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 Monday, December 10, 2007
HOBBY PIONEER, LARRY FRITSCH DIES
Posted by Chris
 One of the greatest card collectors ever and a Wisconsin native, Larry Fritsch passed away Saturday. During my first tenure at Sports Collectors Digest, when I was a grader for its card grading division, I had the chance to work at Fritsch’s shop/warehouse, where I graded some of his 65-million-card inventory. Now, I don’t have too many memories of Larry, mainly because I dealt with his son, Jeff, most of the time. Although one story jumps out: One day Larry showed up during one of my shifts at their warehouse in Stevens Point and I began asking him stories about his days in the hobby and his collection.  I mentioned to him that some day it would be great to see some of his extremely rare cards. Not ten minutes later Larry came out with a container, no bigger than a shoe box and tossed it on the table in front of me. Larry was quite the showman in his own, little way and really enjoyed showing people his collection, as building the New York card museum would suggest. With a grin, Larry told me to open it, so I obliged. In it was probably a million dollars worth of cards! There was a T206 Plank, Wagner, two Doyles and two 1932 Fred Lindstrom cards (the only two in existence I might add). That was in 2001. Quite the sight for a kid trying to make it in the card business fresh out of college. He will be missed.
12/10/2007 4:43:32 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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Friday, December 07, 2007
HAS ANYONE SEEN THIS MAN?
Posted by Chris
 He may be a millionaire and not even know it. This potentially very lucky guy won the skirmish on Sept. 5, 2007, that landed him Barry Bonds’ 762nd home run ball which was hit in Colorado. That ball didn’t mean a whole lot at the time, as nobody thought it would be the final ball the home run king would hit, but due to his recent legal troubles, Bonds may never play again. And as a result, would never hit another home run, making No. 762 the most coveted ball ever. The story of the lucky guy who probably caught the ball has quite the twist, however … If you watch this clip of the home run: CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO, you will see that the first guy who touched the home run ball actually had another ball in his hand at the same moment he touched the money ball. According to a Rockies season ticket holder, who was at the game, the guy in the purple shirt thought he caught the record ball.
What he didn’t realize, according to the season ticket holder that we talked to, the guy in the purple actually ended up with a batting practice ball and not the good ball.  What a mess! Anyway, it turns out that the guy who actually caught the record ball, who’s identity remains unknown, tried to have the Rockies’ ushers authenticate the ball as being No. 762, but they wouldn’t because of all the confusion. That said, I would love to find out who the actual guy is with record ball. Maybe one of Gavel Chat’s readers might know who he is. If I were him, I would come forward as fast as I could. The longer he waits, the harder this story is to believe. I want to thank Tuff Stuff editor Scott Kelnhofer for giving me the idea for this blog. Scott covered this before anyone else even thought that 762 might be Bonds' last dinger.
12/7/2007 2:36:19 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, December 06, 2007
BONDS ASTERISK CARD HITS EBAY
Posted by Chris
 This is a new one ... Click here, One of Upper Deck’s most popular products, Sweet Spot Signatures, seems to be adding a little comedy to its offerings. This “asterisk” card hit eBay yesterday and it already has 20 bids on the auction. All signs point the card as being legitimate, but I have never seen or heard of this, so the verdict is still out. What's next? A syringe card? A Cream or The Clear card? Maybe this was a joke that slipped through the cracks, or maybe it was intentional… Maybe it was just a doctored version put out by a collector. We will wait and see if more show up on the Bay in the future. I have a feeling it's going to sell for a lot. People seem to love this kind of stuff.
12/6/2007 4:20:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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NEW BLOG FOR STANDARD CATALOG OF BASEBALL CARDS SET UP
Posted by Chris
 Here you go all you blog junkies... My collegue Don Fluckinger, the editor of the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards (yep, that's really his last name:) asked me to inform my readers about this: Now that the 2008 SCD Standard Catalog of Baseball cards is out on
shelves, the work's just begun on the 2009 edition. "The Latest Finds"
at http://standardcatalog.wordpress.com is the new online address where
readers and collectors can help us make the most complete price guide
and checklist on the market, ever.
The editors will post reader questions as well as currently uncatalogued
"mystery finds" that collectors and auction houses unearth between editions.
