Goldin Auctions, which reached a deal with Bryant’s family to sell the items, says 50% of the proceeds from four lots will go toward the BULLY Project.

"We are pleased to partner with The BULLY Project on this high-profile auction of rare Kobe Bryant memorabilia." said Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions. "All of the bidders on these four unique items can feel good knowing that, in addition to adding historic memorabilia to their collection, they are also helping kids be safe from bullying."

"We're delighted to have been chosen to benefit from the auction of these once in a lifetime items from Kobe Bryant." said Lee. "Athletes set a powerful example when they speak out against bullying and we deeply appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in this auction for helping us to amplifying this message."

Here are the items of Kobe Bryant memorabilia whose sale will benefit The BULLY Project:

LOT #15 - Kobe Bryant's 2000 NBA All-Star Game Ring - Prior to this auction no Bryant ring has ever come up for public sale.

LOT #16 Kobe Bryant's Lower Merion game-used maroon high school uniform (jersey & shorts) number 33.  There has never been an authenticated Kobe Bryant game worn Lower Merion #33 road uniform offered for sale.  A Letter of Authenticity signed and dated from Kobe's mother Pam accompanies this impressive uniform set. MEARS has analyzed the uniform and awarded it a grade of A10.

LOT #17 Kobe Bryant's Lower Merion game-used white high school uniform (jersey & shorts) number 33 - Similar markings and quality as the road maroon uniform, this homee white uniform also carries a perfect grade of A10 from MEARS.

LOT #18 -- Kobe Bryant's 1996 Magic's Roundball Classic All-Star Medallion and Ribbon.  The commemorative medal was awarded to Bryant after the game. The 2 3/4" round and 1/8" thick medal has "ANNUAL" and "1996 All Star" surrounding the "Magic's Roundball Classic" logo and "Palace of Auburn Hills" in relief on the obverse. The medal is suspended from a red, white and blue neck ribbon.

Each of the items are accompanied by a Letter of Authenticity signed by Kobe Bryant's mother, Pamela Bryant. The LOA's state that the items are authentic and have been in her possession until being part of this auction. Goldin Auctions will also be issuing a LOA with each item guaranteeing its authenticity as well as its origin.

In addition to the above items, 16 additional items related to the Lakers star will be available during the auction. The additional items are not part of The BULLY Project charity initiative. They include: a Kobe Bryant 2000 Lakers NBA Championship Ring 14K-28 Diamonds (Laker Issued Player Ring Gifted by Kobe to his father Joe Bryant); a Kobe Bryant 2000 Lakers NBA Championship Ring 14K-24 Diamonds (Laker Issued Player ring gifted by Kobe to his mother Pam Bryant); a 2006-07 Lakers game-worn jersey; a 2001-02 Lakers game-worn uniform; a UCLA basketball signed by legendary coach John Wooden and personalized to Kobe Bryant; several rare prototype sneakers and other footwear; plus a selection of autographed items and other memorabilia.

The auction is open from June 17-July 19 at www.GoldinAuctions.com.

The facility contains 500,000 contiguous square feet of space and occupies a site of nearly 31 acres, making it one of the East Coast's largest Convention Centers. It was built in 1997 at a cost of $268 million. It was the centerpiece of a multi-billion dollar Atlantic City redevelopment plan which included The Walk, a retail and entertainment complex

The show’s schedule is now set through 2018, barring any unforeseen developments.  Other than the venture to the New Jersey shore in three years, it will take place in either Chicago or Cleveland each summer.

The vote for 2016 was between Atlantic City and another trip to Cleveland.  Baltimore, which hosted the show in 2010 and again last year to generally positive reviews, won't be hosting again anytime soon.

Some have clamored for the show to return to a different east coast city, the west coast or south but finding a sizeable venue convention  at a reasonable cost has proven difficult.  Chicago and Cleveland are centrally located for many who attend annually and the show is welcomed.

