1972 Topps FB #230 Joe Greene (Steelers)

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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 !!!

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.

The 1969-1970 Topps Basketball set, (99) "Tall Boys" (a huge 2-1/2 x 4-11/16) , sold in 10-card packs for 10 cents, was history making in card size & players. WOW !!! Lew Alcindor's ROOKIE (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), John Havlicek, Dave Bing, Earl the Pearl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Elvin Hayes & more.

Brightly-colored "Rulers" were random inserts. Delicate 2-1/2 x 9-7/8, printed on thin paper, they featured a cartoon drawing and a ruler measuring his height. Planned for 24, #5 Bill Russell was not issued.

How long have sports cards been around ? (part 2)

The first important and mainstream basketball set was issued by Bowman in 1948. Other than a Topps set in 1957-58 and a 1961-62 Fleer set, there were no mainstream basketball sets issued until Topps started producing yearly sets beginning with their 1969-70 set featuring the rookie card of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who then went under the name of Lew Alcindor.

In hockey, there were a few sets issued in the 1910's and while O-Pee-Chee issued some sets in the 1930's, the real modern sets began in 1951 with the itroduction of Parkhurst's first set.

In racing, while cards go back as far as the early Indy car days of 1911, modern racing sets began in 1988 with the issues released by MAXX.

1972 Topps FB #230 Joe Greene (Steelers)

Team Autographed / Signed Baseballs

1969-1970 Topps Basketball Cards
Checklist & Values

1972 Topps FB #230 Joe Greene (Steelers)

Team Autographed / Signed Baseballs

1969-1970 Topps Basketball Cards Checklist & Values

1969-1970 Topps Basketball Cards
Checklist & Values