Last week, I wrote about the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken obscenity card and some of the challenges store owners had at the time. One aspect which I did not even think about was who honored what deals were previously made on the unopened product which all of sudden exploded in price when word got out about the ‘scandalous trading card’. On my Facebook page, Ken Goldin (then the … [Read more...]
Ramblings: Recalling Billy Ripken FF Card Mania
One of the enduring mysteries of the over-production era of the card collecting hobby is how did a card with an easily observable obscenity on the bat get past so many people who were supposed to ensure such language would not appear on a card. Unlike the 1964 Topps Ray Sadecki card in which the card was cropped in such a way the word “ass” appeared in the background, the early … [Read more...]
Rich’s Ramblings: More National Stories for My ‘Living Book’
When I first left Beckett in 2007, my “plan” such as it was, was to write a book about people in the hobby much in the way that Lawrence Ritter did in his masterful tome, “The Glory of Their Times.” Ritter, who wrote the book based on the assumption he wanted to talk to players of an age long ago whose numbers were dwindling. He did an absolutely masterful job with his … [Read more...]
Ramblings: Remembering the ‘Unique’ Security at the 1984 NSCC Show… and Old Friends
While the theft issue may not have been as big as some other years, there were still some significant items stolen at this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. Perhaps the most expensive card which walked away was a 1952 Topps Mantle in a PSA4 holder. Hearing about these always reminds me of one of my favorite old National stories. At the Parsippany, NJ … [Read more...]
Remembering Long Time Hobby Friends
by Rich Klein To me, one of the best aspects of the past two National Conventions in Baltimore has been the proximity to the New York Metropolitan area where I grew up. Baltimore is so reasonably close to New York that many of my friends from that era are able to make the Baltimore trip with ease. One of my friends is Karen Morris, sister of long-time dealer Brian Morris. … [Read more...]