After 30+ years......Sports Memorabilia and other Collectibles

I have a signed History of the World Part 1 mini-poster, by Mr. Brooks. It was a happy purchase

When my dad was a kid back in the 50s, 60s he used to collect hockey coins. Before the advent of cards, there were plastic coins (later a second generation of metal coins came) but first they were plastic and they could be found in boxes Sherriff/Salada Foods products like tea or pie filling. The whole set was 120, and once you collected all of them you could write into a certain address and they would mail you out the plaque. It was a wood frame with a felt backing in the shape of the NHL logo. Well my dad collected all 120 coins and got the plaque.....Then over the years when his sisters would play Poker and they had lost the actual poker chips, they would use his coins instead. They tore them off the backing of the plaque and used them instead....then lose them.

But when I was about 14 Dad gave his set of coins to me and I"ve kept them in a cookie tin. Then in 2018 in the days just before getting my Vic Hadfield NYR jersey personally signed and framed....I rummaged through this box with the spontaneous, fleeting thought of I wonder if there is a coin for Vic Hadfield in this collection......? Wouldn't it be amazing if I had a coin of Vic Hadfield to go along with this jersey?! And of course, I'm going to have to search high and low for a really great photograph, too, and print it out on high qulaity photo paper....

So I got out of the shower, ran downstairs to the safe where I keep the coins dump them all out on the rec room floor......and firstly, I counted them. I wanted to know how many had remained after all these years......some 60 years plus. I counted a remaining total of 105 out of the full set of 120. After that I dumped them out again and went on the hunt for the prized Vic Hadfield coin. I had coins for many of the star players of the era: Doug Harvey, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Henri Richard, Toe Blake of Montreal to name only a few, Chico Massey, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita of Chicago.....Many of each teams star players. Then I got the the Rangers: I turned over coins for Jean Ratelle, Andy Bathgate, Rod Gilbert, Harry Howell the more Rangers stars I'm turning over...the greater my chance becomes of finding one for Hadfield..... And then the next one I reach for is....VIC HADFIELD! I threw my first up in the air and gave a "Whoop! YEAH Baby! I got it, I got it! I can't belieive I found it!" hollar in celebration. And wouldn't you know it, to make things even sweeter, I noticed this coin was also part of the 1961-62 year set, which was Hadfield's Rookie season! Finding a hockey coin from any players rookie season is as valuable (at the time they were created) as finding a rookie card!

So right then I thought "okay, this has to go into a frame with the jersey I'm getting signed......Now all I have to do is find a really great picture". That proved to be the hardest part as there are not a lot, hardly any infact-- of pictures, good quality, high resolution pictures that would be suitable for a frame, online of Vic Hadfield. I pored over pages and pages of pictures all different resolutions.....Until finally I found a beautiful picture of him, I think. He's not younger, in his glory days of playing-- those are very hard to find in good resolution. This partiuclar picture is of him when he is much much older. It was taken of him the night of his good friend and playing partner, linemate....one third of the GAG Line (Goal-A-Game Line), Jean Ratelle at his number retirement ceremony. And as a surprise that night, totally unaware to everyone including Vic, that same night they announced that his #11 would be retired later that same year in 2018. The picture I have of Vic Hadfield is him standing up in the stands that night, waving his arms in acknowledgement of hearing that his number would be retired after his good friend's. A beautiful moment, I think. And the resolution was perfect for the size of the frame. Everything just came together.    Then I went around to different Framing stores, and two stores had examples of exactly what I'd wanted to do, so I said "this is exactly what I have in mind.  How much would you charge to do this with a jersey I already have...?"   They said 2 to 3 thousand depending ont he size of the frame.  .     I left very disheartened....Things were not looking good.  But I didn't give up, I continued my search and later that same day I found a little Sports Memorabilia and Souvenir Shop in a plaza right near my house.  On the walls they had prime examples of jerseys from Johnny Bower, Sidney Crosby and immediately I'd said to myself this is exactly what I want.  I told them all about the jersey tht I was getting framed and the lady was so nice and generous....extremely helpful.  Bent over backwards to help me plan and design the look.

By that time I had gotten my jersey from the store and had it signed. 


When I took my jersey the Vic Hadfield's Golf Learning Centre because I take lessons from his son Jeff, he invited me up to his office and was so very gracious, humble, kind and generous. He wasn't arrogant or snotty ( like Jerry Howorth had been to my dad years earlier) he was very kind and down to earth; as pleased to meet me as I was to meet him. He shared stories with me about his career, the great and exciting moments...the jokes and fun times he'd had with his teammates. Then he takes the suit back from my hand and says "can I open this up and take a look at it? I'm anxious to see what it looks like"...I invited him to do so, and immediately his jaw fell open and he even started tearing up as he saw how intricately the stictching had been sewn to exactly match his jersey from decades ago. "How....Where, Where did you go to get this done? How did you find this? I can't believe my eyes. This must have cost you a fortune. *wipes a tear* I cannot believe what I'm looking at. It looks perfectly identical to the jersey I wore back in the 60s and especially like the one I wore when I was Captain...."



