Hello all, new to the site.

[howardgqcollect]

Hello everyone, my name is Kris. I am getting back into the hobby after a long five year hiatus. I used to collect a little bit of everything and the hobby began to feel more like a job than a hobby so I quit cold turkey.

I have decided to come back to the hobby with a fairly narrow focus. I am collecting Frank Howard of the L.A. Dodgers, Washington Senators, and Detroit Tigers. I never got to see the guy play. I was two years old when he retired in 1973, but he was a huge guy that hit some of the longest homeruns in the era. I think what attracted me to collect him is his autograph. He has one of the cleanest autographs I have ever seen.

When I quit collecting I was working on the 2012 Gypsy Queen set. I intent to finish as much of that set as possible and possibly start the 2018 set when it releases next year. I really like the look of the 2017 set but the Aaron Judge craze has priced me out of the market for the 2017 releases.

Thanks for allowing me aboard, I look forward to getting some deals done here.

 

[Camsue]

Welcome to the bench

 

[katester44]

Welcome to The Bench!

 

[pmanningsfan73]

Welcome to the Bench Kris!

 

[David K.]

Welcome to The Bench Kris! Best regards, David

 

[KCLJ520]

Welcome Kris, glad to have another member in this awesome group, I think you will find some friends here!

Interesting what you said about Frank Howard's autograph, I was not familiar with him as a player, but looked up his signature, and you are correct, he has a very nice, clean way of signing. Another trader started a thread about quality of autographs a week or so ago, and I had commented that more recent players give you initials or a few loops and a jersey number if you are lucky....sort of makes collecting a little less fun in my opinion. For example, I just saw a signing in the Chicago area for Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo that cost $699 for both players. I get the draw, first world series in a century, etc. but I looked up both of their signatures, and they are initials with a little scribble after. Long story, but my thought is that players back in the day really cared about how they signed, which to me, makes vintage a lot more fun!

Anyway, thanks for joining! God Bless,

Kevin

 

[SymphonicMetal]

Kevin, I am sure you recall our conversation about John "Hondo" Havlicek several months ago and the likely source of his nickname being the 1967 TV series Hondo. It turns out that Frank Howard's nickname was also Hondo and he was named after the 1953 John Wayne movie "Hondo" Here is a small excerpt from Wikipedia on that.

An All-American in both basketball and baseball at Ohio State, Howard was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA. Listed in college at 6'8" and 275 pounds, he instead signed with the Dodgers organization, and after a handful of appearances in 1958 and 1959 he succeeded Carl Furillo as Los Angeles' right fielder in 1960; he was named the Minor League Player of the Year in 1959 by The Sporting News after hitting 43 homers in the Pacific Coast League. He was named the NL's Rookie of the Year after batting .268 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI, and was nicknamed "Hondo" by teammates after a John Wayne film

That makes sense because Frank Howard without his glasses did kind of look like John Wayne where John Havlicek looked like the TV Hondo actor Ralph Taeger. I'll bet anything I am correct on the source of Havlicek's nickname.

I never knew Frank Howard was a 2 sport star at Ohio State. As a matter of fact, I never knew he went to OSU!! I remember him as a Senator and a Tiger but surprisingly I don't remember him as the Met's manager after his career as a player.

Collecting Frank Howard is a cool choice and since he only has 491 cards according to Trading Card Database, it is a realistic one as well. He was quite a prominent player "back in the day".

Welcome to The Bench and I hope you have a lot of success trading here!

 

[KCLJ520]

Kevin, I am sure you recall our conversation about John "Hondo" Havlicek several months ago and the likely source of his nickname being the 1967 TV series Hondo. It turns out that Frank Howard's nickname was also Hondo and he was named after the 1953 John Wayne movie "Hondo" Here is a small excerpt from Wikipedia on that.

An All-American in both basketball and baseball at Ohio State, Howard was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA. Listed in college at 6'8" and 275 pounds, he instead signed with the Dodgers organization, and after a handful of appearances in 1958 and 1959 he succeeded Carl Furillo as Los Angeles' right fielder in 1960; he was named the Minor League Player of the Year in 1959 by The Sporting News after hitting 43 homers in the Pacific Coast League. He was named the NL's Rookie of the Year after batting .268 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI, and was nicknamed "Hondo" by teammates after a John Wayne film

That makes sense because Frank Howard without his glasses did kind of look like John Wayne where John Havlicek looked like the TV Hondo actor Ralph Taeger. I'll bet anything I am correct on the source of Havlicek's nickname.

I never knew Frank Howard was a 2 sport star at Ohio State. As a matter of fact, I never knew he went to OSU!! I remember him as a Senator and a Tiger but surprisingly I don't remember him as the Met's manager after his career as a player.

Collecting Frank Howard is a cool choice and since he only has 491 cards according to Trading Card Database, it is a realistic one as well. He was quite a prominent player "back in the day".

Welcome to The Bench and I hope you have a lot of success trading here!

Jeff, I recall our conversation about Havlicek well, and you know, I think you are probably right about Frank Howard, he does bear a striking resemblance to Wayne, and was of a similar physical stature, (even taller and stockier) to Wayne's 6'4" 200+ lbs. Very cool to think about, and I would have to agree about Havlicek being nicknamed after the TV show, he does resemble Ralph Taeger very closely, especially with sideburns, popular in those days for sure!

Fun to continue this conversation, and learn some more about a great hitter from the 60s!

God Bless,

Kevin

 

[anglinomics]

Welcome to The Bench,

Dave

 

[metsman1986]

Welcome + Enjoy!

Mike

p.s. Frank Howard is a very distant relative of mine that I've never met.......

 

[Cano22]

Welcome to The Bench

Thanks

Matt

 

[Boots]

Belated welcome back and happy trading!
Boots

 

[Beachbum]

Have fun on the Bench!

 

[hdjstuff]

Welcome back! Frank Howard should be a fun chase!

Duane