1979 Metallic Creations Signature Miniatures

[con40]

No Ryan statue has ever been seen publicly and it's considered non-existent. I'm not sure about the Rose.

[sschauer]

Originally Posted by con40

No Ryan statue has ever been seen publicly and it's considered non-existent. I'm not sure about the Rose.

Ditto on Rose statue have only seen this artist proof never seen a card.

[FireGardy]

Here are the 8 I got last week. All printed on Kodak photo stock.

[laughlinfan]

Thanks for the info on the Rose and Ryan - based on everything I know and have seen, it would make sense that neither of these figures was produced.

How about a card for Cedeno, Brett, Clemente or Munson? If any of these exist, I would think it would most likely be the Cedeno, as that is the only figure of the 4 that actually looks like it was manufactured as part of the original Signature Miniature set. Does the 2010 Standarad Catalog list a card and a statue for all 24 players?

I made a quick stop back at my mom's over the weekend (spinning through to fetch my daughter from a summer camp) and I found it interesting that the McCovey figures we have appear to have been manufactured to remove the Signature Miniature engraving on the bottom - almost as if they either soldered a thin layer of pewter over it or scraped it out. Again, I remember the McCovey being touch and go as far as getting it and getting the broken one replaced - I think it was the last one that we were able to get with a card, so I am thinking the company was just about belly up when they started making McCovey. I also looked quickly at the others, and one of Brett, Clemente, or Munson had a different company name on the bottom. All three had the player name in a box just like the orginal series, so they definitely look to have been an attempt at continuing the series, but all three were larger than the others. The Clementes were very odd looking, as the depth dimensions were not proportional. Looking head on, they don't look as odd, but from the side they look to be about half the depth they should have been.

[FireGardy]

The 2010 Catalog only states that it is unclear whether a Munson card exists. Says a Munson statue and Ryan card are confirmed as existing.

[FireGardy]

Is it possible that the set is larger than we thought?

I was screwing around on google and found these from Baseball Digest:
Oct 1979

Apr 1980

Jul 1980

Mar 1982


The pictured statues match the ones in the Signature Miniatures set.

I also found this Sporting News clip (google won't allow you to see whole article)
Volume 187


Players on checklist but not these ads (6):
George Brett SP
Roberto Clemente SP
Steve Garvey
Thurman Munson SP
Pete Rose SP
Nolan Ryan SP

Players in ads but not checklisted (15):
Cy Young
Dizzy Dean
Joe Tinker
Johnny Evers
Frank Chance
Al Oliver
Bob Horner
Vida Blue
Willie Stargell
Bob Lemon
Maury Wills
Lee Mazzilli
Frank Tanana
Gaylord Perry
Sandy Hawley

edit found this:
Oct 1978 lists Garvey and Rose

[laughlinfan]

Sandy Hawley?

Any chance that you can see the actual ordering blank from those baseball digests in your search?

[FireGardy]

Originally Posted by sschauer

Ditto on Rose statue have only seen this artist proof never seen a card.

Do you own this Rose?

[sschauer]

Originally Posted by FireGardy

Do you own this Rose?

No but I know who does.

[FireGardy]

How big is it? Was it by any chance framed in El Segundo, CA?

[sschauer]

it is 10 x 15 and no markings on back on where framed or any other info.

[mrmopar]

I have several of the Garvey statue and cards and a few other easier to come by cards of different players. I think I may have gotten at least one from the guy described earlier as buying out the stock, as I remember getting photo copies with my statue showing what I seem to remember as flyers promoting and selling the statues and possibly even a story on them (Maybe from SCD?). I am not 100% sure I kept the copies he sent, but I will have to see if I can find them if I did.

It was interesting that it was noted these were purchased from Pacific Trading Cards. I live in WA and remember visiting Mike Cramer's store before he was producing cards at the volume we later knew as Pacific Trading Cards. That shop was a favorite stop when we visited my sister and drove by. My parents would usually agree to stop for my brother and I. At the time, he was doing minor league sets and those Cramer Production sepia old timer cards. I remember getting several boxes of 1984 Topps FB from him, as they were $5 each!

A few years back, he was selling old stock out of what was once a retail store in front of the card factory in Lynnwood, WA. I didn't see anything like the statues, but he had bundles of stuff, just like you'd see in his catalogs (pennants, pins, books, cards, etc).