Conference school::sports_memorabilia

    Thanx for the info rjk.  I have the 11X14 yellow/black version.
    
    Mike_d

    FYI Dealers pay approximately 3.50 each if they buy 10+
    Mike

    rjk
    
    I'll take one!!  I am at DDD-K09
    
    thnx
    
    Mike Downs

    I recently had the great disappointment in meeting, (if you want to
    call it that), the great, TED WILLIAMS.  This was my first autograph 
    show, it was free, and the experience was COLD, TO say the least.  He
    was like a signing machine, and for that matter, a robot, with a card
    board picture of TED with a computer answering questions would have 
    been just as good to me.  The question, are all the HOF's as cold in 
    signing autographs??  TED took the ball from the guy standing next to
    him, signed it, and threw it up on the table, never acknowledging I or
    anyone was there.  He was like a machine.  I guess if I had 1,000
    people waiting in line for an autograph, small talk just doesn't cut
    it, but aleast he might give you some eye contact??  
    But he did look GREAT, all tanned up, in good shape for 70+ years old,
    and it was a good feeling to be standing there right next to him,
    getting an autograph baseball done by one of the best.  I have no
    complaints, except I was expecting a grunt or some noise to come from
    him, oh well, maybe Mickey Mantle will say something when I get his
    autograph in a couple of weeks????  Right, I know what your thinking,
    "DON'T BET ON IT" !!
    

    
    
    I also saw Ted on Saturday and did not find him to be that "bad".  If 
    anything, he was very concerned about the people waiting in line.  At
    least 2 or 3 times he told the Tully people around him that they should
    go outside and stop people from getting in line because he had to leave
    at 11 and did not want people to be upset.
    
    If you have a question for Ted, he will stop and answer it.  The first 
    time I saw Ted he signed a Perez-Steele Celebration Card for me.  He
    stopped and asked me if I had the whole set (which I did).  He then
    told me that he had a couple of the sets and that they would probably
    go up in price quickly and that I should hang onto it.  He told me that
    his signed card went for $75.  That was last June and I have seen the
    same card going for $200 now.
    
    Another time I asked him if he had ever fished a certain river in 
    Wyoming.  His eyes lit up and he told that he hopes to someday get
    out there because he has heard so much about it.
    
    For what it is worth, I would not be surprised to see him stop signing
    baseballs in the future.  He is over 71 and I heard him tell one of 
    the Tulley people that he is signing more and more baseballs every
    year.
    
    Jeff
    

    
    
    RE: .11
    
    THANK-YOU,  Dealers one and all for depriving fans and collectors with
    your RE-SELL  attitude.  
    
    This is why so many HOF'ers either refuse to sign through the mail or
    put a charge for your item.
    
    RE: .9
    
    I know Roy I should have listened but I hate to admit to being wr____,
    wr___,  (what is that word) ............mistaken.
    
    Roy, did you see that Hank Aaron will be at his first show in almost 
    2 years (in Texas)  and that the ad in SCD says NO BATS........Arrrrgh
    
    			I WONDER WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY
    
    

    
    RE: 13
    
    I didn't know that, John. That does restore some of my faith in the
    "hobby".  Much as I would like to blame the "dealers" for ruining the
    autograph aspect of the hobby, it looks like I will just put a share
    onto the  "monopoly-minded Home shopping club" and the invasion of 
    Mr. feena-Mint or does he call himself Mr Memorabilia now?
    
    Jeff
    

    
    RE: 16
    
    From a player's perspective, I can actually sympathize with signing 
    a contract with the home shopping clubs, for all of the reason which
    you stated in your reply.  My big gripe is that one of players under
    contract does do a show, there is a stipulation NO BATS.  I realize 
    that this condition is put on so that the home shopping club has
    exclusive right to make a profit on the sale of bats.  I cannot even
    fault the home shopping club.  After all, they had the foresight and
    the idea and do not want others to profit from the sale of this 
    particular players signature on a bat.
    
    Here comes the big beef, I have 2 bats with about  50 signatures on 
    them (I started the second one after Rose was banned from baseball).
    There is NO way that I would ever sell them.  This NO BATS theory
    is really an attack on the dealers who get several personalized 
    bats of the player signed and then sell them and make a killing.
    
    I wish they could relax their stand and just ban "single-signature"
    bats to be signed at shows.  This way, the home shopping club still
    makes their profit and the average collector gets an autograph on
    his own bat.  Many collectors would never buy a single-signed bat to
    display next to a bat with many signatures on it.  Anyone who has 
    ever stood in line behind some guy with 25+ bats at a show, knows why
    players get upset.  Heck, the players get upset when they are given a 
    case of balls to sign.  They know what is going on.  The customer 
    looking at he player and thinking "Gee, if you croak real soon, I can
    make some big bucks".  It is another case where dealers have soiled 
    what is supposed to be a "hobby"
    
    How long will it be before SCD runs ads for "Gem mint perfectly 
    centered, no smudge, single-signed baseball, with a notarized 
    certificate"
    
    Jeff
    

    Whats going to happen July 19th??  Could someone of you experts answer
    this question on BATS.  If Ted signs a bat, and 15 other guys sign the 
    bat, is that bat worth more than a bat with just Teds signature on it.
    I would think it would depend on the other 15 sigs, but, I personally
    like the one signature on one bat, instead of a cluttered bat with 16
    sigs.  Only my opinion.  
    
    Roy, I didn't realize that Ted got beat up early on Saturday from those
    thugs.  I guess I would have been pissed off too!  I didn't dare ask
    Ted a question, he just looked like he was ready to tear someones head
    off.
    
    Another question, do you think MM would sign a ball and if I asked him
    to put" NO.7" under his name??  I would love to get it that way to
    match my bat which also has NO.7.  Think he'll say F_uck off jerk.  I
    would hate to have him refuse me, I might be so hurt, I'll sell my 
    whole collection of him, and will be out of the hobby for good.  Do you
    think he would enjoy seeing some newspaper clippings from the Globe
    on his last trip into Boston.  The Record did a great back page I kept,
    and it shows all his accomplishments during his carear with the Yanks.
    I also have his 500th homer, and his longest HR.  It might brighten up
    his day??  Any suggestions on how to get a word out of him??  Thanks
    for all the info on Ted, it makes it easier to understand why he looked
    like he did.

    
    
    RE: 21
    
    I am not an expert but if you collect memorabilia for one certain
    player, then his signature on its own on a bat will be worth more
    to you.  Also, a Ted signature on an "official Ted Williams (with
    the engraved signature on the end of the bat) Model would be worth 
    more than on a generic "Autograph Model" bat.  My two bats are a
    "Cobatco (Cooperstown Bat Co.) Autograph Model" and an Adirondack
    "Hall of Fame Autograph Bat".  Neither one is a limited-edition 
    model, so they would sell for less in the open market.
    
    Ted once said that in all professional sports "The single hardest 
    thing to do was hit a baseball".  I believe that in the autograph 
    world "The single hardest thing to do is SIGN a baseball".  It is
    amazing how a player can fit his signature onto a multi-signed ball
    and still make it legible.  If I were a player, I would definitely
    prefer to sign a couple of hundred bats rather than a couple hundred
    baseballs.
    
    Jeff