“We have size requirements now,” NSCC Director and Co-Founder Mike Berkus told Sports Collectors Daily in 2012.  “Operating  under 325,000 square feet would mean that many exhibitors would be shut out. Vegas and Atlantic City pose challenges on diversion of attention and attendance. Philly, New York, and Boston have financial and union issues that require exhibitors to have large increases in booth fees. Anaheim, San Francisco, and Boston will not host us without a cancellation policy that would kill advance travel and planning for all concerned. They want trade shows that require 8000 to 10,000 room night guarantees or they can cancel us without recourse. We are constantly researching and negotiating as many locations as possible.”

The NSCC annual schedule is:

2013 – Donald E Stephens Convention Center  Rosemont IL

2014 - International Exposition (I-X) Center - Cleveland, OH

2015 - Donald E Stephens Convention Center Rosemont IL

2016 - Atlantic City Convention Center - Atlantic City NJ

2017 - Donald E Stephens Convention Center - Rosemont IL

2018 - International Exposition (I-X) Center - Cleveland, OH

All of the above is true on some level, but it’s pretty hard to do the whole thing justice in one article.  A lot of bad ones have been written so you have to give credit to anyone willing to go to a show (albeit a really tiny one) and talk to an economist, an industry executive, a psychology professor and a dealer to get their take on the hobby’s recent history, the collector mentality, where the hobby has been and where it’s headed.

That would be this effort by Canadian journalist Adam Kovac.

One of the nuggets in his story that appeared in the Toronto Star is an interesting take on why smaller shows may not be the happening place they once were but are still the preferred way of buying for many collectors.

He started Cards2Kids with a goal of passing out stacks of sports cards to kids who either didn’t have any or were stuck in a hospital room.  Thanks in part to a local hobby shop which agreed to become a collection point and the help of some friends, John’s idea got off the ground.  He was featured in a local newspaper and we directed readers to the cause as well.  More media came calling and now, after a successful awareness drive outside a Cubs game, Cards2Kids is getting bigger all the time.

Upper Deck helped out with some videos and the group now has several sponsors including supplies maker UltraPro.

Cards2Kids is part of what's become a mini movement to distribute mountains of extra and unwanted cards to those who might appreciate them.  Kentucky collector Jerry Milburn started Commons 4 Kids to collect and distribute cards to youngsters.

As for Makowiec, he's been getting a lot of media attention lately.

The Chicago Tribune stopped by to see what the fuss was about.

The Glencoe News also featured Cards2Kids this week, grabbing some shots of volunteers sorting through the thousands of cards that come in each week.

Led by Stephen Strasburg, Jason Heyward and Buster Posey; and later by Bryce Harper, Starlin Castro, Aroldis Chapman and Madison Bumgarner; Bowman reaped record sales of this game-changing brand.

With aggressive global marketing, terrific advertising and strong endorsement of the aforesaid players by MLB pundits, many collectors embraced that kid-like thrill to get a piece of the pack-ripping action.

By late June that year, people were paying hoards of cash on hobby boxes and jumbo boxes to get their hands on rare autographs. Even major retailers like Wal Mart could not re-stock Bowman fast enough.

Bowman’s hype seemed to reach its zenith in June 2010 with the news that Stephen Strasburg’s 1/1 Superfractor sold for more than $21,000.

Meantime, All-Star slugger Miguel Cabrera was enjoying yet another spectacular season for the Detroit Tigers. Before the above phenoms had even set foot on big league turf, Cabrera had already mustered an impressive MLB career.

Already a World Series winner with the Florida Marlins, Cabrera had established himself as a premier MLB hitter. An incredibly cerebral batter, Cabrera had learned the art of spraying the ball to all fields—with power to boot.

Still just 30 years old, Cabrera has batted .320 with 338 home runs and 1,188 RBI in his 10-year career. Cabrera’s .397 on-base percent is just one point shy of Joe DiMaggio (per Baseball Almanac). His career .962 OPS is 16th all-time. Only Albert Pujols (1.013) has a higher OPS among active major league players. Cabrera’s .565 slugging percent is 13th all-time.

