Conference school::sports_memorabilia

    I opened 24 boxes over the weekend.  Here are my impressions:
    Love the set.  Many checklists for groups of cards within the set
    of 160 cards.  I also like the inserts very much (esp the 55 Dodgers).
    I'm buying more and making more sets, first group sold very well.
    The rest of this is rumor- there are three groups of inserts
    East Coast, Mid America and West coast all with different subsets.
    Williams signed 406 cards.  Gonzalez also signed-they are inserted.
    They look like they were printed by UD.  Collation is awful.  The three
    cards that are the lookalikes of the promos are real short.  Esp #1
    Teddy Ball Game.  Overall I love the set.
    Mike

    Opened my box yesterday. Al opened 2 boxes at the same time. I really
    enjoy these cards. Interesting reading. 3 different Willie Mays and
    3 different Ted Williams cards. My dads going to enjoy looking at this
    set.
    
    As for collation it was great. Mikes boxes must have been totally
    different. I made one set and was 20 cards short of 2. Al made
    3 sets and was 2 cards short of 4 (he had 11 cards I needed so
    I'm down to only needing 9).
    
    Each box had three of the art cards (set includes Williams, The Babe,
    Willie Mays and Yaz among the 9). I got Yaz, Williams and the 
    Checklist card.
    
    I also got 4 of the 9 Roberto Clemente Etched In Stone inserts.
    
    The 55 Dodgers set is okay (IMO), Al and I got a full set per box
    of the 5 card set plus each box had an extra #1 of the set.
    The pack lists the odds at 1 per 6 packs to get a 55 Dodger.
    
    As for card 1 (Teddy Ballgame) we got 11 in 3 boxes. I got 4.
    The promo's dealers got are different then the regular cards. Card
    1 of the promo's was Ted Williams. Card one of the set is also  
    Williams but it is a different picture then the promo.
    
    I think this set will be similar to the Topps 53 Archive. Hot at 
    first but then die down. According to a dealer that's on the
    dealer network this set is hot in the Northeast but out West there
    isn't alot of interest in it. Some dealers canceled their orders
    because the company was so late in shipping the product.
    
    Steve
    

    If anyone is out checking on set prices for the Williams let me know.
    Al is charging $29.95 (BattersUp in Tewksbury will be about the same).
    If collation is as good as Al and I got, then you look at the high
    number of inserts (4 Etched in Stone, 3 artworks, 6 Dodgers) then look
    at the dealer cost of around $30....... Opening boxes may be very
    profitable to them....... assuming we all get the bug and rush out
    to buy sets 8*(
    
    Steve
    
    

    More news.  I've also opened some MID WEST boxes.  That insert set is
    the 75 Reds numbered M16-M20.  I dont't have a clue who/what M6-M15
    are.  Any Help out there?  Also there is an add in SCD for Hobby and
    Vendor Ted Williams-First time I heard this also.  My sets are also
    $30.
    The second set of cases that I opened fixed most of the collation
    problem from the first.  I still think it's terrible-I've got 4000
    cards that can't be made into one set left over after 4 cases.  Thats
    approximaately 9 wax boxes worth !!!!!!
    
    Ted did siogn 406 cards-Gonzalez only signed 43 !!!!! wonder why?
    
    Mike

    ANOTHER UPDATE
    
    I have a lead on M6-15.  Apparently M6-10 is 75 Dodgers ( yes there are
    two dodgers subsets ) and 11 through 16 is 71 Pirates.  Please don't
    hold me to this because I'm not 100% sure.  
    
    Does anyone have Locklears ( the williams inserts that look like
    posters ) that they would like to trade for the Reds subset M16-20?
    
    Mike Kelly
    276-8156
    MKELLY @ OGO  

    My 11 year old son demonstrates his luck again - he pulled a signed
    Williams out of a pack.  Now we need some guidance from you more
    experienced collectors.  Does anyone have a good idea of the value? 
    Do you think he should try to sell the card while its new or hold onto
    it?  Any thoughts will be appreciated.

    
    No idea on value, if I hear about one or see one priced I'll let you
    know.  Generally if you're going to sell something liked a signed
    insert, do it sooner while the product is still relatively young
    and people are interested in it.  Later on it maybe difficult to
    find a buyer, say six months or a year from now.  Of course that
    theory assumes you don't have something super limited that would
    hold or increase in value and still have a potential market for
    a long time.
    
    Find out about it's relative scarcity by asking around, once you
    have that information you can better decide on when you should
    sell (if that's what your son wants to do, would make a nice
    collection piece to keep too).
    
    Mike K., did you pull any signature Williams?
    
    jeff
    

    there are only 406 signed williams cards ( because he batted 406 ).
    The signature is on the Litho card and should be numbered.  Given that
    Williams is part of the UD group-I would guess that his signatures both
    old and new will go up slightly.  He is local and a HOFer and certainly
    not a spring chicken.  What to do?  If I owned it and got an offer in
    the 450-500 range I'd sell.  If not I would hold.  Another suggestion:
    you might check SCD over the next few weeks to see the buy price-or
    hold it until the November Shriners show and shop it around, or give it
    to someone doing the Shriners show on consignment- I'll be happy to
    give it a space.  
    
    I did't get any autographs.  
    Mike

    To date no one has mentioned the POGS (I'm not sure what this acronym
    stands for I think that P=punch and that O=out).  Each Williams pack
    contains one Pog card with two pogs on it.  Supposedly this is a redo
    of a very old (turn of the century) idea.  In the Williams set there
    are 47 different pogs in the set - that can be completed from 24
    of the 26 pog cards.  There are five duplicate pogs (not pog cards)
    they are Yankee Logo, Williams, Campanella, Gehrig + one I've
    forgotten.
    Pogs look like discs that were used to cap milk bottles when there
    were milk bottles, before tylenol, when milk was delivered and could
    be left on the porch etc etc etc.
    If you want to see them I'll have them at the Shriners.
    Mike 

    POGS are a big fad in Hawaii and over the last year or so dealers were
    pushing them as the  next  big  collectible. They're like the old milk
    caps that had presidents, cowboys, etc. on them.  Nothing new.  POGS I
    believe is an acronym for the type  of drink they came with in Hawaii.
    Something Orange Guava Something ...  I like  them  as  inserts, but I
    could never see why dealers  were  hyping  them so much as stand alone
    items to buy like cards.
    
    John

    Thanks John.  I wish that they would pur out cards as nice as some of
    the POGS.
    Mike

    
    Has anyone seen prices for the Ted Williams sets, inserts, etc.
    
    In what price guide did you see those prices?
    
    Regards,
    Denny
    

    
    I've seen prices for the 1-160 set from 25.00 to 12.50. All at the 
    infamouse Grafton Flea Market. 
    
    As for the Etched in Stone series and the "M" series they can be had
    for 2.00 a card. Tough to come by those series.