Every now and then, a sharp-eyed collector will find a scarce (or formerly scarce) item that surfaces in quantity on eBay. Often, the item will be quietly absorbed into the collections of hobbyists, with a minimal effect on the value. Other times, the newfound quantities will be large enough to lower the value of the item, as the supply vs. demand ratio has been permanently skewed.
Which of these two situations will occur is yet to be seen for the 1974 Marc's Big Boy Milwaukee Brewers Team Photo, which showed up in quantity this past month or two through the Kruk Cards store on eBay.
From what I can tell, this "card" has never been documented in any of the hobby reference books. FYI, I refer to this oversized 9" x 12 1/4" issue as a card, because it is printed on white, medium-weight cardstock. While this was apparently a premium for the local Big Boy restaurants in the Milwaukee area, little else in known. Restaurants were known to release sports-themed placemats during this era, but they were usually printed on paper versus the cardstock seen here.
What makes this issue important to Brewers and Hall of Fame collectors alike is the fact that a young Robin Yount is pictured during his rookie season with Milwaukee -- a full year before the release of his first Topps card. Though Yount played in only 104 games with the club that year, he was fortunately included in the team photo shoot. And for those geeky collectors who are always on the lookout for scarce photos (I may or may not be one of those geeks), it is worth noting that the pic used on this Big Boy issue varies ever so slightly from the one found most often elsewhere. The biggest difference at a glance is of slugger George Scott, found in the upper left corner, who has his hand on his hip in the Big Boy photo. The more common version of the team photo shows Scott with his hand down at his side. Right below Scott is equipment manager Bob Sullivan, who is wearing a scowl in the Big Boy photo versus a smile in the common photo.
I won't speculate on the value here, but it's safe to say that Kruk Cards is virtually giving these away right now. I've seen Kruk buy large collections in the past, then turn around and unload unique items at very reasonable prices. I'm not sure how many '74 Big Boy Brewers photos were purchased by Kruk, but they seem to have more than a few in stock. Not knowing what they may or may not be worth in the future, I'll say as a collector to just grab 'em while you can at a reasonable price!
Click here to find 1974 Brewers Photos on eBay
