Non-sport pickups plus Wallet Card and Ruby at the coast

More cards from my recent big order, this time some stuff outside of sports.. well, the big four sports, anyways. I found out Goodwin Champions is a good source for cheap on-card autographs. First off is a trio of TV dudes.

Craig Kilborn was entertaining back in his ESPN days, and I enjoyed him as the first host of The Daily Show, but it was his tenure as hosting the Late Late Show on CBS that really endeared him to me. That was a fun show. But he left to try his hand at becoming a big hollywood actor and was never heard from again. Happy to snatch this auto for just $1.53.

Another show I like is the sitcom Fresh off the Boat, based on the memoir of Eddie Huang. Figured I'd pick up an auto of his, even if it appears he attended the Wil Myers school of lazy wave signatures.

Aries Spears was pretty funny on MADtv back in the day. I haven't heard much of him since, but hey, I pulled the trigger on this inexpensive auto.

Here are four Goodwin Champions who happen to be attractive women, each card scored for just a buck-something. Heck yes! I wasn't familiar with any of these people, but jumped at adding a few more on-card autos to this part of my card collection for cheap.

Alexandra O'Laughlin is a golf and travel correspondent with the Golf Channel and NBC.

Shelina Zadorsky is a soccer player who plays in the English FA Women's Super League, as well as on the Canada women's national soccer team.

Lindsey Weaver is a golfer who's had some success on the LPGA Tour.

Quincy Davis is a professional surfer from Montauk, New York.

Another pretty lady's autograph, though a sad one as Lisa Spoonauer passed away the same year these 2017 Skybox Clerks cards came out. Great flick. Tempted to go after more cards from this set, but for now, this one will do.

I also picked up some additions to my Howard Hughes PC.

I should mention that COMC started including a little barcode slip thing with every card. I know they used to do that sometimes in the past, like with encased cards, but now I think every single card in the shipment included one. Makes sense for inventory reasons, I suppose, but kind of a pain to have to remove the receipt from every sleeve. Though sometimes, like with obscure oddballs such as these, I think I'll go ahead and leave the slip with them to help with identification down the line.

Another oversized Hughes, a Pee-Wee, and a bizarre bloodied Sgt. Slaughter.

Not to brag, but I scored very well on the Howard Hughes quiz.. but then again I did just research him last year for the 9-card custom set I made.

After completing the master set of 1988 Topps Pee-Wee's Playhouse cards (that I have been meaning to post about one of these days), I figured I'd try to pick up the other cards of him out there.

Sgt. Slaughter is a dude I collect because of his GI Joe connection (I was a huge GI Joe fan as a kid).

Alright, that's all from that shipment for now. Still lots of baseball left from it for future posts.

- - -----o

After missing last year due to the pandemic, my wife and I and her immediate family returned to the house at the Oregon coast we've rented for a weekend each spring for several years now. It's often the most action my wallet card gets each year.

I always like to dip in my wallet card when there's a body of water around, so had to snap this pic in the ocean. 90D Gwynn here, my wallet card for 2021, will possibly have the rare distinction of touching both the Pacific and Atlantic, as we'll be traveling for a wedding in New England later this year.

While walking Ruby around the neighborhood, I came across this boat named "Slabhunter" and had to take a wallet card photo. Seems it's a fishing term, not a reference to searching for graded cards, but still. haha

The house has seen some changes/improvements since last time we stayed there. One new thing that caught my eye was this cool Lego VW bus with opening doors n' stuff. All 6 of us humans in our group had been fully vaccinated, so it was nice to be able to hang out together like normal again and not worry about masks unless heading into town. Really the biggest difference with the whole trip is it was the first time staying at the house without Annie, our beloved rottie-mix who passed in late 2019. She was an awesome dog and it was kind of weird and sad without her there. 

Instead we had to deal with this jerk..

