Part of a Sprawling multi-sport set, the 1926 Spalding Champions featured among its 200-plus subjects several eventual Baseball Hall of Fame enshrinees, among them Hazen "Kiki" Cuyler, the fleet outfielder who helped spark the Pirates to a World Championship in 1925. The obverse of the card, which is considered to be his rookie entry, has some foxing and there is a nice, clean image of Cuyler present, while the reverse has clearly been roughly removed from an old album page. The signature is quite strong, as evidenced by the PSA Auto Grade of 9. Nicely inscribed in blue ink, there is some splatter evident, likely from the pen used to lay down the signature.  Cuyler died in 1950, a good eighteen years prior to his HOF election and his signature is considered to be scarce.  This is the only PSA/DNA example in their pop report.

The card itself came to us in quite a unique way, as part of an original owner collection originating from the midwest, that primarily constituted cards from the 1930s.  Included in the collection was a single autograph book.  The book was almost completely empty: two pages had been signed by various members of the 1928 Pirates and Cubs.  Glued to the inside front cover was this card, along with the accompanying note from Cuyler.  We quickly realized two things: 1) this was an extremely rare, signed rookie card of Cuyler, and 2) it was glued inside an autograph album.

We wrestled with ourselves for quite some time about how to properly sell the card and autographs - the balance of the collection was sold in the summer of 2023.  Our typical philosophy is that things like autograph albums are part of history, and we are generally not inclined to remove cards that are glued into albums.  In this case, however, the autograph album was, aside from the two signed pages, completely empty.  It was clear that if we sold it intact, the winning bidder would simply remove the two signed pages and card, and sell each individually.  So we elected to do the same.

We consulted with PSA/DNA and advised them of our plan, to ensure that they would actually authenticate the card if it was removed from the album.  Then, we enlisted our steady-handed Operations Manager to carefully cut the card away from the inside cover of the album with a utility knife.  It pulled away, leaving paper remnants on the reverse, which is how we submitted it to PSA.  We elected to include the handwritten letter from Cuyler (in which he apologizes that he only has one small picture to offer), having that also encapsulated and authenticated by PSA/DNA.

The card itself presents wonderfully, the signature applied in blue ink with a slight bit of smudging at the bottom.  The reverse is covered with paper remnants from the inside front cover of the album.  The signature has attained a grade of MINT 9 from PSA, a testament to its clarity and legibility.  We are thrilled to present this incredibly rare card, currently the only example graded by PSA/DNA, a rookie card of Hall of Famer Kiki Cuyler.