You guys going to start collecting STAMPS now?

goose3

WASHINGTON - The post office hopes to hit a grand slam by honoring a quartet of baseball's great sluggers on postage. Ceremonies are scheduled for Yankee Stadium on Saturday to release new 39-cent stamps and 24-cent postal cards honoring Mickey Mantle, Roy Campanella, Hank Greenberg and Mel Ott.

"He was, surprisingly, kind of self-effacing and humble in many ways, but he would be pleased," to be honored on a stamp said Greenberg's daughter, Alva Greenberg of New London, Conn. "Who wouldn't be pleased," she said in a telephone interview.

"I think that while he was playing ball, and after his career, a lot of his notoriety was within the Jewish community," she added. "I'm happy we've gotten beyond that now."

Mantle's son Danny said his dad "would love it."

"He played 18 years with the Yankees. We're obviously very proud of him," Danny said. "He played hurt and still had a heck of a career," Danny Mantle, who lives in the Dallas area, said by phone.

Barbara Schneidau of Tucson, Ariz., Mel Ott's daughter, said in a telephone interview that her father "would have been just delighted, honored and very proud."

"Dad exemplified courage and athletic talent," Campanella's daughter Joni Roan said in a statement. "Our family is very grateful for this recognition."

Campanella was major-league baseball's first African-American catcher. He played in five
World Series and hit 242 home runs during a decade with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ott was a star for the New York Giants for 22 seasons, leading the league in homers five times. He was the first National League player to hit 500 home runs.

Mantle was a speedy base runner and switch-hitter for the New York Yankees for nearly two decades. He won the triple crown in 1956, leading the American league in batting at .353 with 52 home runs and 139 and runs batted in. Mantle set World Series records for runs, 42; home runs, 18 and RBIs, 40.

Greenberg was the first Jewish superstar in the major leagues. He was named most valuable player at first base and a second time as an outfielder. He was on five all-star teams and had a career batting average of .313 with 1,276 RBIs. He played most of his career with the Detroit Tigers, having turned down a Yankee offer to back up Lou Gehrig, correctly predicting that Gehrig's career would be a long one.

After serving in World War II Greenberg returned to the Tigers in 1945, hitting a home run in his first game back. He blasted a grand slam the last day of the season to help the Tigers win the pennant and had two homers and seven runs batted in to propel them to a World Series victory

ToppsCo1lector

I might get a few copies of each just to do it.

nightcrawler

Wow, those are nice!

joestalin

Ive been to the PO several times and they still don't have these in...they tease you putting out the promotional material weeks before
the stamps are out..I didn't know about the postcards...I will certainly pick up a few sets for my boys. Good stuff!

Kevin

Stone193

<< <i>Ive been to the PO several times and they still don't have these in...they tease you putting out the promotional material weeks before
the stamps are out..I didn't know about the postcards...I will certainly pick up a few sets for my boys. Good stuff!

Kevin >>


Kevin
If they have a promotional standup poster at the PO - I would really like to score something like that also!

When Shaq was a household word in 93 - the PX gave me the pepsi shaq when they were done with it - it's like 7ft tall!

These are absolute beauties!
mike

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

I mentioned this before with no response but a interesting idea is to get these stamps and put them on the corrosponding players card and have the P.O. postmark it on the first day of issue.

Stone193

<< <i>I mentioned this before with no response but a interesting idea is to get these stamps and put them on the corrosponding players card and have the P.O. postmark it on the first day of issue. >>


Not a bad idea

I wonder what the first date of issue envelope looks like.

They're usually extremely artistic as such.

mike

dontippet

When did Mantle pass away? I thought you had to be dead for 15 years before being placed on a postage stamp. I thought Mantle died in the mid 90's.


Don

storm888

My guess is that the postcards will do well on eBay as
soon as the POs sell-out.

If you can, you are better off buying your stamps and cards
from the philatelic-windows/stores in the POs. The regular
window clerks are often ham-handed and hurt the pretties.

The PO promotional stuff is difficult to obtain. I went to four
POs and none of them had any "for sale." All of the clerks
told me that everybody asked about them, but that nobody
wanted to pay for them; they all wanted them "for free."

