Collector’s Corner for Nov. 15, 2022

Starting off this week’s edition of Collector’s Corner with a pair of 1960s Chicago Bears mittens. The auction text says, “This item is part of the Doug Atkins Collection, an item personally owned by Chicago Bears great and NFL Hall of Fame inductee Doug Atkins.” Perfect for those freezing games at Soldier Field!

Now for the rest of this week’s picks:

• This 1965 Cincinnati Reds spring training press guide is for their “auxiliary roster.” What’s that? The roster for guys who aren’t good enough? “Hey mister, can I have your autograph?” “Oh, sorry kid — I’m just an auxiliary player.” Anyway, great cover art!
• I’d say this little 1/64 scale New England Patriots QB Club die-cast car looks like one of those old P.T. Cruisers.
• Take a peek at this 1978-1979 “Stars in Action” Green Bay Packers calendar. The interesting thing here is that they used two Dallas Cowboys for the photo — that’s No. 26 Preston Pearson and No. 61 Blaine Nye, with Nye now wearing No. 64, and both with the Green Bay “G.” Changed the socks, too. Artistic license, indeed.
• This is a 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers National League Champions ring by Jason of Beverly Hills. This one used to belong to a team scout.
• Philadelphia Phillies fans, your team fell a bit short in the Series this year, but share some of those 1980 championship memories with this set of Phillies yearbooks, featuring some great cover art.
• The seller for this vintage Baltimore Orioles megaphone popcorn box notes, “Item was found in a basement nailed to a beam so it has many years accumulation of grime.” That sure looks like Joe DiMaggio on the fourth photo there.
• If you’ve got a lot of cash, take a look at this 1970s Upper Deck Montana/Elway lunchbox.
• Here we have a classic-looking aqua and orange Miami Dolphins varsity jacket in a kid’s size 12. No doubt this one came from the venerable Sears NFL Shop. The seller says, “Jacket is in really good condition for its age.” (We should all be so lucky.)
• Here’s a Cherished Teddies Ron Santo figurine. According to the seller, “This figurine was given away as a gift at Wrigley Field on August 8, 2001, for the Cubs vs. Rockies game. It includes the original box, styrofoam, and paperwork.”
• This 1970s Minnesota Vikings kid’s helmet from Wilson has seen a few backyard battles in its day.
• Bonus item here! Tomorrow happens to be my birthday, so let’s include my all-time favorite birthday present — the 1970 Hot Wheels Tune-Up Tower. Here’s the backstory: I saw a comic book ad similar to this around June of 1970 — five long months before my birthday! Eventually, Nov. 16 arrived. We went out to dinner, then saw the Harlem Globetrotters at the Louisville Convention Center. Then we came back home and this was waiting. Score.

That’ll do it for this edition of CC. See you back here next week!