"The idea," says editor Don Fluckinger, "is to make this blog the
interactive online home of the Catalog. I look forward to expert
specialists--right now we have a PM-10 pin question up there, and we
could use someone who knows that series--helping us find the right place
in the catalog for all these 'new discoveries' found in the attics, flea
markets, and antique shops across the country."
Fluckinger encourages collectors to drop by regularly and if they happen
to recognize an uncatalogued item and can shed light on where in the
catalog it belongs--or, more importantly, help spot fakes or mis-
identified pieces--please join in the blog by offering input in the
comments area or email him directly at don@prospecthillpub.com if they
want to remain anonymous.
12/6/2007 12:36:17 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
MASTRO’S SKYDASH COLLECTION IS UP AND RUNNING
Posted by Chris
 With eight days to go, the Jim Thorpe Colgan’s Chips card out of Mastro’s current auction is already at $25,000 and well on its way to a six-figure realized price. This is one that all baseball card fans will want to keep their eyes on, as it will be one of the highest-selling cards ever. ************************
I was just checking out Game Exclusives website, a company who specializes in really nice game-used football equipment from teams like the Bears, Cowboys, Seahawks etc., and I couldn’t help but notice the Tony Romo uniform it had listed for under $5k. Romo is probably the most collected modern player right now, other than Tom Brady, and this piece really stands out to me as quite the investment. I have by know means written off my Packers yet, but the Cowboys have a great chance to make it to the Super Bowl, and if they do all the attention will be focused on Mr. Popularity, Tony Romo. I think this is a no-brainer purchase at that price and should be an easy flip to make a couple thousand easy bucks. ************************ Speaking of the Packers... They play the Raiders at home this Sunday and I have seriously been entertaining the thought of going to Oakland's hotel to try and get a glimpse of owner Al Davis. I have never went to a hotel to get a player's autograph, other than one time in 1989 when I got snubbed by David Robinson in Milwaukee, but I think this might be one time I would try.
I am a huge fan of football history and Davis was one of the great Pioneers, from the early days of the AFL, to his feuds with Pete Rozelle.
I know Davis is a horrible signer, but it may still be worth a try. At least maybe I could get some nice photos.
12/5/2007 5:16:52 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, December 03, 2007
LELANDS’ HOLIDAY AUCTION YIELDS SALE OF A $26K WIRE PHOTO
Posted by Chris
 All I have to say is “Holy Crap!” I am a big fan of Wirephotos, and while I think they are some of the most undervalued collectibles out there, I never thought I would see one sell for more than $26,000. That said, it was this awesome Babe Ruth photo that sold for a whopping $26,349 in the Lelands.com sale that ended Friday. CLICK HERE TO VIEW AUCTIONThis was one of many images that Lelands’ sold from the San Francisco Examiner archives in the past year. What must be a world record for a Wirephoto, it is a piece that you can’t help staring at for a few minutes in awe. If I were in control of selling this fantastic lot of photos, I know that I would hold back the really great images toward the end. I have a feeling Josh Evans and the boys at Leland’s might be thinking the same as I do. I can’t wait ‘til their next batch. **********************
December marks the time that I question moving back to Wisconsin from heat of Las Vegas. Granted, I love my job at SCD and going to Packers games is one of my favorite things to do in the world, eight inches of snow over the weekend and near below-zero wind chill temperatures have me questioning my decision to move back to my home state. Hope I can make it ‘til the end of the winter. I have a feeling a vacation to a warm climate is in my immediate future.
12/3/2007 11:28:24 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, November 29, 2007
GAI still M.I.A.?
Posted by Chris
 I just went to GAI's website and other than one link, nothing on its site works. What ever happened to Global being back up for business and what is up with its poor customer service. I would call and ask them, but I can't find a working phone number for them anywhere. The whole thing is just so strange. I posted a message on the Network 54 message board and someone on there said they heard GAI would be up and running on Monday. I guess we will wait and see. ****************** Tonight marks the most-hyped NFC match up of the year, when the Packers take on the Cowboys. I haven't been this excited for a football game in a long time. Thankfully I decided to go with DirectTV in order to get the NFL Network, but not everyone is fortunate enough to receive this programming. I will say, however, I am sick and tired of all the people who whine about not getting this game because of the NFL and its new network. If you want the game, get satellite. If you don't want satellite, don't cry about it. DirectTV is not much more expensive than cable and it offers quite a few more HD channels than any cable company, so why not make the change anyway. What the NFL is doing is not much different than what ESPN has done over the years. ESPN took over one NFL game per week and the only way you can get that game is to have cable. NFL Network took over one game a week (for only part of the year) and you can only get it with Dish or select cable companies. Same thing. Deal with it.
