Duke Snider Autograph Memory

They are living legends. We can't learn enough from them fast enough. It was sad to hear of Duke Snider's passing.

I briefly met Duke at an MAB show May 20, 2007. It was a Mets show and Duke was there signing autographs.

The picture here is Duke signing a nice Dodgers jersey. The jersey belonged to the person immediately in front of me in line. Duke's autograph four years ago wasn't the best and he didn't say much to people in line. He signed a baseball for me with the HOF '80 inscription. He looked at me, said thank you and that was plenty for me.

I'm not a Dodgers fan, but you don't have to be on to appreciate Duke Snider. RIP.

Pete Rose Leaving Field of Dreams Las Vegas

Pete Rose's seven year run with Las Vegas Field of Dreams is over. The Las Vegas Journal reports that Rose is no longer signing autographs at the Caesar's Palace store.

The move seems to have taken place immediately. The StarsLive365 website, that holds the Field of Dreams autograph schedule, has Dick Butkus, Andre Dawson and Joe Montana listed for signings. I went to this store quite a few times to get Pete's autograph.

I thought everything in the store was over-priced and you had to get special permission from Pete to sign something you brought in, but the overall experience was great. You get to sit right next to him as he signs your item, you get a few minutes to talk to him and you get a photo taken.

A few years ago Pete did a pretty cool autographcast from Las Vegas, I blogged about it here. At the time, I thought it was awesome. I could talk to him on the phone, he signed my item and then had it on the camera. Of course today with facetime and Skype, it's not as big of a deal, but I haven't seen other companies try running with this yet.

Pete may not be done with Las Vegas. According to the LVJ, Rose could be on his way to Luxor - further down on the Las Vegas Strip. A year ago there were some rumors that Luxor would be getting into the memorabilia business, perhaps this is part of it.

Jerry Mays Key to eBay Combined Shipping

Hello.... Jerry.

This 1962 Fleer Jerry Mays card is the latest add to my Dallas Texans team set.

I really lucked out with my last four cards of this set. I found one eBay seller listing the last four Texans cards that I needed and was combining the shipping. All four cards cost $3.00 to ship. Not a bad deal.

Oh That Shifty Abner Haynes

I'm down to my final four for this completed team set.

Abner Haynes, 1962 Fleer, Dallas Texans is the latest addition. Haynes was the AFL Player-of-the-Year in 1960.

Once again, the back of the card has the great description. "Fleet, shifty Haynes sprinted 841 yards in 179 carries for an average of 4.7."

Oh that shifty Haynes.

Signings Hotline is on Twitter

Signings Hotline has a twitter account. You can follow them at twitter.com/SigningsHotline.

I'd like to see their twitter feed used for:

• Offer some free autograph listing tips
• Twitter contests for free autographs - I'm sure some of their sponsors would participate
• Twitter trivia contests for 30 day free trials or membership extensions
• Re-tweets of autograph show recaps from bloggers
• Signings news from autograph companies like CSA, Mounted Memories, and MAB

I think it's great to see SigningsHotline on twitter.

I hope it's used for making connections with collectors, listening and learning more about the collectors' needs instead of treating it like a megaphone.

#fingerscrossed

Collecting for Your Kids

When my boys were born, I wanted to start collecting something for them. I wanted something I could get for them every year. The conditions:
- It couldn't cost much
- It would be easy to obtain
- It would be easy to store

I decided to go with World Series programs. Baseball is probably my favorite sport and the World Series programs only cost about $10-15 a piece. Tip: Buy them on eBay after the series is over. 

The programs also give a recap of the season and can capture the era with all of the ads and other stories. Have you ever read an old program and see the "color TV" or "Yoo-hoo Sports Drink" ads?

I recently picked up the 2010 World Series programs. Of course this year MLB made two versions: one for the Rangers and one for the Giants. I ended up going with the winning team.

Of course, I go through all this work and some day they'll say, "Why the h--l did the old man get a Giants World Series program?"

1987 Topps Mets - New Team Set Project

I have a head start on my new team set project. Jason from The Writer's Journey sent me about 15 cards from the '87 set - all Mets!

Thanks to Jason for the great start on my new project.

I decided to go with the '87 Topps Mets set because this was a team that I watched a lot during the '87 season. I was a big fan of the WWOR crew when I was growing up in south Jersey.

Of course the '87 season was disappointing. I still blame Roger McDowell for part a good part in that.

I had a lot of the '87 Topps set during that season. Unfortunately they lined the pennant on my wall instead of a occupying a page in my binder. This set will stay in the binder.

Marvin Miller Autograph Baseball Arrives

Zap, Pow! That was fast. I received my Marvin Miller autograph baseball already.

The signing was on Saturday with Dick Gordon Sports and I had the autograph in my hand by Thursday. Great service. They even sent a picture of Marvin Miller signing the baseball. To me, this is better than a COA.

This is a great autograph to add to my collection and the first I've done through a memorabilia dealer.

It's a pretty good autograph considering Miller is almost 100 years old!

Marvin Miller Autograph Picture

When I paid for the Marvin Miller autograph I requested a photo of Miller signing one of the baseballs. Dick Gordon Sports said they would try, but couldn't guarantee it.

I've never picked up an autograph I didn't get in person until this one, and all my other autographs have a picture of the person signing the item. It's my own COA. I thought it would be helpful for my kids one day when I'm long gone and they are trying to make money for the iPad 15 or whatever!

As you can see in scan, Dick Gordon Sports came through. He emailed this photo to me yesterday. My baseball is on the way!

One Card from Finishing a 1952 Team Set

James Phelan, card #122, nearly finishes my '52 Bowman Large Texans team set.

I used some eBay bucks to get this card for free. I'm a big fan of the eBay bucks now.

I really like the '52 Bowman style and the back of the card says, "He captained the 1917 Fighting Irish . . . " How many cards reference a player from the 1917 Notre Dame team?!

Now I just need to capture the elusive Jim Lansford to complete the set.