A great moment in the history of my collection

In August after the National and a fantasy football draft with my buddies, my old friend Jordan approached me and told me that he enjoyed reading my blog.  He then explained to me that he writes freelance for a well-known online and print publication in the Jewish community, and told me he would pitch a story tot he editor to see if there would be interest.

Some time later, I get a text from Jordan confirming that there is interest from the editor and they'd like to do the story.  He then told me that they would want to use the setting of a card show as basis for the story.

I was immediately excited, and began thinking of interesting angles that I thought the story could be written in.

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The show was confirmed, the Westchester County show in January, a reliable and often fortuitous show. I meet Jordan at Grand Central to make our way on Metro North to Westchester. On the way he asks me questions about my collection, my motivation to start it, etc. It was nice to hear someone else express their interest in my collection that wasn't on a forum. He had a real interest in it, and I was proud to talk to him about it.

We get to the show and I immediately go to the SGC table to submit my cards for crossing. After finishing there, we perused the show for Greenbergs. Well, I'm not going to spoil the story, I'll let Jordan's writing tell the story.

Find the link to the story here.

Typecasted: BF3

I'm going to start a new little series for the blog to keep it fresh.  I'm going to pick a card to profile, and talk a little bit about the history of the card and how and when (if I can remember) I got it.

I'll start this edition with a new set I've been particularly fascinated in, trying to acquire and learn about as many examples of this set as I can.

The set is the BF3 mini pennant.  I bought this below at the 2013 National in Chicago.

This is an excerpt from the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards:

"The checklists for these series of felt pennants issued circa 1936-1938 are not complete, and new examples are still being reported. The pennants do not carry any manufacturer's name although packages found with various pieces attribute the issues to Red Ball sales, a gum company in Chicago, and Grandpa Brands Co., Cincinatti another gum company. One pennant was given away with purchase of a stick of gum, and at least one wrapper indicates large format (28''x12'') versions of the Red Ball pennants could be had in a redemption program. The pennants vary in size slightly but generally measure approx. 2-1/2''x4-1/2''and were issued in various styles and colors. Most of the printing is white, although some pennants have been found with other colors of printing, and the same pennant is often found in more than one color combination. The pennants feature both individual players and teams, including some minor league clubs. The pennants were grouped together in the American Card Catalog under the designation of BF3. Advanced collectors have categorized the pennants into a number of basic design types, depending on what elements are included on the pennant. The unnumbered felts are listed alphabetically within type. Gaps have been left in the assigned numbers to accommodate future discoveries." (2011 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, Bob Lemke)

I recently acquired the below pennant to accompany the above:

Should be here tomorrow :)  I've learned from the catalog that there are 12 cataloged types. The yellow/white pictured is a Type 1, and I believe the blue/yellow is from Type 3 (without having the reference next to me).

I'll continue to pick these up as I can find them, as long as they are unique in terms of their color combinations and type.

If any of you have questions about this unique set, ask away and I can do my best to answer.

A great new autograph purchase

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a a poor eBay listing for a Hank Greenberg autograph authenticated by PSA.  Quite possibly the best Greenberg autograph example I own, it only cost me $60.

Here are the pics below.