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From the Basement Posts

From the Basement: On a Most Valuable Turkey (Collectible) Hunt

From the Basement: On a Most Valuable Turkey (Collectible) Hunt

I climbed out of my basement and into a tree stand this cold Thanksgiving morning on a very specific hunt. Rather than spend my early, pre-gorging hours watching the Detroit Lions and searching for Barry Sanders rookie cards, I set out to track down a turkey. Did I mention my tree stand was eBay and […]

From the Basement: Collecting Ticket Stubs from the World Series and Beyond

From the Basement: Collecting Ticket Stubs from the World Series and Beyond
Written by
Christopher C. Wuensch

The first pitches have been thrown on the 2024 World Series, bringing hundreds of thousands of fans flooding into Dodger and Yankee stadiums. These fans approach the gates, scan their phones and happily enter. All told, if the series stretches a max of seven games, some 363,500 fans will push through the turnstiles. And a […]

Rediscovering Sticker Collecting with the Panini COPA America 2024 Sticker Album

Rediscovering Sticker Collecting with the Panini COPA America 2024 Sticker Album
Written by
Christopher C. Wuensch

Traditionally I use this space to descend my basement steps, walk past the dormant treadmill and growing donation pile, to pull out some dusty relic or trading card from my vast collection of…stuff. This time, however, I’m staying on the ground floor and introducing my daughter to the love of collecting stickers. Panini Conmebol COPA […]

From Hardball to Soft Serve, Some History of Major League Baseball Ice Cream Helmets

From Hardball to Soft Serve, Some History of Major League Baseball Ice Cream Helmets
Written by
Christopher C. Wuensch

Some collectibles arrive with a proverbial cherry on top. A pristine Hot Wheels Redline found at a garage sale. The rocket-firing Boba Fett still in its original Kenner packaging. A GEM-MT 10 rated Mickey Mantle rookie unearthed among the must of some long forgotten basement. Others arrive with a literal cherry on top and require […]

History of Vintage Collectible Foam Fingers, Hands and Beyond

History of Vintage Collectible Foam Fingers, Hands and Beyond
Written by
Christopher C. Wuensch

There’s only one true way to show the world that your sport memorabilia collection is No. 1. That’s with a novelty Foam Finger held triumphantly toward the sky. This classic piece of sports fandom has become a staple at ballparks, stadiums and arenas the world over, where they’ve been stylized to just about every sports […]

From the Basement: Remembering Baseball Legend Tommy Lasorda and Collecting Autographed Sports Cards

From the Basement: Remembering Baseball Legend Tommy Lasorda and Collecting Autographed Sports Cards
Written by
Christopher C. Wuensch

From the Basement is a recurring hobbDB blog where Christopher C. Wuensch delves into his extensive baseball card collection to discover gems from throughout the decades…  The world of baseball woke up on Friday morning to the news that the voice of one of its most ebullient pitchmen had sadly been silenced with the passing […]

Autographed Baseball Cards: To Sign or Not to Sign

Autographed Baseball Cards: To Sign or Not to Sign
Written by
Christopher C. Wuensch

You can tell a lot about a ball player by the way they treat their fans, particularly their youngest supporters. Both players and fans report to sun-soaked spring training camps in Arizona and Florida this month, creating baseball’s version of the Venn diagram, in which many of the barriers between athletes and common folk become […]

1987 Topps Celebrates 30th Anniversary

1987 Topps Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Written by
Christopher C. Wuensch

Gerald Perry. Gerald “Gosh Darn it” Perry. I was only 11 at the time so my cursing wasn’t quite as sophisticated when it came to describing the one elusive player preventing me from completing the 1987 Topps baseball set. The Atlanta Braves first baseman finally revealed himself in cardboard form when my childhood friend Ray pulled […]

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