This is Over

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Lost Treasures

JFK Assassination

I recently saw the Oliver Stone film "JFK" for the first time. I had avoided the film due to the Oliver Stone factor. I once saw "Nixon" and almost had to be hospitalized. It is a truism though, eventually the right combination of cable, boredom and timing will result in you seeing a movie you never wanted to see. I was right, the movie was crap. After watching it though I started doing some looking online for information regarding the assassination.

I think most of what is in the film has been successfully debunked elsewhere so I won't waste my time. Some conspiracy nuts are always going to be spinning strange webs of mobsters and communists but a lot of the conspiracy theories could be debunked if a single film were to appear on the public scene.

If only we knew what happened to the "Babushka Lady." She is seen here behind the father-son combination in this frame of the Zapruder film. The Babushka Lady appears to be holding a camera. This film has never been recovered and the Babushka Lady has never been solidly identified.

Recently, another JFK film went public for the first time ever. It's gruesome to think about but these films and photos have great historical value, the film of the Babushka Lady could put to rest the "Grassy Knoll" theory entirely.

The assassination was almost 44 years ago which means most of the witnesses are approaching the end of their lifespans. I'm sure many of those who took pictures that day aren't too terribly interested in re-living that horrible event. But I think we're going to have a few more pictures and film come to light. This will be good for history.

Sure, these films will have great monetary value and that's not a bad thing. If money helps bring history to light I don't see how a rational person can complain. If some retired person in Texas sells a never-before-seen film of the JFK assassination that has been hidden away for years and it helps them pay for their healthcare or a grandchild's college, good. JFK is long gone and history deserves to be rid of conspiracies regarding his death.

It might be time to start asking any living witnesses if they took pictures and start getting those into the public sphere. Family members can't be tentative about asking these questions before these sources of history are lost forever.

2nd Quarter TTM Results

78 requests
53 returns
126 autographs
59 cents per auto
67% return

Art Simmons, a former Negro League ballplayer, wrote me a very nice letter and suggested I visit the Negro League Hall of Fame (consider me there) and the twins, Ed and John O'Brien, former major league middle infielders (and actual twins, not the team) dual signed the reproduction cards I sent them. Very cool. I hope to get a scan of that up soon.

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.wattographs.com

Awesome

New Upper Deck product

TTM Success Rate 1st Quarter

The end of May marked the 4 month (1 quarter) mark of my TTM revival and I wanted to get a basic success rate. Unfortunately I forgot how many requests I actually sent out but I was able to get a good guess. All these numbers are out of 250, my estimate for the number of requests I sent out since February.

Total number of returns: 88
Total Autographs: 157
Cost per autograph: $1.50
Return Ratio: 35%

New Yankee Workshop

Norm Abram of the New Yankee Workshop sent a nice 8x10 w/signature after I contacted him through his website.

Tom Tancredo

Sent a signed 8x10 c/o his office; it might be a secretarial signature.

Lane Brody

Lane Brody, Jazz and country vocalist, sent me a signed postcard after I emailed her. She has a spot on her website where you can join her fan club, it's free and she'll send you an autographed photo. She sells DVDs on her website too.

SCOTUS, MLB

Tom Wright, MLB, signed 1/1 cards and included 2 signed index cards and a signed postcard with his career minor and major league stats c/o home.

Clarence Thomas, SCOTUS, signed 2/2 index cards c/o SCOTUS.

They keep rolling in

Primoz Brezec, NBA, signed 2/2 items c/o team address

Bobby Thomson, MLB Retired, signed 1/1 items c/o home

Kristal Parker-Manzo signed 1/2 index cards sent c/o LPGA

Austin Croshere, NBA, signed 1/1 cards sent c/o team

Craig Stadler, PGA, signed 2/2 index cards sent c/o PGA

Failures: Scripps returned my letter to Wendy Guey stating that they were no longer allowing autograph requests to go through to Wendy (spelling bee champion and current commentator on the national spelling bee) because the Allen and Ginter cards she had previously autographed had been turning up on eBay.

TTM Wild Head Coach

Jacques Lemaire signed 2/2 index cards sent c/o Minnesota Wild. Lemaire was a HOF player in the NHL and he could easily get into the HOF again on what he has done as a coach.

TTM

Robert Bateman, wildlife artist, sent me a signed photograph after I emailed him

Jayne Brown, a QVC hostess, sent me a signed photo after I emailed her

Gen Tommy Franks signed 2/2 index cards I sent him (I guess I hit him up twice, whoops)

Author Anne Bishop sent me a signed bookplate after I emailed her.

It's Tough for Everybody

From the Washington Post, a report on the White House Correspondents Dinner:

Sanjaya Malakar, the shy, slender, 17-year-old "American Idol" reject, was at his table when a tall, middle-aged man stopped by to ask for an autograph. The boy's hosts, from People magazine, tried to shoo him away.

"We are trying to let him eat," they explained.

The man protested: "But I'm the governor of New York."

And so Eliot Spitzer got his autograph. It was that kind of night. It always is.

I find that hilarious.

Asher, Franks, Gagne

A diverse crowd today. Jane Asher was kind enough to send a signed photograph in response to an email.

Gen. Tommy Franks (Ret.) signed 2 cards for me c/o his home.

Greg Gagne, the Fan Favorite shortstop for the Minnesota Twins, signed 2/2 cards sent to his home.

Dottie Pepper TTM

Dottie Pepper (LPGA and NBC Sports Broadcaster/Golf Analyst) Signed 2/2 index cards sent through the LPGA

Kitty Carlisle RIP

Carlisle was a great signer through the mail. That's pretty much all I know of her, she was 96 years old and most of her celebrity predates my birth by about 50 years. I first became aware of Kitty Carlisle-Hart through the Marx Brother's movie "A Night at the Opera" where she starred opposite Groucho, Chico, Harpo and the rest. I love the Marx Brothers.

As it were, I also had a number of old British tobacco cards from the 20's that included Kitty Carlisle. I thought nothing of it. When I was going through the Star Chat Autograph online address database I stumbled across Kitty Carlisle's address. She was still alive at the time. It's always a gamble sending autograph requests to people in their 80's and 90's but I decided to take it and I sent Kitty Carlisle those tobacco cards.

It's been a dream of mine to find an autographed tobacco card. It goes back to my earliest days of collecting and it's probably a goal just as juvenile. A tobacco card is certainly a bad autograph medium because of its size but I didn't care. I packaged up the cards and set it to her New York address about 1 month ago. Haven't gotten anything back which means I won't be getting anything back.

I didn't know it but Kitty Carlisle got sick sometime this last Christmas season and had been battling pneumonia since then. She died today at the age of 96. My dream for an autographed tobacco card will go unfulfilled. I also probably won't be getting those cards back either. Not a problem but never send stuff TTM that you're not afraid to lose.