"Turn it over, take a look at the front, sir," I encouraged.



He turns it over to see the Captain's "C" in identical font and exactly perfect placement. *wipes away another tear that is forming* "I've never seen anything so expertly crafted, so perfectly stitched. It is an exact match of my old jerseys. I look at this and I'd swear-- with the exception of the ADIDAS logo on the neck line.....The numbers, the lettering, the font, the 3D blocked style with that slight arch....even how the stitiching is done....Everything is a perfect match to my old jerseys. I've signed a lot of jerseys over the years, but none of them....none of them have come anywhere even close to looking as perfect as this one. I don't know how you did it, but I would be greatly honoured to sign this jersey for you. Anything you want, any way you'd like me to sign it....I will sign it with anything you would like."



So I told him that my idea behind framing this jersey, along with the hockey coin from his rookie season of 61-62, was to tell the story of his career and honour his amazing accomplishments. So I quietly and politely asked him to sign it "on the front digit please sir, if you could sign it VIC HADFIELD 'Captain' 1971-1974, and then on the right hand digit, if you could please sign it "1st to 50 Goals' along with the date of your 50th goal April 2, 1972...That would be amazing.



So that's what he'd signed: Vic Hadfield 'Captain' 1971-1974 1st to 50 Goals April 2nd, 1972.



My only disappointment is that either he didn't press hard enough and wrote very lightly.....OR the paint pen I gave him wasn't prepped properly, because while you can still read everything he wrote perfectly fine even from a distance of up to ten feet away....The finished product doesn't have the bold, striking metalic look that I was hoping for. If you really eyeball it up close....Nose to the frame, you can see the threads of the fabric behind the pen strokes and over all it has a dull appearance to it.



But hey, that's okay....It's still perfectly legible and visible and you can absolutely tell it is a hand written signature. It still looks great, and the important thing is that I have a beautifully crafted jersey personally hand signed by one of Hockey's greats from an era of Hockey where the sport has become legend. ANd players of that era are few and far between these days, not many of the great players left alive anymore. Certainly none in my hometown where I can have the access and opportunity to ask for an autograph. So I am happy with what I have and it will be cherished for a lifetime.


  Then when I brought  the jersey and the photo a few weeks later back to the framing store, the lady commented "wow, this is a beautiful jersey.  I've seen and framed a lot of jerseys over the years, but none of them are as nice as this one or stitched to such extreme attention to detail.  Most of them are the replica jerseys with just the players name thrown on, they're not the professional quality item like this one.  And I see you've stitched it exactly to match her real-world gameworn jersey, that must have been such an honour for him to sign.  And he has such a nice signature.  Small and neat, not overly wild strokes like most players have that really use up space.  This is nice and neat and you can still read it even from several feet away. Yet on both the jsersey and the photo the writing is consistent and identical.  Most players, most people have minor inconssitences in their writing due to changes in hand movement.  But this, this a beautiful example.  And this is such a great photo of him!  Beauful resolution....perfect size for the frame and the border that I have in mind.   And this white jersey will look stunning with a blue matting and red pinstripe border.  Plus the addition of this special coin....That is most certainly something I have never seen before.  Truly a unique item and a fabulous addition to make your jersey a one of a kind.     Final price, all in...After tax: $500.00.  And that is with 70% UV Protective Glass installed, plus the addition of a custom machined NYR pin that they threw in for free to accent my coin.  

Well, when I heard that I jumped at the chance and didn't even bat an eyelash after hearing from other places that they wanted up to three thousand.  

The phrase on the descriptor plate "A Legendary Ranger" was something I saw on the scoreboard during Vic Hadfield's number retirement ceremony.  When I saw that flash on the scoreboard, I knew that was what I'd wanted on the plate for my frame.  I told that to the lady in the store and she nodded emphatically and said "absolutely, we can do that for you. It will be a perfect fit for the space we have to work with, and I think it is a great phrase.  He was such a great player."  So that's what she wrote, along with the years that he'd played for the Rangers.

Anyways, these jerseys...especially my Hadfield jersey are truly something I treasure and can speak of for days on end just because of the journey and the experience of how everything came together for me that summer. 

Here is the link for the picture of my jersey in a frame/signed, without a frame (just bought)....and the many others that I have collected along the way:





PS I apologize for the horizontal orientation of some of the photos....Not sure why they came out that way.  But you get the idea......... Would love to hear your thoughts.    Hope you like them!

The moving industry, about the most corrupt industry there is and the authorities do absolutely nothing.

I don't have any memorabilia, but I do have a Montreal Canadien hockey shirt with #10 for Guy Lafleur I bought in the mid '80's that is in my closet.