Yet despite Cabrera’s sterling career, collectors have seemed to yawn at his cardboard. Minus Cabrera’s rare autographs and 2000 Topps rookie cards (as seen in recent eBay auctions), apathy toward this guy in the market continues to this day.

Why is this?

More specifically, with all Cabrera’s achievements why are his base cards are not consistently listed in major baseball card price guides?  Surely he deserves to be regularly listed in Beckett Magazine along with stars like Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter and Justin Verlander. Surely, Cabrera has proven to be a better player than Dustin Pedroia, Evan Longoria and Alex Rodriguez (if you take A-Rod’s admitted use of PEDs into consideration).

So why the monster shun?

Some fans in the blogosphere say Cabrera’s DUI conviction has turned collectors away. Others have said the fact Cabrera plays in Detroit (vs. a place like New York or Boston) is to blame. There is also a third camp that thinks the hobby’s cold shoulder toward Cabrera lies in him being a late big league bloomer.

"It's harder for a guy who wasn't a star or hot prospect when he came up to become super hot collectible player later in his career," wrote Brett Legendre on the Sports Collectors Daily Facebook page.  "Collectors are too enamored by the young hot super star prospect and don't give much credit to someone who has developed over the years. Collectors give up quick too.  I call it the Joba effect."

While this point has some validity for some players, Cabrera is no Joba (Chamberlain). Nor is Cabrera really a late bloomer. Nor is this Triple Crown winner in the twilight in his career.

In fact, given his first full season in 2004, Cabrera darted out the gates and has not looked back since.

For example, between 2004-2010, Cabrera posted a .317 batting average with 1,316 hits, 235 home runs and 817 RBI.  Cabrera garnered these numbers while averaging no less than 157 games a season.

Also impressive, in just one year in this same stretch did Cabrera have less than 180 hits in a season. In three separate seasons (2005, 2006, 2009), Cabrera threatened the 200-hit plateau.

The one time Cabrera had less than 180 hits in a full season in this same stretch was in 2004. That year Cabrera had 177 hits in his sophomore campaign. Still, Cabrera hit .294 with 33 home runs and 112 RBI for the Marlins that year.

Now 2013, Cabrera is pacing toward a second Triple Crown. Through 58 games, he is batting .373 with 17 home runs and 66 RBI. Cabrera’s 88 hits lead all major league hitters. As does Cabrera’s .450 OBP.

Only blooming Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis boasts a gaudier SLG and OPS (.732/1.168) than Cabrera’s .661/1.111 line (per ESPN stats).

So what gives? Why in the face of Cabrera’s early success has the hype machine not given this proven superstar (and three-time World Series player) the cardboard respect he deserves?

Minus Posey, why do Strasburg and the above-mentioned players—players who have proven nowhere near what Cabrera has—still boast regularly listed cards, while Cabrera does not?

Surely it is only a short matter of time before the floodgates open wide for Cabrera’s collectibles. Right?

Who knows? Maybe it will take Cabrera winning a second Triple Crown to achieve this end. Or maybe it will take Cabrera finally winning a World Series ring with the Tigers.

Regardless of what it takes, it should not be so tough for Cabrera to break the cardboard barrier as guys who still have not proven as much.

Cabrera is becoming a baseball legend before our very eyes. He has a rare blend of agility, power and dependability fans may never see again. It is time for same hype machine that invests so much in the unproven to come to grips with this fact.

James Morisette is a contributing writer for Sports Collectors Daily. He is also the Founder and Chief Editor at the Basebook Baseball Social Network. You can follow him on Twitter.  

It would seem as if Topps has struck a deal to sponsor some of the more popular blogs which are posting about players from the 1980s and working in references to collecting.

You can see it in McCovey Chronicles, which is all about the San Francisco Giants.

You can read about Rickey Henderson's career and cards  in Lookout Landing

It’s in John Sickels’ Minor League Ball.

We’re guessing there have been—or will be others.  We’re also not sure what’s involved in terms of compensation but if you can get past the paid content part, it’s probably good strategy by Topps to reach back for some of those 30 and 40-something folks who collected cards in the ‘80's and try to turn them into purchasers of Archives, which could conceivably lead to them becoming more regular customers of the company’s products once again.

