Sports Collectors Digest

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. This column was supposed to be about Smith’s remarkable memorabilia collection and the Notable Live company he started to sell his own collectibles and help other professional athletes. Then Jim Brown, one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL, passed away on May 18. If there is one man Smith would step aside for, it’s the man who paved the way for him and other great NFL running backs. Smith is the only NFL player to rush for more than 18,000 yards, 6,000 more than Brown. Yet, Jim Brown was widely regarded as not only the best running back of all time, but arguably the greatest player in the history of…

Brody the Kid's collecting resume reads like a grizzled hobby veteran. He is 15 years old. His passion, drive and work ethic inspire even a lifer like myself. I became aware of Brody and his social media content in early 2018 and got to know him through online conversations and interactions. Seeing a 9-year-old create the hobby content he was doing was beyond impressive. While I was in the hobby at 9 there was no way this shy kid from Brooklyn could've pulled off what Brody was producing, even if social media existed in 1981. We made plans to meet at the 2018 National Sports Collectors Convention, which was in Brody's backyard of Chicago. I also got to meet his parents, Dennis and Sheri. Many kids would be blessed to have parents…

EDITOR’S NOTE SCD encourages a diversity of voices and views. Please limit letters to 200-400 words and include your name, city and state. SCD reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity. Please email letters to jowens@aimmedia.com. The news article on Jim Brown’s death says that Brown is “arguably” the best football player of all time. In my opinion, there is no argument. He is and was the greatest, with no apologies to Tom Brady, Jim Thorpe, Walter Payton or anyone else. As a youngster living in Chicago, I grew up a Cleveland Browns fan because I idolized Otto Graham. When I went to college, I even chose Northwestern over the University of Chicago because of Graham. I thought at that time that no player would ever be better than…

Fanatics Collectibles continues to increase its foothold in the industry by purchasing PWCC Marketplace, one of the hobby’s top online auction sites. The move allows the new trading card giant to enter the lucrative world of online auctions, where PWCC has been a major player for several years. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a Fanatics spokesperson called it “a strategic, long-term decision for the business that will allow us to further enhance and support the broader collector ecosystem.” “PWCC has built a strong business with great tech, a leading marketplace and vault,” AC Betts, Vice President, Brand and Communications for Fanatics Collectibles said. “Bringing them into Fanatics Collectibles will give us the opportunity to further build and strengthen the foundation that exists today and ultimately deliver a lot of value…

BY LARRY CANALE larrycanale@comcast.net Pro football in the 1950s and ’60s was a different game than today. The past few decades have brought rules changes, expansion, a far more explosive passing game, and scheduling differences (the current 17-game season vs. 12 and then 14 in the 1950s and ’60s). As a result, the statistics we see now vs. those in Jim Brown’s era are an apples-and-oranges situation. To wit: Brown was the NFL’s all-time rushing leader when he retired in 1965. Today, he’s not even in the top 10. His total of 12,312 rushing yards has been surpassed by Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and even Frank Gore, along with seven others. But make no mistake: Jim Brown is the NFL’s all-time best running back and maybe its best all-around player. He was more…

With great fanfare, Topps announced in 2021 that it was returning to the basketball arena, again issuing NBA cards after a hiatus of more than a decade. Topps is commencing what might be called its fourth “generation” of hoops cards. The third generation lasted from 1992-2010 and included countless sets and cards, many of them high-tech and premium series with names such as Chrome, Platinum, Finest and Pristine. As to be expected from their names, all of them cost much more than the few cents that first- and second-generation packs went for. The cards were too numerous and expensive for the average collector and appealed mainly to speculators looking for the next hot rookie investment. Of course, Topps’ first generation of basketball cards consisted of the single set of 80 cards…