It's too bad I don't have the Horton replica jersey from when I was a kid....The first hockey jersey I ever had. It was Chrostmas of 1990. Several months before My Dad asked me who my favourite hockey player was, I said "Tim Horton" without hesitation because I had grown up on stories of how he played, how incredibly strong he was....And sadly, how he died while playing for Buffalo....speeding along what we call the QEW, a four-lane highway that goes Buffalo to Toronto and west of Toronto approximately 140 KM. He was speeding and he was thrown from his Pantera when the crash occurred.
Anyways...I digress.


So we went to a local sports store and they had a CCM white Leafs jersey with the name HORTON stitched on the back and his #7. I was so proud of the jersey I wore it everywhere! My dad had bought it really big so that I could grow into it-- it wasn't a 'kid's size' because I had it until I was 26 and by that age and time it fit perfectly. But I played street hockey in it in every whether condition...It had mud stains, coffee stains....It was well worn and well loved for any years. But foolishly-- so very foolishly, I'd loaned it to this friend who had just started university.......And 2 days later I found out he'd lost it! He'd taken it off and put it down somewhere, and someone picked it up and took it! I was so fuming mad...For days I wouldn't talk to him. He promised to buy me a new one and pay for the whole thing. He'd found a sports store near the Hockey Hall Of Fame who stitched and sold jerseys from the 2000 season.....Really nice replica jersey from the first time they had re-designed their logo (moving away from the ugly plain blue of the 1980s-90s to a more stylized look that resembled what they were in the 60s-70s). And for 150.00 including tax and Delivery (in person, by hand) to the door....This guy stitched up this jersey and delivered it in person to the house.

I don't think it's as nice as the ADDIDAS game jerseys I have....But it's a much nicer replica jersey than the original one I had when I was a kid. Even as a kid, I never did like the plain blue logo. It was boring. I always prefered the styled look of the 60s and I was glad when in 2000, they introduced this logo......Which is not a far cry from the current logo on my KEON jersey from ADIDAS.


By the by.....Our friendship ended in 2008. I saw him three years later in May of 2011, but it was the day of my best friend's wedding...my best friend whom I'd known since I was six. He had asked me to be his Best Man, so I was crazy busy that day...But this dude saw me randomly when I was out running errands and he was insisting that we hang out that day. I told him I couldn't and the reason why, but I promised to call him the next day. He told me "don't bother if you can't hang out today then I don't want to hang out at all." To which I replied "Fine have it your way. I can't deal with this right now, I have a ton of sh-- to do," and I walked on and continued about my business. I haven't seen him at all since them, not even from a distance.

I'm just glad I got this jersey out of it.

Hot Wheels were amazing....if you were into cars, that was the brand to buy for build qaulity and style.  I had hundreds of them and one of those 'city mats' I would play with that for hours, sometimes with friends but usually all by my onezies.

I also have a small collection of the diecast metal model cars.  They were the bigger ones that came in the nice boxes, I think they were a 1:18 scale, the F40 and the Viper....But the Corvette and Cobra were slightly smaller, probably 1:24.  I have a Ferrari F-40, a white/red 1957 Corvette, a 1996 Dodge Viper RT 10 and a blue 1965 Ford Cobra AC.   I also have a few model cars that I glued together and painted but I forget which models.


A guy that I have worked with for the last two years had a fully detailed, fully painted  42" model of the Millenium Falcon hanging from the ceiling in his office.  As well as an equivalent size X-Wing and TIE Fighter that he'd put together and painted himself.   He's the kinda guy that does diaramas of famous War battles, and once a month he travels all over the US and Canada entering competitions.

The organization that ran the competition would send him a flyer saying "We have a competition in Boston coming up (insert date) and the theme is (insert theme here)  If you are interested, please register by (insert date) and have your sets ready by (this date) to be considered for evaluation."    So he would go to hobby and model stores downtown or order the parts online for the pre-chosen theme......Spend the next three months painting them by hand and setting them up on usally a sheet of plywood to recreate the scene.   And if it was a huge job he would call some buddies to invite them in and giave them the details, then off-load some of the work to them.......And A week before the competition he would drive down to, Boston, or wherever it was.....Get everything set up, get a hotel and make a vacation out of it.

   He showed me some of the model soldiers he'd painted......absolutely incredible detail and craft.   Such precision....I don't have the eyes or the hands to ever do anything that small.  I had trouble with my Cobra model when I was a kid....But I really appreciated the level of work and extreme attention to detail that he put into his hobby.   He showed me pictures once of one of the WWII battles he'd done a diarama for.   The scale was massive.....had to be easily 40 feet in diameter and every piece was painted to exact realistic specifications and placed precisely on the field.   He would often google images of whatever battle he was trying to recreate, dig up all kinds of history on the event and place each piece in precise real-world locations on the field he was recreating.      Then come the week of the event he would carefully load the plywood set into his van and cart it to the competition where he would set up with a table number.


Truly amazing.