Nearly 28 years ago, college student Jim Anderson and his father Vic opened a hobby shop in the Chicago suburb of Elgin, IL. His dad has passed on but Jim and the store are still going strong. Shoebox-Memorabilia relies on a network of regulars who have formed a community of collectors, some of whom come in to break boxes and wind up making a day of it.
The suburban edition of the Chicago Tribune talked with Jim as it featured the store in a business profile.
Bidding for a game jersey from Mickey Mantle’s Triple Crown season of 1956 has passed $300,000 as the auction heads into its final days. It’s one of several lots that will broach the six-figure mark when the auction ends later this week.
“After the close of ‘The Event’ and the sale of a T206 Honus Wagner card in our last auction, we never imagined we could come right back with an auction that’s even better, yet here it is,” said MHCC President and CEO Brian Drent.
The auction is paced by several pieces that will likely keep the MHCC staff in the office until the wee hours of the morning, led by the Mantle pinstripe shirt, worn during the first half of his 1956 Triple Crown season and extensively photo-matched (current bid $305,000), the only Ty Cobb bat from a season in which he batted over .400 ($100,511) and a 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle graded PSA 8 ($195,000).
The auction closes Thursday night.
Jefferson Burdick, who devoted much of his life to cataloging baseball cards and sets at a time when communication wasn’t quite as instantaneous or easy, lives on through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. That’s where Burdick’s oh-so-important collection has been housed for decades–sort of like a cardboard national archives.
Michael Clair of MLB.com stopped by late last year for a visit and a chat with one of the museum’s curators.
The large annual vintage-oriented card show in Strongsville, OH will return this spring, but collectors in that area also have regular shows to attend the rest of the year.
Promoter Jeff Mares has set the 2020 schedule for his events at the Holiday Inn on Royalton Rd. He tells us the upcoming February 2 event will have 55 tables with other shows having over 40. Show hours are 10-4 and admission is 41.
Here’s the schedule:
February 2
May 17
September 13
November 1
December 6
There will also be a 45-table show at the Holiday Inn, Independence OH on March 1.
For more information or to inquire about a booth, contact Mares at 440-724-2650- [email protected]
Patrick Mahomes has moved into the No. 1 position on the NFLPA’s official list of top-selling players, based on sales of all officially licensed NFL player-identified merchandise from March 1-November 30. Mahomes is now in position to become this season’s new pro football retail king when the final NFLPA Top 50 Player Sales list is released in April. Tom Brady has finished each of the past two seasons as the top player on the list, and currently sits at No. 2.
Mahomes ranked second in the NFLPA’s preseason rankings, but the third-year quarterback surged ahead during the 2019 season as a result of his performance on and off the field. Here’s the top 15:
1. Patrick Mahomes II, QB, Kansas City
2. Tom Brady, QB, New England
3. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas
4. Baker Mayfield, QB, Cleveland
5. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Cleveland
6. Khalil Mack, LB, Chicago
7. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay
8. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas
9. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
10. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh
11. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans
12. Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore
13. Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia
14. Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle
15. Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, San Francisco
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