Hobby Oddities: 1999 Fleer Tradition Spectra Star All Star Baseball Kites

Spectra Star was a toy company known for making marbles, flying discs, yo-yos, and kites.

In 1995 they were purchased by now defunct Toy Biz.

Most of their products featured the images of licensed properties – Star Wars, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc…

One specific line of kites they sold jumps out to me. Spectra Star released six kites that have baseball cards on them. Specifically six cards from the 1999 Fleer Tradition set. The players they made kites for are Ken Griffey, Jr., Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Derek Jeter.

The kite measures 28″, and is a sled style.

Included with the kite is a matching baseball card.

The card looks just like it’s normal counterpart found in the regular 1999 Fleer Tradition set except for one tiny difference.

You can see the card that comes with the kite has a different number.

Kite cards are numbered “X OF 6”. This Derek Jeter kite card is numbered “6 OF 6”. Derek Jeter’s regular base card found in packs of 1999 Fleer Tradition is #5.

Hobby Oddities: 2004 Upper Deck Tiger Woods Executive Collection – Mouse Pad

In 2004 Upper Deck wanted to decorate your office in synthetic leather. It was all part of their Tiger Woods Executive Collection.

Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the Tiger Woods Executive Collection. That’s ok. Most people have probably totally forgotten about it.

According to Upper Deck’s 2004 Holiday catalog:

“The Tiger Woods Executive Collection by Upper Deck combines elegant office products with one of the greatest golfers in history. Each product combines dual-toned synthetic leather with textured feel, a classic black-and-white image of Tiger, and a facsimile (replica) signature. Each item is further distinguished by an embossed golf ball and Upper Deck logo located on the front.”

Items in this collection include a portfolio, desktop business card holder, pocket business card holder, pen & pencil holder, and two styles of mouse pads (rounded & square).

I don’t believe any of these items sold very well. A mouse pad recently popped-up in it’s original package with a T.J. Maxx price tag on it.

Upper Deck’s catalogs had some odd stuff in them.

Hobby Oddities: How To Reach Your Favorite Sports Star

Remember this series of books from the 90’s? Did anyone have success in reaching their favorite sports star using the info found in these? If so, please let me know. I’d be interested to know.

Lowell House out of Los Angeles, CA published at least four versions of the “How To Reach Your Favorite Sports Star” series of books. Inside you’ll find athlete bios, stats, photos, fan clubs, and addresses.

I remember owning a copy of the fourth book. I don’t recall any autographs ever coming my way. Most of the addresses are public knowledge. For example, writing to Michael Jordan meant sending your letter to the address the Bulls’ arena is located at. Very generic. The odds of the information working back then are slim. I certainly wouldn’t have been including valuable cards in the mail hoping to get them back with an autograph.

In the late 90’s Lowell House was purchased by the Chicago Tribune.

The summary highlights how outdated this book is. We don’t need to write letters anymore to let our favorite sports stars know what we think of them. Social media has taken care of that.

Book Summary:

From basketball phenomenon Michael Jordan and all-pro running back Terrell Davis to soccer superstar Mia Hamm and Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, How To Reach Your Favorite Sports Star 4 will help you get in touch with today’s hottest athletes!

Do you want to tell Kobe Bryant that you watch all of his games, or let Martina Hingis know that you think she’s the best tennis player ever? All you have to do is write each of them a letter! How To Reach Your Favorite Sports Star 4 provides you with the athletes’ addresses, as well as statistics, little-known facts, and fascinating information on each star.

So start writing – and let your favorite sports stars know what’s on your mind!

Hobby Oddities: An Introduction To Baseball Card Collecting On VHS

The year is 1989. You’re visiting your local video rental store. Walking up and down the aisles you begin to browse their inventory. Die Hard, Beetlejuice, Coming To America, etc… Its a difficult choice. That’s until you see An Introduction To Baseball Card Collecting. I’ll take it!

An Introduction To Baseball Card Collecting was released in 1989. In this 28 minute video Bobby Valentine covers many of the important principles as to how baseball cards were collected at that time. Some of these principles are valid today, while others are completely outdated.

An example of an outdated principle is when the video states that a player’s rookie card is his most valuable card. At one time this was true. Today we have grading, parallels, autographs, and relics. A mass-produced base rookie card can be worth significantly less when compared to a non-rookie, low-numbered, autograph, relic card of the same player today.

