eBay: Big Payday for Erskine

Talk about an instant gratification.

Below is a United Press Photo from 1956 featuring a understandibly ecstatic Cark Erskine and an equally happy Walter O'Malley. Why are they sporting such large grins, you ask?

Well, on May 12, 1956 Erskine threw his 2nd no-hitter in his career versus the hated New York Giants, 3 to 0. As a reward, O'Malley handed Erskine a $500.00 check. Instant bonus money, baby!

As a reminder to how low paid these old-timers were, $500.00 would equal $3,902.81 in todays dollars.

eBay Auction Link:

The Luckiest Fans in the World

I am so envious. These lucky fans await a prized autograph from Sandy Koufax.

(Photo Credit from DodgerTownUSA Twitpic)

Video: Koufax Visits the Dodgers

I know this is old news, but here is a video from FoxNews featuring Sandy Koufax visiting the Dodgers in Arizona. Chad Billingsley talks about the experience.

Video Link:

MLB settles with Upper Deck

If you are an active reader of other sports collector blogs then this is old news. Today, it was announced that MLB Properties has settled their lawsuit with Upper Deck, and it appears that Upper Deck took a big whack to their business. As has been reported already on other blogs, below is a rundown of some of the known elements of the settlement.

• Upper Deck will pay MLB Properties $2.4Mil that it is due from past royalties that were not paid
• Additionally, UD will pay MLB a unspecified sum for the cards made in violation of their trademarks. This amount is thought to be substantial.
• UD agrees not to produce anymore Baseball cards/set in violation of MLB's trademarks- MLB logos, uniforms, trade dress, or club color combinations.
• UD will also not airbrush, alter or block MLB trademarks on any future product.
• UD must receive approval from MLB to use baseball jerseys, pants, jackets, caps, helmets or catcher’s equipment in future products featuring players. (I wonder if this means no more game-used uniform cut pieces in card products?)
  
• According to UD, they have canceled all 2010 Baseball products in the pipeline, but will be allowed to continue selling the products that have already come to market that were found to be in violation- 2009 Signature Stars, 2009 Ultimate Collection and 2010 Upper Deck Series 1.
  

Overall, I think this means no more Baseball cards from Upper Deck. I can't imagine how they can make a set were they can't even do a little bit of photo-shopping.

Cards of ball players not in uniform, but in street clothes? I can't imagine that being a big seller.

Frankly, I'm not shedding a tear. Obviously, the lack of competition in the Baseball card hobby is not good news, but cheaters cannot be allowed to prosper. And as many collectors know, Upper Deck has done a lot of cheating over its history.

Legendary Auctions: Rare Jackie Ad Pieces

I'm back with a post featuring some great Dodger memorabilia from Legendary Auctions. In fact, there is so much to look at I decided to break it up into a few different post. As you might expect from a large auction house there are plenty of Jackie Robinson items. So, naturally, I'll start there.

In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Baseball. Soon thereafter, Bond Bread made him their spokesman. They advertised heavily within African-American communities with signs and a very rare 10 card set (Go here to see a previous post about this set) placed in loafs of their bread. The rarest of the items they made are the ad pieces created to pitch their products.

Below is a nearly 4 inch in diameter drink coaster of Jackie Robinson that advertises Bond Bread. This particular item is the only one known to exist.

Auction Link:

This is a great advertising window sign featuring Jackie Robinson pitching Bond Bread. Only about a dozen have survived for collectors to enjoy.

Life inside the Jackie Robinson household was picture-perfect, judging from this fabulous 1947 Bond Bread window advertising sign. In its presentation, Robinson is seen showing his one-year-old son "how to become a future batting star" while other inscriptions declare that "Mrs. Robinson always puts Homogenized Bond Bread" at the top of her shopping list.

(click pic to enlarge)
Auction Link:

Here is a large Jackie Robinson Bond Bread (10" x 14") counter advertising display. These are extremely scarce and highly sought after by Jackie Robinson collectors. For that reason, they have been reproduced/faked and can be found on eBay all the time. So be careful if you run into one. This piece is one of the few real ones you'll see and I expect it to sell for a nice premium. A nice bonus is that it is the only known blank-back version known to exist.

(click pic to enlarge)
Auction Link:

Check Out Sal LaRocca's Dodger Collection

Evan from a Albuquerque Isotopes/ Dodgers blog called "I Love This Game" passed along a great link to me recently that featured the collection of Chattanooga based Dodger Collector Sal LaRocca. I am quite envious. See it here. It starts at about 1:40 into the video.

Below are a couple of screen grabs.