I preiodically send to people in their 90's but I can only remember one failure, when I sent to Rick Ferrell and he died when my request and my check (to pay his fees) was in route. I am most saddened that Kitty Carlisle-Hart, who by all accounts was full of life all through her nineties and was disciplined about excercise and diet, passed on as young as she did. A woman like that should see her 110th birthday.

TTM Fun

Lubomir Visnovsky, NHL, c/o team signed 1/1

Marine Brig. Gen Richard Neal (ret) signed 2/2 cards (pro-set desert strom card set) c/o home (I think, lost the notes)

The Amazing Kreskin sent me a signed photo (email request)

Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer sent me an autographed photo (email request)

Whoa...

Good day today...

Rick Stelmaszek, Twins bullpen coach, signed 4/4 items c/o Twins Spring Training

Ed Gibson, Astronaut from Skylab III, signed 2 items c/o work address

Herb Score, MLB, signed 2/2 cards c/o home

Mickey Wright, LPGA, signed 1/3 index cards c/o LPGA

Forrest Jacobs, MLB, signed 1/1 cards c/o home

Plenty o TTM

Joe Vavra, Minnesota Twins Batting guru (more than a coach, less than a diety) signed 3/3 items (index cards and ticket stubs) sent c/o Twins Spring Training

Mikael Samuelsson, NHL, signed 1 card and 1 index cards c/o team address

Dan Hinote, NHL, signed 1/1 cards sent to his team address

Mary Lou Retton signed 2/2 cards c/o home address

Failures: Bob Turley came back RTS

Bud Selig, TTM

Bud Selig signed 2/2 index cards c/o commissioner's office

Roy Smalley signed 2/2 cards and also signed the 3 index cards I used to pack the cards c/o home.

Geoff Jenkins returned my cards unsigned.

In person success

Got a baseball signed by Uber-Blogger Aaron Gleeman

Senator Dorgan and Kent Hrbek Successes

Krbek, former Twins great, signed 2/2 cards c/o home.

Senator Byron Dorgan, ND, signed c/o office.

TTM Successes, Trucks

Virgil Trucks, MLB Pitcher, signed 1/1 cards and included one of his own. He also had an offer (which I might take) for his recently published book. c/o home

Jim Bohannan, radio talk show host, sent 8x10 autographed/inscribed photo. He will send you a photo if you email him.

Mike Mullane, astronaut, signed 1/1 cards c/o work address.

TTM Successes

Big Day today;

Garret Anderson (MLB) signed 1/2 cards and returned the 2nd card c/o team spring training

Darius Kasparaitis and Kyle Calder (NHL) signed 1/1 cards c/o their respective teams.

Musial, Jerry White Success

Stan Musial sent a signed postcard c/o home and Jerry White signed 4/4 index cards c/0 MN Twins Spring Training (Jerry White is the Twins 1st base coach).

TTM Successes, Scott Baker, Nick Punto

Baker, (MLB) playing at AAA in the Twins organization signed 1/2 cards c/o spring training; the same place I got the Punto auto. Nick signed 1/2 cards as well.

Nick Johnson, TTM Success

Got Washington Nationals first basemen Nick Johnson in the mail today, he signed 1/2 cards (and kept one of the cards) c/o Nationals spring training.

TTM Successes, Wooden, Ballingall

-John Wooden, HOF UCLA Basketball Coach, Signed 1/1 cards I sent him as well he included a signed notecard and a signed businesscard for the johnrwoodencourse.com. Three total signatures.

-Chris Ballingall, AAGPBL signed 2/2 index cards I sent her as well she included one of her own baseball cards which was also signed by her and she also threw in a photocopied newspaper article about her and her years with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

A very good day today.

TTM Successes

-Matt Stairs, MLB, signed 2 of 2 cards sent to Toronto's spring training. Stairs has a great spring and it secured him a spot on the Toronto roster.

-Jason Tyner, MLB, signed 1/2 cards (I think I sent 2, not sure) c/o spring training.

TTM Successes

Jed Ortmeyer, NHL, signed 1/1 cards c/o team address

TTM Successes

-Rick Anderson; MN Twins Pitching coach, signed 2/2 cards sent via spring training.

TTM Successes

-Michael Cuddyer, (MLB) Twins outfielder signed 1/2 cards sent c/o spring training

-Korey Feiner, Minor League catcher in the Twins organization signed 3/3 index cards sent to the Twins spring training address. Feiner has gotten as far as the high A league team in the Twins organization.

Also I heard on the radio that Jim Bohannan, a long time radio talk show host, will sign through the mail.

TTM Today

-Amy Klobuchar sent an unsigned (a facsimile in fact) 8x10 photo and kept my SASE.

-My address for Bobby Higginson was incorrect as well.

Tough day

TTM Successes

-Scott Liddle, Minnesota Twins bench coach, signed 3/3 index cards c/o spring training address.

-Mike Venafro, MLB player fighting for a bullpen spot with the Twins signed 1/3 index cards sent c/o Twins spring training address.

Failures: Gary Wiggins, Monster Truck driver, returned my card unsigned

Update: I was putting that Gary Wiggins card back into one of my shoeboxes when I realized that Mr. Wiggins had signed the back of the card, right where there's a little box that says "autograph." A happy surprise, thanks Mr. Wiggins!

TTM

I was listening to the Art Bell show and I heard Art mention that he gets about 30 to 40 autograph requests a day at his house and that he thinks most of them are from "professional autograph" hunters. So, he doesn't sign through the mail at all. He will sign readily in person and carries with him professional glossy photos which he will sign.

TTM Successes

-Johnny Lattner, 1953 Heisman Trophy winner signed 2/2 index cards sent to his home address.

-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar signed 1/1 cards c/o I think some team, not sure and I lost my notes. I thought for sure the Abdul Jabbar autos that TTM collectors have been getting would be from a ghost signer but the signature I got closely matched manufacturer authenticated signatures of Abdul-Jabbar.

TTM Successes

Tom Lasorda (HOF MLB Manager) signed 1 of 2 cards sent to his home address (and kept the other one)

Joe Mays (MLB) signed 2 cards c/o spring training (I think it was the Reds?)

TTM Successes

-Pat Neshek signed a whopping 4 index cards plus the collector card I sent him c/o MN Twins Spring Training. (I pack all my cards with extra index cards to give some support on the trip. I'll put two index cards in the mail letter and two index cards in my SASE for support. It looks like Pat emptied everything and signed them all.) Pat is a great signer and even does trades through the mail (read his blog for details).

Failures: Steve Nash returned my card unsigned.

TTM Successes

-Lawrence Taylor, NHL HOFer signed 3/3 index cards c/o HOF

TTM Successes

-Scott Brooks; NBA, signed 2 index cards c/o whichever team team he's coaching for now.

