When dealers at the 1994 National Sports Collectors complained angrily about an unexpected overflow crowd being kept out of the show, director Mike Berkus was ready to turn the tables.
“You think you had a bad day. Let me tell you about my day,” he told them of his day-long duel with the fire marshal.
Berkus, who died of brain cancer last month at age 69, had a way of handling such things.
He had lived in southern California for most of his adult life and helped launch the first National there more than 35 years ago, but Berkus was a Minnesota native.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote about how he turned his love of collecting into a role as the head of sports collecting’s showcase event.
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Investing in certain vintage baseball cards has been a much more lucrative play than the stock market in recent years. Sales of high-grade 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards are proof of that.
$70,000-$80,000 was the going rate for PSA 8s between 2008 and 2012. Now, all bets are off.
David Seideman of Forbes writes about the financial angle of a crazy market.
The highest graded ’52 Mantle on eBay now is this PSA 6.
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Upper Deck has signed a multi-year deal with Kevin Love that will allow the company to produce an exclusive line of signed memorabilia. Love is a three-time NBA All-Star who was a standout for the Minnesota Timberwolves before joining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014. 
Upper Deck is offering standard items like signed photos, jerseys and basketballs but will also create limited edition items featuring Love.
Several items are already being offered, ranging from $250-$400.
“Kevin Love is a great addition to our ever-growing portfolio of basketball superstars,” said Jason Masherah, President of Upper Deck. “We are excited to bring fresh and innovative products to his fans in across the globe, and we look forward to introducing some exclusive multi-signed items featuring Love with other Upper Deck athletes in the future.”
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Love’s signature is passable but the legible autograph is generally lost on today’s sports stars. You’re lucky if you get two readable letters when it’s handed or mailed back to you.
There are exceptions but any random check of signed cards on eBay reveals a collection of what appear to be stray marks rather than a name.
The Toronto Star caught up with Marcel Dionne, the former NHL star turned sports card shop owner, Hersh Bornstein, a Canadian hockey dealer and promoter, a current player and even a player’s father to find out what’s happened to the autograph.
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We had a blast reading dozens of your responses to a question posed on Facebook over the weekend: your first pack buying memories. Check it out and join in here.
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Rich Klein’s Ramblings: On the National
