Monthly Archives: February 2013

Sports Memorabilia Cases – Secure Your Collectibles

Autograph Collecting

Sports Memorabilia Cases – Secure Your Collectibles

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Beginning A Collection

My collection spans are large variety of items, to include autographed mini-helmets, baseballs, bats, footballs, basketball sneakers, sports cards, and a large amount of autographed photos. Once you decide to begin a collection, it is very easy to let that collection stray in many different areas of collectibles and it will cause you some uncertainty as to where your collection is headed.

I talk from experience, as you can see I collect everything. Some items are easy to display others are just plain old un-displayable. For instance sports memorabilia cases of basketballs are just huge, and unless you live in a mansion and even then are wife-less, it just is not happening!

I have found from my own experiences that, if you like to display your collectibles and let’s be frank, everyone likes to show off their collection, even though when you sit in the dark, I know all of you sit there and rub your hands together, just to get that blood rush into your body in warp speed fashion, as you think of your newest collectible addition or any piece in your collection, that gives you that extreme joy, come on just admit it.

Mini-Helmet Displays

Anyway bear with me, I get sidetracked sometimes. I personally enjoy displaying my items. I have found that mini-helmet displays are the nicest in my opinion and easiest to handle because the item inside is not heavy. Baseball displays are also smaller and more decorative and make for nice displays and also easy to display virtually anywhere in the home.

The company that I have used in the past and would continue to use is mounted memories. They have a nice assortment of displays and also create a name plate for your item. Besides displays they also have many certified autographed items that are accompanied with a certificate of authenticity.

My very own collections mostly all items are accompanied with a certificate of authenticity, unless I obtain the autograph in person and in that case I obtain a photo with the athlete or celebrity signing the item. I hope that these tips are helpful as you obtain your very own sports memorabilia collection.

Upper Deck Mike Piazza All-Star Heroes

Specialty Cards/ Uncategorized

Upper Deck Mike Piazza All-Star Heroes

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Upper Deck All Star Heroes

Was Mike Piazza worthy of a first time Hall of fame ballot entry vote into Baseball’s exclusive club? Many people will argue that he was, and many will argue that he was not. Where do you stand on the issue? Please send me a note and give me your take on it.

In an era marred with steroid use and performance enhancing drugs, he certainly looked to stay out of the steroid use talk. His name never came across any reports that listed him as a violator of substance abuse.

Mike Piazza Los Angeles Dodger Draft Pick

However, he did seem to bulk up from that lanky figure that sported the backstop of the L.A. Dodgers in 1993. Mike Piazza was a long shot draft pick, as a favor to his old man by then manager Tom Lasorda. The rest as we all know is history. He did make it to the 2000 World Series with the NY Mets vs. the New York Yankees. A series that the NY Yankees won, 4-1.

To many people that World Series is just a fog, me included because I am a NY Met fan, so that is not a World Series that I have watched countless times. But as a NY Met fan and a huge fan of Mike Piazza, the home run that he hit the night after action resumed following the 911 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, is one of the moments that I remember most of his great career. NY needed that home run, the Mets needed that home run, and Mike Piazza delivered.

Tom Landry A Standup Person, Coach, Husband, Father

Autograph Collecting

Tom Landry A Standup Person, Coach, Husband, Father

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How I Obtained Tom Landry’s Autograph

As far as autograph collections go, I am always looking to add a piece here and there to my autograph collection. As I have built my family, money seems to be more and more scarce for the things that really I can do without. But the hobby is very absorbing and many times you have to pace yourself as to which direction you will take a collection into. Whether it is based around sports cards, which my collections are. Or if you are a die-hard autograph collector, which I am. Perhaps you dabble in comics and art, something I also do. You see where I needed to tighten my belt buckle and narrow things down a bit?

Anyway today I am going to talk to you about free autographs. Well free to some extent. Take for instance this Tom Landry football autograph that I have previewed in this post and in my photo. It is a Dallas Mini football white panel that I do not even know if they make them anymore. What makes these so special is that they do not consume too much space. They offer a white panel which is ideal for an autograph.

Collect Free Autographs

Getting back to free. There has always been and still is a great deal of information on the web about free autographs and how to obtain. But if this is something you really want to do, just realize this. There is a certain way to go about getting the free autograph. First you will need an item. Now that item should not be something that you cannot easily replace if you lost the item, or if the recipient chose not to return the item to you signed or autographed.

Back when Tom Landry was still alive, he was always a fascinating figure and most certainly as a Dallas Cowboy fan, an autograph I wanted. I came across the address while I was trying to gather information on autographs. I took a shot. Most importantly, I sent something that had no sentimental value to me, and was fairly inexpensive. I remember paying about $7.00 for the white panel mini football. I also invested money in shipping both ways. Tom Landry was older when I sent this and he was sick. I wrote a nice letter to him and wished him a speedy recovery. I tried to make it easy for Mr. Landry, and also enhance my opportunity of getting the autograph returned to me. Both things happened. I received my package fairly quickly, about two weeks, and I also received a letter from Mr. Landry thanking me for the interest in his well-being. Unfortunately Tom Landry died a year later from battling Leukemia, I will never forget the day I received the autograph from him. I have since remained in my autograph collection and I have every intention on passing it along to my kids with a letter from me to them, telling them who he was and what he endured as a football coach for the Dallas Cowboys.