TTM Successes

-Jeff Cirillo; MLB, signed 2/3 index cards c/o Twins

TTM Successes

-Dick McGuire, NBA HOF, signed 2 index cards c/o NBA HOF

Reasons to Give TTM Autographs a Try

I have re-discovered the joy of collecting autographs through the mail (TTM) recently. I started sending out for autograph requests in the early nineties and had a lot of success. Not having tons of money of my own I sent out requests one and two at a time and accumulated a respectable collection. I stopped (for the most part) in high school and in college (with one spectacular exception which is a story for another day) but now with a more stable situation in my life I can start sending out letters once again. Having now done enough card shows to meet a variety of dealers, I am surprised how few try TTM mailings. The focus is so solidly on relic/numbered/autos (manufacturer authenticated) that it seems collecting autographs the old fashioned ways has lost its appeal. So here are five big reasons to give TTM a try:

Price

The cheapest packs I can find of sports cards is $1.75. You get 8 cards for that price. Packs of sports cards might as well be lottery tickets; they're expensive at first and worthless the moment after they're revealed. I have all but given up on buying packs of cards. I'll occasionally purchase packs of cards but for the sole purpose of using what I find for TTM autographs. To me, the entire hobby is out of control when it comes to retail prices. Luckily, for 78 cents plus a few pennies (envelopes and index cards) I can collect what I really wanted in the first place, the autographs.

Pat Neshek

The right handed submariner for the Minnesota Twins is an autograph collector himself. He is easily the most responsive athlete to fan mail and he runs his own blog where he discusses his baseball career, music and autographs. He will even trade through the mail. Even if you're not a baseball fan I suggest writing to Pat Neshek.

You can finally enjoy getting mail

Bills, junk mail, cruddy Christmas cards from former high school friends and postcards from the dentist reminding you about your next cleaning are among the things found in our daily mail. This has turned collecting the mail from a joy to a chore over the last few decades. But just imagine how much better it'd be if everyday you had autographs waiting for you in the mail. You can make your days exciting again.

The Kindness of Celebrities

Think about it for a minute; how many autographs is the average celebrity going to a day? I've never been able to actually ask a celebrity but I do know that the number can be in the 1000's per month. Eventually the volume gets to the point where it's just not possible that everything sent to a really popular celebrity is going to get signed. How many autographs would you sign a day? I might have the patience for 10 a day. Some of these people who are signing through the mail are signing a lot more than ten autographs a day. Think about this, in 2003, in the middle of the recall campaign in California I sent an autograph request to then Governor Gray Davis. He took less than two weeks to reply and he sent me two signed business cards. Gray Davis had other things to worry about and more important matters to handle than signing some business cards for some Minnesotan a thousand miles away. But he did it anyway. It's amazing some of the people who sign and the effort they put forth in making their fans happy.

Variety

Historical figures like astronauts, cartoonists, sports figures, authors like Ray Bradbury, former generals, politicians, actors, musicians and many others are among those that you can persue through the mail. It depends on your ability to do research and how much investigating you want to do but pretty much anyone of any notability is a potential autograph request. I've sent requests to monster truck drivers and "B" movie actors, Generals and Hockey legends. You can never get bored (imho) with TTM. There are over 20,000 athletes (18,000 retired baseball players alone) who have appeared on sports cards who are still alive and most them will sign TTM. You can buy boxes of commons again, you can try putting sets of autographed cards together, you can about anything you want as a TTM project. Sometimes I'll just send out 50 random autograph requests to celebrities (actors and actresses primarily) I've never heard of just so I'm forced to learn about those who return my requests. I sent a request to John Agar about a decade ago and I have now seen dozens of the horrible sci-fi movies John Agar starred in (many on MST3K) as well as the good movies he did (Sands of Iwo Jima, Creature from the Black Lagoon). It's a lot of fun and very satisfying.

I'd also like to mention that I have a very hard time trying to get autographs in person. I'm over 6 feet tall, broad shouldered former bar bouncer and I can be a bit intimidating even to prefessional athletes. The last thing I want to do is make some athlete think I pushed my way forward past some little kids. I find I express myself to others better in letters than face to face anyway. Plus, I live in Minnesota so how often am I going to run into VIPs? Mail is the only way I can reach out to celebrities and the like. Autographs have become more popular than ever and TTM is one of the best ways to hop into the hobby.

TTM Successes

Jerry West, NBA HOF signed 1 index card c/o Memphis Grizzlies

TTM Successes

-Johnny Lujack, 1947 Heisman Trophy winner signed 2 index cards c/o home address

-Joe Mullen sent 1 signed card of his own and didn't sign the 2 index cards I sent him c/o NHL HOF

- Merrill McPeak, USAF Chief of Staff, signed 2 index cards c/o home (I had two addresses for him, both ended up working)

Failures: My address for former MLB pitcher Virgil Trucks was incorrect.

TTM Successes

-Bobby Clarke, NHL HOF signed 2 index cards c/o HOF

-Eddie Guardado, MLB RP signed 1 card c/o Reds Spring Training address

-Glenn Williams, MLB 3B/1B (he hit .425 in his 2005 September call up in 40 At Bats), a non-roster invitee to the Minnesota Twins Spring Training and has 117 career professional home runs signed 2 index cards c/o Twins spring training address

TTM Successes

-Trek Thunder Kelly, performance artist best known for running in the 2003 California Recall election signed 2 index cards c/o his studio. His note stated he intends to stage his own death soon, so get them now.

-Michel Goulet, NHL HOF member signed 2 index cards and included a vintage card of his (also signed) c/o NHL HOF

-Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, eccentric baseball pitcher sigend 2 cards c/o home address

-Duke Snider, MLB HOF signed 2 cards c/o home address

-George Kell, MLB HOF signed 2 cards c/o home address

-Robin Roberts, MLB HOF sent 1 signed induction day card (didn't sign my index cards)c/o home address

-Merrill McPeak, Air Force chief of staff (ret) signed 2 cards (from the old pro-set desert storm set) c/o home address

The failures for the day: Don Larsen refused to sign an unauthorized card and didn't sign the index cards but sent an unsigned letter asking for 7 dollars to sign the card. The Beckett.com home address for Alan Trammell is also out of date.

TTM Successes

-Jennie Finch (Gold Medal Softball Pitcher) signed 1 card c/o Finch Windmill

-Bob Chandler (Bigfoot owner) signed 2 cards c/o Bigfoot 4x4 Inc

Two failures also came in today; Jim Bunning returned my items unsigned and didn't include any information on his autograph policy and I had my request from Bruce Sutter returned (the address was wrong so don't use the Beckett.com address for Bruce Sutter).

TTM Successes

Two Cards rec'd from Sparky Anderson c/o his home.

TTM Successes

Recieved 2 cards from Bobby Doerr (The best baseball HOF signer) in less than 2 weeks. (home address)

Also got one failure today, Gaylord Perry is charging 25 dollars for each item.

TTM Successes

Wow. This was fast, I sent out a number of TTM (Through the Mail) autograph requests this Monday. I was actually going to write up a little post on why one should give Thru The Mail signature requests a chance. Before I was able to get to it I received one back already. It took less than 5 days.

Governor Tim Pawlenty signed 2 index cards c/o Governor's Office.