Ruby, on the verge of turning one year old, was a dang terror all weekend, thanks I suppose to being overstimulated with special friends who spoil her (my in-laws) and a new place to explore. She pissed all over the house (and pooped in it once), stole a big cut of pork tenderloin off the counter during dinner, whined a lot at bedtime, and just generally forgot all her behavioral training. (She was back to being better once we came home.) But damn it, she's a cutie so it's easier for her to get away with it. She sure did have a blast, especially down on the beach...

That's it for this post. Thanks for reading!

Howard Hughes PC

In these days of being extra careful not to catch a nasty disease, Howard Hughes' later antics of "meticulous hand-washing" and "social distancing" aren't looking quite so crazy in hindsight. LOL. He wouldn't have missed a beat here in 2020!

Howard Hughes is an interest of mine thanks to being a link to connect with my late grandfather, who-- as a young amateur pilot himself decades ago-- admired Hughes' aviation feats and innovation. Before succumbing to mental issues, Hughes was one of the most famous, rich people in the world, known for his fast planes and titillating films.

My grampa was born on this day 105 years ago, so I planned this post as a little birthday celebration of showing off my Howard Hughes PC.

Let's kick off with a fresh-off-the-presses custom nine-card set I just put together.

We'll take a closer look at each card in a second, but here's how the set presents in a page. I like it! As you can see, I mostly wanted an excuse to make cards out of neat old movie posters that caught my eye.

Hell's Angels was probably his biggest hit film. I haven't seen it. Actually, don't think I've seen any of the movies Howard put out.. but I'll look to rectify that soon. Regardless, pretty cool looking artwork.

Another fun, if somewhat naughty one.

I wrote the backs, mostly paraphrasing/plagiarizing Wikipedia (Man, I wish Wikipedia was a thing back when I was in school! Writing reports would have been so much easier!). If you spot any typos, please keep them to yourself because I don't want to have to re-print anything. lol

This one might be my favorite! Love that image of rocketeers shooting over the Statue of Liberty or whatever. Looks really neat.

TIME Magazine cover deserved a card. I printed 2 copies of the set, by the way, with one currently paged and the other sleeved.

Jet Pilot was a flop of a film, but I liked the John Wayne poster.

I've seen the Al Pacino Scarface, but still need to watch the original sometime.

A nice photo of the man inside the Spruce Goose and a quick bio on the back. I often forget he and I share a birthday.. another decent excuse to collect his cards.

Then the 9th card wraps up his enduring legacy.

And so there's that! For the record, my grandfather was a devout Catholic and hopelessly devoted to my grandmother all his life, in contrast to Howard Hughes who was known as a womanizer and wasn't afraid to bend the rules to get what he wanted. Not sure if Grampa was a fan of Howard's films, but he was probably really just interested in the aviation scenes, if so. I never had the chance to talk to him about Hughes, as far as I remember, but what spurred on this "player collection" of mine is when we found this among his possessions after he'd passed...

My grandfather would have been about 23 years old when he got this program signed at a Chicago appearance by Hughes and his flight crew circa 1938. Probably the crown jewel of all my collectibles, especially given the personal connection.. but even if not, a Howard Hughes autograph that's confidently legit is something special.

I talked about this item more back in a 2015 post, so I won't rehash it too much now.

I've already got an idea for a "Series 2" of my Howard Hughes Collection custom set (a second page, that is), which I envision will include a card-sized reprint of this autographed program, plus individual cards for each person who signed it. (And I guess I'll fill up the rest of the 9 slots with more movie poster art or whatever grabs me.) But that's a project for another day.

Now onto some other stuff.

Rookie card! 1936 Goudey History of Aviation (R65) #1 Howard Hughes. Might be a stretch calling this a "card" as it's bigger than a CD cover and about as thick as a magazine page. But still very cool.

He's got another card in this same set, which I also picked up not too long after the other one..

Cool piece of vintage aviation art.

