Announcement: New YouTube Channel... TSOG !
 

I know what you're thinking.... What the heck is TSOG?

It's short for "The Stuff Of Greatness"... A brand new YouTube Channel that focuses on vintage Baseball Cards and rare Memorabilia. My friend Bart and I have been working on this concept for nearly 2 years, and it has finally come to fruition! The goal is to share some of my favorite (and rarest) pieces, and to draw new collectors into this wonderful hobby.

Each week, we will be adding a couple of new videos to the YouTube Channel. There are only 5 videos posted to date, but if you subscribe, you'll be notified as the new videos are added. Be sure to check in periodically, as we intend to add new videos each week for at least the next couple of years!

Here is a link to the YouTube Channel...

https://www.youtube.com/@tsogreatness

We are keeping the videos brief (about 2 minutes long, on average), so we don't monopolize your time. Please let me know what you think as it continues to evolve, and feel free to let me know what types of items you'd like to see featured. The date range of potential items is huge.... everything from the Civil War era through the 1970s.

Lastly, below is a link to the TSOG web page...

https://www.thestuffofgreatness.com/


I really appreciate the support of this great forum, and hope you will enjoy the content. Please let me know what you think, and many thanks for your consideration!

Mark

WOW Looking forward to it.
Your collection/museum looks amazing

Very nice Mark.
The videos are very professional looking while also coming across relatable to hardcore and causal fans alike.
Good luck with your endeavor.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

Very nicely done. High quality production. I like the narrator’s voice in the trailer, he sounds a lot like Liev Schreiber.

Incredibly well-produced videos. Impressive collection:) Look forward to your future content.

Can’t wait for your pennant overview. :drool:

I know we all value Mark's expertise on pennants. But he is also a Reds collector, and I have valued his opinion on more than one occasion when I've been snooping around for memorabilia. Very excited for more videos to come out.

This is great news! Looking foreword to all the videos.

Very well done! It is Direct yet light.. educational yet fun :). It is a very professional and high quality feel. Love the *ching with dollar amount similar to antique roadshow/pawn stars etc. I really enjoyed these. 2 min each was a idea.Thanks for sharing and the very best of luck.

Ps: I also LOVE the entire “museum” and “art” theme. That’s what many collectors envision their collections to be.

First Class all the way! Looking forward to seeing what turns up next!

Great job Mark!! Looking forward to it!

Really cool, Mark. Looking forward to more videos.

Very much looking forward seeing more of your videos.nice Expos batting helmet

This is a great...thank you for sharing, can't wait to watch.

Super - looking forward to the future.

I'm looking forward to seeing something about some of those baseball related tabletop games I saw in that pilot video. You rarely see anyone talk or show anything about items like that. Great stuff!

.

Great stuff Mark. I've subscribed and looking forward to more videos.

Mark this is very cool. I know nothing about things that aren’t felt and triangular but look forward to learning about the rest of your amazing collection!

Many thanks to Jeff, Mark, Dan, James, Rob, Tim, Mike, Ben, Chris, Gary, Marc, Guy, Ron, Bob, Gary and Greg for watching. Sorry, Gonefishin... I love your moniker, but don't know your name. ;)

Really appreciate all of your support and all of the subscriptions. There is a ton more to come...

Bob:
I love your idea about the Arcade Games! They all still work, and seeing the games in action will make for an awesome video. Some require mad skills. We have a lot of episodes "in the can" that will air soon, but have not yet filmed any of the arcade games. We will do so very soon, as "Producer Bart" has agreed they'll make for a great segment. Please stay tuned!

Guy:
Glad you made note of the Expos Helmet. That is actually Tony Perez' Game-worn Helmet, circa 1977-79. Lots of great usage on that one. If you want to see some closer images, just shoot me a PM. I don't have a ton of Expos stuff, but this a favorite.

Ben:
Thanks for noticing all those nuances. Producer Bart is a consummate professional, and really knows his stuff. You wouldn't believe the lighting set-up that is required to eliminate reflection and make it look professional. He will be thrilled you noticed!

Greg:
Don't fret... the next segment will feature a couple of ancient oversized pennants.

Thanks again to all... more to follow soon!