I will be posting up my successes as they come in on this blog.

Cards by the Pound

My back aches, my eyes are blurred and I probably need an aspirin to make my headache go away. I have just sorted and cherry picked 50,000 baseball cards. I found a buyer, someone interested in buying commons in bulk. His rules are the cards need to be sorted by sport. The price isn't a great one but how many buyers are there for commons?

I have a substantial collection, last time I counted it was in the 150,000 card range. Most of these are the standard boxes of crap every baseball card collector has. In the late 80's through the mid-90's the sports card industry was on overdrive. The cards produced during this era are basically worthless. You can buy giant boxes of cards from mail order catalogues for pennies a card; there are plenty of unopened boxes and wax packs also available at prices below the oroginal retail.

The card companies should be ashamed of themselves and their actions caused the colapse of their own card markets. It looked like the entire hobby was going to die at the start of the new millenia. The Topps Company's stock plummeted in the late 1990's. Thanks to autograph inserts, relic cards, numbered series and a shift in the target demographic the hobby has been saved. For now.

This still leaves millions of people with millions of practically worthless baseball cards which take up a lot of space. Nobody buys these cards. I thought for sure I was going to get stuck with a huge collection that nobody could ever use for anything. Luckily, I did find a buyer. The price I'll get is less than a penny a card but at least I'll be able to clear out some closet space.

Because the cards had to be seperated by sport I ended up spending hours sorting the bulk of my collection. In a lot of ways it was like getting to know old friends again. Guys like Terry Pendleton, Tim Laudner and Chris Sabo were all the rage when I first started collecting. The cards were familiar and it helped refresh hundreds of memories from my childhood.

On the other hand, as the cards kept coming I started to detest them. I have a hard time putting it to words but I really started to hate my boxes of cards. There were just too many of them. I had put way too much time into them and they had absorbed way too much money.

As I kept sorting I really started to become attached to them as well. It's hard to go from collector to dealer. Luckily, I'm shifting away from pure card accumulation to keeping a tighter and more specific collection of cards so it's not going to be hard to sell the 50,000 cards I just spent three evenings handling. I will still have a ton of cards including a couple shoeboxes of "crap." A box of memories and Bill Doran cards isn't the worse thing to have around. It'll just be nice to have some space back. I truly understand now the old saying "excess belongings are excess burdens."

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.sportscardfun.com/

Jose Canseco

The 1986 Donruss card set has the rookie card of my favorite player in it. I have yet to get that rookie card. I don't want to sell out and just buy myself the card on eBay, I want to feel the joy of finally getting that card mixed with the excitement of opening a pack. Unopened packs from this era are not especially difficult to find btu I also don't go out of my way to buy them either so it's once in a blue moon when I get to open a pack. It's frustrating to have not gotten the rookie card of my personal idol, but it will make it more rewarding when I finally do open up a pack of 1986 Donruss and pull an Andres Galarraga rookie card.

What I did do the other day was pull a Jose Canseco rookie card from a pack of '86 Donruss. The Canseco card actually books higher than the Galarraga card even though Jose Canseco would have a difficult time winning a popularity contest with a member of the Gestapo. Jose Canseco received a preposterous 6 votes on the recent Hall of Fame ballot. That's a harsh considering Canseco was the first 40/40 man and one of the great sluggers of his era. According to Baseball-Reference.com Canseco's numbers stack up well against other Hall of Famers yet there are only 6 sports writers out there willing to ballot for him.

Like I said, that's harsh. I guess Jose is just not a likeable guy. Then again, niether was Ty Cobb. In fact there are a lot of people in the Hall of Fame who had questionable personal lives. Grover Cleveland Alexander was an alcoholic. Dave Winfield has an daughter who was born out of wedlock. Babe Ruth had been divorced and was well known for him many personal excesses. Just about every Hall of Famer has personal faults which are very public...except Tony Gwynn, he's a boy scout.

What makes Canseco so different? He had unsuccessful marriages and one of his wives wrote a tell all book about Canseco's philandering. He has been accused of assault and beating his wife (wives) and has been forced to take counseling. He took a ball to the noggin in the outfield and he had Tommy John surgery after only one inning of pitching. He's had a lot of injuries but worst of all he admitted to using steroids.

In his tell all book he admits to both using steroids and names other players who who says used steroids. Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi and others were named in his book. In the end, he's been proven to be right. Palmeiro tested positive for steroids; Giambi testified before a grand jury that he did steroids; McGwire (for all practical purposes, but it might better be described as "dodging" the question) pleaded the fifth before Congress when he was under oath about his own potential steroid use. Canseco was pivotal in starting the debate about steroids that baseball is now having.

Canseco did bring down other people with him, McGwire will probably never be elected to the Hall of Fame, for Palmiero the same. Baseball now has a drug testing policy. There are hundreds of steroids users who now have to either quit or spend a lot mroe money to avoid getting caught. However, I like to look at it a different way; Canseco has found a way to reward honest players who may never have gotten their chance at stardom had it not been for "Juiced."

For his honesty Canseco has been punished. His website and his book make it pretty clear that he's trying to restore his name. As someone who believes in penance I hope it happens for Canseco. I was a fan of his as a kid and I can't complain much about pulling his card out of that Donruss pack (too bad it's such an unflattering card) but I still can't imagine there's a big market for Canseco.

I actually purchased his book (and the book written by his ex) and it will be part of my pre-season baseball reading. But in the end, I will try to think of Canseco not as the injury prone, run-in-with the law, steroid using, finger pointing and clumsy man the baseball writers thought. I will remember him as a a rags to riches, owl helping*, debate starting, home run hitting penitent man he is.


*In a 1991 game against the Texas Rangers, Canseco managed to rescue a lost owl that had somehow flown onto the playing field.

Random Link o' the Day

http://baseballcardblog.blogspot.com/

The Joy of Grab Bags

I remember going to a card show in Albuquerque when I was in my pre-teen years. It was a very fruitful card show; my father purchased 2 very nice tobacco cards at the show. I also got a grab bag at this show. I’ve always been addicted to grab bags. There’s something attractive about it, maybe it has something to do with gambling. Most dealers will put have little “you’ve won 1 free pack” or “Free GU or Auto Card” stickers or cards in some of their grab bags. Sometimes there will even be moderately valuable cards, in the 10-15 dollar range, inserted into some dealers’ bags. In a way it has the same effect as buying a pack of cards. Sorta. In a lot of other ways it mimics the effect one gets when sorting through other people’s card collections. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not.

I will still buy the occasional grab bag, normally just as a way of spreading goodwill to other dealers while at card shows. I admit, grab bags are a way to move cards most dealers can’t sell otherwise. There will be a lot of crap in any grab bag. Junk finds its way into my grab bags too. Understand though, at a dollar a pop it’s hard to pay for your expenses with grab bags.