Unlike his other "playing days" cards, this 1939 Churchman's Kings of Speed tobacco card is quite affordable. Ran me just $5.46 delivered in a PWE.

According to the TCDB, I'm left with just one vintage whale to track down to complete my career-era Howard Hughes card collection...

1936 Heinz Famous Aviators 1st Series #7 Howard Hughes

Really nice looking old card. I hope to track one down someday. Other highlights from this set include Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. These 3 big names can get a bit pricey, but looks like the less familiar names in the 25-card set are readily available on eBay, so that's a good sign. I'll just have to have some patience.

The last card I've got to show off today is an ugly mother. It's a "relic" card featuring a clipping from a vintage newspaper article about Hughes. Really a poorly designed card covering up much of his face, but whatever.. wasn't too expensive. It allows me to be able to say I've got a Howard Hughes trifecta (using a loose definition).. owning his rookie card, an autograph, and a relic card. Winging Atlantic, alright.

I also have a few cards in my COMC inventory that I'll be requesting shipment on one of these days once COMC starts having more staff in the office and gets orders shipped out without the huge delays they're working with currently.

These pending PC additions include:
1985 LIFE Remembers #81
1991 Face to Face: The Famous Celebrity Guessing Game Cards #243 (gold)
1991 Face to Face: The Famous Celebrity Guessing Game Cards (purple)
1994-2001 Grolier Story of America #22-3
1995 Anngar International Who's Who? Game Cards

So eventually I'll have to do a follow-up post to this one with those cards plus the "series 2" custom set once I make that. Not sure if that'll be a year from today or sooner.. but someday!

I've also got his card in the 2002 Topps American Pie set, #106, but other than these, I'd be interested in any Howard Hughes cards/memorabilia I don't have.

Thanks for reading! Happy Birthday to my grampa up in heaven, and happy wedding anniversary to my wife and I. Six years today.. not too shabby.
See you next time.

The best autograph in my collection

Howard Hughes was a larger-than-life figure. I shouldn't even try summing up his fascinating tale, but I'd point you to his Wikipedia entry. Here's the introduction:

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business tycoon, investor,aviator, aerospace engineer, inventor, filmmaker and philanthropist. During his lifetime, he was one of the wealthiest people in the world. As a maverick film tycoon, Hughes gained prominence in Hollywood from the late 1920s, making big-budget and often controversial films like The Racket (1928), Hell's Angels (1930), Scarface (1932), and The Outlaw(1943). 

Subsequently, he formed the Hughes Aircraft Company and hired numerous engineers and designers. He spent the rest of the 1930s setting multiple world air speed records, built the Hughes H-1 Racer and H-4 "Hercules" (better known to history as the "Spruce Goose" aircraft), and acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines, which later merged with American Airlines.^[4]

The younger generation would probably best know him thanks to the 2004 biopic The Aviator starring Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Martin Scorsese.

Stan Lee has also sited Hughes' persona as the basis for Tony Stark, the character behind the Iron Man comic book super hero.

And people of my generation may know him best for parodies of his crazy, reclusive later years, such as on The Simpsons.

But from the late 1920s through the early 1970s, he was one of the most recognizable names in the world, right up there with presidents and the top hollywood stars of the day.

My grandfather was a hard-working devout Catholic from Chicago. He followed in his father's footsteps as pioneers in the plastics industry, creating everything from plastic dishware sold in department stores, to light-weight equipment pieces used by the US military. His enthusiasm for technological innovation was known to me later in his life by his love of ham radio and the dawning of home computers. Before my time, he was an aviation buff and even owned and flew his own small plane. I think it was a little Piper Cub two-seater. Back in the day, he'd take it out for a joyride most weekends, until heart issues later in life made him decide it wouldn't be safe for him to continue flying-- his greatest fear was that he'd have a heart attack in the air, dooming any passenger and potentially people on the ground.