Sounds great Mark. I was especially interested when I saw those as I have a modest collection of baseball related board and other games, as well as cards. I also have a similar tabletop arcade game, Marvel's Pop-Up, that looks somewhat similar to the ones I saw on your video. Coin operated and great graphics and all. From the 30s or 40s I believe, made of wood mostly. You definitely don't see those kind of tabletop arcade games every day.

Now all you need is an Exhibit card distribution machine, and a gumball dispensing machine that also distributes baseball cards. LOL

Tsog
 

Hi Mark,
TSOG is AWESOME and really well done! :cool:
Your collection is truly amazing & I can't wait to view more episodes.
Congrats on the launch of TSOG.

Hey Mark...Wow, this is great! Thanks for sharing your collection and knowledge. I will definitely be watching.

Videos
 

Mark. You are a natural!
Best of luck!!!
Phil

Great job Mark most enjoyable!

Nicely done Mark

Great Youtube channel Mark! I've been spending more time over there lately, and it's a great visual medium for collectors. I only hope my videos can someday be as good as yours. Looking forward to your future videos.

Simply Great

This is great to see! I look forward to all your future additions.

Kudos
 

So well done, Mark. I’ve subscribed, and look forward to all of your stories and the spectacular eye-candy from your collection.

Dave

Love it!
 

Just subscribed yesterday, Mark. My wife even expressed interest and started asking follow-up questions on a couple items.

With future episodes and your collection, topics could be endless....but if you ever run out of ideas and are taking 'requests', Net54 is here to help!

Thanks!
 

I am enjoying the videos a lot. Very well made. Thanks for sharing Mark!
Best,
Joe

sick Mark...Very nice job. I'll be watching!!!!Subscribed

New YouTube channel
 

Hi Mark, Gave you a sub.

Looks great!

Subscribed! I have a YT channel as well focusing just on baseball autographs and always enjoy watching this stuff. Looks very nice.

PM me your channel please.

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Same here Frank. Sounds cool... eager to see it! :)

Additionally, I want to thank Scott, Bill, Phil, Mike, Jason, Mike, Jim, Gary, Dave, Matt, Joe, Chuck, Scott and Frank for the input, kind comments and subs.

It is very much appreciated and I hope you are enjoying the content. Tons more to come, and we will shake it up a little bit as we progress with this. A really cool item is being featured on Friday under a slightly different format.

Thanks again for tuning in!

Really enjoyed your latest on trade stimulators!

Thanks Rob!

Bob C had asked us to do a video on them, so we did. Hopefully Bob and the other forum members will enjoy it as well. Here's a link to that video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i-veL0zFTI

Mark, just started watching your videos, you did a GREAT job!......and have some AMAZING items! Keep the videos coming.

Thank you Paul!

They'll definitely keep coming... Just the tip of the iceberg so far.

Another new one should air tomorrow (Friday) morning. But your guess is as good as mine as to what it will be. My buddy Bart is the keeper of the schedule. Regardless.... many thanks for your support!

These videos are great sir! Fantastic job! I’ve watched em all so far and subscribed

Thanks so much... really appreciate the support!

We definitely keep them short and sweet. So watching them is never a major time commitment. I've been watching more videos on YouTube since we started this, and so many are long and laborious to the point of extreme boredom. Seems like everyone is doing a half-hour long "card reveal" as they get their submissions back from the TPGs.

So this is a completely different animal, focusing almost exclusively on vintage memorabilia. We may "break schedule" and film a Jackie Robinson related segment next weekend (to air in conjunction with Jackie Day on April 15). It's a super tight timeline for Bart to shoot, edit and refine the video, but we'll likely give it our best shot. Should be a good one...

Please stay tuned and thanks again!

Mark very informative & a pleasure to watch, great job

Mark this is the best thing on video since The Benny Hill Show. Keep ‘em coming!

Well hopefully it's a bit better than this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqxm-u8T2bc

Fantastic!

Really enjoying all the video's, just watch the Jackie Robinson one, Congrats

Great stuff Sir.

+1 agree great stuff

Thanks so much, Greg, Guy, Bob and Jeff!

So glad you're enjoying the videos. We are starting to cover some items that are more easily collected, and are perhaps more contemporary than the super antique stuff shown so far.