But I put a lot of thought into my grab bags, probably too much. To me grab bags are an opportunity to solidify young collectors into the hobby. In numismatics (coin collecting) attracting young people to the hobby is very important and a strong focus of the American Numismatic Association. The recent release of the state quarters has renewed a lot of interest into coin collecting and attracted millions of people into numismatics.

The hobby of sport collecting has almost turned against the young collector. Older collectors remember when you could buy sports cards with a little bit of pocket change. I was shocked when packs crossed the one dollar mark. Now you can spend anywhere from 4 dollars to 75 dollars on a single pack of cards. The cheapest packs I’ve found are at large superstores, and they range in the 2 dollar range. You get 8 cards per pack. If you want to put together the scratch necessary to collect cards now when you’re 9 or 10 years old you’re going to have to do some black market child labor…or beg the hell out of your parents. I have a hard time dropping 20 bucks on packs; a parent doing the same for their new-to-the-hobby kids is almost unthinkable.

Grab bags can now fill the void. Most kids can scrounge together 4 quarters to buy a grab bag. At this point it should be the responsibility of the dealer to put together a grab bag which will at least get the kid to have some regard for their purchase. I don’t mean you put hundreds of dollars in cards into a grab bag or that you load up a grab bag with the players on Beckett’s “Hot” list. Put in cards that force enquiry, cards which raise the interests of young collectors.

Inside that grab bag I purchased at the card show in Albuquerque was three 1969 Topps Football cards including Dick Anderson. In fact the 1969 card is Dick Anderson’s rookie card, though it is not especially valuable; it books at about 3 dollars in NM condition. Dick Anderson was a pro-bowl defensive back for the Miami Dolphins’ “No Name Defense” in the seventies. Dick Anderson had a productive career which was cut short by knee injuries but he was put into the Dolphins’ Hall of Fame as well as the College Football Hall of Fame for his work in Colorado. At the time I had to ask my father about the cards in the grab bag and I got to hear my father tell stories about the Dolphins in the early 70’s. It was great. It was the idea “Grab Bag Experience.” It is one I hope to create to the youngsters who purchase my grab bags. Then they can ask their fathers about Dave Goltz, Dale Murphy or Cecil Fielder.

I still have that Dick Anderson card; though its value is slight you can find it amongst the best pieces in my collection. If I could meet that dealer today, I’d thank him. I guess my obsession about grab bags must seem silly. Then again, some would say collecting paper baseball cards is the same.

Open Thread!

Random Link o' the Day:

google.com/base

Excellent Framing

It's hard to find a way to display items that aren't flat and don't fit into a frame, nor can they be safely laid out on a table. There is a way to frame such 3D items without too much hassle. They're called Cubistos and they're available from BasicFun.com.

Cubisto's modern design is appealing on its own; however, it's what you put into it that makes it truly unique. From seashells to matchbooks - marbles to wine corks, there's no better way to display your favoirte 3 dimensional objects. And by using different Cubisto frame sizes and colors, you can distinguish the difference or similarities in your collection/objects, while maintaining a cohesive look.

Cubisto is simple to use and fun to design. Simply slide each half of the outer frame apart to reveal the inner transparent casing. Open this casing and place your object in the center of the transparent film. Close the inner casing around your object, slide the outer frame back over each side of the inner casing and voila!...your Cubisto work of art is complete!

I don't know if you'd want to put some items in there, I don't think the transparent film will be acid-free so those valuable turn of the century paper items like matchbooks should go in there but I'm sure every collector has an assortment of items which could easily and attractively find a home in this item.

Update

The best place to get stuff online from basicfun is here.

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.oldandsold.com/

Thoughts on OJ Simpson

Simpson's book "If I Did It" has been pulled from the stores and Simpson's big interviews have been pulled by the Fox Corporation. This is understandable, as even Simpson himself called the book "blood money" in this article. As his book has been recalled there will be few copies of it available. There are probably hundreds of copies that were either sent to retailers or reviewers and have entered the secondary market, but only one has surfaced so far on eBay.

Right now it is fetching over 15,000 dollars in bids. As a unique item in Americana it is a legitimate collectible. Like it or not, the Simpson murder trial is a large part of our collective memories. I'd like to reflect on a few things as a collector.

O.J. Simpson

I don't judge Mr. Simpson for wanting to make money by writing (or having someone ghostwrite) a book and taking advantage of a horrible and gruesome crime. Every author who's ever written about and made money from a tragedy could be considered guilty of profiteering in human suffering. You might even extend the argument to anyone who has ever spent money purchasing a magazine or book which dealt with human tragedy. Yet all a book is is information. To me, it's more important that knowledge is disseminated.

You see, I don't judge Mr. Simpson for the book, I judge him for having murdered two people. I don't want killers to profit from telling their tales, but I don't want killers walking away scot-free either. If the money from the book/novel went to Simpson's kids or to pay off his Civil dues to the Goldman family, fine. It's disgusting and the emotional harm is unfortunate (for the Goldman family) but the harm can't compare with the initial loss of Ron Goldman, the description of how he died and the acquital of the murderer. I'd rather get whatever insight Simpson has to offer (since I'm certain he's the killer) than lose it.

In the list of "Simpson Sins" this ranks very low.

The Publisher

This book would have made money and provided insight into the murders of two people. It would have added to the literature already existing regarding this case. It also created a lot of upset, rage and bad press; all of which was deserved. I would not have chosen to publish this title, it could have been published very easily online using either lulu.com or cafepress.com. Would it have made millions? No. Only a well funded publisher with existing infrastructure can make a book a bestseller. There's no easy answer (in my mind) but I believe Judith Regan made the wrong decision considering Simpson's other options.

The Person who Buys the Book

My curiosity was piqued. I would try find a way to read this title. I hate to admit it. But I would find a way to avoid any money going to the publisher or Simpson. I don't see the problem with reading anything if itmight provide insight or information that could be utilized for some good (even if it's just psychiatric analyis in the end; I've read books by murders, notes by kids who committed suicide and seen therapy sessions of kids who like hurting little animals in the course of getting my psychology degree)

eBay seller

He has something he doesn't want and others do. The money isn't going to a murderer so I won't judge.

eBay buyer

More difficult but this might be one of the few ways to read the book without money going to a murderer. It's overvalued right now for sure (considering my estimate for the number of books in private hands). I put the value closer to 2-3 thousand dollars rather than the 15,000+ dollars right now. I don't think owing the book makes you guilty of the murder of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown.

I have a lot of conflicting emotions when it comes to this object. It is one many collectors have to face. Do I buy the SS Wermacht Helmet, the coins from Germany circa WWII, 1st edition copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf, works on Eugenics, Civil War bullets or even slavery era shackles. I have seen many of these items, and I wasn't too interested in people judging me an anti-semite for owning stuff from the 3rd Reich. (BTW, I'm not an anti-semite [nor racist]; I believe in the "dual covenant"). I decided against purchasing such items and have instead focused on the American side of things (I have several American WWI and WWII helmets).