11/29/2007 12:25:40 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Local card show in 2007 – Mission impossible?
Posted by Chris
 I love the Internet. I spend more time on eBay than I ever did on my high school homework. I’ve bought things from Amazon.com more than 100 times and I’m not even a big book reader. That said, nothing can compare to one-on-one communication. And for a card and memorabilia collector, there is still nothing that even comes close to a good, old card show. So, if hobbyists love going to shows so much, why do we have a better chance of finding a $500 dollar pack of cards from 2007 than a quality card show in our hometown? Now, I’m not talking about one of those rinky-dink mall shows that have more Princess Diana Beanie Babies than 1957 Topps Hank Aarons, nor am I thinking about one of those flea markets featuring more memorabilia of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sr. than pieces headlining Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. I am talking about a solid, honest-to-goodness card show, with dealers selling autographs, commons, star cards and memorabilia from all the major sports. My frustration has come to an end and I am going to do something about it. On Dec. 29, in Green Bay, Wis., my friend Scott Harpt and I are going to try and do the unimaginable … put on a darn good local card and memorabilia show in 2007. I guess what we are trying to do isn’t totally a fair experiment. We will be holding the show at The Sideline Bar and Grill, right across the street from Lambeau Field and will have the benefit of possibly attracting some of the thousands of football fans that will be in town for the Packers/Lions game, which will take place the day after the show. But still, it is a card show in our small town and there hasn’t been a good one in Green Bay since the early '90s. I want to make it perfectly clear that we aren’t doing this to make lots of money. We may actually end up taking a loss. I’m sure that I am not alone when I say that some of my fondest childhood memories come from the time spent with my father and I searching through 50-cent packs of cards, or looking for that tough Bo Jackson card at a show. I remember getting an autograph from special guests Warren Spahn and Eddie Mathew about 20 years ago for less than $10 per signature at a small show in Wisconsin. Those days of affordable signatures from Hall of Famers will never come back, but hopefully some of the face-to-face bargaining with local dealers will. After the show takes place, I will write a follow-up story about our experience. This show may totally bomb, but hopefully there are still some nostalgic collectors out there in search of the same type of buying and selling experience that I am. If anyone has any suggestions that may help make our show a success, please e-mail me at Chris.Nerat@fwpubs.com. Note: Spahn image courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries
11/27/2007 4:39:37 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
IS THERE SUCH THING AS A THIRD-PARTY AUTHENTICATOR?
