Hobby Musings: Robert Klevens, Prestige Collectibles – Interview
Hobby Musings: Robert Klevens, Prestige Collectibles – Interview Transcript
Editor’s note: Some text has been changed from original audio for grammar and clarity.
KS: Here at the 2024 National Sports Collectors Convention with Robert at Prestige Collectibles. Robert, you have this amazing booth with Japanese memorabilia, what inspired you to start kind of dealing in it?
RK: No, I thank you, I appreciate it. Yeah, I’ve been dealing with Japanese cards for 35 years and it’s gotten bigger and bigger. I had, when I traveled to Japan, I found some cards in the late 80s, actually, and I’ve just been sticking with it ever since. I collected American cards also, and the Japanese cards are like kind of an extension of it, because you see the American cards all the time and Japanese is just, you know, very unique.
And you started learning about the players, especially Sadaharu Oh, the homerun King and I got a lot of his, cards in here, autographs of him, baseballs and, you know, bits and pieces of memorabilia. And then of a lot of Americans also love the tours from Japan. This is from the 1931 tour. It’s a program with Lou Gehrig. Here’s postcards from, Babe Ruth went to Japan in 1934. And of course, little modern stuff. When Ichiro came here, here is an unopened box from 1993 that could have Ichiro rookies in there.
And then there’s some crossover. Even players who played in the Negro leagues. It’s a Jim Guerrero Jimmy Newberry card. Here’s one of Larry Doby and Don Newcomb. And then, of course, you know, look at more the modern cards got obviously Shohei Ohtani. He’s been really popular. Here are some very high-end rare cards from Japan, some rookie cards. And it’s just a big variety. And we’re getting into Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Right now, he’s injured, but hopefully he’ll make a nice comeback with the Dodgers and all these different things.
As far as Americans have played in Japan. Cards like this and non-sports and other vintage Japanese cards as well. A lot of graded stuff. Of course, Ichiro, who should be in the Hall of Fame next year. So, we’re really hoping that goes that goes well. And that pretty much covers, you know, basically what we have from old and older items, cards, memorabilia all the way up to some of the newer players that, you know, came from Japan.
KS: So, what do you think is the difference kind of in the market collectability or the market itself for Japanese cards versus American cards?
RK: I think it takes a little bit because people want to understand about the Japanese cards, especially the, the older players. This guy, Gary Engle, actually put out a guide on vintage Japanese cards and we have it available by PDF. This is just a color copy that we have one of, but it explains about the players, the different sets that were out. And, you know, a lot of people that collected American cards, I don’t know, they get tired of seeing the same Topps and Bowmans and things all over, and they find this is very interesting and it’s a lot more affordable compared to the, you know, most of the American cards.
KS: Overall, for Japan, Japanese cards, what do you think performs better, the baseball or the wrestling?
RK: There are some pretty rare early wrestling issues too. Yeah, yeah, I think the markets are different. Those are mostly people that just love wrestling, and they want to get the cards. They have some of the Andre the Giant here. It’s a few different cards of him. This is an unopened pack that these cards came in. But yeah, wrestling cards, the baseball. A lot of people just like the way the artwork is on them. You know how they look and actually, I just got this shirt. Here’s a guy, Scott from Radio Studios. He had the card, and then he made a shirt because he loves the artwork on them. That’s what a lot of people like, how the cards look and so I set up, like a $5 box of vintage cards, and people go through them and, they don’t even know who the players are, but they just like the way they look.
Hobby Musings: Robert Klevens, Prestige Collectibles
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Hobby Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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