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

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

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2016 Little League World Series Ring Top Pin

I can officially confirm that the logo used for last week’s “Pin-Up” of the Week post is the official logo of the 2016 Little League World Series.  The gift shop inside the Little League Museum has started to sell some 2016 merchandise which contains that exact logo.  As of this writing the only 2016 pins they have are the jerseys from the various regions, and the ring top pins.  The main logo pins will be in shortly.

Ring top pins are a big seller each year.  They’re about the size of a cough drop.  From a design standpoint, nothing much changes other than the date.  The 1998 Little League World Series was the last year they used the keystone logo in the middle of the ring top pins.  Starting in 1999 they switched to this logo which they used for the next sixteen years.  For 2016, Little League decided to change the logo once more to the one you see pictured above.  It looks just like the main logo for this year.  Whether they keep using this logo within their ring pins for a while is unknown.  That’s what they did before.

Ring top pins can be a bit more expensive even from a straight retail perspective.  The average retail price for one is $8.00.  Over the years, some have become rarer than others.  The last ring top pin featuring the keystone logo can be quite expensive.  Upon changing the logo for 2016, I don’t see the 2015 ring top pin going up in price.  Little League still has a good selection of those for sale.

Card of the Day: David Price 2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars Top Prospects Auto

Card of the Day: Wade Davis 2004 Upper Deck SP Top Prospects Auto

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 1998 Little League World Series Ring Top Pin

I have a busy month of August coming up.  First off I’ll be attending the 35th National Sports Collectors Convention.  Second I’ll be checking out the Little League World Series.  Then at the end of the month I have back-to-back bobblehead nights in State College and Williamsport.  Let’s not forget about taking some time out to go see The Guardians of the Galaxy  and The Expendables 3.  Looks like I’ll be getting some great stuff to blog about.

The 2014 Little League World Series takes place in South Williamsport from 8/14 to 8/24.  Major sponsors and local businesses are currently in the final stages of preparing their promotional pins they plan to hand out.  In addition to all the free pins, Little League and a few other pin companies like Wilson Trophy sell pins too.  For many years Little League has annually produced ring top pins that commemorate each World Series.  These pins can usually be found at any of the Little League gift shops and sell for $8.00.

Although it looks very similar, the 1998 Little League World Series ring top pin is among one of the most desirable pins a collector could add to their collection.  Why is this pin in such high demand you ask?  It all has to do with the logo in the middle.  After 1998, Little League decided to stop using the keystone shaped logo and switched to a new design.  This design is still being used today.  With that being said, collectors are willing to spend $50.00 to $65.00 for the last ring top pin featuring the keystone logo.

Card of the Day: A.J. Burnett 1999 Team Best BA’s Top Prospects Auto

Panini’s 2013 NSCC Checklist Includes Top Rookies… Even Puig

Panini announced today that 23 rookies will be included within their 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention base set.  These top rookies will come from baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.  Even the Dodgers phenom Yasiel Puig has found his way in.  Every base rookie will be serial numbered to 499, each will have a Cracked Ice parallel and Progressions cards limited to five copies of four different colors.  It wouldn’t surprise me if collectors are already lined up.

Flashback Product of the Week: 1991 Champs Hi Flyers Top Pro Motocross Premier Limited Edition

For a product that was geared mainly towards males, it sure did contain quite a bit of pink don’t you think?  A lot of adolescent males will tell you that having a dirt bike made you king of the neighborhood while growing up.  That usually lasted until they were old enough to drive.

Back in 1991, Champs made the decision to release an entire product based upon some of the top pro motocross riders of the day.  The set consists of 150 cards which can be broken down into Rookies and Race Action.  With this being the premier edition, most of the cards picturing individual riders are considered rookies.  The only note worthy card that deserves the slightest bit of attention would the the Jeremy McGrath rookie.  McGrath has won multiple Motocross and Supercross Championships and is one of the most recognized riders out there.  He has also had a handful of popular motocross games for the PlayStation, N64, and GameBoy.

Champs went on to produce another motocross set in 1992, which would be their last.  This version had a 200-card base set with special Mego Moto cards that were inserted one per box.  Both sets are barely worth a thing.  Despite being labeled a “Limited Edition”, they made plenty of them.  Boxes can easily be picked-up for $15.00.  Not every sport in the world can handle a standalone card product.  But back in the early 90’s apparently companies thought it would work.  SC Racing also issued a motocross set in 1988.

Card of the Day: Michael Jordan 1999 UD SP Top Prospects Minor Memories #5