Why the **** did you start collecting vintage memorabilia????

[Forever Young]

Does anyone have a definitive moment that they can attribute their love of collecting VINTAGE MEMORABILIA to?

I know I can….and I am going to share it whether you want to hear it or not.
First off.. I am not a writer anymore. I gave it up after college so I am sorry for all the F/sh words as well as gramatical/spelling errors. it is not in APA format either. This is raw dudes.. 

I was in 4th grade, 1987 when my dad took me with him on a road trip to MT for work. We had a great time planned of snowmobiling in Yellowstone(which we did), big sky skiing along with many other things. The problem is, I contracted the chicken pocks while in MT.

I still remember hallucinating in the hotel room thinking there were vampire spiders under the bed(I guess those were my subconscious fears). Anyway… I was worthless and my dad felt really bad for me. It was supposed to be a bonding week and I was most likely acting like a little Biat...ABY. There was, however, one thing we had in common(that I perked up for)..talking baseball and baseball cards.

At that time I was into Boggs, Mattingly and Puckett like every other kid while trying to understand names like Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Carew, Seaver, Rose ect who were on their way out and shells of themselves. My dad would tell me stories of them but mostly of Mickey Mantle. My collection consisted of 1980-87 topps cards(sets I was putting together by hand) and that’s about it. The 1980 to 1984 cards were beat to sh*t as I was definitely not concerned with the condition AT ALL. It was still a time where us kids were not looking to make money on them but looked at the images, artwork and read the states on the back.

While in Bozeman, my dad looked up baseball cards in the yellow pages(probably several shops back then) and picked out a couple to take me to(cheer me up). The first one we went to was small but we were able to find a several Maris cards(1961 mvp, 1965 and 1967 topps) along with a ton of commons from 65,66 and 67). There were no Mantle cards there but my dad talked to me about Maris and Mantle(we are from ND) so the Maris connection history was fun to learn on the way to shop #2.

The second shop we went to would change me and my collecting habits forever. It was called COPE’S COLLECTIBLES. It was owned and operated by Everett Cope. When I walked in, I was overwhelmed. There were multiple Canseco and Mattingly Donruss rookies(huge back then), Aarons, Mays, Schmidt, Bench ect ect but no Mantle.
HOWEVER… I saw a bunch of signed pictures of old players all over the wall. One said Mickey Mantle and was signed. The signature was beautiful and as fun/almost as fictional as Mickey Mouse to me. All the great, "larger than life" stories were so hard to believe. It was a beautiful framed piece with all his stats, perfectly signed and numbered to 1000.

I had never seen anything like this. My dad asked what these were and so goes the story. This is before the players were getting s*it tons of money from Upper deck and Topps and everyone else and their mom. In a nut shell, Ev commissioned artists on 1980-87ish to paint many of the greats. He then made up prints of these paintings along with career records and them(living players) sign each one limited to 1000. He had to be one of the first to do this.

On that visit, Ev and my dad talked about the old players and Mickey Mantle at great length. I learned so much in just a few hours. Ev had pictures of him and the Mick at the signings. He had stories of him and close friend Harmon Killer fishing...Ted Williams giving him hitting instructions, Ev in the dugout at yankee stadium ...ect. I was in awe.

To make a long story short, my dad(not having much money back then) bought his sick son a limited signed print of Mantle, a signed Mantle ball, a signed mays and Aaron ball and sadly.. a MINT JOSE CANSECO 1986 DONRUSS ROOKIE( that I believe he spent the most on). I still have all of those pieces in my collection.

I retuned back to ND with the Mick in hand with a complete stat list and an AUTOGRAPH as age 12. I read everything I could get my hands on and educated all of my friends. There was a group of about five of us who were tight and collected together. Two of them I still keep in touch with but they no longer collect. I, however, never stopped. The visit to COPE’S COLLECTIBLES and the purchase of the Mantle items at age 12 sparked my crazy collecting engine and the "sickness" began. From then on, I collected vintage memorabilia/cards only. With teh occasional Billy Rip. f-face card of course. Along the way, I reconnected with Ev in college and purchased a Ted Williams career records plaque as well but then fell back out of touch.

At this year’s National. I saw an original oil painting in Legendary auctions and I immediately recognized it. It was the HUGE painting I saw as a kid in Ev’s shop that all the Mantle prints were made from(including mine). It was done my Robert Stephen Simon and signed perfectly(7-8 inches long). I mentioned I knew Ev Cope to Doug Allen and he said he was at the show. I gave Doug my card and asked that he have Ev call me. Of course he did and I am happy we are back in touch.

I was able to add the MICKEY MANTLE as well and the TED WILLIAMS ORIGINAL, SIGNED, OIL PAINTINGS USED FOR THE PLAQUES to my collection this month!

Although not Kreindlers , these still evoke so many childhood memories and will be keep sakes in my collection forever. I feel like these are also part of the evolution in original baseball art and baseball collecting as a whole(even outside of my story). IDK if that makes sense..

When I go back to my parent’s house. 4 things are always the same; their love for me, my mom’s kick a** food(rhubarb desert is my favorite), my dad and I fighting over the remote while talking baseball and Mickey Mantle Career records plaque on the wall in my old room.

Now I also have the original painting in my house and can't wait until my dad sees it.


Anyway, below are the prints that were sold way back in the day along with the 4 original artworks I recently added to my collection(original mantle and teddy oils and (2) mantle sketches also used for the plaques.

Again...sorry for the ramblings, misspellings, grammar issues ect.. but deal with it.

I needed a quick break from work and stressed out. I should have spent more time on this but sometimes writing an account quickly is the best way as is raw and most accurate(less BS). I like to ham it up as those found out at the net54 dinner. For those of you who I haven’t met yet, remind me to tell you the penguin joke when we do.

Love to hear your stories.

Ben


1) ORIGINAL FRAMED MANTLE PLAQUE SIGNED BY MANTLE AND NUMBERED (LIKE THE ONE HANGING ON MY CHILDHOOD WALL-3 pictures).
2) ORIGINAL FRAMED TED WILLIAMS PLAQUE SIGNED BY TEDDY BALLGAME(LIKE THE ONE HANGING ON MY CHILDHOOD WALL).
3) ORIGINAL PAINTING USED FOR NUMBERED MANTLE PRINTS/PLAQUES-SIGNED BY BOTH THE MICK AND ARTIST SIMON-24X30
4) ORIGINAL SKETCHES USED FOR NUMBERED MANTLE PRINT/PLAQUES-SIGNED BY BOTH THE MICK AND ARTIST SIMON
5)ORIGINAL PAINTING USED FOR NUMBERED TED WILLIAMS PRINTS/PLAQUES-SIGNED BY BOTH TED WILLIAMS AND ARTIST WARD CAMBRIDGE
6/7..ECT) PICTURES AND LINKS RELATED TO EVERETT COPE, HIS PLAQUES AND HIS SERVICE TO THE HOBBY. EV IS A GREAT GUY AND HAS PROVIDED A LOT OF PEOPLE MANY MEMORIES. HERE IS TO YOU EV!

http://jeffmarren.com/Legendary/0813...ction0813.html

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com...534161a63.html

http://baseballrecordsdigest.com/about/