown of Cincinnati. Almost immediately, it became a premier destination for serious vintage cardboard aficionados and investors. Oberkfell utilized his fame from his playing days to promote the shop and establish trust with customers. He also strived for complete transparency in all transactions and a reputation of ethical business practices.
Within a few years, Ken Oberkfell’s Collectibles grew to become the largest and most respected vintage baseball card company in the country. Oberkfell expanded his inventory through strategic purchases at auctions. He leveraged relationships with former players and their families to acquire entire collections in bulk. Perhaps most notably, Oberkfell purchased the famed “Gretzky T206” Honus Wagner card in 1991 for $451,000, which stood as a record price for any single baseball card.
As the early 1990s saw unprecedented growth and speculative fever take over the baseball card market, Oberkfell’s business boomed. He opened additional shops in major cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and expanded his 15-person team to over 50 employees. Oberkfell established a mail order division to reach customers nationwide and began developing authoritative pricing guides for the hobby. Meanwhile, his personal collection continued gaining in value and size, including historical pieces such as an 1887 Old Judge tobacco card.
Not long after peaking in the early ’90s bubble, the baseball card market crashed dramatically, leaving some investors and smaller businesses in ruin. Ken Oberkfell’s Collectibles weathered the downturn better than most due to their diversified revenue streams and remained profitable. Oberkfell took a prudent, conservative approach focused on serving true aficionados. He maintained the company’s integrity through ethics when some competitors engaged in questionable practices to stay afloat.
Today, Ken Oberkfell’s Collectibles continues thriving as one of the biggest names in the hobby. They operate buyer/seller/graders at major card shows, run robust online auctions, publish authoritative price guides and appraise collections. Oberkfell has since retired and his son Kyle has taken over day-to-day operations. Oberkfell’s personal collection was sold in 2015 for over $2 million and resides at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. His story demonstrates how the right combination of passion, business savvy and impeccable reputation can lead even former MLB journeymen to find their greatest successes after leaving the field of play.