Hunt Auctions: Old Packs- Really Old Packs

Hunt's monthly auction is currently running and it consist of an incredible collection of vintage tobacco related memorabilia. Heck, it's one of the largest groupings of tobacco unopened packs, advertising displays, and other tobacco related collectibles I've ever seen. I kind of find the collection breathtaking.

On the other hand, I understand that this part of the hobby isn't PC in todays world- tobacco and all. Nevertheless, I still find it fascinating to see the packaging and the artwork that once contained collectible cards at the turn of the last century. These items ushered in a new hobby that would be followed throughout the country, and would eventually spawn a industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the auction, several of the lots pair up a vintage pack with an example of the vintage Baseball card that could be found within it. There are various 1909-11 T206 packs:

• Old Mill pack,
  
• Lenox pack,
• Carolina Brights pack,
• Polar Bear pack,
• Cycle pack,
• Principe de Gales pack,
  
• Piedmont pack,
  
• American Beauty pack, and a
  
• Sweet Corporal pack.
  

They even have more obscure packs like Mecca Cigarettes that had T201's, OBAK pack with held T212 cards, Old Judge pack with N172's, a Dog's Head pack that had non-sports cards in it, and a Allen & Ginter pack with a N28.Like I said, it's an incredible array of collectibles pointing to the origins of the card hobby.

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There were some items in the auction that I though would be of interest to Dodger fans. Below are a couple of unopened packs of Red Man Tobacco from 1954. As vintage card collectors will know, Red Man produced a set of cards that season that were much larger than the typical Baseball card made by Topps and featured a colored drawing of 54 different Major League ballplayers. As you can see they cellophane wrapped the packs with the Baseball card visible on the outside.

In the pack below it features Brooklyn Dodger infielder Billy Cox. This pack looks a little rough around the edges as it appears to be toned and peeling a little bit.

(Auction Link)

Here is one of the nicest one's I've ever seen. This pack has World Series hero Jim Gilliam. It looks brand new.

(Auction Link)

A Koufax 2012 Topps Coin Promo?

With it almost a week into the 2012 Topps Baseball madness, I am sure many of you have already seen this card, or others like it. It is a limited insert card found in packs that feature 15 different Golden Greats along with a golden colored coin embedded with it. This is the Sandy Koufax coin insert card and, as you can see, is numbered to only 32 copies.

I show this particular card from the set (I plan on featuring most of the Dodgers cards from the Topps set in a future post) because I ran into a similar item on eBay. Check out the picture below.

The seller states that it is a promotional coin that was sent to dealers. It looks like it's 4 or 5 inches wide, is still sealed in plastic, and features Sandy Koufax. In fact, it look exactly like the Koufax coin in the above insert card. Unfortunately, the seller doesn't provide very many details. Anyone out there have any familiarity with these. Were all dealers sent a Koufax, or were other players also available? Anyone?

(eBay Auction Link)

Thank You, Hong-Chih Kuo

Hong-Chih Kuo has been a warrior for us. Battling multiple arm injuries and surgeries, he continued to provide quality relief innings. He has been an inspiration, and will be a player I continue to root for even as he wears the uniform of another team. Best wishes, big guy.

As noted by Jayson Stark on twitter, Kuo is expected to join the Seattle Mariners.

(Pic Link: Twitter: @JaysonSt)

UPDATE: It looks like it is now official. Kuo has joined the Mariners. Eric Stephen's at True Blue LA has more information.

Kuo, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow in October, will receive a base salary $500,000, plus bonuses of up to $2.5 million, per Peter Wang of ETTV. Kuo will make $1 million if he makes the Mariners' 25-man roster.

Kuo will wear number 32 with the Mariners, a number already forever claimed in Los Angeles by Kuo-fax.

#32, eh? It looks like you can take the man out of LA, but you can never take the influence of LA out of the man.

Collection: Fleer Greats Davey Lopes

Davey Lopes wasn't just a Dodgers Great, but was also a Fleer Great. To prove it, here is a 2004 Fleer Great card with his signature in my collection.

Lopes was part of a long line of speedy ballplayers to come out of the Dodgers farm system, but he could do a little bit more. Davey Lopes could hit home runs.

Over his Dodger career he had a total of 418 stolen bases and 99 round-trippers. The latter number might not sound that impressive, but keep in mind that 66 of those homers were hit over a four year period (1977 to 1980). I guess you can say he hit his stride those years.

In his best season, 1979, Lopes slugged 28 homers while swiping 44 bases. He would also be a gold glover and was 16th in MVP voting that year. Considering he did all that before the steroid era makes his accomplishments ever more remarkable.

Lopes was a driving force in the Dodgers National League pennants in 1974, 1977 and 1978, but it was in 1981 when he would finally get a World Championship ring. Unfortunately, it would prove to be his last year in Blue. Steve Sax had already taken much of his playing time as a new era of Dodger infielders was about to take hold. In the afterglow of the Dodgers 5th World Series title that season, Lopes would be traded to Oakland.

I Wish I Made That Bet

Take a look at this betting ticket. Featured on Reddit, some bloke made a $1,000.00 bet on the Giants scoring the first points of the game with a safety. For that he got 50/1 odds and a nice payday.

UPDATE: here's a story in Business Insider talking all about this ticket.

Buying Coffey with a Penny in Japan While Waiting for the Caravan

Considering how poorly the Dodgers relief staff did last season, it should not come as a surprise that they continue to add depth. On Friday it was announced that the team signed Todd Coffey. He was good out of the pen last year with Washington and figures on providing some quality innings of middle relief. From the Dodgers press release:

The 31-year-old went 5-1 with a 3.62 ERA and limited opposing hitters to a .244 batting average in 69 games last season with Washington. Against right-handed hitters, Coffey posted a .193 opponents’ batting average with just a .250 on-base percentage and a .290 slugging percentage. He also limited first batters faced to a .175 mark (11-for-63) with 17 strikeouts last season.

(Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images North America)

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In todays "whatever happened to that guy" report, we find out that former Dodger Brad Penny has just signed a 1 year contract to play for the Softbank Hawks of the Japanese Pacific League, via SI. Ken Rosenthal expands further and notes that it's a $4Mil deal plus $3.5Mil in performance bonuses. It is the largest largest contract given by a Japanese team to an American pitcher on their first contract with them.

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(Pic via Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers)

The Dodgers 2012 Community Caravan will happen this coming week. They'll be visiting hospitals, schools, and various community non-profits on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, nearly all of the events are not open to the public except for one. On Tuesday, February 7th, the team will dine at an unannounced location from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Via the Dodgers Press Release:

The Dodgers will lunch in South Los Angeles at a location that will be unveiled via the Dodgers’ Twitter @dodgers at 12:30 p.m.

So, if you are lucky enough to be nearby and can make it out to meet some Dodgers be sure to check out their twitter account. The following folks are expected to be on the bus:

Day one of the Dodgers’ Community Caravan will feature Dodgers Dee Gordon, Tony Gwynn, Kenley Jansen, Adam Kennedy, Josh Lindblom and Ramon Troncoso. Dodger Alumni Tommy Davis, Al Ferrara, Shawn Green and Dennis Powell and Dodger broadcaster Eric Collins.