It isn't easy to choose what constitutes a legitimate collectible versus a relic of Earthly evil. I err to one side as I have (the potential for) a more public life (just a Google search away) than other collectors. In the end, I will let my curiosity alone and not venture into the mind of Simpson's ghostwriter, I guess. But I won't judge anyone who does either.

Update

eBay is stopping the sale of these items. Three have surfaced so far. Prices range from 1,400 dollars to 15,000 dollars.

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.mastronet.com

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.graphicwitness.com/baseballcard/

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.cycleback.com/museumbb.html

Catcher Crowns

This year, Joe Mauer, the catcher for the Minnesota Twins, did something nobody else in baseball has ever done. Mauer won the American League batting crown. He lead the American League in batting average. On top of that, he was also the first catcher to lead the Major Leagues in batting average.

Most people probably don't understand what a big deal this really is. In the 100+ year history of major league baseball, to have someone do something no one else has ever done before is amazing. In fact, what would be even more amazing is one can name the last time a catcher won any batting crown.

Sadly enough, I can. You have to go back to Ernie Lombardi in 1942 and earlier in 1938. Also, Bubbles Hargrave was the first to do it in 1926. Both did their damage in the National League. However, what's even harder is trying to find baseball cards of these gentlemen.

A little research shows you can spend 100+ dollars on a Goudey card of Lombardi from the 1930's and I've seen Bubbles Hargrave cards on the net before, once. I think it was an American Caramel. However, the two matchbook covers I have pictured in this post I purchased for a whopping 14 dollars. They are vintage, the Lombardi cover is from 1934 and the Hargrave cover is from 1937. Hargrave must have been playing for a minor league team in St. Paul at the time since his last major league game was in 1930.

Matchbook covers are a good option to pick up HOF players much cheaper than their bubble gum card brothers. Covers are just about as rare, and eventually these opportunities for vintage ephemera are going to disappear completely. If you're looking for collecting greats like Lombardi and Hargrave and other all stars before WWII, here's your best option.

One of my projects

The 1973 Topps set is perhaps the ugliest card set ever produced by Topps. It has some of the worst photography in an era of bad photography in baseball card sets. It's design is gaudy and simplistic and the backs of the cards are a dark dog poo color. It's a strange mix of styles, being a "bridge" set between the older Topps styles and the modern look of today's cards. It was also the last set Topps produced in series (which makes its higher numbered cards harder to find). There's nothing really spectacular about the set other than the Mike Schmidt rookie card; it thus makes little sense why I love the '73 Topps set as much as I do.

When I first starting collecting cards (2nd-3rd grade) one of the guys I knew from the neighborhood had inherited a card collection that included a near complete set of these '73 Topps. I probably traded away every "good" card I had in those years trying to get those cards from "Andy" and I got a goodly number of commons from him. It worked out pretty well for me, as cards from the 1990's are worthless. Of course, over the years a lot of the Topps cards were stolen or traded away (stealing cards was prolific in my group of friends at the time) but I held on to a few of those commons. At the time, 1973 seemed really old, I mean, it was over 20 years ago man! The '73 set was my first encounter with "old stuff" and thus became engrained in my head as an "old set" forever.

Now I'm working on completing the set, a costly endevour. It may be one of the ugliest, gaudiest and least interesting sets ever done by Topps.

It's also one of my favorites.

Baseball's Holy Grails

This is the second part of a 25 part series dealing with the greatest objects in baseball lore, and what would be, if they could be found, the greatest collectibles in sports.

Bill Buckner's pebble

It's a sad testimony to the four score long history of the Ruth Curse that a lot of the Holy Grails of baseball belong to the Boston Red Sox. This is perhaps the meanest of my choices. Also, it's likely to not exist at all. I have seen the video a number of times (I've not seen a frame by frame analysis which would show a bad hop or not) and it's not known whether the ball really took a bad hop. Here's what Wikipedia says about it:

On October 25, 1986, with the Boston Red Sox leading the New York Mets 3-2 in Game 6 of the best-of-7 series, the game was tied in the bottom of the tenth inning. The Red Sox had taken a two-run lead in the top of the tenth, but the Mets had come back to tie on a wild pitch by pitcher Bob Stanley. Mookie Wilson of the Mets fouled off several pitches before hitting a ground ball to Buckner at first base. The ball took a deadening bounce on the dirt and rolled under Buckner's glove, through his legs, and into right field, allowing Ray Knight to score the winning run from second base. It capped an astonishing comeback for the Mets, though it did not (as is often misremembered) end the World Series. The Met victory, in fact, forced a seventh game, which was played two nights later and won by the Mets.

To be fair to Bill Buckner, his error had very little to do with the loss of the 1986 World Series. In game seven the Red Sox were able to surrender a 3 run lead to lose the series. Buckner has taken his infamy in stride, he signs baseballs with Mookie Wilson and he also co-signs pictures of the famous error with Mookie.

The actual baseball is in collectors hands. However, the actual dirt that caused the bounce/deadening probably could never be verified. Had I been the head groundskeeper, I would have taken a shovel and removed the dirt around the area of the error (if anyone asked any questions I would just cite superstition). You jar that dirt and there's your holy grail of baseball. I doubt this one will ever surface. But who knows? Maybe there was some groundskeeper or security guard who took a shovel full of souvenir.

Baseball's Holy Grails

This is the first part of a 25 part series dealing with the greatest objects in baseball lore, and what would be, if they could be found, the greatest collectibles in sports.

The Green Monster

It is probably the most recognizable feature of any ballpark in America. It's really tall, really long and really heavy. It is indicative of the character of Fenway Park, a baseball stadium located in a spot no baseball person would put it. To help protect the surrounding buildings from batted balls the Green Monster was created as a misplaced monstrosity in the world of baseball.

More the product of idiocy and necessity, Fenway Park's Green Monster is awesome. As the Curse of the Bambino continued for decades, America connected with the Red Sox and their perpetual underachievment. The Green Monster, being a large and grotesque answer to a problem probably created by a bureacrat, is represantative of the American spirit.

If there's a mountain in your way, blow it up or drill through it. Do you have a problem with some third world dictator? Invade! Forests? Cut 'em down! Speed Limits? Ignore them. Moon? Million dollar dune buggies. Having a problem keeping balls in the park? Build a big ass fence.

The Green Monster was there with Carlton Fisk and Bucky Dent hit homeruns which destroyed the World Championship hopes for America's favorite team. And the Green Monster sat by as the Curse of the Bambino was finally broken.

As the great baseball stadiums disappear and real character is replaced with fake character and fireworks it's obvious Fenway Park's years are numbered. So my question is, when the inevitable happens, who's going to make a move to acquire one of the holy grails of baseball?

Sure, at thousands of square feet this particular collectible will be difficult to house and transport. But it would be a real tragedy if this wall was simply knocked down and sold off piece by piece. It would be like ripping up the U.S. Constitution and putting the pieces into those silly relic cards. There is only one Green Monster.

