Collectibles Q&A

NASCAR memorabilia collectors often have questions about the items they've accumulated. Here are our responses to some of your most recent inquiries:

Q: I have a mint set of the 1989 Winner Circle Drug Awareness "Say No To Drugs" trading cards with the matching binder that was given to me by Mr. Petty in 1989. They are all still in the sleeves that came with the binder and have never been taken out of the sleeves. Can you tell me what they are worth now? They were worth $1500 years ago. I also have the matching poster that they said was worth $500 back then. As far as the Lee Petty card, what do they mean when they say it could have had NASCAR on the back or with out it? -- Nelson

A: There was indeed a time when this set was almost a name your price collectible. But as you know, the NASCAR collectibles market has softened quite a bit over the past decade. First off, the "NASCAR" or "No NASCAR" issue surrounding the Lee Petty card is self-explantory. Only about 150 Petty cards were released without "NASCAR" mentioned in the printing on the card. If your set has the Petty card with NASCAR, I'd place the value of the cards, binder, and poster at $650-900. If your Petty card doesn't mention NASCAR, that would bump the value to $1000-1350.

Q: I have a 1994 Racing Collectible by Action 1:64 Platinum series Dale Earnhardt "In Memory of Our Friend Neil" on the right side of the car. The odd thing about this car is that the No. 3 on the doors are leaning backwards instead of forward. I have never seen this on a Earnhardt car. They always lean forward. The car has never been out of the package and the box has little ware on it. It also has a Dale Earnhardt card in the package. Is this car worth much? -- Mike C.

A: This brings to mind a funny story that was related to me about Earnhardt once. It seems he was steadfast that numbers on his cars always slant forward because, as Earnhardt put it, "when you run, you lean forward; you don't lean backward." Errors in graphics often appear on die-casts, though the problem is not as prevalent today as it was 10-15 years ago. It doesn't add to the value, as there were likely many more made with the numbers slanting the wrong way. The value of this car tops out at around $35-40.

Q: I recently acquired an unused ticket (both stubs) of the First Running -International 500 Mile Auto Race on Labor Day Monday Sept. 4, 1950 at Darlington, S.C. The admission price was $3. I was wondering what this would be worth. -- Howard Cutshaw

A: Howard, this is what I call a real collectible! And the fact that is is inused makes it that much better. Since you don't see any of these changing hands on the secondary market, my appraisal is purely arbitrary. But I'd set the value at $150-250. And I'd be willing to bet there is someone out there who'd pay even more than that.

Q: I have three Jeff Gordon cereal boxes. One is a Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats 1993 Rookie of the Year; one is a Corn Flakes 1995 NASCAR champion and the last one is Mini-Wheats (orange box) with Gordon on the front. Can you give me a value on these boxes? -- Dana

A: The values of all three boxes would fall in the $20-35 range.

Q: I have an autographed 1994 Mike Wallace MAXX card, No. 172. Can you give me the value of this card? -- Tammy

A: This is a very common card, probably worth around $.25. But Wallace's signature bumps the value to $20-30.

Q: I would like to know what my 1996 Racing Champions Jeff Gordon 1:64 DuPont car is worth. I'd also like to know the value of my 1992 Racing Champions Jeff Gordon Baby Ruth car. -- Pam

A: The standard issue '96 DuPont car is probably worth $20-30. The Baby Ruth car is a good one-it's worth $50-60 in mint condition.

Q: I have a Wrangler Jeans Thunderbird model car. As I was putting the decals on I noticed the driver decal for the roof was Dale Earnhardt. Did he ever drive a Ford Thunderbird, and if so would it be worth any thing?-Mel

A: Yes, Earnhardt drove a No. 15 Wrangler Thunderbird for Bud Moore in 1982-83. Both AMT and Revell-Monogram produced scale plastic models of the car. Unbuilt, some of those kits are worth $100-150. The bad news is, when you built the kit, it cut the collectible value down to around $30-40.

Q: I have a pair of race-used shoes that belonged to David Green. They are autographed by David. Any idea what they are worth? -- Hollywood

A: A nice example of race-used memorabilia from one of the sport's nicest drivers. I'd place the collectible value in the $80-150 range.

Q: I have what basically amounts to the entire right-hand side sheet metal off one of Elliott Sadler's No. 21 Motorcraft Fords when he drove for the Wood Bros in 2001. It has Elliott's autograph in the "21" decal. I was told this was cut from the actual car where he got his first win at Bristol, but I can't verify that part for certain. Any estimate on value? -- James

A: Another great race-used item. Value-wise, like many other collectibles, sheet metal has cooled off some in the past few years. Still, if you could verify this was from Sadler's first victory, I'd place the value at $850-1250.

Q: I have a 1994 Rusty Wallace Miller Genuine Draft poster. The car in the poster is a Pontiac, but the crew is wearing shirts with the Ford Blue Oval on them. Is it worth anything?

A: Obviously, this poster was printed during the 1993-94 off-season while the Penske team was switching from Pontiac to Ford. I've seen tons of these posters, so there must be a gazillion out there. The value is relatively low, probably $10-15.