Sports Collectors Digest Newsletter

For gregghof@aol.com
September 24, 2009
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Here's what you'll find in this edition:
Collect.com Auctions Consignment Deadline Coming Soon
UD Set To Unveil Last Exquisite Basketball Release
T.S. O'Connell's Infield Dirt Blog is Talking Tennis
Tuff Stuff To Feature Exclusive Interviews With Hobby Heavyweights
An Autograph Collection Like No Other
NFL HOF Autograph Collectors Up To The Challenge
Jeter Commemorative Items Taking Off

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Consignment Deadline Approaching In Collect.com Auctions Sale

Collect.com Auctions is proud to announce Sports Auction #3, which will also be its first annual blue-chip auction, with an emphasis on high-end sports and entertainment collectibles.

We are currently assembling an excellent collection of fine sports memorabilia for this auction. If you would like to be included in this auction, we are accepting consignments for the blue-chip auction now. Collect.com Auctions will be in Philadelphia at the Valley Forge Convention Center this weekend and in Chicago Sept. 30-Oct. 1. Also, on Oct 7-8, Collect.com auctions will be accepting consignments in Minneapolis, Dallas, New York, Atlanta and Denver.

To read more, click here.


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Final Exquisite Basketball Product Due Out Sept. 30

When Upper Deck released 2003-04 NBA Exquisite, the trading card market was forever changed. Never before had collectors seen innovative cards packing this much quality which is one of the reasons why a single pack of that product routinely sells for more than $3,000. On Sept. 21, Upper Deck announced that it will be releasing the company's final NBA Exquisite set ever on Sept. 30.
 
In addition to having Exquisite rookie cards from some of the top 2009-10 NBA draftees, some great retrospective inserts have been created paying homage to the heritage of the Exquisite brand. In 2009-10 Exquisite, Upper Deck honors the most valuable modern day rookie card: 2003-04 LeBron James Exquisite RC (#78). Upper Deck is bringing back that particular card design as a limited insert with some of the sporting world's biggest names like Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, John Elway, Barry Sanders, Sidney Crosby, and Wayne Gretzky. The ever popular "Triple Logoman Patch" cards and "Dual Logoman Autographed Patch" cards return as well making this Exquisite release a most memorable one.

To read more, click here.




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Revisiting The Grand Old Game Of Tennis

Clearly, my failure to keep track of the modern tennis game has left me extraordinarily out of touch with a sport that used to grab my attention from time to time many years ago.

As I suspect it was for millions of others, the US Open provided the opportunity to visit an old friend, so to speak, but by golly virtually all of the names have changed when I wasn't looking. Most of the folks I remember are sitting in the broadcast booth. I am not proud of any of this deplorable ignorance, just reporting.

I'd always been tickled by the female section, remembering the incredible battles between Chris Everett and Martina; it sounds silly to say it, but I'd always kind of thrilled to the audio portion, the grunts of exertion for the gals, and the occasional verbal tirade at the various officials by some of the guys.

To read more, click here.


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Upper Deck's McWilliam Kicks Off Tuff Stuff's 'Ask The Execs' Series

The 2009 calendar year has brought us in the collectibles business several important changes to the hobby landscape. Whether it was the Donruss sale, Upper Deck's new deal with the Collegiate Licensing Company or the recent announcement by Major League Baseball naming Topps as its exclusive licensing partner for 2010, the winds of change are blowing strong in the industry and those changes have prompted numerous questions. We at Tuff Stuff want to answer the many questions these changes have brought with them. To do so, we went straight to the top of the food chain and asked the executives who make the decisions that shape the hobby.

In an effort to provide our customers with the answers they want, we've come up with a new Tuff Stuff series entitled "Ask The Execs." The series will feature exclusive interviews with the most influential industry leaders including Upper Deck CEO, Richard McWilliam, Panini America CEO Michael Eisenstein and Topps Vice President Warren Friss. The series will kickoff in our next issue (December cover date) so look for our first exclusive Q&A session with UD CEO Richard McWilliam coming soon. Look for the interviews with Eisenstein and Friss in the January and February issues of Tuff Stuff's Sports Collectors Monthly.

For a sampling of the exclusive interview with McWilliam, click here.
To learn more about the series, click here.




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An Autograph Collection To Die For

There is no more dedicated group of fans of the game of baseball in general and the long since departed Philadelphia Athletics in particular, so when the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society puts together a memorabilia project, you know it's a first-class affair.

Under the able administration of Ernie Montella, who coordinated theproject, the second series of the Diamond Signatures Autographed Card Set is now available, with a miniscule 100 sets available to the public out of the total 125 produced.

To read more, click here.


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Collecting NFL HOF Autographs: It's Hall Good

If the names Hugh Ray, Charles Bidwell and Tim Mara aren't familiar to you, you're obviously not an NFL Hall of Fame autograph collector. To those familiar with the collecting genre, the names represent the Holy Grail, the rarest of the rare, the signatures at the top of almost of everybody's wish list.

While some autograph collectors search for a select few ballplayers to build on, others search for entire categories. For NFL HOF autograph collectors, the recent additions of the 2009 inductees bumped that complete list to 253 players.

For frequent guest signers like Raymond Berry, Paul Hornung and Yale Lary, the opportunities to acquire an example are plentiful and the autographs can be had relatively cheaply. But for players that rarely applied their John Hancocks to anything other than their own personal documents, the search can be an exhaustive and expensive one.

For one such collector, the pursuit of all 253 signatures began more than 20 years ago and remains one of his top priorities today.

To read the rest of the story, click here.


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Photo File Inc. Strikes Gold With Jeter Collectibles

Photo File, Inc. reported stronger than expected sales for their higher-priced items commemorating Derek Jeter's historic 2,722nd hit.

"We expected strong sales of photos of Jeter's historic hit, but we have been pleasantly surprised with the demand for our higher priced items such as plaques and framed photos," said Rob Golove, vice president of marketing.

To read more, click here.