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.oldbaseball.com/

Another Autograph Resource

If you are buying off of eBay, this website can be a huge resource. If you get someone who says they receive autographs through the mail, you can check this website and see if the player in question truly does sign through the mail. You can also get scans on the autographs and compare them to the ones on the auction and certified autographs found through Google searches. (In this way you might even spot the occasional "secretary" signature.) Buying non-certified autographs on eBay takes research.

Card Show Recap

Complete success. We had almost fifty people walk through on Saturday and I did about 90 dollars in sales. This was better than the earlier show I did in Alexandria by a factor of ten. The best part was not having to pay the show promoter for a table. I also did some trading with a couple of other dealers that went well. One specific trade I will write about in a later post. There will be another card show in Alexandria (I'm not hosting this one) in two weeks at the local mall. Hopefully it goes better than the first show (I made 11 dollars at the first show, and spent 30 dollars on the table for a huge loss).

Hosting a Card Show

Well, we're going to get to see if my first attempt at hosting a card show will be a flop or not. I only got one other dealer to join me for the show, but I have enough stuff to fill a card shop. I paid for a couple of newspaper ads, a posting on some websites, I listed it in Beckett and I made some big signs. Will it work? The last card show in Alexandria was held in a mall, with radio ads and the mall's marquee and we only got about fifty people over two days to show up.

I'll get some pictures up after the show of the set up. I'll also keep track of traffic.

Getting Autographs on eBay

Basically, it's never safe to purchase autographs on EBay. Sorta. Generally, if you're bidding on "chase cards" which are signed (and are supposed to be signed) it's safe. Those cards are guaranteed signed by the card manufacturer, and collectors normally trust these. I do remember, back in the late 90's there was some controversy with some of these autographed inserts when it was revealed some minor leaguer had his girlfriend sign a number of his "personally autographed" cards. After that I think the card companies started to really check their cards with autographs before putting them into packs. For the most part, buying these cards are safe (and hey, I bet those GF signed cards from the nineties are more valuable than the cards that no-name minor leaguer actually signed).

Those cards, because they are safer, get a good amount of bids and catch a premium on eBay. If you're anything like me, you don't like paying premiums on anything. Your second, and cheapest option, is buying raw autographed cards. By "raw" I mean you're buying cards that are not 3rd party authenticated, card manufacturer guarunteed or direct from the signee (I've seen some people selling their own items on eBay).

I consider this sort of buying "prospecting." That's what you're doing, you're taking a chance that what you're buying is a forgery. In fact, some estimates suggest that up to 50% of the autographed items on eBay are forged. Beleive it or not, this can be a good thing. These sorts of numbers scare away bidders. eBay even has a "warning" page when you're bidding on autographed items. I love it. The reason is because I have a system which reduces the chances that I get bad signatures.

Understand, it's not perfect, no system is. Authenticaters get fooled by good forgeries. In fact, it's been suggested that some of the chase cards which use cut signatures of deceased stars are forgeries (the Babe Ruth cut signature on a 1/1 Upeer Deck chase card from a few years backs is considered by many to be a forgery which fooled the Upper Deck company). That's just the nature of autographs. People want them, the demand exceeds supply, so someone is there to fill the gaps with fake crap which placates people who aren't looking after themselves.

First and foremost, don't look at high ticket items such as Mickey Mantle signatures. High ticket items offer the greatest reward for forgers. You can't really go "prospectin'" with these items. If you're going to invest 100 to 200 dollars, you might as well get something UDA or PSA/DNA certified. A dealer friend of mine recently spent 175 dollars on a Mickey Mantle autograph which he sent off to PSA/DNA and it came back as a fake. It costs $75 to do this, so he's out some money there. Later on, he spends $205 on a PSA/DNA authenticated Mickey Mantle autograph on eBay. It's going to be cheaper just to buy the certified stuff to begin with on your Mickey Mantles and Ted Williams (or Marilyn Monroe) autographs.

I like obscure players and celebrities. My favorite autographs to collect are Russian Cosmonauts. You can get them cheap, they require a myriad of money exchanges and shipping issues (I once purchased a lot of cosmonaut sigs from a guy in Sarejevo, that was fun) and no one in their right mind is going to forge something like that. It's not worth the trouble for one or two American dollars a signature. Will I be able to get my signatures authenticated? Probably not, but if I do send them in to PSA/DNA and they can't authenticate them, I get my money back. I can build a large collection, on the cheap, be able to cross compare signatures (I'll explain what this means later on) and have the confidence in knowing most of these items are going to be authentic.

Of course, most people don't share my tastes. But most people do have favorite players that aren't exactly on their way to the Hall of Fame. As a Twins fan, some of my favorite players include Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett, Dave Hollins, Gary Gaetti, Brad Radke, Johan Santana and Joe Nathan. Only two of those guys are going to be in the Hall of Fame. The rest are great players who were part of world champion baseball teams. Who's going to forge Gaetti autographs? Not many. Look for players of medium fame, your Will Clark's, John Olerud's, Eddie Guardado's.

So, you have an idea of what autographs to look for. It's time to enter ebay. Always, when you're searching ebay, have your list set to "ending soonest." This way you won't miss any steals.

You see some autographs that are ending in the next day, that don't have any bids and are really cheap. Look at the pictures, then Google search "[Player Name] Autograph" on the image option on Google. Compare the picture you're looking at to the pictures offered on the Google search. If they're similiar, you can bid on the cheap and reduce the chance of a fake.

If you can, buy "lots" of autographed cards. This is when an auction has mulitiple items in it. This will lower the price again, and if you're buying from someone who's selling their collection, you increase the chance of getting real signatures. There are lots of people out there who spent years collecting autographs through the mail. Plenty of them sell on ebay. Take advantage.

There's another secret to buying off of ebay, and that is using the "PSA/DNA Quick Opinion" option:

http://www.psadna.com/quickopinion/

For seven dollars or so, you can get an opinion on any item in less than 2 days. Assume that 1/2 the time you do this it will come back forged. So here's your equation: present bid price + 14 dollars + shipping. If an autograph is worth that much money to you, it is worth it to get the quick opinion. Otherwise, take your chances "prospectin.'"

After you get your autographs, compare them to autographs you got on your google search, and save those pictures from the google search. Then, compare the autographs to others you have collected over the years. (This is the "cross compare" thing I told you about earlier, I recently got a Jose Canseco autographed card which I was able to compare to another Canseco autograph I had) Look for similiarities and differences, and you have to decide whether the signature is a good one or not. There are some other tricks to looking at autographs which are a little beyond this post. Just use your judgment, if it looks good, it's good enough to keep.

(If you have the courage to bid on autographs which are listed without pictures, more power to you. You're going to get a heckuva bargain, but you lose any ability to "pre-check" the signature before it arrives. But auctions without pictures are typically done by newbies, not forgers. This isn't prospectin', it's pure speculation.)

If it looks bad, there's not much you can do. Contact the seller and ask for your money back and return the item. Leave negative feedback anyway. Sometimes the cost of sending the item back will exceed the cost of the item. At that point, just leave bad feedback. You can spend 20 dollars doing the authentication thing too, but often times at that point you're just throwing your money away.