1997 World Series Baseball

Autograph Collecting/ Odd-ball Cards

1997 World Series Baseball

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The 1997 World Series Baseball

The 1997 World Series lined up to be an unattractive World Series in the sense that the teams were about as unattractive as a two team World Series set could be. The Florida Marlins vs. The Cleveland Indians. The Marlins were storied with their first world series appearance during the first four years of the teams existence. The Cleveland Indians were in route to the teams second appearance since 1995 just two years earlier.

Neither team filled their rosters with glamor in fact the television ratings were amongst the lowest in World Series history for a series that went the full 7 games in the last 15 years prior to that series. I never rooted for the Florida Marlins, but rooting for the Cleveland Indians was something I was not going to do.

Charles Johnson Was A Miami Hurricane

One of the players in that World Series and he also happened to hit a dinger into my seat section just as I went out for some refreshments was Charles Johnson of the Florida Marlins. He was a hometown Miami Hurricane and then was drafted by the Florida Marlins. He was an easy choice for me to root for. Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, and some of the others made it easy as well. Then came 1998 and the then owner Wayne Huizenga decided that the team had to be broken up and cleared up the payroll as well as the roster. So this time around, as Loria again for different reasons cleared out the payroll and roster it’s safe to say that these new Marlins will not have the same fate, at least not for the next few years. Loria, just save some face and sell the team.

1993 Florida Marlins Inaugural Fotoballs

Autograph Collecting

1993 Florida Marlins Inaugural Fotoballs

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The Inaugural Florida Marlins

Well the Florida Marlins are no longer the Florida Marlins. They are now called the Miami Marlins and most of the memorabilia that was quite the fanfare during the early 1990’s are no longer in demand by sports collection aficionados. However there are some hard-core baseball fans that will need to move their collections in a special way and these might be the type of collectibles that they seek. I am collector of anything that I believe will be significant and have some value not always monetary but more like sentiment.

The New Miami Marlins

Although the current owners of the Marlins are somewhat under harsh scrutiny for the total disruption of the chemistry or lack thereof of the Inaugural Miami Marlins, this chapter too will come to pass. I don’t believe that fans everywhere are attacking this coming of the Marlins with the same vigor that the 1993 Florida Marlins had and enjoyed. Everything here has seen some scrutiny. Everything from the owners, to the stadium, to now the team. Here is a good look at what the 1993 Florida Marlins fotoball’s looked like. The entire starting lineup had a ball issued with their faces, and some other players as well. Some of the players were Benito Santiago, Charlie Hough, Gary Sheffield, and Walt Weiss to name a few.

Mike Schmidt Autographed Baseball

Autograph Collecting

Mike Schmidt Autographed Baseball

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Collecting Sports Autographs In Person

As baseball card and memorabilia collections go there is always something else to add to an already colorful collection. Believe me mine is no exception. So when I had the incredible opportunity to meet one of the most legendary of baseball’s third basemen, I did not gawk at the chance. In fact I barely slept that night before. I am not one of the people who gets nervous or star struck when I am going to meet someone for the first time. I mean the golf course is a friend to me. But nonetheless meeting a great baseball player, after years of watching him almost single-handedly kill my NY Mets during the 1970’s and 1980’s all of a sudden none of that mattered anymore.

Mets, Shmets…I was going to meet Mike Schmidt! Nothing else mattered. Long bomb home runs, blasts with the bases loaded, the fact that Chipper Jones was waiting in the wings in the early 1990’s to become the next Mets slayer, none of that mattered. I was going to meet Mike Schmidt and get him to autograph a baseball for my collection. I was not wearing boots, but If I were, I would have flown out of them for sure.

Baseball Cards And Other Sports Collectibles Are Great!

Collecting started out as a hobby for me, many, many years ago. Over the years I have tried to redefine my collection. Sure there have been some changes here and there, but for the most part, my collection stays true to sports cards, and autographs. If you read this blog, you will see some of the best cards and autographs that I have to offer any person starting out a collection or hobby fling with sports memorabilia. Many autographs can be obtained for a fee. Some even free. Getting an autograph is always something exciting. However, you can never tell when the person issuing the autograph is going to explode in his or her sport. So take a tip from me, and you will never look down at your collection or be disappointed. Accept every autograph you can get, and think of the moment and the great fun you had when you received that autograph. Everything else comes a distant second place.

Almost as much fun as obtaining the autographs that I have obtained for the last 25 years or so, is sharing them with you right here on this blog. Thanks for reading and check out my Facebook page. Additionally if you have a story and want to share it with me. I will publish it right here. Thanks again.

Was Dizzy Dean The Best Pitcher Of All Time?

Specialty Cards

Was Dizzy Dean The Best Pitcher Of All Time?

Dizzy Dean And The 1934 World Series

Was Dizzy Dean the greatest pitcher of all time? That point can clearly be argued like everything else in sports, as there really is incredible competition at all level of sports. What probably separated Dizzy Dean from the other pitchers at that time, was the fact that he was an incredibly fierce competitor. Handling the bat was not a problem for Dizzy Dean and running the bases came naturally as well. Dizzy was an all around well-rounded athlete.

One of the most unforgettable plays in the 1934 World Series, that involved Dizzy Dean, was going in standing up to break up a double play started by Charlie Gehringer who then flipped the ball to shortstop Billy Rogell and then he trying to thread the needle on the throw, threw the ball and hit Dizzy Dean right between the eyes. While never sliding, this play was unforgettable for Dizzy. Carried off the field, he was taken to a nearby hospital for x-rays, and as he later told the story, he said this. ” They X-rayed my head and they didn’t find anything.”

The following day he was on the mound again and lost a heartbreak game by the close score of 3-1. He ended up winning the final and decisive 7th game of that Series.


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