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Vintage baseball photos the subject of new hobby book by collector Marshall Fogel, protégé
In the last few years, a number of segments of the sports memorabilia industry have gone from relatively untapped commodities to overnight sensations.
One medium that has gained immense popularity lately is original still photography.
Marshall Fogel, who is known for his show-stopping vintage baseball cards and game-used bats collection, was one of the first to start collecting vintage photographs.
Just like his massive card and bat collections, Fogel has assembled some of the most famous baseball photographs of all time. They include images that have been used for trading cards, including: Honus Wagner’s 1909 T206; Lou Gehrig’s 1933 Goudey; Babe Ruth ’33 Goudey #149; Mickey Mantle’s 1951 Bowman; and Willie Mays’ ’51 Bowman.
Fogel also has a massive photo collection of Mickey Mantle — who is featured on his new book’s cover — as well as other Yankee legends and overall baseball greats.
Last year, Fogel had the idea of putting together a book of some of the top photos he owns. “Baseball: A Photographic Journey Through Time” was recently released.
Fogel collaborated on the project with Ben Weingarten, who also collects vintage baseball photos. A couple of Weingarten’s top photos in the book include the image that was used on Jackie Robinson’s 1948 Leaf card and a captivating Ruth shot from his rookie season in 1915.
It’s the master, Fogel, and his protégé, Weingarten, sharing the spotlight in this beautiful hobby collectible.
Fogel said the book, which was published by Mile High Card Company, turned out first class. As well as being visually stimulating, it was designed as an educational piece that lays out the classifications of photos from Types 1-4.
“It really helps people to understand more about how to collect and the value of not only Type 1s, but the value of Type 2 and 3s and somewhat 4s, because they don’t make this stuff anymore. They don’t make these photos,” Fogel said. “So, even if you have a Type 3 and some of them are unbelievable, especially what they call the ones that have two pictures on it. There’s a couple of those in the book as well.”
The book features more than 500 photos that fill up nearly 300 pages. Over 90 percent of the photos are from Fogel’s personal collection.
“I love the photos,” Mile High Card Company President/CEO Brian Drent said. “I love being able to bring forward a new segment of the hobby, and it’s become incredibly popular, very important to the hobby.”
Weingarten feels fortunate to be able to have his collection featured alongside an industry giant in Fogel.
“I’m very humbled,” Weingarten said. “Marshall’s a good friend, and I still don’t know why he asked me to be a part of it. He says, ‘You’re my successor in photos.’ I’m like, ‘OK.’
“I haven’t shared the photos with many people at all. But Marshall’s kind of like the king on the throne ... and he let me sit on it. So, he's kind of sharing his throne with me a little bit. It’s amazing to be a part of it.”
This isn’t Fogel’s first book on photography. In 2005, he teamed up with Henry Yee, who is a photo expert for Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). They released “A Portrait of Baseball Photography.”
Weingarten coincidentally started collecting original photos after receiving a free copy of the Fogel/Yee book at a card show in 2005. Weingarten realized the appeal in collecting photos and jumped on the bandwagon; he hasn’t stopped since.
“I look at Marshall as kind of the OG — Henry [Yee], Marshall and a couple of other guys, some that have passed, that started photos before me,” Weingarten said. “I’m kind of a second tier, and I looked at them — and this is before it got big at all — and learned a lot of things. One being, I saw the method of his collecting and particular photos. Condition was big. The book that Marshall and Henry wrote, obviously, I learned so much from them. I saw a lot of the things that he would purchase, card images, things like that, and I took little bits and pieces from what he did. I didn’t have the money when I first started to duplicate what Marshall did, so I kind of had to do my own thing.”
Also See: The Marshall Fogel Collection
Weingarten is hoping collectors thumb through “Baseball: A Photographic Journey Through Time” and catch the fever to collect one-of-a-kind photographic art.
One valuable lesson stressed by Fogel and Weingarten: collectors don’t have to drop a ton of money to get into the photo game.
“I just want them to see that you don’t have to have a Babe Ruth Red Sox Type 1 photo or a [Carl] Horner photo of Wagner,” Weingarten said. “You don’t have to have the best thing. Look at what Marshall has. We both have a ton of stuff that’s better than a lot of the stuff that was shared in this book that’s not even put in here. But a lot of these images that Marshall has in there, they’re not super valuable — some of the newer stuff — but they’re amazing. They’re just as historically significant and you don’t have to spend $100,000 or $500,000 on a significant photo; you can spend $100 or $200 or $300 and get something great, a Kirby Puckett or a Robin Yount.
“I think the book does a really good job showing even the king, Marshall, has photos people can afford. They’re just highly collectible at pretty much every price point and historically significant, and that’s what I love about photography.”
Fogel’s latest photo book just further magnifies his love for this medium of the hobby.
“My fortunate luck is that I’ve always liked photography,” Fogel said. “I always took family pictures and I had one of those point-and-shoot cameras that Browning made. It’s always been a passion of mine to do family photos.
“Two things I always liked collecting were baseball bats and photos. The cards are obvious, but nobody collected that stuff. I just enjoyed it and I was surprised to see the value of these things — not just money value — but the images and the story behind them and the events that they portray are very special. The thing about a photo is it adds depth to it, it tells a story. I think that’s why people should collect them and not worry about Type 1, Type 2. Every photo has a story; it’s not always about money.”
Since the photography medium of the hobby isn’t as well established as trading cards, prices for images can really vary.
“The one thing to always keep in mind with photography is there’s no price guide; it’s not like a baseball card,” Drent said. “So the beauty, and therefore the value, is really in the eye of the beholder. It’s an interesting thing that we’re trying to put a price on. So it’s really the truest sense of the market.”
You can purchase “Baseball: A Photographic Journey Through Time” through Mile High Card Company for $25 via PayPal at MHCC@milehighcardco.com. All net proceeds are being donated to the Colorado History Museum in Denver. Any questions can be directed to Drent at Brian@milehighcardco.com or to the company’s main email address at MHCC@milehighcardco.com.
Fogel enjoys educating collectors in different areas of the hobby. He is looking at producing more photography-related books down the line.
“If this goes well, I want to do something on glass plates, acetates,” Fogel said. “I’ve got the collection of Marvin Neumann, that was the Sports Illustrated photographer. He really was the father of Kodachrome. He really perfected the development of it, and I own a lot of his slides. So we want to do something on that.”
Fogel is hoping the photography medium of the hobby continues to evolve.
“My view of it is once people understand how it works and how safe it is to collect, it will take off,” Fogel said.