If you have a PO friend, you can probably get a used poster
or a stand-up, but the uncs will likely remain scarce.

storm

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

Im close to the postmaster in the small town where I work. She used all her displays but when finished I could get them probally free for someone who wants them.

52mantlebuyer

will these be a good investment, i mean you can still use these later for postage right? so maybe worth it to put away some of these they might be worth good money one day

doughmaking

Nope no stamps for me...sorry, not my style

storm888

The stamps are not likely to increase in value
during the life-span of anyone reading this
thread; too many produced.

The postcards might be sought after from
time to time; probably a better "investment."

I will probably just buy 100 of the cards for
retailing later.

storm

1977topps

I'm gonna get three sheets on Monday. I believe you have to be deceased for 10 years to be on a stamp.

bowdowntome

Neat looking stamps, kinda remind you of the old Bowmans.

As far as any future value is concerned, most commemoratives issued by the P.O. never even get used. They either get saved or they never get sold. Most people who buy stamps to use get what is most convenient, which is a small booklet of regular issues. Commemoratives take up too much space. people have been squireling away sheets of commemoratives for almost 100 years, and very few today are evn worth the face value. They are all still valid for postal use however. I myself regularly use old postage stamps, some as old as 75 years, on bill payments, ebay payments (if I use a money order), etc...

Sports collectors will probably value these more than stamp collectors, and the only "value" they will probably have will be due to any demand. There will always be a supply of them somewhere, at least in unsed, sheet form.
Used modern commemoratives, however, demand small premiums even over face value because so few, relatively speaking, actually get used. And when I'm talking about USED, I'm refering to common use to send common letters with the appropriate amount of postage, and within the commemoratives period of use. Usually I just send a common #10 envelope with whatever stamp I want, placed neatly, and addressed neatly, to my parents who save them for me when they get them. First Day issues are overrated, and alot of times can be "made" by postal clerks as favors even after the actual first day issue.

But, carefully prepared envelopes or other unique uses, such as cards, that you can get cancelled, do make nice additions to collections other than stamp collections.


BTW, I've been both a stamp collector AND sports card collector since 1969, and continue both today.

SDSportsFan

<< <i>When did Mantle pass away? I thought you had to be dead for 15 years before being placed on a postage stamp. I thought Mantle died in the mid 90's.


Don >>





Mick died Aug 13, 1995. USPS rules prohibit any person (except a US President) from appearing on a postage stamp until 10 years have passed since their death. Presidents can appear immediately.

I'll be buying several of these stamps, and the first day covers too. Stamp collecting was actually my first hobby when I was a kid, thanks to my dad. He collected stamps his whole life. I still collect Gateway Stamp Company's issues, as well as old space (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo) covers and stamps.


Steve

dontippet

Thanks Steve. Didn't the rule used to be 15 years? Elvis died in '77 but I don't think his stamps came out until '92. BTW, I still remember the day his stamps came out.

Don

SDSportsFan

Hi Don,

I only remember the 10 year rule; so I'm not sure if there was ever a 15 year one. Looking back through my dad's old stamp collection, I notice Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy stamps from 1979 (they were both killed in 1968). Also, Robert Frost was on a stamp in 1974 (he died in 1963). It appears the rule came into existence in the 1970's, since Gen Douglas MacArthur died in 1964 and was on a postage stamp in 1971, and Walt Disney died in 1966 and was on a stamp in 1968.


Steve

storm888

Stamp collecting has long been know as "the hobby of presidents."

Anybody know if Clinton and Bush collect stamps?

Anybody know of any presidents who collected sports-cards?
(I know Bush has "memorabilia," but I have not heard that
he was ever into cards.)

storm

Southerncards

<< <i>Stamp collecting has long been know as "the hobby of presidents."

Anybody know if Clinton and Bush collect stamps?

storm >>





Bush collects stamps
Clinton collects tramps

bri2327

I just picked up a few sheets this morning. Nice looking stamps...they didnt know anything about the post cards at the P.O. though. Are they supposed to be released through them or elsewhere ?

VintageJeff

http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategoriesDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10152 stamps

VintageJeff

post cards

bri2327

postcard link didnt work...couldnt find anything on USPS website either !

VintageJeff

This will work