Team Collectors. What do you count?

This is a timeless debate. You collect a certain team. For example, I collect Dodgers. So, you collect your favorite team and decide you don't care who the player is, or what card it might be, you want them all. You start hoarding those 1989 Topps, 1991 Donruss and 1992 Fleers and after a while, you begin noticing the oddballs, the inserts, the parallels, etc. Anything new excites you. I think many of you know what I am talking about. You buy some lots, you work some trades and then one day you are checking out your new cards and you come across this card. You almost missed it, but something caught your eye. An unfamiliar logo!

You ask yourself if this card counts. After all, he is pictured in the team uniform. But WAIT! How can this be a Dodger card if the card says Brewers? Do I count it or do I toss it? You set it aside and keep sorting.

After a few minutes, you come acorss another card that most certainly doesn't belong. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS DOING HERE? This is CLEARLY not a Dodger card. It's the stinking Giants, the forever hated Giants!!! Wait once more, you look closely and sure enough, the card indicates that he is now on the Dodgers! Now what? Can you really love a wolf in sheep's clothing? A Giant/Dodger card?

I'm sure you all have had this internal debate with yourself before. I know what I do, I allow it...both times. If it says Dodgers or looks like a Dodger, then it's a Dodger in my book. How about you?

Mr. Baseball

A few months ago, someone from a trading card site called "The Bench" (www.thebenchtrading.com) posted an autograph success from Mr. Baseball himself, Tom Selleck. Selleck has always been one of my favorite actors, dating back to the infamous Magnum PI days, so obtaining an autograph of his has always been one of my goals. Years ago on ebay, I bought a signed TV Guide page showing an ad for Magnum PI, but it was a pretty boring, black and white image. I saw someone had either made or found a Selleck card showing him in a Detroit Tigers uniform, with the 1968 Topps design, but I have never been able to locate the card myself. Perhaps it was a 1/1 custom job?

So, his appearance on a 1992 Upper Deck card (#SP4) was the best candidate to have signed, but how would that happen? I am not much of a TTM guy, although I should be. I love signed cards. Still, even with someone indicating a success TTM and an address to share, I still didn't get off my butt, find the SP4 card and mail it off. So, wouldn't you know it, but the same guy sent to Selleck again, this time a baseball. Once more, Mr. Selleck returned the item signed! That was it...I had to try.

I dug out the SP4 card from my old Frank Thomas collection and prepared it for mailing. Then I decided that I had a nice stack of 1982 Donruss Magnum PI extras just sitting around, so why not try to get a couple of those signed as well. After all, I was a fan of Selleck because of that show! I found a couple decent shots of him from the set and mailed my request off on November 30th and waited.

On monday, January 9th, I had a SASE waiting for me when I got home from work. Now remember, I am not much of a TTM guy, so I knew exactly who this one was from before I even opened it, but I was not sure if he had signed any of the cards, let alone all 3. I don't think I have ever been more excited for a TTM request as I tore open the envelope, giddy like a little girl! Waiting inside for me were 3 freshly signed cards in all their magnificent glory.

As a side note, the envelope was postmarked Honolulu, Hawaii, which is not where I sent the request. I know that he owned a home on Oahu, but he sold that some time back. Maybe he was vacationing there...who knows? It is reminiscent of the Magnum PI days though...

Happy New Year!

I think I will end 2011 with a reminder to myself as to why I stopped buying packs of cards. As much as I love the thrill of tearing open a sealed pack to reveal it's hidden treasures within, I proved to myself over and over that in the end I might as well just buy what I want.

Breaking myself of the wax ripping habit was hard. I had collected cards since 1978 and opening packs was the foundation of my collecting habit. By the time I graduated High School and joined the USN, I was still buying cards. The year was 1987 and the worst of times (the investor era) was soon to be upon us in full swing. Luckily, due to time constraints, storage issues and

such, I pretty much stopped buying cards then. From about 1988-1993, the only cards I opened came from my mom when I took leave and returned home. She'd buy me random card packs for birthdays and Christmas and I would open them when I returned home. I had all but been cured though. The thrill just wasn't there any longer. I had turned to muscle cars, music and drinking/partying to pass my free time. Cards just didn't thrill me anymore.