You can still use the Quick Opinion option here too. Simply set up an auction on ebay, with high quality scans of your item, and have a crazy high starting bid price or reserve so no one bids on the thing, then submit it to PSA/DNA. Once you get the opinion back you can delist the auction.

For relatively little money, you can create a collection of autographs that will be pretty awesome. Also, it will be valuable as well. If you have some nicer items, get them certified (or just do the quick opinion trick I just taught you). I picked up an Arnold Scharzenneger autograph way to cheaply. I did the quick opinion thing and it came back as "probably authentic." I printed out that email and it's just about as good as being authenticated. (I got the "Arnold" sig cheap because I purposely misspelled his name on my search, I think ebay now has misspelling software which takes that trick out of my toolbox).

If you want to be 100% certain about an autograph, get it in person. If you're like me and don't have the time nor access to famous people, nor the money to pay for signing parties, you're going to have to be creative and take some chances. You're going to get a few bad sigs. But you will also get a lot of real ones for a lot cheaper than what Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA) items or PSA/DNA items cost. You can get the quick opinions for cheap on your already bargain autographs and build a solid collection you can have confidence in. And really, isn't that the goal?

A final word, Certificates of Authenticity mean nothing. I don't even like bidding on items which come with them. Sellers that offer a 2-4 week money back return policy with no "COA" are ideal in my mind. COA's are the second think forgers forge. If you want a guarantee, look for PAS/DNA or Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA).

More good advice for Ebay purchases
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New Project

I'm always on the look out for a challenge, and I think the 1962 "Mars Attacks" set is going to be a big one. I actually prefer non-sports trading cards to sports trading cards, though non-sports cards typically offer much less appreciation than sports cards. Cards are just not good investments compared to your coins and currency (or even stamps). Cards are really more of a reflection personal taste, and this hard to find set of 55 over the top space alien cards fits my eccentric preferences ideally.

This set is going to be expensive. On Ebay individual cards go anywhere from 5-15 dollars, graded cards go much higher. It could take 500 to 1000 dollars over the next few years to get the complete set. Well it be worth it? Check out the picture, those are the coolest cards ever.

Ebay Auction

Found a wonderful group of Hollywood related scrapbooks done from the 1930's to the late 1940's which I'll be selling on Ebay over the coming months. There's a lot of interesting stuff in them (blog post worthy stuff); they're the best scrapbooks I've ever seen when it comes to quality and completeness of content.

Check out the first one here.

First Card Show

I've been to a great many card shows in my life, but never from the dealer side of the tables. Man is it tough. What was really incredible to me was the selection of autographs and game used merchandise the other dealers at the show had. Game used relic cards and autographed inserts are supposed to be really hard to find. I've seen the odds on the backs of packs. We're talking an average auto/relic card in one of every 36 packs at the most. Thus it takes about $100 in packs to get one of these special inserts. By this estimation the dealers at this convention would have to spend 100,000 dollars in packs to get the selections they had; if the average value of these inserts in set at 15 dollars, we're talking about 15,000 dollars in merchandise these dealers were bringing to the tables.

Okay, so if the dealers buy the stuff from collectors at 40% book price I guess it's reasonable to think they would spend 6,000 dollars to build an inventory.

However, I really doubt that dealers in Minnesota could get the kind of collectibles these guys were selling from rural and suburban collectors. This is when I discovered one of the dealers was selling "Guranteed autograph" or "Guranteed Game Used" packs of cards. Through some method*, dealers and many collectors are finding out which packs contain these sought after cards and are pulling them from the market. This explains how come these dealers have such great selections.

They have been stealing.

Maybe that's not fair to say. If the people you are buying packs from let you do it, it's not stealing. However, dealers are where I used to get my packs from. I now know to not buy from dealers. At least, not buy unopened packs. I'll even confront dealers about this issue now. (Who knows, some dealers may admit to doing this and give you a discount on items rather than lose a customer.)

It may also explain why I have only pulled 4 legitimate Game Used relic cards since 1999. I am now using Ebay to buy relic cards and autographs. It's a lot cheaper than buying unopened cases. I still have to fill a table and I still need to have inventory that approaches other dealers or else my time spent selling cards at shows will be wasted.

I'll be hosting my own show in Alexandria over the 4th of July weekend. Email me at marty.andrade (at) gmail(dot)com for details.


*If you're interested in learning the techniques used to find these cards, look at my blogger profile and email me, I'll send you the information

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.npl.uiuc.edu/~a-nathan/ted/ted.html

Beckett, What the Hell?

I don't know where Beckett gets its prices, but it certainly isn't from any market that sells baseball cards in this dimension. At most card shops I go to, I can buy most items for less than half the "book" value. In fact, the only items which can actually fetch top dollar are very recent releases. Once a set turns a year old or so, nobody wants it. You might get full dollar for any rookies, but even insert sets and auographs turn into grab bag fodder.

For at least a decade now, the only way to really move cards is to sell them at about 40% the Beckett values.

I never have this problem with Coins or Currency. Their book values always seem to match what they can be sold for.

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.t206.com/index.cfm

Bender?

I need to find this comic book.

Random Link o' the Day:

http://www.timem.com/

From the archives

Here's a post from my other blog discussing my collection.

Sometimes politics and hobbies mix...

With awesome results...



Produced by Pro-Set in 1991 during the first gulf war. Very cool.

A quick introduction

In 1987 I was given Ghostbusters toys and some coins for Christmas. I was given a bucket full of foreign coins from my paternal grandmother a year later. For Christmas 1989 I was given a complete set of Topps and a subscription to Sports Illustrated for kids. Since those humble beginnings I have amassed a tremendous collection of sports cards, sports memorabilia, autographs, antiques, coins, comics, books and other items of interest.

In 1995 my parents became antique dealers. In 1997 they opened up an antique store called "Somewhere in Time" which remained in operation until the end of 2005. This afforded me the opportunity to not only gain interest in collecting items beyond sports, it also game me a lot of experience in small business operation and management.

I'm really more of a political blogger than one to try out writing and reporting on collectibles and antiques. However, I'm now out of college and for the first time in a long time I have time to enjoy the stuff which had spent years in boxes in storage. I realized I have a lot to say about collecting, be it sports or other stuff.

I am fascinated by the more bizarre and unusual items, I have everything from meteorites to Mystery Science Theatre 3000 robots to a Florida voting machines from the 2000 election. I also brag that I have 1 million baseball cards, thus the explanation of the blog address. Do I really own 1 million baseball cards? I'm not sure, I very close.

Because of my political blogging nature, I might not post on this blog as much as I would like. However I'm very open to having other antique dealers, collectors, card dealers, or antiquers co-author on this blog. If you're interested, email me using the address you'll find in my profile on the sidebar.

BTW, I still have the Ghostbusters toys and some of those first coins I was given almost 20 years ago.