1972 Milton Bradley - Lou Brock (Cardinals)

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Team signed baseballs were the thing well before single-signed balls exploded on the market.
What is a "Team Signed Baseball" ???
Simple answer: A ball with XXX signatures of a certain team for a certain year. What is difficult is the XXX. Baseball tons of roster moves make it nearly impossible to "Get Them All".

Generally, team signed baseballs from early 1900's had 10 to 15 signatures, the 1940's that jumped to 18 to 25. Joyce Sports Research Collection (Notre Dame) says "signatures must include only members of a specific team from a specific year, and there must be some approximation of completeness."

Not concrete but to me a "team ball" MUST have ALL the team's STARS (unless a rookie or in season trade) and in today's market at least 20, preferably more, and the manager.

Determining Age of Team Signed Balls
"Official" league balls have stamped signatures of current league presidents on the "sweet spot". Starting 1934/1935 balls were produced by Spalding (NL) and Reach (AL). Rawlings took over in 1977/78. Have a possible team roster at hand, ESPN & baseball-reference.com have great sites), decipher a few signatures then solve the puzzle.

Team Signed Baseballs Values
Pricing team signed baseballs is difficult due to subjectivity and factors involved suce as: Signatures placement, quality, strength, number of autographs, stars, age, team significance, and eye appeal considering fading, whiteness, scuffs, shellacking, staining, overall wear...

Team autographed baseballs on official league balls get higher values. They are "official", made better, preserve better and even help in dating especially with balls signed at "Reunion" baseball card shows which brought together great teams of the past.

Facsimile Autographed Balls
1960's/1970's machine-printed "autographed" team baseballs were sold at stadium gift shops for around $1.95. Easy to identify as all signatures were uniform in ink, color, size and look. "Facsimile" signatures are also often found on baseball cards.

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"Reaching for the Stars" hard-backed book
autographed by Troy Aikman & Roger Staubach
Limited to only 3,000 Worldwide
New and NM/MINT - WOW what a great item !!!

"Reaching for the Stars" is a beautiful limited edition HARD-COVER, serially numbered book and one that all Cowboys fans and collectors should own. Each book is individually serially numbered with a print run limited to only 3,000 made !!!
The brand new and never been read book is filled with stories and photos and comes in the original box as direct from the publisher, Taylor Publishing, and is accompanied by their Certificate of Authenticity so you KNOW the autographs are real !
Approximately 8-1/2" x 11" (coffee table size), it features a leather bound hard cover with silver foil stamped title and is extensively illustrated with both color and black and white photographs.

Believe me when I say the photos don't come close to doing this item justice !!!

In 1969, Ajman & Manama made baseball card collector's happy with their official government issued baseball "Champions of Sports" stamps with 6 of the greatest stars ever: Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Honus Wagner & George Sisler. Manama and Ajman stamps are neqarly the same except for color and country. The pictured notice from the Ajman post office stated stamp sheets & sets were limited with & w/o perforations. For an incredible website on Ajman sports stamps visit golowesstamps.com.

Tobacco Cards

Starting approximately in 1886, sportscards, mostly baseball cards, were often included with tobacco products, for promotional purposes and also because the card reinforced the packaging and protected cigarettes from damage. These sports cards are referred to as tobacco cards in the baseball card hobby. Over the next few years many different companies produced baseball cards. Tobacco cards soon started to disappear as the American Tobacco Company tried to develop a monopoly by buying out other companies.

They were reintroduced in the 1900s, as American Tobacco came under pressure from antitrust action and Turkish competition. The most famous and most expensive, baseball card is the rare T206 Honus Wagner. The card exists in very limited quantities compared to others of its type because Wagner forced the card to be removed from printing. It is widely (and incorrectly) believed that Wagner did so because he refused to promote tobacco, but the true explanation lies in a dispute over compensation.

Soon other companies also began producing baseball and football cards. Sports magazines such as The Sporting News were early entries to the market. Candy manufacturers soon joined the fray and reflected a shift toward a younger target audience for cards. Caramel companies were particularly active and baseball cards were one of the first prizes to be included in Cracker Jacks. World War I soon suppressed baseball card production.

1972 Milton Bradley - Lou Brock (Cardinals)

Team Autographed / Signed Baseballs

1969 Ajman & Manama
Official Postage Stamps

1972 Milton Bradley - Lou Brock (Cardinals)

Team Autographed / Signed Baseballs

1969 Ajman & Manama Official Postage Stamps

1969 Ajman & Manama
Official Postage Stamps