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Do You Have This Magazine? If so then you had better read the rest of this article because you might be rich and not even know it! |
SI For Kids
While people are going crazy trying to jump on the Tiger Woods rookie card bandwagon by looking for the Grand Slam Masters sets, they might already have a far rarer Woods rookie card. The December 1996 issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids had a page of nine trading cards inside including one of Tiger. The cards are perforated, but most people are having them professionally cut to avoid ruining the edges and corners. The Woods card is fortunate to be in the center of the nine cards so many sheets that have wrecked cards all around could still have a mint condition Tiger waiting to be cut.
One thing is obvious by searching the auction and grading sites. The SI For Kids Tiger Woods is tough to find. It may be that people just haven't realized they have one laying around, but considering the magazine was intended for kids, it's very likely that not many have survived. It's not like dealers can run to their local Wal-Mart and buy them out as it was with the Grand Slam Tiger, so we probably won't see thousands of these graded.
1996 Sports Illustrated for Kids You will notice in our example that the perforations are still on the card. This appears to be a matter of differing opinions between SGC and PSA. SGC considers it necessary to have the perforations still on the card even if it has been professionally cut from the sheet. PSA has graded mint 9 versions that have the perforations completely cut off. I'm not sure which way I prefer, but I do know you should have it cut by a pro. Current population reports show just 15 graded by SGC and only one PSA although both reports are obviously a bit behind. RECENT AUCTION PRICES
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That's no mistake. Over $12,000 for a mint condition Tiger Woods SI for Kids card. I don't know about you, but it might be worth looking under your kids' beds for this one. I'm sure that as the hype of Woods cards continues more of these gems will be discovered and the prices will drop, but not nearly as much as I expect to see the Grand Slam Masters cards go down.
While we only looked at two Tiger Woods cards this week they are not the only Woods cards out there. The question of what defines a rookie card is a big one for a non-standard sport like golf so I suggest that you play it safe when considering a purchase. I've started seeing a bunch of promotional cards made by Nike in 1996 to promote the opening of Niketown stores popping up on Ebay. These large sheets are more like an ad flyer then a card, but with all the hype it's not surprising to see them sell for $200 or more. Also, be warned that December 96 was not Tiger's only appearance on a card in SI for Kids. I've seen at least two other SI for Kids cards being sold. Make sure you take a look at our picture before making a bid.
Above all, enjoy your collecting. It's nice to find a rare and expensive card, but don't get overwhelmed by the hype. Tiger Woods is the premier golfer of our time and with golf cards not being popular it's not surprising that the few Woods cards that exist are heating up our hobby. I say that if you have one in your collection then enjoy it, but don't go out spending thousands of dollars to buy them unless you're willing to take the risk that the supply will eventually overtake the demand.
ANDY
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