Harry Kalas Sportkings Cut Signature Mailday

Some collectors add new cards to their collection every single day.  For many, the bubble mailers just don’t seem to stop.  I’m very picky about what I collect.  The Steelers, Eagles, Penn State, and the Phillies are the main teams that I follow.  I probably follow the Phillies more than anything.  Years ago I was looking for someone from the Phillies to collect, but I didn’t want it to be too easy.  Players for the most part have tons of cards.  Broadcasters on the other hand do not.  So I settled on former Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas.  Good old HK only has a handful of cards, and none of them are simple to find.

One of the last things I do at the end of the day is an eBay search for “Harry Kalas”.  Most of the time what pops up doesn’t grab my interest.  Mainly because I either already have it or its junk.  My search last weekend turned up a card I’ve been looking for since 2012.  It was the Harry Kalas 2012 Sportkings Series E Top 50 Broadcasters Cut Signature #’ed 1/1.  The seller was from Massachusetts, and they accepted my first offer.  It was up for sale for less than a day.  The card has arrived, and has been added to my collection.  I believe this is the only cut signature of Harry Kalas to feature a picture of him.

This was the first Harry Kalas card I’ve added to my collection since last summer.  Its not something I get to do very often.  Other cards of his I’m looking for include:

• Mike Schmidt/Harry Kalas 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game – Announcing Greats Dual Auto #’ed/25
• Harry Kalas 2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Black Stitch Auto #’ed 1/1
• Harry Kalas 2012 Sportkings Premium Back Redemption Sketch #’ed 1/1
• Harry Kalas 2015 Topps Five Star Cut Signature #’ed 1/1

(2) 2012 Sportkings Series E Box Break – The Search For HK

On Black Friday I pulled the trigger on a few boxes of 2012 Sportkings Series E from Blowout Cards.  Former Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas had a cut signature inserted into this product, and I’ve never seen it surface.  Sportkings also supposedly made a sketch card of him too that could only be obtained via redemption, but that too has gone undetected.  In order to get a 1/1 sketch, you needed to spell out the word “SPORTKINGS” a few times, and then mail those cards into Sportkings.  Every box had one base card containing a letter on the back, so it could get expensive.  Whether or not that Harry Kalas sketch was redeemed is a total mystery.  I don’t believe they let you choose which sketch you got.  If you met the criteria, they probably shipped you what was available at the time.  It was either redeemed, and is currently sitting in someone’s collection.  Or it was still in their inventory when Sportkings was sold to Leaf.  If that’s the case, who knows what happened to it.  The only sketch card from this product I remember seeing popup was of Phil Rizzuto.

Sportkings ran what I think was a decent promotional program during the 2012 National Sports Collectors Convention.  For each box of Sportkings Series E opened at their booth, you received a raffle ticket with a number on it.  That number would then be matched to a specially made relic card just for the show.  It would either be limited to (19) copies or (1).  I got lucky and received a Roberto Alomar/Eddie Murray Gold Version Dual Jersey #’ed 1/1.  A collector offered me $200 for it, and I took the deal.  Even though it was numbered 1/1, dual jersey cards usually never sell for that much unless they’re autographed or have crazy patches in them.  I wish Leaf would continue this program in the future.  At the time this promotion was offered, Dr. Price was still in control of the Sportkings name.

Here is what I pulled from my two boxes.  No Harry Kalas cut signature.  Its still floating around out there with a handful of other 1/1’s I need.

Relics

• Roberto Alomar/Paul Molitor Double Memorabilia Jersey Silver Version
• Paul Molitor/Ken Griffey, Jr./Scottie Pippen/Patrick Roy Decades 1990 Quad Jersey Silver Version

Premium Backs

• Doyle Brunson #246 – letter “G”
• Mark Wells #237 – letter “T”

Base

• Dick Vitale #222
• Martina Navratilova #251
• Dick Weber #224
• Annika Sorenstam #235
• Man O’ War #241
• Evander Holyfield #225

Card of the Day: Harry Caray 2012 Sportkings Series E Top 50 Broadcasters Cut Signature

Card of the Day: Usain Bolt 2012 Sportkings Series E Premium Redemption Jared Kelley Art Card

Card of the Day: Dick Vitale 2012 Sportkings Series E Auto

Card of the Day: Robert E. Lee Famous Fabrics Ink Civil War Gettysburg Art Card

2012 Sportkings Series E 2 Box Break

Auto/Relic

• Rickey Henderson Auto/Jersey Silver Version

Relic

• Roberto Alomar Single Memorabilia Jersey Silver

Mini

• Charles Atlas #255

Base

• Franco Harris #230
• Doyle Brunson #246
• Gale Sayers #229
• Deedee Jonrowe #242
• Sir Stanley Matthews #249
• Steve Mizerak Premium Base #223 “G”
• Sammy Lee Premium Base #228 “T”

Sportkings has some of the nicest looking base cards.  I never had a Henderson autograph either until now.  They also had a decent redemption program going on during the ’12 NSCC.  To participate, all you needed to do was purchase at least (1) box and open it at their booth.  In the past, you had to buy (3).

Card of the Day: Ben Hogan Sportkings Series E Vintage Paper Cuts

Card of the Day: Mike Schmidt Sportkings Series E Jared Kelley Art Card

More 1/1 Sportkings Series E Art Cards from Jared Kelley + Other News

Here are some new pictures of the Jared Kelley 1/1 Art Cards that can be found within Sportkings Series E.  I know there are only a few Griffey, Jr collectors out there, and I doubt that any of them would be interested in this gorgeous piece of work.  Just kidding 🙂  Griffey, Jr collectors will go nuts over it.  These are case “hits” along with the cut signatures and Spectacular Patches.  I hope it doesn’t take too long for the Harry Kalas cut signature to surface.

In other news, the Leigh Valley Iron Pigs will be giving away miniature replica Harry Kalas statues on 5/3/12, and the Reading Phillies will be giving away a new Harry Kalas talking bobblehead on 8/27/12.  Last night I purchased a new packet of penny sleeves and a box of 2011 Leaf Pete Rose Legacy.  I hope I pull that card that says I’ve won a batting lesson from Pete Rose.  I’d probably sell it to pay for all this new Harry Kalas stuff that’s coming out.