What's the story on these?

[ooo-ribay]

As some of you may know, I'm a Giants collector. Since I came on board at N54 last week, I've already met some great people and sent out my wantlist to a few...

One pin I've been actively looking for but have seen only ONCE is a 3" Hoyt Wilhelm HOF pin. Pictured below are the Wilhelm and the (3) other Giants I have. All say "Sports Photo Assoc. Hawthorne, NJ" on the curl, along with the copyright date. For Mays and Irvin, it's 1978; for Marichal, it's 1983. HOF induction dates were: Irvin 1973; Mays 1979; Marichal 1982. Notations on the front of these pins are HF13 on Irvin; HF 18 on Mays and HF28 on Marichal.

So......what do the HFs denote? How many of these pins exist? What years were they made? How did Marichal end up with a copyright date BEFORE his HOF induction?

and why, why, why is Wilhelm impossible to find???? :confused:

[ctownboy]

I had three or four of these pins. I bought them back in the 1980's at the big monthly flea market in Louisville, Kentucky. I didn't pay very much for them. The four I had were big name players. I can't remember if there were more than what I bought or if I bought them all.

I assumed the HF stood for Hall of Fame. I also assumed these were either sold at the HOF museum or were sold during the HOF induction ceremonies. If only given out or sold at the induction ceremonies then one would think that not many people would have wanted the Wilhelm pin and thus their scarcity today.

David

PS. I think I had the McCovey pin that you show and I also think I sold these on eBay years ago....for not very much money.

[MK]

I have been trying to complete this set for many years. It appears there are 40 pins in the set. They are numbered HF1 through HF 40, and yes, the HF stands for Hall of Fame. As far as I know, they were sold at Cooperstown from the late 1970's until sometime in the 1980's. The lower numbers show up frequently on Ebay, but the high numbers (25 to 40) are much tougher. I assume fewer of these were made and the sales were not great enough to warrant continued production. Anyway, I have 36 different, but have not found the Marichal (HF28), Wilhelm (HF39), Lou Brock (HF40) or HF36 (unknown). If you have duplicates of the Marichal, I am interested. Hope this helps.

[ksfarmboy]

Seen uncut sheets of these, heck I may even have some. I will have to check and see what I can find.

[ksfarmboy]

Found it. The sheet I have is from 1981. It has most of the major stars of the day plus the HOF's. My sheet has 2 Mantles, Gibson, Mays, Williams, DiMAggio, Roberts and Snider. I'd post it but I don't have my camera. There are also two disks for the All-Star game in Cleveland on it.

[ooo-ribay]

I had three or four of these pins. I bought them back in the 1980's at the big monthly flea market in Louisville, Kentucky. I didn't pay very much for them. The four I had were big name players. I can't remember if there were more than what I bought or if I bought them all.

I assumed the HF stood for Hall of Fame. I also assumed these were either sold at the HOF museum or were sold during the HOF induction ceremonies. If only given out or sold at the induction ceremonies then one would think that not many people would have wanted the Wilhelm pin and thus their scarcity today.

David

PS. I think I had the McCovey pin that you show and I also think I sold these on eBay years ago....for not very much money.

I have never seen a McCovey :confused:. I would want one if they exist.

[ooo-ribay]

I have been trying to complete this set for many years. It appears there are 40 pins in the set. They are numbered HF1 through HF 40, and yes, the HF stands for Hall of Fame. As far as I know, they were sold at Cooperstown from the late 1970's until sometime in the 1980's. The lower numbers show up frequently on Ebay, but the high numbers (25 to 40) are much tougher. I assume fewer of these were made and the sales were not great enough to warrant continued production. Anyway, I have 36 different, but have not found the Marichal (HF28), Wilhelm (HF39), Lou Brock (HF40) or HF36 (unknown). If you have duplicates of the Marichal, I am interested. Hope this helps.

do you have the whole checklist? I can't PM you, but you can certainly PM me :D

[Cliff Bowman]

I have been trying to complete this set for many years. It appears there are 40 pins in the set. They are numbered HF1 through HF 40, and yes, the HF stands for Hall of Fame. As far as I know, they were sold at Cooperstown from the late 1970's until sometime in the 1980's. The lower numbers show up frequently on Ebay, but the high numbers (25 to 40) are much tougher. I assume fewer of these were made and the sales were not great enough to warrant continued production. Anyway, I have 36 different, but have not found the Marichal (HF28), Wilhelm (HF39), Lou Brock (HF40) or HF36 (unknown).

I just now stumbled across this old thread, there is a pin of Walter Alston but I can't tell what number it is. He was elected to the HOF in 1983, #35 Don Drysdale was elected to the HOF in 1984 and #37 Enos Slaughter was elected to the HOF in 1985, so Alston may very well be #36. Can anyone make out the number?

[MK]

Alston is #30.

[Cliff Bowman]

Thank you for solving that mystery and completing the checklist for me.