I got out of the Navy in 1993 and a friend of mine had reintroduced me to cards shortly before I left, but the game had changed. Cards were fancier, there were inserts and everything was just more exciting. I came back hard, buying just about everything there was. I took a liking to a young star named Frank Thomas and the rest is history. I was fresh out of the Navy, had some spending money and nothing to do. Recipe for disaster, if you ask me. So, after abusing myself endlessly from 1993 to roughly 2000, I finally figured out that I just didn't have good luck when it came to opening packs, at least not from the "resale" or "investment" standpoint. I'd still say my best pull ever was an UD Autograph/Jersey card of Duke Snider from one of their HOF issues. Great card as a Dodger fan, but not exactly a "high BV" card. Still, I was in it for the fun, not to sell. That doesn't help justify spending $75-100 per box of cards, only to find yourself with a small stack of cards and really nothing else to show for it. For that same $75-100, I could buy so much more of what I wanted, not continue to fill up 5K boxes with junk and be happier all around. So, I finally pulled the plug and stopped buying packs.

It's been a dozen or so years and I still open an occasional pack for Christmas or when I need to remind myself of just how stupid it is for me to buy packs. Once such occasion was tonight. I got 4-5 random packs of cards from my wife as a stocking stuffer (yeah, I got nothing worth mentioning) and so tonight, while helping my boys spend some of their Christmas money on Legos and Wii games at Target, I bought a few cheapie boxes and packs. All told, I spent around $35 and went home to see how I did. Below is the bounty...at least this isn't a daily whooping anymore! It's not like I expect to pull a Sandy Koufax autograph or something like that every time, but once in a while might have kept me going longer, that's for sure!

Check out a new blog and help 2 Garvey collectors out!

http://timelessteams.blogspot.com/

Fellow Garvey collector and all around Dodger lover, Jim (gcrl) is starting another blog and wants YOU to read it. I'm sure it will be entertaining, as his 2 current blogs are now.

Check it out when it goes live next week. I might even win a Steve Yeager autograph in the deal. Can't beat that, right? And, I don't have that card yet.

Collecting Autographs

Some might believe from reading many of the posts in this blog, that my collection is quite one dimensional. That is as far from the truth as possible, but I definitely have my favorites. I have been collecting Steve Garvey as a primary player collection since I started buying cards, but the collection has grown leaps and bounds since I discovered Ebay. However other than the handful of new cards that come out new these days, which all seem to have to be numbered to less than 10 copies (another story for another time), I have pretty much tracked it all down. If I only grabbed Garvey stuff, I'd pretty much be retired from the hobby game.

Cue autographed cards!

I always sought out autographs as a kid when I went to the ballpark. I never got the concept connected with cards for some odd reason though. I guess I would rather have a ticket stub, scuffed up practice ball, program cover or scrap of paper than a baseball card. What the hell was I thinking???? I only recently dove into the signed card arena, and by recently I mean after I started ebaying. I shudder to think of the collection I could have now had I recognized this collecting area a bit sooner. Heck, I have Eddie Murray on a scrap of paper when he visited Seattle back in the 80s. It's pretty ugly too, considering it shared space with Ellie Hendricks and later I though a single signature would look better and cut it free...only to tape it back later after I decided it didn't! Maybe I'll share this with you, as I still have it. Wouldn't his 1978 Topps card look great signed instead? YES IT DOES! I did eventually pick that up as well. Perhaps a future topic...

My clear favorite targets are Dodger cards and the more vintage the better. This obviously means I need to collect "through the mail" (TTM) or "in person" (IP) signed cards. I like certified cards where I can get them, but let's face it, they just don't cover enough players. A goal would be to get all of the LA Dodgers signed on cards and work on those that have certified cards as well, and then extend that back as far back into the Brooklyn history as possible. Sadly, most of those gents are passing at an alarming rate. Last I checked, we were under 50 Brooklyn players still alive. The other sad part is that until the 1990 Target set came out, there were a fair share of players from the Brooklyn days that didn't have cards. In order to add Dodgers, I often have to settle for photos, paper or whatever because their either are not cards or they are financially unfeasible.

However, just about anything else short of dirt commons interests me: Action cards from the 70s-80s, All Stars, award winners, special cards, multi-player cards, just about anything pre 1980, minor league cards, etc. I just loved signed cards. I'll take a card over a new OL baseball, a nice glossy 8x10 , jersey, bat or anything else. Cards rule!

So, to shake it up a bit and make it interesting for you readers who don't obsess over Steve Garvey items, I'll feature random signed cards here and there for fun. We'll start with a nice 1952 Topps Phil Haugstad.

