John Shepley, Josh Varela and Alan Shepley, all of Olathe, browse through baseball cards and memorabilia from John Massey of Cincinnati during a sports cards show held at the Great Mall of the Great Plains. Dealers like Massey were selling everything from hard-to-find baseball cards to autographed baseballs, jerseys and bats. (Photo by Gene Morris)
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Paola boy tracks down autograph at card show
With last name of Sutcliffe, boy loves former Cub pitcher Rick Sutcliffe
By Gene Morris, gmorris@miconews.com
As a young person collecting baseball cards, Lee Sutcliffe was in the minority over the weekend at the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe.
Most of the people at the show, not unlike what dealers are seeing across the country, were the older collectors.
Lee, an 8-year-old boy from Paola, was looking for memorabilia of his favorite player.
He is a huge fan of former Cubs all-star pitcher and current broadcaster Rick Sutcliffe.
“He likes baseball anyway and enjoys collecting the cards,” Lee’s mother, Kelly Gamblin, said. “His last name is Sutcliffe, so he really likes Rick Sutcliffe. His dream is to meet him one day.”
Lee Sutcliffe shares more than a last name with his favorite player. Rick Sutcliffe’s middle name is Lee.
Lee left a happy camper on Saturday, finding a dealer with an autographed picture of his favorite player.
“He was here looking for a Rick Sutcliffe autograph,” said Jeff Dolezal of J.D.’s Sportscards. “I just happened to have one for him.
“That’s what makes it fun,” Dolezal said, “seeing someone excited about collecting like that.”
Older kids’ hobby
There should be more boys like Lee Sutcliffe buying packs of cards and collecting their favorite players, but the numbers have been dwindling for years, Dolezal said.
Card companies are to blame for the decline, he said. There are too many sets of cards for kids to choose from and in courting the older collector with game-used and autographed cards, the younger collector has simply been priced out of the hobby.
“They are all making 12 different sets of cards now,” Dolezal said. “Kids don’t know what to collect.
“If you want to get an autograph, the packs are $10 or more, and everyone is looking for Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols,” Dolezal said. “But you can’t get those guys. They end up with a Joey Gathright or John Buck autographed card.”
Youth movement
Card companies have started looking at the younger collectors, said dealer John Massey from Cincinnati.
Upper Deck has come out with Collector’s Choice packs for about $1, and other companies have followed suit with editions for the collector on a budget.
“They are coming out with more packs for kids,” Massey said. “They have a lot of less expensive product out there for them now.”
Even with the packs geared to the younger collectors, many of them are simply not buying them, Dolezal said.
“There are some kids in it,” he said. “Most of them are in junior high or high school, and they would much rather pay to get an autographed picture of someone than spend their money on packs.”
Jim Gubera of Kansas City, Mo., remembers when opening packs was something all of the kids did.
“I started opening packs in the ’50s when I was 6 years old,” he said. “Back then, a quarter would buy you five packs of cards.
“Those were the good old days,” Gubera said. “You didn’t lock your doors. It was a different time.”
history on display
American history, sports and otherwise, was alive and well at the sports cards and memorabilia show in Olathe with rare autographed items up for sale from Hall of Fame baseball and football players to boxers and golfers and comedians and presidents.
One of the more valuable pieces was a baseball signed by former Kansas City Monarchs infielder Jackie Robinson.
Robinson went on to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The autographed ball would set you back more than $5,000.
There were signed index cards framed with picture displays of players such as St. Louis Cardinals’ great Dizzy Dean and Yankees’ home run hitter Roger Maris.
A Joe Louis autographed frame with two pictures, one from his boxing career and another from his military service, sold for $200.
A picture of presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon turned a few heads.
Fans of the silver screen could pick up a photo signed by the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor and the cast of Honeymooners.
One dealer had a stack of autographed Walter Payton cards. Satchel Paige, Wilt Chamberlain, Gale Sayers and John Riggins were among the Kansas athletes collectors could buy autographed pictures of during the three-day show.
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Most of the people at the show, not unlike what dealers are seeing across the country, were the older collectors.
Lee, an 8-year-old boy from Paola, was looking for memorabilia of his favorite player.
He is a huge fan of former Cubs all-star pitcher and current broadcaster Rick Sutcliffe.
“He likes baseball anyway and enjoys collecting the cards,” Lee’s mother, Kelly Gamblin, said. “His last name is Sutcliffe, so he really likes Rick Sutcliffe. His dream is to meet him one day.”
Lee Sutcliffe shares more than a last name with his favorite player. Rick Sutcliffe’s middle name is Lee.
Lee left a happy camper on Saturday, finding a dealer with an autographed picture of his favorite player.
“He was here looking for a Rick Sutcliffe autograph,” said Jeff Dolezal of J.D.’s Sportscards. “I just happened to have one for him.
“That’s what makes it fun,” Dolezal said, “seeing someone excited about collecting like that.”
Older kids’ hobby
There should be more boys like Lee Sutcliffe buying packs of cards and collecting their favorite players, but the numbers have been dwindling for years, Dolezal said.
Card companies are to blame for the decline, he said. There are too many sets of cards for kids to choose from and in courting the older collector with game-used and autographed cards, the younger collector has simply been priced out of the hobby.
“They are all making 12 different sets of cards now,” Dolezal said. “Kids don’t know what to collect.
“If you want to get an autograph, the packs are $10 or more, and everyone is looking for Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols,” Dolezal said. “But you can’t get those guys. They end up with a Joey Gathright or John Buck autographed card.”
Youth movement
Card companies have started looking at the younger collectors, said dealer John Massey from Cincinnati.
Upper Deck has come out with Collector’s Choice packs for about $1, and other companies have followed suit with editions for the collector on a budget.
“They are coming out with more packs for kids,” Massey said. “They have a lot of less expensive product out there for them now.”
Even with the packs geared to the younger collectors, many of them are simply not buying them, Dolezal said.
“There are some kids in it,” he said. “Most of them are in junior high or high school, and they would much rather pay to get an autographed picture of someone than spend their money on packs.”
Jim Gubera of Kansas City, Mo., remembers when opening packs was something all of the kids did.
“I started opening packs in the ’50s when I was 6 years old,” he said. “Back then, a quarter would buy you five packs of cards.
“Those were the good old days,” Gubera said. “You didn’t lock your doors. It was a different time.”
history on display
American history, sports and otherwise, was alive and well at the sports cards and memorabilia show in Olathe with rare autographed items up for sale from Hall of Fame baseball and football players to boxers and golfers and comedians and presidents.
One of the more valuable pieces was a baseball signed by former Kansas City Monarchs infielder Jackie Robinson.
Robinson went on to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The autographed ball would set you back more than $5,000.
There were signed index cards framed with picture displays of players such as St. Louis Cardinals’ great Dizzy Dean and Yankees’ home run hitter Roger Maris.
A Joe Louis autographed frame with two pictures, one from his boxing career and another from his military service, sold for $200.
A picture of presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon turned a few heads.
Fans of the silver screen could pick up a photo signed by the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor and the cast of Honeymooners.
One dealer had a stack of autographed Walter Payton cards. Satchel Paige, Wilt Chamberlain, Gale Sayers and John Riggins were among the Kansas athletes collectors could buy autographed pictures of during the three-day show.