But plenty of memorabilia from all eras coming your way soon! Your support is much appreciated!

Mark

Jackie Robinson miscellaneous….maybe the best yet!

Thanks Rob. Very nice, coming from a die-hard Giants fan!

We had a few other Jackie items that did not photograph very well, and thus didn’t make the cut. But the ones we showed are pretty seldom seen. For anyone else who wants to view it, here’s the link…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oKxwye9-Rls

Thanks for watching!

We just posted a new video on Hartland Statues. It is part 1 of 2 segments, and hopefully is a fun watch. This one covers the 18 original statues produced by Hartland in the late '50s - early '60s...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEnb-FMXtqE&t=371s

Episode 2 will air next week, and will cover some of the rarer Hartland nuances and peripherals. Please stay tuned and thanks for watching!

Bart’s wearing his Pearl Jam hat again! 👍

Just finished watching the Hartland video. Really enjoyed it Mark. I've recently completed the original Harltand's. Now I'm adding the boxes and tags.

Looking forward to the next video.

Thanks Gary, and congrats on completing the set… Major accomplishment!

The Hartlands Part 2 episode just went live, and includes a few boxes/tags. Some other rare Hartland “peripherals” as well. Here’s a link to Part 2…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=636-nDZ_ReM


The boxes and tags are so much tougher than the statues themselves, so best of luck with your pursuit. I gave up on the “completionist” thing, and decided just to collect a few examples of each. It’s just too hard to find them in the condition I like!

Hartlands Part 2 is great!

Your co-host/producer is quite the card. What’s the background on Bart? And don’t say “flat cardboard box used for shipping.” :p

Loved the Hartland Part 2 episode. The paint masks are very cool.

The background is TSOG's Worldwide Studios. ;)

Seriously, Bart has a ridiculously varied background. He has spent most of his illustrious career writing and producing radio and television ad campaigns. Name any character actor and he has probably worked with him/her at some point. I have yet to name a celebrity that he can't impersonate to a tee. He also produced a lot of the anti-smoking ads you may have seen/heard back in the day.

In addition, he's a skilled musician who plays multiple instruments. He's played me a few 1980s recordings of his "ska" band, and it was really good... sort of in the style of English Beat, XTC and Madness, if you remember those bands.

These videos take longer than you'd imagine to produce. Even though they're completely unscripted, getting the right lighting, angles and sound can be difficult, especially when we're filming the interactive episodes like the Arcade Games and Hartlands.

Bart is quite a perfectionist. If the lighting isn't right or if there's reflection from a glass frame, it becomes a trial and error "musical chairs" of moving and dimming the lights, and repositioning the camera angle. Plus, space is limited so we must carefully work around a lot of "the stuff". Then there's all of the studio work, editing, special effects, music, sound effects and insertion of still shots. I could never do it myself, as it takes such time and patience.

So it's a true collaborative effort. I suggest the subject matter, provide ideas and talk about the stuff... and Bart does all of the rest. So I guess you'd say it's equal parts work and fun... with Bart doing the work and me having the fun.

Mark:

I join the chorus saying how much I enjoy your TSOG series. Of course being a GIANT Hartland collector your two part episodes were right on!!

Everyone should subscribe to the series

Hey thanks Fred... That means a lot, coming from the Godfather of Hartlands himself!

As for subscribing, Yes... the more subscriptions we can build, the more episodes we can continue bring to you. It's super easy to do... just hit the subscribe button (who knew?) That way, you can reference all the TSOG episodes in a single view.

At the time of this writing, we're up to 194 subscriptions, and I know a bunch of those are from Net54 guys.... thank you! It is a bit "slower going" than we had envisioned, but then again we've only been at it for a couple of months.

It is perplexing to see the numbers for card reveals and card "mail days".... videos that go on for over a half hour, simply showing card after card and the grades they received. Those videos seem to garner thousands of subscribers, so I suppose that card collectors must outnumber memorabilia collectors by a wide margin.

But regardless of the numbers, we are very pleased and feel privileged to offer one of the few ongoing YouTube series that focuses on the sports memorabilia side. Many thanks again to all who have given us a look, as we truly appreciate the support!

