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Thank You Anthony and Dorothy for Putting Up With This Practical Joke: Many years ago I was in my office looking at eBay and I happened to look at what the account of my friends Anthony and Dorothy were offering. They always have interesting items. One lot made me do a double-take: A painting with the auction listing titled “REBIRTH by Milt Newman - 1965 - REINCARNATION”. Sounds pretty important. But what made this stand out to me was this was possibly the worst painting in the world and by a totally unknown artist. I just thought it had no value. My thinking was NOBODY that would want this painting for FREE, let alone pay for it and hang it on the wall. It was framed with an engraved identification plaque, probably by Milt Newman or his family. It just struck me as funny to think that Anthony and Dorothy had somehow wound up with this painting (that of course may have once had great personal or sentimental value to someone), probably at a garage or estate sale, but that it had no monetary value. And now they were trying to sell it on eBay. Fortunately, I saved a screenshot of a printout. The printout is in black-and -white but gives the general idea and is so much better than having nothing. Here it is:   So of course I opened a brand new eBay account just to communicate with them anonymously regarding the painting. The following is the back and forth (mostly me writing to them, in some cases twice in a row quickly as I thought of something to add) and they obviously have NO idea what is going on. The messages below (which I printed out at the time just so I could remember and laugh about later and share with others) I hope speak for themselves:      Obviously the last message let the cat out of the bag as I signed my name. I can only imagine what went through their minds the millisecond they saw this. The "PS" confirmed in clear language that all these messages were jokes. No more than sixty seconds passed after hitting the send button on this last message and the phone rang. I picked it up and heard Anthony say "You bastard!" and laugh and tell me that they had no idea what was going on, that this was driving them crazy!
Anyway, I hope others find this as amusing as I do. I'm not sure if this is as funny as I think it is, or the fact that I think this is so funny is what's amusing, but I practically had tears of laughter while sending these. I hope by posting them here I made someone else laugh...and Anthony and Dorothy: Thanks for being such good sports!
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 If you’re a kid, or an adult who knows a kid who you’d like to give some old baseball cards, send me an address (email below) and I’ll send an envelope with a group of old cards. I don’t have an unlimited supply but I’ve got a bunch and I’d much rather plant seeds of future hobby interest and make some youngsters happy than sell them (or have these cards sit in a closet forever).
When I was a kid, all of about eight or nine years old, one of my fondest memories was the excitement of getting a really old baseball card - much older than any I had - from a set I had never seen. A local doctor had a collection of tobacco cards passed down in his family and he heard from a mutual family friend of my great interest in cards. Which was pretty unusual for someone so young (at that early date circa 1969 anyway). So on a Sunday he put a card in an envelope in his mailbox and told my parents we could pick it up anytime (he lived very local). I’ll never forget the excitement of my Dad driving me and pulling up to the mailbox, and the thrill of opening the envelope to see a T205 Gold Border tobacco card for the very first time. The player, by the way, was Deacon Philippe of the Pittsburg Nationals. (Which is probably related to why, to this day, I have always thought Philippe was very underrated and in my mind a Hall of Famer!) This card was worth no more than a quarter back then. Maybe just a dime. The condition was poor by today’s standards but I never gave the condition a second thought. The creases and wear are part of its history. To me it was perfect! I thought it was incredible! I still do. I saved that card as a prized possession for over 50 years and would still have it today had it not been in a box that unfortunately was destroyed by Hurricane Ida in 2021. But I can still picture the card, creases and bent corners, among other imperfections, in my mind’s eye, and I am forever grateful to Dr. Glazer (I think that was his name) for his kindness and generosity which unbeknownst to him was such an exciting moment in encouraging my lifelong interest in baseball cards and history. As the years went by my interest grew. I owe a great debt of thanks to all the adults who were encouraging in some way, some large, some small, some just by being willing to devote a little time talking to a youngster whose limitless enthusiasm for learning about cards was so much greater than my knowledge about anything else in the world (like that going to work or eating dinner with family should take priority over talking to a kid about old cards!) Sometimes I was a pain in the butt to adult collectors. I was a kid! I didn’t know any better. Calling all the time, bothering older collectors about cards, spending ten times more time on collecting endeavors than anyone else…I am grateful for the kindred spirits, collecting legends such as Woody Gelman, Charles Bray, Lawrence Kurzrok and many others who not only put up with me, but appreciated my enthusiasm and even treated me like an adult! That’s part of why I have always gone out of my way to give extra consideration and respect to young collectors, to treat them like the most important people in the collecting world. The purpose of this post is to add to many other efforts over the years to pass this kindness forward, to help plant the seeds of the joy of collecting and learning about cards and history to youngsters today. In the spirit of Dr. Glazer’s kind gesture to me over 50 years ago, I am sending a selection of original old cards (1950s, 1960s, 1970s) and also reprints which are educational and fun (what kid can’t use a reprint T206 Wagner?!) while my supplies last. Anyone who would like a group, just send me an address to send to. The email to claim free cards below. You will receive an envelope of cards. If you want to send the address of a relative or friend, or parent to give to their kids, that’s fine. You send the address, I’ll send the cards! (We’re on the honor system)! I have no idea if this will generate tens or hundreds (or, gulp…thousands) of requests. I have enough to send a fun group to hundreds. I will keep sending out cards until the supply I have “in stock” is exhausted. I hope some kids out there, upon receipt, will feel the same joy and awe I did when I received my first tobacco card of Deacon Phillipe as a gift as a youngster. Maybe some recipients will be encouraged to be lifelong collectors! Or be involved with the hobby in some other way. And when some of them are older, and maybe even leaders in the field, I hope they will in turn help the youngsters of the next generation! Sincerely, Robert Lifson [email protected] |
ABOUT
Robert Edward Lifson is a nationally recognized baseball card expert, dealer, and auctioneer (founder of Robert Edward Auctions). He is a life-long collector and researcher who for the past 50 years has been on the front lines of promoting progress in the hobby and has had a great positive impact on increasing the collective knowledge of the field for the benefit of all. Over the years he has bought, sold, or represented the buyers and sellers in the transactions of over 20 T206 Wagners, 8 1914 Baltimore Ruth Rookie Cards (only 10 in existence), and virtually every rare and valuable baseball card in existence. He has personally handled the sale of literally hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cards and memorabilia and helped to assemble some of the greatest collections in the world. Of all his hobby-related activities, Robert Lifson is most proud of his longstanding role as an activist who has worked extensively as an expert consultant, formally and informally, with numerous law enforcement agencies including the FBI, The Justice Department (including testifying for the Federal Government as an expert witness regarding the value and authenticity of baseball cards), The Secret Service, and The U.S. Postal Service, spanning four decades and counting. Perhaps most important, in addition to a wonderful family who is constantly asking him to do things, he has a very cute Miniature Schnauzer named Sugar Plum who follows him everywhere. Archives |
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