Distributed by JCI Video out of Woodland Hills, CA. The summary on the VHS back reads:

Finally, a video about baseball card collecting is available! Bobby Valentine hosts this beautifully filmed explanation of how a simple pastime of the 1950s exploded into a multi-million dollar industry in the 1980s. Bobby discusses all the basic subjects of card collecting, including how the distribution methods through 1973 affect card prices today and the current hobby role played by dealers, card shops, trade shows, price guides and hobby newspapers.

A highlight of the video is its photography of the cards themselves, filmed with lush backgrounds and lighting effects to make their rich colors evoke the kind of nostalgic emotions that are the essence of the relationship between a collector and his cards.

I wonder if we’ll ever see the 4K, Blue-Ray, DVD, Extended Director’s Cut? Imagine watching it in IMAX.

Believe it or not this wasn’t the only VHS released on baseball card collecting. There are others.

Grading started with cards, and now extends all the way to VHS tapes. Someone should get a copy of An Introduction To Baseball Card Collecting graded. That would complete the circle.

Hobby Oddities: 1997 Pinnacle Inside Can Opener

It slices. It dices. And all you have to do is “set it and forget it.”

Pinnacle was an innovative card manufacturer. You’ve got to give them credit for trying different ideas. Not every idea was a winner though.

In 1997 Pinnacle introduced collectors to the Pinnacle Inside brand. This time it wasn’t the cards that were innovative. Instead it was the delivery system.

Soup cans. That’s what the cards came packaged in. Between 1997 and 1998 Pinnacle released these soup can cards for MLB, NFL, NHL, WNBA, and NASCAR.

Some thought it was cool. Others found it annoying. Displays were bulky and took up a lot of space. Each can had a different player on it. Many collectors would pick out their favorite player(s) and keep the can(s) sealed. This made it even more difficult to locate some of the rarer cards in the set. Lots were sitting in sealed cans on collector’s shelves.

Pinnacle sent out a kit to shops and distributors in 1997 to promote this new line of cards. The kit consisted of a sample can (with Ryan Klesko on it), a trading card picturing the sample can, and a Pinnacle Inside branded can opener.

Its not everyday you see a card company’s name on a kitchen accessory.

Upper Deck gave the soup can idea a try with 1999 UD Choice Baseball.

Hobby Oddities: Dizzy Dean “Ole Diz” Charcoal Briquettes

Now this is a conversation starter for any collection.

When grilling this summer, don’t forget to use Dizzy Dean’s “Ole Diz” charcoal briquettes.

After a Hall of Fame baseball career legendary pitcher Dizzy Dean got involved with lots of different things. Broadcasting played a big role starting in 1941 and going until the late 1960s.

Serving as Vice-President of Dizzy Dean Enterprises, Dizzy Dean announced in 1961 they would build a $350,000 charcoal briquette plant in Pachuta, MS. When fully operational the plant produced 10,000 tons of charcoal briquettes per year. Various flavors of charcoal and other items used for outdoor cooking eventually came along later. This even includes Dizzy Dean branded lighter fluid.

Dizzy Dean is far from the first former professional athlete to have his likeness used to sell products. Its possible to still find unopened bags of his charcoal today. Flattened and empty bags are much more common. This makes them easier to store. Full bags are notorious for leaving dust everywhere.

Hobby Oddities: 2013 Topps Qubi

Both MLB and the NFL received the “Qubi” treatment from Topps in 2013. What is Qubi you ask? Qubi is a series of collectible rubber stampers.

Found inside each pack is (1) player-themed rubber stamp cube. The bottom contains an ink-filled lid, while the top is clear and has multiple images of that specific player. Rubber stamps range from Player Portraits, Club Logos, and Replica Signatures. There are (75) rubber stamps for baseball, and (60) for football.

Products like this are more of a novelty. You’ed never see group breakers selling spots for them. There are no autographs, relics, short prints, and/or photo variations. They just look cool sitting on your desk, and make for a nice conversation piece.

I’m not sure of the lifespan of the ink. If you opened a sealed pack today there is a good chance that the ink could be dried-up.

Locating individual rubber stamps and sealed packs/boxes is quite easy and affordable.

