collectors or milk & cookie mug?

[Rob D.]

When I was a sportswriter for The Canton Repository in the early 1990s, I went to the factory and warehouse of the company that produced these for a story. Though they were officially licensed products -- through Topps, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA -- I don't think there was any rhyme or reason to which players/cards were produced, i.e. there was no checklist.

I remember the company's showroom had about as many different products as you could imagine -- mugs, plates, porcelain baseball cards, etc., etc., etc. Lots and lots of 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle and 1954 Hank Aaron items.

I still have the 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan coffee mug that I picked up that day, and the printing on the bottom says it's an "edition limited to 30 firing days." Like many "limited edition" pieces, my mug is better served for drinking coffee in the morning than it is for paying for part of a college education.