We wrote last year –several times in fact—that there has been a bit of a hobby revival among that age group.  There probably wasn’t a more devoted group of kid collectors in hobby history, even if their motives were often less than pure.  Remember, it was the era when rookie card prices changed at the drop of the new Beckett price guide every month.  Still, they did love their cards even if most of them aren’t worth what those Reagan-Bush era youngsters paid for them back in the day.

Part of the campaign Topps is using with its banner ads includes the phrases "Stay Young" and "Experience the Fun Again", a clear attempt to rekindle the collecting fire for those who bought the original cards featured on the 2013 throwback designs Topps is using in Archives.

Topps has also been active in social media, pushing their “Topps Takes You Back” theme, which again is clearly aimed at the nostalgia angle.  Remember, nostalgia means different things to different age groups.  Grow up in the ‘50s and it’s soda fountains and Mickey Mantle.  In the ‘80s, it’s sitcoms and Don Mattingly.

One thing is clear:  Topps is heavily investing in Archives as part of its marketing strategy and it’s not necessarily aimed at you.

	2013 Topps Archives Retail Chase Autograph Auto Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 04/10 4 bids - Price: $12.50 - Watchers: 19 Item # 151066493166
	2013 TOPPS ARCHIVES BASEBALL FACTORY SEALED CASE 10 BOXES 12 bids - Price: $54.69 - Watchers: 16 Item # 231001713805
	2013 Topps Archives Baseball 2 Card Box Topper Lot Killebrew and Blue /99 5 bids - Price: $16.05 - Watchers: 15 Item # 261230228162
	Axl Rose - 2013 Topps Archives - Real Heavy Metal Auto - Redemption Card (#1019) 5 bids - Price: $122.50 - Watchers: 15 Item # 330940663273
	2013 Topps Archives Near Complete Set 18/20_ of 1972 Basketball Insert Set 5 bids - Price: $12.50 - Watchers: 14 Item # 350814207324
	1/1 KEN GRIFFEY JR 2013 Topps Archives SP Variation #92 "Printing Plate" 1/1 6 bids - Price: $21.50 - Watchers: 14 Item # 370835466220
	2013 Topps Archives CAL RIPKEN JR Magenta Printing Plate!!! 1/1!!! 8 bids - Price: $47.00 - Watchers: 13 Item # 200934004960

The museum, which is in the final days of a major renovation project, will use the gray flannel uniform as one of its primary attractions.

Likely worth more than $1 million, the uniform arrived Tuesday via armored truck and was carried through a side door by a guard in a bulletproof vest, according to an Associated Press reporter who was there.

The uniform, which includes pants and stirrup socks that still carry a dirt stain, is going on public display for the first time.

The museum is on the grounds of the field that host the annual Little League World Series.

Click here for pictures and more information on what the uniform will mean for the museum.

“We are very excited to embark upon this newly formed relationship as it fits perfectly with our twenty year history of working with countless Major League Baseball players and their families in the representation of their collections,” said David Hunt, President, Hunt Auctions. “We feel our unique blend of expertise in the field coupled with our unwavering commitment to professional integrity will equate to an outstanding relationship with the MLBPAA.  The MLBPAA has a great history of working with its player membership and we look forward to assisting that same purpose in any way possible.”

Hunt Auctions has handled the estates and sold the collections of numerous current, former and deceased Major League Baseball players including Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Jim Palmer, Earl Weaver, Curt Flood, Roy Campanella, Mickey Vernon, Leo Durocher, Clem Labine, Whitey Ford, Thurman Munson, Robin Roberts, Bill McKechnie, NL President Charles Feeney, and former MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

Hunt handles the annual Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest Auction, the Super Bowl Experience Auction in the host city and the annual Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum Auction.  They also conduct the Philly Sports Card and Memorabilia Shows and are also promoting a ‘Salute to the Pirates’ show later this month in Pittsburgh.