Just a heads-up on the 3 latest TSOG episodes. We just posted the third and final episode of the "All-Star Pennant Parade". Today's episode went up a bit later in the day, as Bart had to elevate the editing and production to include a few vintage video clips.

Pretty cool stuff in this final segment, featuring pennants from All-Star Games past. Please take a peek and be sure to share/subscribe if you like the content (link below...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLo11CyMyu8


Thanks for looking!

You’re getting better all the time. Great fun Mark, I loved the Wagner statue!

TSOG, not to be confused with TSOL :p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYADIBqVRvM

Great stuff Mark and nicely produced! Look forward to many more segments.

Another great one with the Walter Johnson statue! What is he made out of? Bronze? I noticed a lot of your figurals are standing on one leg. Are those very prone to breaking?

Thanks Rob...

That Statue is not bronze, although it certainly was made to look that way. It is simply a cast metal that was treated with a brownish-gold coating. Really attractive in person. On very rare occasion, I've seen this figure with a shiny silver finish (which I don't care for nearly as much).

I have seen about 6 - 7 of these through the years.... but they are almost always missing the Wilson Base. I have seen one other with the Wilson Base and one with a replacement wood base. All of the others are lacking the base. I know there is one featured in one of the current auctions that's missing the base. But I forget who has it (probably REA).

Although Johnson was never paid to pose for this statue (like the famous Ulrich Statue), it is unquestionably The Big Train depicted in his classic follow-through delivery. These figural pieces are indeed more vulnerable when standing on a single foot. You have to look closely to be sure there are no repairs or restoration in the form of an extra weld, soldering or even glue. Those are automatic deal-killers for me, anyway.

Thanks for watching, and for anyone else who's interested, here's a link to the piece we're talking about...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDh8PDGzk_M

Oh, man….before you flipped the Owchinko jersey around, I thought it was a McCovey. Still groovy, though. :cool:

Boy, do I wish.... Just checked Baseball Almanac, and looks like Big Mac had made his way back to the Giants by then. But I still remember how crazy it felt to see McCovey in a garish yellow Padres uniform after sporting the traditional/classic Giants duds for so many years. :eek:

Here's the latest episode for anyone who cares to see it- in the style of Mannix or Barnaby Jones (for those of you are ancient enough to remember those far out '70s TV shows...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCUWWmF2XmA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuldM3o47Tg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upYY3MTUdC0

Just to finish off the seventies funk, here’s a link to the final segment of the series. Be sure to check out the Astrodome Usherette Uniform… the ladies’ answer to those far-out Rainbow uniforms of the disco era…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nJb9Be...F0bmVzcw%3D%3D

Thanks for watching!

About time!

I’ve been jonesing for some more TSOG!

This was bumped in another thread, but I’m bumping it again.

Great episode.

Mark….who does the smooth, intro voice? A former game show announcer? :p

Thanks Rob...

I can ask Bart, who is connected to a seemingly endless number of voice actors and narrators. I think he mentioned to me that the guy was from Canada, but that may have been just for the "Teaser" video we did in the beginning to launch the series...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGo1I6SU4yE

So there may be more than one narrator. Is there a specific episode you are referring to?

Yeah… the latest one.

The smooth-voiced fellow is a Canadian-based narrator who I doubt anyone has ever heard of. Bart had mentioned his name but I promptly forgot it. :rolleyes:

Apparently he does commercials, voice-overs and such... and lends some professionalism to our widely ad-libbed videos!

Just wanted to post a link to the latest TSOG segment....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNptAfR3EA

Yes it's corny, but a super rare piece that hopefully you'll enjoy seeing. A very similar example recently sold in the Hunt Live Auction last week. Very rare for one of these to come to market. Some incredible and scarce early equipment in that auction (Tornado Palm, Ambidextrous and Duckweb Gloves, super-rare Bats, and so much more that "broke the bank").

Hope you enjoy,
Mark

Well done and entertaining as usual

If you are into mid-century Flannel Jerseys, this episode may be for you. In this one we cover a couple of beautiful Houston Game-used Jerseys that are super tough to find. A couple of rare Caps and even a guest appearance by Harry Caray are included as well. ;)

Hope you enjoy and thanks for watching/subscribing. Link below....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLIY0FF91kI