Mitchell Report - Does Anyone Care?

What exactly does this report do again?

Oh yeah, the Mitchell Report will reveal if players took performance enhancing drugs 5 years ago. I thought we already knew that answer?

I don't think this will have any effect on the memorabilia market. Card values of McGwire, Canseco, Palmerio, and Sosa have already taken their hit. Of the major 'roid targets, only Bonds has seen his card/autograph high on the Beckett Top 20 list thanks to his home run chase. Having a late and bloated report isn't going to change that.

Do we really expect baseball and the MLBPA to suspend players based on doing something five years ago that wasn't against the rules then, but is now? This is stupid. It's like being mad at your girlfriend because she dated someone else five years before she knew you.

You Won't See These Autographs on eBay

Pete Rose made different inscriptions more popular by adding his "I'm sorry I bet on baseball" inscription with his autograph.

The Eddie Kranepool Society blog recently highlighted a link to a Maxim online article that seems like a Top 10 list of best autograph inscriptions. (Another great use of Photoshop on these images!) Take a look!

Which is your favorite?

What did Emmitt say?

This could be a weekly series on the blog if I could find enough YouTube clips.

After watching Emmitt's MNF display last night, I had to look on YouTube to see if someone captured his . . . analysis. I didn't find last night's episode, but I did find this one from earlier in the year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlJqTIlfPFg

Disclosure: I was an Emmitt Smith fan before he decided to turn in his man card, Dance with the Stars, make a fool of himself on MNF, and charge $350 for an autograph.

Make Your Collection Unique

I went to the MAB show in NJ this weekend and saw some great examples of people making their collections unique and (maybe) more valuable.

Catcher’s Clubs
I saw two guys that had catcher themed autographs. They were getting HOF (or soon to be) catchers to sign a chest protector and shin guard. I thought this was very cool because of how different it is. Everyone gets baseballs or helmets signed (myself included), but how many collections have you seen with a catcher’s shin guard autographed by Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Pudge Rodriguez and Mike Piazza! Those four are probably in the top 5 of all-time catchers. (I reserve the #1 for Josh Gibson.) This is a great example of making your collection unique and valuable.

Baseball Hit Clubs
One guy had baseball bat themes. He had a 1,500 RBI bat, a 3,000 hit bat, and a few others. So every time a player reached that mark, he got the player autograph on the bat. Think of the names that are on those bats!

Bill Conlin's Crap Storm

Not really the image I wanted to post on the blog, but . . .

I have a follow-up to the posting last month, Bill Conlin’s Fight with Bloggers. The writer of the blog, Crashburnalley.com was interviewed by Philly Magazine about his email exchange with Philadelphia Daily News Columnist Bill Conlin.

I think Crashburnalley is on the mark and Conlin is just bloated another example of the pompus media preaching tolerance, but not wanting to respect anyone’s opinion that is different from their own.

Congrats to the Crashburnalley blog for getting some much deserved attention and publicity for exposing Conlin for what he really is.

Match Your Football Autograph to the Correct Helmet

Some research and HelmetHut.com can add authenticity to your collection.

You wouldn’t get Joe Montanna’s autograph on a Chargers helmet?

You wouldn’t get Jim Brown’s autograph on a Steelers helmet?

So why do people consistently get autographs on helmets that the players never wore?

Before the player grips the sharpie, make sure you are getting him to sign the correct helmet.

In the last 50 years, the helmet styles have change drastically in the NFL - from leather to hard shells, and from lucite fase masks to full cages. You can really improve the authentic look of your autograph collection by using a helmet/face mask that your player would have worn.

HelmetHut.com does a ton of research on the players’ helmets and work with Riddell to recreate authentic truly throwback helmets.

For example: Art Donovan is a Hall of Fame player for the Colts. You could get his autograph on a current Colts helmet and it would look fine. But what if you got his autograph on a ’54 Colts helmet (dark blue with white horseshoes - see picture) and with his lucite face mask? Another example would be Roger Staubach. The helmets he wore in the ‘70s with Dallas and previously with Navy are very different than the current Cowboys and Navy helmets.

I don’t work for Helmet Hut, but I’ve used their research and products. I’ve also seen their helmets used at autograph shows. Take a look at their samples on http://www.helmethut.com/ Their helmet prices are comparable to the current authentic NFL helmets.

$450 = 7 Sportskings Cards

I went to my local card store yesterday and asked about the new Sportskings cards (see Pete Rose entry from last week).

The Sportskings cards are only available in boxes. Each box only has 7 cards AND each box is $450! Whoa! The Rose card is the best card in the pack/box and it's only worth $250.

Dallas Triumph Show Run Poorly

I was in town to see some family and catch the game, so we decided to check out the Triumph Sports Football Spectacular Show in Dallas. Wow... the organizers could really use some help!

The whole ticket process was a cluster. Before even standing in line to get an autograph, I had to stand in three separate lines! One line for a show ticket, one line for an autograph ticket, and one line for a authentication ticket. What? Why not put the booths next to each other? Why not get your autograph ticket and authentication ticket at the same spot? And why were the booths at the opposite side of the hall from the autograph booth? No one from Triumph or Provo looked at the user experience.

Triumph workers were arrogant and offered zero information. As a promoter you need to have full disclosure.

• Find out why someone is running late, when the guest will arrive, and when you'll have new information. Their "I have no idea" answer isn't good enough for someone waiting to spend their money on your services.
• If every guest is 30 minutes after the first day, then it's probably a good idea to get people 30 minutes sooner the next day. Brilliant.
• Complaining about the set-up of the show on Day 1 doesn't make your company look good. Triumph people were saying they didn't like the stage set up.... so why not change it? Comparing the problems of their Dallas show to their show in NJ (on the first day) isn't a good idea. It shows me that Triumph didn't put any work in to preparing for this show and doesn't seem to care to fix it.
• Attitude. From the moment I got my ticket, no one at Triumph was helpful. I actually had to ask someone to find out an answer because all of us were asking it. The Triumph employee was satisfied with "I don't know" as an answer. We were not.

I don't know if I'll go to another Triumph show. I'd rather spend my autograph money with companies that actually seem to care about the collector's experience. Triumph made MAB, CSA, and Mounted Memories look like real professionals. I've been to several autograph shows where players cancel, or run late. These things happen. The promoter cannot control that, but the promoter can control their customer's experience in dealing with those issues. Triumph needs to learn that lesson.