Hobby Oddities: It’s Academic Player Erasers

It’s Academic, Inc. has been around for over twenty years.  They make tons of supplies which can be used in a school or office environment.  Book covers, locker accessories, and scissors are just a small taste of what they’re known for.  Over the years, they’ve worked with all kinds of licensed brands to help sell their products.  At one time (it doesn’t look like it anymore) they had a deal with the MLBPA.  One of their products to come out of this deal was a line of Player Erasers.  These are exactly what they sound like.  Pencil erasers in the shape of your favorite baseball players.  The checklist features twenty players, which seems a lot more extensive than what you’d expect from a product such as this.

• Sammy Sosa
• Mark McGwire
• Derek Jeter
• Cal Ripken Jr.
• Mike Piazza
• Jeff Bagwell
• Craig Biggio
• Frank Thomas
• Greg Vaughn
• Ken Caminiti
• Bobby Bonilla
• Albert Belle
• Kenny Lofton
• Roberto Alomar
• Jim Thome
• Chuck Knoblauch
• Bernie Williams
• Paul O’Neill
• Alex Rodriguez
• Juan Gonzalez

Seeing that the deal was only with the MLBPA and not MLB, team names and logos had to be left off.  I see them as more of a novelty.  A good conversation piece to sit on your desk.  As far as functionality, I’m not 100% sure how well they worked as an eraser.  On the back of the package, they advise you to rub-off the portion of the eraser you plan to use on a piece of scratch paper first in order to remove the decorative coating.  Otherwise you’ll end up with streak marks.  Given the checklist, I’d say these were released in the late 90s.

Hobby Oddities: Cards Mounted On Cheap Plaques

Every card show has that one dealer with a booth jam-packed with them.  It wouldn’t matter if the card show consisted of only three dealers.  I guarantee that one of the three is selling base cards mounted on cheap plaques.  We’ve all seen them.  Where do they come from?  Why do they exist?  Do people really buy them?

I guess the plaques are suppose to make the base cards more desirable.  My running theory is that they’ve always targeted people who don’t know much about the hobby.  They’re hoping to catch that person who thinks if a card is mounted on a plaque it means that it’s special and/or valuable.  Rarely is that the case.  Sentimental value for certain individuals is really the only thing they have going.  Perhaps owning one brings back some great childhood memories.  The Big Apple Card Company out of Sunrise, FL was a major contributor to their mass-production.  Various other companies issued them too.

Odd, cheap, and annoying accurately describe these things.  They’ll never disappear.  If there was an all out nuclear war the only things left would be cockroaches and these plaques.

Hobby Oddities: ProGard’s Pro-Index Card Storage System

What is ProGard’s Pro-Index Card Storage System?  The idea is quite simple.  Upon placing your cards in the specially made holders, you then snap them into the bottom of the box.  The holders have horizontal pegs which form a hinge when connected.  Once the connection has been made, you’re able to flip through your cards without having to worry about them falling all over the place.

Based on my personal experience, these holders can be a pain to get and keep closed.  In order to get the cards in the holders, both halves of the holders need to be taken apart.  Once the cards are placed inside, you then need to press both halves back together.  If you don’t do this correctly, once they’re placed in the box its easy for the holders to pop open.  Another drawback is that they only came in one size.  Thicker than normal cards will not fit.

I always thought these things looked like a tank.  Hidden inside (at least mine did) was a Pro-Index Commemorative Coin.  It had a special slot for it to fit and all.

In the end, ProGard’s Pro-Index Card Storage System didn’t make it.  The lack of expansion along with holders that wouldn’t stay together pushed collectors away.  It wasn’t a very flexible way to store your collection.  Albums and standard white cardboard boxes give the collector a bit more freedom.

ProGard did issue a Pro-Index Card Storage System that held top loaders.  The slots for top loaders look to have been fitted on top of the slots made for the holders which used the pegs.  Its possible the peg model wasn’t selling well and they decided to make this modification.  Or they just wanted another model available.  Neither one garnered much attention.  They came in a variety of colors – black, blue, red, and yellow.  Black is the most common color.

ProGard is/was a registered trademark owned by ENOR Corp. out of Cresskill, NJ.  For awhile they made all types of card supplies such as snap-lock cases, sports card mini albums, top loaders, polypro sleeves, semi-rigid holders, card storage boxes, and snapgard holders.