We recently had the opportunity to sit down for an interesting evening with friends Bob and Bonnie who are true baseball fans, with Bob pushing past enthusiast and reaching toward fanatic.
What really helps to add the “atic” to “fan” is an encyclopedic mind and a focused desire. Bob knows names, dates and places for all his sports collectibles. Who did what and when and where, with the teams and positions they played.
Traveling together, they visit major league baseball stadiums around the country, their total is now at thirty, with some cities visited twice because of rebuilds such as Miller Park replacing the old County Stadium. They currently have seven more stadiums asking for their presence.
We conducted our interview in their living room, partly decorated with Bonnie’s Depression Cobalt Blue glassware and other antiques and some of Bob’s collectibles.
As the interview progressed, we were invited into their office where the “holy grail” items are displayed
and lastly to the storage area were most of his signed bats, gloves and paper goods are displayed or stored.
I asked Bob: “What was your first collection?”
“When I was a kid, I collected TOPPS Baseball cards. From my years of 3rd thru 7th grade, I collected them, then as a new season started, I’d discard the last year’s cards.”
Of course, he regrets it today! (I remind him, that many people did throw out or wreck the cards, and that makes the surviving ones more valuable.)
He also collected Elvis Presley cards, old automobile cards, some showing construction equipment, Civil War cards and also All American football players. “All were ‘packets’ you’d buy.”
After 7th or 8th grade, he stopped and it was not until about 1975 that he had renewed interest.
“That came about when my mother gave me a scrap book she’d been saving. In it were birthday cards, clippings from newspapers, Life Magazine articles, etc.”
“In that scrapbook I found two old baseball cards. One was from Jim Rivera – White Sox, and Bud Prodbelia from the Redlegs.”
He remembers you could not call them the Reds because of the Communism scares back then, but only the REDLEGS.
“Bob, What helped to restart the collecting again?”
“I got back into the collecting mode, mostly with baseball cards. I had a long time ‘love affair’ with the Milwaukee Braves before they left for Atlanta in 1965. Trying to relive that past, restarted my interest. I have a number of their items in my collection.
“Overall, I have about 450 pieces I’d guess, some are other sports, but the majority is baseball and football.”
Today his main focus is collecting items and signatures of National Baseball Hall of Famers.
He has numerous autographed balls, bats, gloves and cards of Hall of Fame Players.
“What are some of your most-prized items?” -“An autographed ball signed by Sandy Koufax of the L.A. Dodgers. He was my all-time favorite pitcher.” “My absolute favorite and likely the most valuable is my Hall of Fame bat, signed by numerous inductees including Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, George Brett, Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers and several others.”
He also showed us an Eddie Matthews baseball cap that has been worn by Eddie. He has several Hartland figures of baseball players and one that is a Gartland porcelain statue.
“Bob any items you regret passing up.” - “About 25 years ago I had a chance to buy a Babe Ruth and a Lou Gehrig card, two for $100. I just did not have the extra cash – they’d be worth between $3,000-4,000 today!”
He also had a chance to get an autograph signed by Burleigh Grimes, Old Stubblebeard, back in the 1980s. But he did not pursue it, sorry to this day.
“Regret selling or losing any items” – “All of my old cards now in a landfill.”
“What was the furthest you ever traveled for an item or autograph?” - “I went to Washington, D.C., to an organized signing with George Brett. I wanted to add a signature of George Brett to a poster showing George, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Jim Gantner It was the only one I was missing.”
“Bob, where do you find items today?” -”In Land Fills,” He kidded.
“Mostly at shows – but they are getting pricey and it’s hard to find things.”
He has belonged to the Milwaukee Braves Historic Association and has made some valuable contacts and found some special items.
“I also have a friend who is very active in sports collecting in the Milwaukee area.”
Bob has a subscription to the Sports Collectors Digest, and gets papers from Mounted Memories which lists upcoming shows and signings. He brings along a collected item, picture, bat, glove, ball or collector card for the prized signature.
“Do you have a tale of a favorite sale?” – “I sold a Spud Chandler Cap, a former Yankee pitcher, and a Yankee vs. Dodgers 1955 Pennant.”
“A good return on my investment”
“Bob, can you share your greatest moment or memory in conjunction with your collection?”
A professional acquaintance and her husband are good friends, with a childhood friend of Henry Aaron. She knows Bob’s love of baseball.
“For my ??? birthday, Bonnie and I were invited to a dinner that turned out to include Hank and his lovely wife. It was an incredible surprise. We spent the evening together and Hank’s wife even sang “happy birthday” to me.
“Henry Aaron is a ‘class act’ and it was an experience of a life time, we will never forget.”
Bob also had a surprise birthday party held for him at Friday’s Front Row Restaurant at Miller Park
He and his wife Bonnie recently went on a bus trip with Jay Buckley Tours of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Incredible experience and great fun. They met and traveled with some super fans.
In addition to his love of the baseball team, the Milwaukee Braves, he is a true Green Bay Packer fan too. One picture shows the famous quarterback sneak by Bart Starr, he got this signed at the Vince Lombardi Classic, golf outing, when Bart was participating.
He has a binder filled with post card sized Hall of Famers, picture cards, about 50 were signed.
These stadium chairs are also signed, one by Paul Molitor.#4 and another by Warren Spahn #21. Purchased when the old Milwaukee County Stadium was torn down and the Miller Park Stadium replaced it.
(Would you cart these around to a signing?, i.e. Fanatic)
Another photo is of Yount’s 3000th hit – autographed. Some of his treasures were presents from his wife or daughters.
“Is your collection complete?” - “No, I definitely have done more specialization but I’m always looking for the next treasure.”
Good Luck with your Quest, Bob and Bonnie
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around various sports personalities also, spanning Hockey, Football, Basketball and Baseball - all displayed in dynamic action poses, and sculpted with stunning accuracy.
By way of example, while there might be a huge number of Brett Favre figures in his usual Green Bay Packers uniform, McFarlane would also hypothetically release a Favre in his new Jets outfit also. The same goes for variations in home and away colors, as well changes in team numbers, and changes that occur to team uniforms over time. While it’s impossible to cover all of the bases, no pun intended, these figures that represent the occasional variation in uniform are very sought after by collectors, and when you combine the fervor of sports fans and the awkward passion of toy collectors like myself, you get a frightening level of excitement.