Posted by Chris
 People seem to bash authenticators all the time. It almost seems unfair sometimes that these “experts” are constantly targets of controversy, criticism and negativity. Why is this? -Jealousy: Some collectors simply may be jealous or think they could do a better job that the actual “authenticator.” They think that they have as much knowledge as these guys, and in some cases that is true. -Trapped: Some dealers and authenticators feel trapped by the whole idea of authenticators, because if an item doesn’t have one of those precious little COAs, you probably aren’t going to be able to sell it for what it’s worth. Even of you don’t believe in authenticators, you are basically forced into using one because you want to maximize your item’s realized value. -Frustration: One of my personal frustrations with authenticators is that I don’t think that everyone who is labeled as an “authenticator,” is totally qualified for that position. Some of these guys pawn themselves off as authenticators of everything. I am sorry, but I don’t think an expert can have the breadth of knowledge to properly authenticate everything. I am in favor of “niche” authenticators … Guys who are experts in a particular field. Frank Ciazzo is a great example of a niche authenticator. He is the world’s most notable Beatles signature expert and really knows what he is doing. Throw a Joe Montana in front of Frank and he probaby has no clue, but he doesn't claim. -Delivery on certificates: “CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY” If you see that title on the top of a piece of paper, what are you going to think it means? I think that that particular title suggests the piece being examined was deemed 100 percent authentic. In my opinion, there is no third-party expert in the world that can deem a piece (game-used memorabilia and autographs) 100 percent authentic. I also don’t think it is totally fair that an authenticator would use this title. Upper Deck Authenticated, Steiner and Mounted Memories should be able to issue certs with that particular label because they actually have a system in place that makes sure the signature is authentic, plus a representative from their company is on hand at a signing. Even if a third-party authenticator is as knowledgeable as they come, they are still giving you an educated “opinion.” Hence, they should be issuing “Certificate’s of Opinions,” or something to that nature. Does anybody want to chime in on this? Beatles image courtesy of Heritage Galleries
11/21/2007 11:20:58 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 19, 2007
NOW IS THE TIME TO START BUYING 1960S TEAM-SIGNED MEMORABILIA
Posted by Chris
With the recent passings of Max McGee and HOFer Jim Ringo, I started thinking that now really is the time to buy team-signed pieces from the 60s. These guys are all in their 70s and 80s and won’t be around forever. 1961 Yankees, all the 60s championship teams from the Packers Glory Years and even the undefeated 1972 Dolphins are all still fairly affordable, but won’t be too much longer. ***********************
Is anyone else getting scared of the Patriots and their 2007 dominance… That game last night was something else. The Pack is back, 9-1 and it looks like they may be only playing for second. Are there any Cowboys, Steelers or Colts fans out there that would like to share my pain?
11/19/2007 6:18:51 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
GLOBAL BACK IN THE MIX
Posted by Chris
 Check out this copy of the first Baseball Cards Magazine that I found on eBay. $17,500?? For a Wagner??! Wow... Wish I would have bought a couple of those back in '81. Oooo! And a Mantle rookie for $1,100? Those were the days. *********************** Well, it was an odd way to deal with the entire situation the Global Authentication was having, but today on Beckett.com there was an article stating that Global Authentication is once again operational and its phones will work tomorrow.
Here are quotes from Global’s head man Steve Rocchi from Beckett.com:
"I expected some reaction when this happened, but I never expected the firestorm of emotion that I saw," on Internet message boards, blogs and Websites, said Rocchi.
He also said that he had a lot to say, but didn't have any time to communicate it. He said he didn't want to make a comment until he had some solutions as to where the company would be.
What an odd thing to say … People trusted GAI with thousands of dollars in cards and memorabilia and they were left looking for answers for nearly an entire week when its website, phones and office were all not operational. He was surprised with the reaction? I wasn’t surprised at all… Nobody knew what was going on and I think those people had every right to be worried.
His other comment that he didn’t have any time to communicate what he had to say is also puzzling. All he would have had to do is call Sports Collectors Digest, or make a couple postings on hobby message boards and he would have been able to communicate whatever he had to in minutes.
11/14/2007 4:40:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 12, 2007
NOT MUCH NEW WITH GLOBAL
Posted by Chris
From what I can tell, there isn’t too much new to report on the Global Authentication front. I just checked its website and it still doesn’t work … Last thing I heard, they still are supposedly going to be fine and up and running soon, but the clock is ticking. The California-based card, pack and autograph authentication company better show some signs of life this week, or else its credibility might dwindle away to nothing. *****************
Kind of off-topic, but I thought I would mention it – I was at the Packers/Vikings game yesterday at Lambeau and I had the misfortune of sitting behind a couple of intoxicated Vikings fans. Now, I am all for having a couple beverages at professional sporting events, but I also like to remember the game. I usually save the heavy partying for after the game. Anyway, these guys were so out of control that I told my friend that I didn’t think they would make it until the end of the second quarter. Well, one of the beligerant Viking fans proved me right and got thrown out in the middle of the first quarter for fighting. I just can’t understand how fighting and watching a professional sporting event mixes for some people. Turns out that this guy was on a bus trip from Minnesota and probably spent a few hundred bucks on the trip. Well, his trip probably got a lot more pricey after the fine and he didn’t even get to see his team get clobbered by the Pack… He got what he deserved though. There is no place for that crap.
11/12/2007 5:30:42 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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