Also up for bid is a seldom-seen E270 Colgan’s Chips Ty Cobb Red Border, a variety of newly found 1921 Tip Top Bread Baltimore Orioles cards, a newly discovered N173 Old Judge Cabinet Glass Negative of Jack O’Brien; a 1935-36 Completely Graded Amalgamated Press Hockey Set and more.

Cards from more modern times include a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card (SGC 35); an extremely scarce Lummis Peanut Butter card of Del Ennis (SGC 30); several lots of high-grade Mantle cards; a 1954 Esskay Meats Orioles near set, an attractive 1961-62 Fleer Basketball Complete set with (21) graded and more.

Autographed lots including baseballs, bats, lithographs, photographs and others consigned by collectors from all across the country. Highlights include: a1930 dated Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig dual-signed baseball; a Lou Gehrig single-signed “King of the Diamond” baseball; a Lefty Grove signed and notated baseball used in his 300th win game; single-signed baseballs from Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Thurman Munson, Mickey Mantle and Vic Raschi; a collection of signed flats including bank checks signed by: Mathewson, Ruth, Bulkeley, Wagner, Cobb,Aaron, Wheat, Cochrane and more; a 1925 Miller Huggins promissory note, Wilbert Robinson and Chuck Corgan dual signed contract, Hughie Jennings signed contract, Mel Ott handwritten letter  Jimmie Foxx photo postcard, cuts of: Joe Kelley, Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Tony Lazzeri, Duke Maas; a PSA/DNA 10 Hack Wilson signed W517 strip card; a tremendous 1972 Miami Dolphins Undefeated Championship Team-signed football, signed in 1972; a  full-size replica Heisman Trophy Award signed by (14) including RG3 and   more.

Collectors of vintage baseball memorabilia will have a chance to bid on a rare 1895 Orioles Championship Photo Pendant; a collection of game programs and tickets, including a 1923 World Series ticket stub; a unique 1915 Federal League Baltimore Terrapins Opening Day baseball; Ned Hanlon’s remarkable 1889 Spalding Baseball World Tour Program and Itinerary; a variety of Hartland statues in their original boxes; multiple bobbing head doll lots including a terrific Roberto Clemente and a tough-to-find Orioles black-face; and a stunning 2006-07 San Antonio Spurs 14K Gold Championship Pendant 69 diamonds.

Collectors of game-used items will see a 1963 Ron Perranoski Dodgers home game-used jersey; game used bats from “High Pockets” Kelly (PSA 6), Brooks Robinson (PSA 7.5) and a 1973 Cesar Geronimo game-used bat signed by the entire Reds Team; and much more.

If political or Americana collecting is your hobby, this auction features   “The Holy Grail of Wacky Packs” – 1967 Ratz Die Cut PSA 4 (mc); a complete set (in scrapbook) of (50) N36 Allen & Ginter “The American Indian Chief”; a 1934 Sky Birds Complete Master set; several graded coins from the 19th century; a terrific signed Franklin Roosevelt photo; an Elvis Presley signed display and a Princess Diana signed Greeting Card.

To browse the auction for the rest of the pieces being auctioned, or to download the catalog, please visit the website: www.hugginsandscott.com.  Bidding closes June 13.

Hockey expert Bill Campbell

A collector and regular visitor to shows across North America for more than 40 years, Campbell was found dead at his home in Selkirk, Manitoba early Monday morning.

Campbell had been employed by Heritage Auctions as the company’s hockey expert and his death came as a shock to the company and collectors who knew him.

“Bill was not only one of the most respected experts in the field of vintage hockey collectibles, but also one of the most passionate collectors I’ve ever encountered in any field,” said Heritage Auctions’ Sports Director Chris Ivy.  “We’ll miss both his encyclopedic knowledge and his unbridled enthusiasm.  This is a genuine loss for all of us at Heritage Auctions and for the entire hockey collecting community.”

Campbell was a collector of vintage memorabilia from all sports, but especially hockey.  He had also worked with Classic Auctions and Lelands.