R.I.P. Frank Robinson – I Got Yelled At For Taking His Picture

Frank Robinson was one hell of a baseball player and manager.  He is the first player in history to be named MVP in both leagues, and the first African American manager in Major League Baseball.  For those looking for his rookie card, it can be found in the 1957 Topps set card #35.

For years Frank Robinson was on the autograph circuit.  He was a regular signer at the National Sports Collectors Convention, and various other shows throughout the country.  While I never got his autograph, I did run in to him during the March 2009 Philly Show and 2016 National in Atlantic City.

In March of 2009, the Philly Show recently moved from Reading to Valley Forge.  In my opinion, that wasn’t a great move.  I attended the show a few more times after that, but then decided to stop going.  I just didn’t enjoy the setup, and it became more focused on the autograph guests.  Lots of my favorite dealers began dropping out.  The attendance wasn’t there, and the price for booth space kept rising.  I’m not too sure what the state of the show is right now.  It still goes on in Valley Forge, but I haven’t been there since 2011.

Lets go back to that March 2009 show.  Former Phillies pitcher Marty Bystrom was one of the autograph guests.  He loved interacting with fans, and not once did he talk on his phone while signing autographs.  Yeah right!

Shortly before lunchtime, I remember buying a box and taking it over to the food court to open.  I think it was a box of 2009 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Football.  While sitting at the table, I saw Frank Robinson walk in.

As soon as Frank Robinson walked in, I quickly snapped a picture from across the room.  I then continued going through my box.  The next thing I know he’s sitting at the table with me eating a muffin.  It was just us at the table, and nobody else around.  He made it well known to me that he didn’t like that his picture was taken without asking permission.  No “Hi.  Nice to meet you.”, he went right to the fact that I took his picture.  He acted like I shoved the camera in his face.  I was way on the other side of the room.  My thinking is this, in a world where everyone has a camera in their pocket and you walk into a show to sign autographs, people are going to take pictures whether you want them to or not.

Perhaps he woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.  I don’t know.  Once I was finished opening my box, I left.  While waiting to enter the National in Atlantic City, he walked by.  The second he was gone, other people in line began exchanging similar stories.  It made me chuckle to know I wasn’t alone.

Cabrera’s Cards Are Red Hot… Even The Ones Not Picturing Him

This year Miguel Cabrera became the first player to win the Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski back in 1967.  Its going to be a long time before we see this happen again.  That’s if it happens at all.  Cabrera’s cards are red hot.  2000 Topps Traded and 2000 Topps Chrome Traded is where you will find his true rookies.  As you can imagine, they’re going off the charts right now.  Its definitely not the time to be buying.

Miguel Cabrera’s first Bowman cards came in 2001.  Normally these would be his true rookies, but that’s not the case here.  Collectors are spending big bucks on these, and they don’t even picture Miguel Cabrera.  The picture is of some other dude.  The name and stats on the back are all Cabrera’s, but not the picture.

Take a look at some of these prices for a non-rookie picturing the wrong guy:

• Miguel Cabrera 2001 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor #’ed/99
• Miguel Cabrera 2001 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor

Not too bad.

Package Received from the U.K.

Yesturday I received a package in the mail from John over in the U.K.  Inside was a large stack of Phillies cards for my collection.  While placing the cards in my album I realized he sent me a Mickey Morandini 1991 Score RC, a few Phillies cards from 1970 Topps, and my personal favorite is the Darren Daulton 1993 Topps Black Gold insert.  John writes for A Pack A Day and you should check out the site.  Its one of the better sports card blogs.  Once I get some more Red Sox stuff built up, I’ll send them your way.  I guess that means I need to open more boxes.  Well, if I have to, I have to 🙂

On a side note, I was able to get the photo of myself and the 2008 World Series Trophy scanned.  The Phillies had a whole photo booth setup, and were pumping these things out left and right.

 

Whats Wrong With This Picture?

Classic Baseball Photography

Over the years baseball photography has changed quite a bit.  Take this image of Cap Anson for example:

When was the last time you saw a current baseball player have their picture taken like this?  Probably never.  This image in particular got my attention the other day when I was sorting through my top loaders as I was in the middle of a trade.  The above picture was used for a 2003 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts base card.  What stood out to me the most was the flowers off to the left.  I can’t tell you the last time I saw any sports card that featured an athlete with flowers.  In today’s hobby, athletes are pictured playing their sport.  The image of Anson looks like it was taken in a studio.  Back then getting photographs taken out on the field was probably a hard thing to do.  You also have to take into consideration the time period Anson played in (1871-1897).  Getting your picture taken back then was a big deal.  Nowadays with cameras around every corner, you don’t see pictures like this anymore.  When I first saw this picture, I thought it should be hanging in my grandma’s house just because the way it was taken.  In my opinion, I think it would interesting to see Topps come out with a set that featured players in classic poses like this.

Last, but certaintly not least.  I wonder what happened to the uniform and bat Anson is pictured with?  He is one of the hardest Hall of Famers to obtain memorabilia of.  It wouldn’t surprise me it it was all laying in an attic somewhere.

Can’t See That eBay Photo?

People stealing photos on eBay for their own auctions is down right low.  It happened to me a few months ago when I was selling a bobblehead figure.  If you find a card for sale and you are thinking of buying it because they provide a photo, make sure to look at the picture carefully.  If the photo is really small there is a good chance that they stole it.  I know there are some scanners that people use and the images come out small, but when I mean small, I mean really small.  If people steal a photo from eBay and then upload on the auction form, eBay shrinks the photo.  Thats why the photos you take on your own end up being smaller on the standard auction page.  If some uses a stolen photo, eBay will shrink an already shrunken photo.  Thats why when you look at the auction page, the end result is really tiny.  Be sure to check the completed auctions before bidding an a card.  There you can compare photos to see if the picture you are looking at was used before.

Check that seller’s item photo

Many people know that you shouldn’t buy something online without seeing a photo.  Thats great, but what if the deceptive seller posts a picture that isn’t their own.  If you find a card that you really want to buy check past auctions that have taken place.  It could be possible that the seller stole the photo from another person.  It also is possible that they stole the picture from the card company.  For example, Upper Deck, like other card companies, posts pictures of their products online.  Most of the time, when a company posts pictures of their product they will have their logo across the picture and the serial number on the card may look like this, “xx/100”.  Companies usually don’t show the first two digits of the serial number.  If you see a picture like this in an auction listing, thats not the actual item you will receive.  Here is an example of what a picture from Upper Deck looks like.

  

Pin of the Day #3

This pin features a picture of the Baseball Hall of Fame.