Card of the Day: Pete Sampras 2019 Topps International Tennis Hall Of Fame #15

Card of the Day: Dick Clark 1991 Starline Hollywood Walk of Fame #31

Card of the Day: Chevy Chase 2017 Leaf Pop Century Walk Of Fame Auto

39th Ephrata Lions Club’s Sports Card Show To Feature Hall Of Fame Infielder Tony Perez

I haven’t attended the Ephrata Lions Club Sports Card Show since 2015.  Not because I couldn’t, but because their autograph guests were people I already had signatures from – Jim Palmer and Brooks Robinson.  Their next show is scheduled for March 24, 2018 and will feature Baseball Hall Of Famer Tony Perez.  I don’t have Perez on any of my bats, so I’ve put the show on my schedule.  If you’re in the area, I highly recommend checking it out.  Dealer tables usually take up a couple of basketball courts.  Lots of Phillies, Eagles, and Steelers items.  For more information, please check out their website.

This show has been around for 39 years.  Not many have been able to continue for that long.  I might even take some Sports Card Info pins to hand out.

Card of the Day: Dan Rooney 2000 Topps Hall of Fame Class of 2000 #4

Card of the Day: John Madden 2006 Topps Hall of Fame Class of 2006

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2016 National Baseball Hall Of Fame Induction Press Pin

The National Baseball Hall Of Fame welcomed two new members to it’s exclusive club – Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey, Jr.  Who would’ve thought card #1 in the first product released by Upper Deck would end up being the rookie of a future Hall Of Famer.  The odds of that happening are next to nothing.  Making Ken Griffey, Jr. #1 in the 1989 Upper Deck Baseball set was an excellent decision.  Its one of the most iconic cards in the industry.  Rookie cards of Mike Piazza from 1992 Fleer Update and 1992 Bowman have their place too.  Both guys have rookies from a time when everything was being overproduced.

Members of the press were greeted with the above pin for induction weekend.  Just like a lot of press pins, various retail outlets sell a version that looks darn close to the real thing.  They’re fully licensed and not counterfeit, but an unfamiliar collector could easily mistake a retail pin for one made for the press.  There are four major differences between the press and retail pins.  Press pins are serial numbered out of 5,350 on the back, contain gold coloring, have two baseball bats crossing in the background, and the “INDUCTION” banner is straight.  Retail pins have none of that.  The press pins are worth around $100, whereas the retail ones sell for $8.

Goal Line Art: 2016 Pro Football Hall Of Fame Class

Members of the 2016 Pro Football Hall Of Fame Class have received the Goal Line Art treatment.  Artist Gary Thomas has once again worked his magic.  These paintings are extremely well done and look great.

As it has been the case since 1989, a 4″ x 6″ card set has been made based on these original pieces of artwork.  The 2016 set has just been released, and can be purchased here.  Sets usually sell for $30.00.  This year’s HOF inductees include Edward DeBartolo, Tony Dungy, Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, Ken Stabler, and Dick Stanfel.

If you’re heading to the Hall Of Fame this summer for the Enshrinement Ceremony, I’d take one of these sets along.  You might be able to get some autographed, and these look cool signed.  Plus, they’re a little easier to carry around versus a football, helmet, or jersey.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 1996 National Baseball Hall of Fame Abner Doubleday 100th Anniversary

Here is another pin from my collection.  Its not one that you see very often.  This was an impulse buy while attending the National Sports Collectors Convention in 2009.  I’d never seen it before, and didn’t know that much about it.  I still don’t know that much about it.  The pin commemorates the 100th anniversary of when the first baseball game was played in 1839.  Its dated 1996 on the back, along with the National Baseball Hall of Fame name.

Abner Doubleday is the supposed inventor of baseball.  Most baseball historians don’t believe this though.  There simply just isn’t enough evidence to prove it.  I don’t think he did.  Doubleday was a cadet at West Point at the time he is said to have invented the game.  His family didn’t live in Cooperstown, New York anymore at that time either.  I think people were looking for the game’s origin, and decided to pin it on Doubleday.  They based it all on a lot of blurry-eyed loose stories.  Despite all this lack of credible evidence, the Baseball Hall of Fame was built in Cooperstown.  Doubleday Field was built on the cow pasture where Abner Doubleday is said to invented the game.  That’s where they play the Hall of Fame Game each year.  As long as the Baseball Hall of Fame is located in Cooperstown, the Doubleday myth will always be a subject fans will talk about.  I don’t see them moving it anytime soon.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2015 National Baseball Hall Of Fame Induction Press Pin

Over the weekend the Baseball Hall of Fame welcomed four new members – Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz.  These are players that have had tons of merchandise made over the years.  An amateur collector would probably think rookie cards of those guys are worth tons.  In truth, its the total opposite.  Their rookies were so overproduced they barely sell for anything unless you have some obscure regionally issued minor league card.

Each year the Baseball Hall of Fame rolls out it’s line of merchandise for the new inductees.  Pins have always been at the core of new stuff.  The pin pictured above is what members of the press received during the 2015 induction ceremony.  I believe other significant individuals received the same pin as well.  On the reverse side you’ll find that it is serial numbered out of 5,000 copies.  They have been selling for $50.00 to $100.00.

The pin pictured below looks almost identical to the version provided to the press and other elite attendees.  But its far from the same thing.  The quality of the real deal is much higher.  If you look closely the real thing has multiple layers to it as well.  This other pin below is only one layer and the quality just isn’t that high.  Plus it isn’t numbered on the back.  I don’t believe this is a fake.  I think they just used the same design for mass production versions to be sold in souvenir shops.