Leading off this week with a Collector’s Corner nod to our favorite tennis legend and GOAT, Roger Federer, who announced his retirement last week. This week’s Laver Cup in London will be his final ATP Tour event. He signed a 10-year, $300 million deal with Uniqlo in the summer of 2018; Wimbledon was his first event wearing Uniqlo after spending his entire career with Nike. So what we have here is a “boxed set” of his attire for that first match — never seen this before. Better check your savings account balance before bidding on this one! (If you want something more modestly priced, here’s a 2021 Olympic Games shirt that Fed never got to wear, as he missed the Games with the same knee injury that ultimately led to his retirement.)
Now for the rest of this week’s picks:
- Nice graphics on this Major League Baseball Card Collector’s Kit tin. (I used to keep my cards in a really nice, heavy-duty cardboard “Sports Card Locker,” with slots for all the teams, and you’d put a team name label next to each slot. That’s exactly the one I had.)
- If notebook-style binders were more your style, you could keep your baseball cards organized with this MLB three-ring album. Steve Carlton and Cal Ripken Jr. on the cover.
- One more along those lines; a 1990 Boston Red Sox MLB Card Collector’s Box with 30 pieces of bubble gum.
- With Aaron Judge on the brink of eclipsing Roger Maris’s American League single-season home run record, we have some official “Roger Maris Baseballs” from 1961. Roger himself said these are “the safest baseballs ever made; no ‘baseball finger’ injuries!” Just 59 cents back then; a bit more now!
- Staying in the 1960s, here are an extra pair of scoreboards for your Eagle Toys tabletop hockey game.
- Hudepohl Beer released this commemorative can back in 1976 for the Cincinnati Reds’ second straight World Series title.
- Here’s a 1970s Dallas Cowboys souvenir catalog from Athletic Supply (I remember these guys). An “authentic home jersey” was only $40!
- A Mr. William Oldham scored a baseball fan’s ultimate prize: this lifetime pass to any major or minor league ballgame.
- Mr. Bob Stringer of Seattle wrote to the Minnesota Twins back in 1967, and whatever they sent him was in this envelope.
- Here we have an official Bucco Bruce Tampa Bay Buccaneers helmet without the facemask. The seller has a few other teams up for auction as well.
That’ll do it for this edition of CC. See you back here next week!
Item #5,6 in that Cowboys catalog:
That’s a logo treatment I’ve never seen used before.
If you scroll down that Twins fan envelope listing you’ll see that Mr Stringer was a busy guy back then. Multiple listings of team envelopes from the late 60s. Looks like he wrote to major and minor league clubs.
I used to write to the Orioles requesting a ‘fan pack’ every year. Always got a similar envelope back with pocket schedules, a souvenir price list, player postcards and such.