COURTESY OF SPORTS COLLECTORS DIGEST * OCTOBER 11, 2002                

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•Playoff Absolute Memorabilia ($140). “This stuff is going absolutely great” •Donruss Elite 2002 ($55) •Donruss Studio ($55) •Fleer Box Score ($95) •Bowman Chrome ($69) •Topps T206 Second Series ($60) •Fleer Top Prospects ($95) •Bowman Heritage ($53) Kudos to Donruss, Hegwood said, for a job well- done, er, a continued job well-done. “They’re putting out some awfully good products,” Hegwood said. “They definitely realize that they have to put something of value in their boxes, if they want the boxes to sell. You can’t put $20 worth of cards in a box and then charge $80 … and Playoff-Donruss knows that.” Gove said ’55 and ’56 Topps seemed to be the hot sellers in San Francisco, along with ’65 and ’67 star cards. “It was a fabulous show,” said Herbert Gin of Card & Comic Central (San Francisco). “The traffic on Friday was super, Saturday was good and Sunday really, really picked up again. The autograph lineup was good, too.” Also appearing: Doug Jolley, Langston Walker, Eric Byrnes, Mark Ellis, Aaron Harang, Napolean Harris, Roberto Duran, George Foster, Ken Griffey Sr., Dave Parker, Ramon Martinez, Kirk Rueter, Benito Santi- ago and Damon Minor. Plus, ex-Raider Skip Thomas signed at a dealer’s table. Gin noted strong weekend sales of autographed cards, especially Hall of Famers. And Hall of Fame memorabilia cards, too. “Low-numbered memorabilia cards of non-name players just don’t seem to sell, regardless of how low the print-run is, even 1-of-10,” Gin said. “Collectors seem to want Hall of Famers. That seems to be the trend.” Lauren Mirsky of Pacific Data (Bellevue, Wash.) said Kobe Bryant, Bonds and Raiders were the week- end’s hot sellers at her booth. Tiger Woods, too. “This definitely was a good seller’s market,” she said. Al Ross of BIG AL, a publication seller from North- ern California, said high-end programs did well. Such as, first- and second-year Giants programs. He also sold a 49ers yearbook from 1963, the first one he has ever had, for $100. Plus, he sold more than 150 foot- ball team pictures, mostly 49ers and Raiders, on his four-for-$10 table. “We’ve been at this show three consecutive years and the traffic always is great,” said Pepper Hastings, director of grading sales & services for Beckett.com. Beckett had Raw Card Review grading on-site. Suffice it to say, as Hastings said, “We did well enough to keep coming back to these Tri-Star shows.” Beckett also offered more than 250 free gradings as part of its open-a-pack-at-our-booth promotion. “We started that at SportsFest and have kept it going,” Hastings said. “It really gets people talking about cards and of course gives us the chance to talk to them, be it about the full grading service or subscriptions. Tri-Star’s next show is Oct. 18-20 at the Overland Park International Trade Center in suburban Kansas City. Scheduled to appear: Barry Sanders, Bo Jackson, Pete Rose, Bill Mazeroski, Lou Brock, Bobby Richard- son and others. ShowCircuit ••• Inscription jersey collection keeps growing and growing TEXT AND PHOTOS BY ROSS FORMAN I n the ever-crazy inscription world, Kenneth Lee clearly is the king. After all, who else has a Pete Rose-signed Cincinnati Reds jersey with 67 inscriptions. Or a Reggie Jackson jersey with 50 inscriptions. George Foster, at Tri-Star Produc- tions’ Labor Day weekend show, added 59 inscriptions to a Reds jersey. “After all the baseballs I’ve collected, mostly single- signed, and all the signed photos, I wanted something different. And this definitely is different. Not everyone has these types of jerseys. They’re definitely one-of-a- kind,” said Lee, 32, of San Jose, Calif. “It’s been fun, especially to see the players’ reactions. “At first, players often are a little leery about writing so many stats, but when they’re done with the jerseys, they often say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know I did all those things.’ That’s the most memorable thing, knowing that the player doesn’t know all his stats, or they might know the pitcher when a certain event/stat occurred.” Lee’s collection started about four years ago, when Bob Feller wrote fewer than 10 noteworthy stats. It’s since blossomed into about 35 jerseys, with most signing 40 or more inscrip- tions. He has stat-jerseys from, among others, Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Harmon Killebrew, Juan Marichal, Dave Parker, Gaylord Perry, Bobby Doerr, Lou Boudreau, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs and Fred Lynn. At the Labor Day show, he added Bench (51 inscrip- tions), Foster (59), Ken Griffey Sr. (38) and Rose (67). “When I got the Feller jersey, I knew I had some- thing special, but I didn’t ask him for a lot of inscrip- tions,” said Lee, who initially had the jerseys signed in among the public. Now, usually, promoters often allow him to get his relics signed in the backstage area. “Early on, when I’d wait in line, the players would just kind of look at me with that, ‘What are all of these (inscription tickets) for?’ look,” Lee recalled. “It’s a lot of fun sitting with the players as they sign the jerseys, especially Pete Rose, who noted that his proudest stat was being the Player of the Decade for the 1970s. That was one stat he was looking for as he was signing.  That stat was about midway through my list, and he was glad to see it. “Reggie Jackson, when he signed his jersey, noted that all of his stats meant a lot to him.” Lee pays per inscription, or just a flat-fee arranged with the show promoter, the player and/or the player’s agent. He paid just under $1,500 for Bench, which is the most he’s spent. The least was $300. On average, Lee pays about $600-$800 per jersey. And the top-of- the-line jerseys that Lee buys cost about $100-$150 apiece. “It’s not really fun for the player to do, until they start,” Lee said. “It seems a little aggravating for them when I come in with a whole list of statistics, especially if the agent or promoter doesn’t know about it before- hand. That surprise isn’t good. But commu- nication before the show, stressing what I’m trying to accomplish, makes things a little easier.” Lee’s stat-jersey goal is simple: meet differ- ent players, have fun and to have unique items. And, he added, he’s “definitely keeping” each one. None are for sale. In fact, Kenneth and his wife of six years, Lisa, a collector of vintage memorabilia, are now building a display area in their basement. It has about 150 mannequins, where the jerseys are now hung. “My wife calls it, The Choir, because they’re all lined up and tiered,” he said. George Brett leads Lee’s stat-jersey wish-list, mostly because “Brett was one of my heroes as a kid.” In fact, Lee watched Brett play in 1975 at Oakland Coliseum at age 5. Brett hit a foul ball down the third-base line and Lee’s dad caught it. Lee’s collection also includes one football stat jersey, Eddie George, and one stat helmet (George Blanda), with about 25 stats. “It’s hard to write stats on a foot- ball jersey because they’re made of mesh,” he said. Lee researches the stats himself, which takes about two days, including numerous oddball ratio stats. On average, it takes players about 20 minutes to sign the jersey. Marichal needed 45 minutes, while Doerr signed for about 35 minutes. ••• ••• George Foster adds 59 inscriptions to a Reds jersey for collector Kenneth Lee at the Tri- Star Labor Day show in San Francisco (above). Lee holds up the Johnny Bench jersey containing 51 inscriptions (right). 78 S CD