After spending much of retirement in Florida, he and my grandmother moved to my hometown of the San Diego area for their twilight years. I was grateful for the opportunity to spend more time with them, though as a teenager, I probably didn't appreciate it enough. After my grandmother passed in '94, especially, I put in a lot of quality time with my grandfather, probably spending more one-on-one time with him than anyone else in the family during his final few years. He was a great guy. He passed away in 2002 at age 87.

While he wasn't much for collectables (sadly no baseball card collection to be passed down to me), he was a bit of a packrat, often hanging onto random little items that might come in handy someday. That's definitely a trait I've inherited, much to my wife's chagrin.. though, no, neither of us were quite in "hoarder" territory. I still own and wear some pieces of clothing my grandfather passed down to me, strange as that may sound. I had a comfy pair of kick-around-the-house shoes that were his that I just finally had to toss last week, as they were falling apart. As far as other notable nicknacks, I've got a cargo net from his plane, perhaps the only remnant of it left.

Wallet card appearance.

Sorry for the tangent on my grampa, but all this background info is to show how a guy who wasn't big on celebrities or autographs would come to admire and hang onto a signed program from a Howard Hughes appearance in Chicago circa 1938.

In addition to Howard Hughes, the program is also signed by then-Mayor of Chicago Edward J. Kelly and members of Hughes' record-breaking flight crew, including navigators Harry Connor and Lt. Tommy Thurlow, as well as radio engineer Dick Stoddard.

As an aviation buff in Chicago at the time, this appearance was right up my grandfather's alley, and I can see how he would be caught up in the excitement enough to jump at the chance to meet and get autographs of these men though it was not something he would typically do.

In addition to this signed program (I'm calling it a "program" though I'm not sure that's the correct word for it; it's about half the size of a standard piece of paper, blank on the back, and about as thick as a baseball card), there is also an unsigned copy of the same program. It appears the main reason my grandfather hung onto this throughout the years is because the two programs were protecting an old family photo between them! Unfortunately this find was only discovered after his passing, so we couldn't ask him more about its origin.

I'm no appraiser, but I believe this piece could sell for 4-figures without too much trouble. If I bothered to get it professionally authenticated and/or matted in a nice display frame, 5-figures might even be a realistic possibility, though that might be overly optimistic. (Hey, some sellers on eBay are shooting high for what I consider less-desirable Hughes autographs.) But as you've most likely gathered from this post, this is a cherished memento of my grandfather's life, specifically his passion for flying and innovation, and so I have no plans to sell it. (That said, if any Howard Hughes supercollectors come across this post and want to make me a ridiculous offer for it, well, I'd listen. While I love it, it'd be tempting to turn it into a '52 Topps Mantle, Clemente RC, vintage Ted Williams and/or other "unattainable" cards along those lines. Or hell, what I should do is sell it and invest the money in a retirement fund. But where's the fun in that?) 

Had I bought this somewhere from a dealer or something, it wouldn't be nearly as cool to me, plus then I'd likely have lingering questions about it's authenticity, as you pretty much always have somewhere in the back of your mind unless you actually witnessed the signing yourself. But since I've got no doubt it's for real, that gives it a nice boost in my eyes.

I've currently got it safely stored away at my dad's house, though one of these days I would love to get it nicely framed and displayed.

In anticipation of this post, I also went ahead and tied it in to card collecting by picking up one of the very few 2½" by 3½" issues featuring Howard Hughes out there.

This is from Topps' 2002 American Pie set. Pretty cool. If/when I frame the autograph, perhaps I'll include the card in the presentation. I should get a double so that I can display the back with it as well. Throw in a cool photo of the guy, and you'd have a neat display piece.

I don't think I'll become a full-fledged Howard Hughes collector at this point, though I definitely wouldn't rule out adding to my collection here and there. Also, if I ever decide to concentrate on a "birthday" minicollection, Howard would fit into that as a fellow Christmas Eve baby.

So there's the post about my best autograph.
Thanks for reading!