Haugstad played in 37 games across parts of 4 seasons from 1947-1952. His big year was 1951 when he appeared in 21 games for the Dodgers. He appeared one season with the Cincinnati Reds, 1952, as well. His lifetime record was 1-1 and his fame was more so found in the Minors, however as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the recipient of a Topps card (seems to be his only card), his signature was a must. He died in 1998, but his signature appears to be a little tougher to find, given a player who died in the late 90s. I was glad to stumble upon this card when I did. A quick check of ebay tonight reveals 4 signatures from Mr. Haugstad, ranging from an ugly, taped cut at $10 up to a nice B&W photo for $90 (although another listing is this same photo that can be had for $35 OBO). A far cry from plentiful.

1992 Trak Auto Stamps

This issue was a stamp sheet and accompanying poster/print (which I have, but is unimpressive alone and thus was not scanned) that showcased all of the Dodgers who had been selected to an All Star team since the teams move to Dodger Stadium in 1962. The stamps were meant to be stuck onto the poster and then displayed/framed or whatever.

For a very long time, I thought this issue would be one of those never to be found items from my want list. It seems it still sits on numerous collectors want lists even today, probably because it is an odd set and even now, I see it is often misidentified. Detached stamps are not identified in any way with a brand or manufacturer and the only way to tell is to find a complete stamp sheet. If you are a Dodger fan and collect a few different players, this is a treasure trove of an item. 49 different players are represented, some multiple times, based on the year(s) they were chosen as an All Star. Although each player chosen in a given year are listed, only certain players are pictured. For example, Tommy Lasorda is the only person pictured on the 1979 and 1983 All Star stamp although there were multiple players each year.

From the scanned images, you can see that this stamp sheet and accompanying poster were available from a chain of discount automotive parts locations called Trak Auto. I've tried to do some research into the franchise, but it was far from exhaustive, and it seems the firm was mainly operating out of the East and Midwest and eventually went bankrupt and sold off to other automotive parts distributors. However, this could easily have been a different chain all together. I just assumed since the subject was the Dodgers, the parts store would be in LA! There was no mention of California locations in my research.

Anyway, the set is usually found in full sheet form, because who wants to deal with a bunch of frail, tiny stamps? The "set" though is usually incomplete, because there is a special anniversary stamp that was meant to complete the set, available only by visiting the stores. The bottom of the stamp sheet mentions this, but it is confusing. It indicates that a sheet of 17 anniversary stamps are available for $0.99 and the purchase of Valvoline oil or $2.99 w/o an oil purchase. The sheet itself contains 31 stamps and I don't know why anyone would want 17 of the "special" diamond anniversary stamps. Maybe there is someone out there who obtained the special diamond stamp and can shed some light. I have never seen one, not that I care. All I really wanted was the Garvey stamp anyway.

A quick scan of ebay shows that one seller has 2 sets available at $20 plus s/h, but it is not listed under Trak Auto at all. It is a full sheet w/ the accompanying poster/print. Still not a common item, but definitely obtainable in today's internet world.

Sports Heroes, Feats & Facts

In a way, this issue was the 90s version of Sportscasters. I stumbled upon this site for the Sportscasters, but have not had time to fully check it out. Looks like it might be a cool site though.

http://www.sportscastercards.com/

Sports Heroes were available as a subscription, as were Sportscasters. The subscriber would receive a package of the cards every so often and presumably the subscription would run as

long as you remained current. As with any offering of this type, it seems the later issues are the toughest to find. Interest diminishes and eventually the manufacturer stops making them all together. Sadly, we don't fully appreciate issues like this until it is too late.

I believe the ads for subscribing are found in some of the more popular sports magazines of the time and I want to say I remember them being in the short lived Topps Magazine as well. Although I never subscribed, I took a liking to the larger (they are roughly the size of an 8x10 photo) "cards" and eventually ended up obtaining numerous binders full. After sorting through them and obtaining new binders, I found a number of variations. Sometimes a player changed

teams, other times a player was replaced by another, but the least noticeable variation is in the "small print" data on the reverse of each card. It appears that as these were reprinted over time, each print run got a new number assigned. For example, the first print run might be 33, with subsequent runs labeled 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d and 33e. I believe the highest run variation I have come across is an "e" series. I don't know enough about these and how they were

distributed to know if any are harder to find than the others, but it would be fun to find an expert of these to compare notes. Currently I have several hundred different subjects along with numerous variations. Someday I may make a checklist of what I have, but for now that is yet another project on the "to do" list.