Options
Board Member Bob Lemke (Aupt) Has Passed Away
Ironmanfan
Posts: 5,522 ✭✭✭✭
unfortunately I learned through Twitter that the former editor & publisher of SCD, Bob Lemke passed away earlier this morning....
his knowledge of the hobby was vast and his Blog & custom cards were second to none...
RIP Bob
IMF
Successful dealings with Wcsportscards94558, EagleEyeKid, SamsGirl214, Volver, DwayneDrain, Oaksey25, Griffins, Cardfan07, Etc.
0
Comments
RIP Bob.
Thanks for the news and sorry to hear of Bob's passing.
RIP Bob indeed.
Website
Ebay Store
Very sad.
RIP Bob, you'll sadly be missed.
Bob sent me a custom made card that he made of Calvin Jones. A true collector.
RIP Bob.
I remember him sending me one of his cards that never were (Doug Flutie, IIRC) as a thank you for telling him about a mistake on the back of the card. The man had a real passion for our hobby.
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
Sad news. RIP, Bob.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
RIP Bob ................One of the pioneer leaders in Collection info on Sports cards ! Always enjoyed his articles !
1963 Fleer
Lou Brock Master Set
Wow, what sad and shocking news. I remember him posting on here not that long ago, maybe as recently as a month or two.
RIP, Bob!!!
A true hobby legend, that will be missed.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Here's the thread from November about Baseball Cards magazine which contains Bob's final post:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/11596438/#Comment_11596438
And here's the link to the story on Sports Collectors Daily:
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/hobby-fixture-bob-lemke-passes-away/
That is so sad!! Will be missed!!
Very sad news. RIP Bob.
CDsNuts, 1/9/15
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
very sad news. RIP
always enjoyed his writing, he'll be missed
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
I really enjoyed the early Baseball Cards magazine and those thick weekly 1980's SCD's.
Sad news, indeed.
Bob personally got the Standard Catalog updated to reflect an incorrect checklist for 1994 Finest I had found and of course also got the Standard Catalog updated to first include some of the 1990 Topps blackless.
Enjoyed his custom cards as well.
saucywombat@hotmail.com
Bob was a class act. RIP
RIP, Mr. Lemke.
I am very sad to hear this. Bob was a mountain of importance to our hobby, and a watch dog. Truly, one of the major reasons the hobby grew so big in the 1980s was due to the diligent work of Bob Lemke at Sports Collectors Digest and Baseball Cards magazine.
After he retired from the constant grind that his job as publisher of SCD demanded, he found the pleasure and fun of creating his own cards. They were beautiful, well-crafted creations. He didn't make them to earn a living. Bob's custom fantasy cards were simply an outgrowth of his passion of collecting sport cards. Players that should have had their own card in a given set were gifted to the hobby through Bob Lemke. From a 1965 Topps card of Tiger pitcher Dick Wantz, to the, tongue in cheek of course, 3 Stooges of Boulder Dam College in the 1955 Topps All-American football set.
I only have a few of Bob Lemke's creations, but I cherish them. Sincerely. In our world, they are genuinely works of art. I had made a mental list of a dozen others I wanted to buy, but now .......
Bob's Blog was something I had really begun to read closely last year. If he found something significant, he would share it with anyone who beat a path to his web site. He loved reading old issues of THE SPORTING NEWS, and would treat us to gold nuggets of information he thought were significant. Last year he reproduced a SN piece that discussed the General Foods' massive 1962 Post Cereal baseball card promotion. Within the article was a blurb about their test-marketing the '62 cards on JELL-O boxes in the Chicago-land area as well. Since there were still collectors today unconvinced the 1962 JELL-Os were a test issue, this was positive proof.
He was a man after my own heart, as he frequently paid tribute to an underdog, or a player who seemed underappreciated.
Mr. Lemke, I salute your memory, sir. We will miss you. ---Indiana Jones (Brian Powell)
Many celebrities have passed on recently. In the realm of sports fanatics, he was ours and will be missed. RIP Bob.
Thank you ironmanfan for posting. I collected two full 3" binders of Bob's articles from SCD. I figured once I retire, it would be fun to read them all again. Great writer, and even better card enthusiast.
For those not familiar with Bob's personal creations, if you go to GOOGLE IMAGES and search "Bob Lemke homemade cards" you will get to see some of his beauties. RIP Bob.
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
Sad news, indeed.
Sad to hear.
I very much enjoyed his posts, and observing his vast expertise.
RIP Mr. Lemke
Agree with all noted above comments. Enjoyed his articles loaded with info. RIP.
Here are the '57 Koufax creations I picked up from him a few years back.
Dodgers collection scans | Brett Butler registry | 1978 Dodgers - straight 9s, homie
I appreciated his posts as Aupt, very knowledgeable and helpful. Just read the great article on 1962 Post Cereal cards. It contains an amazing stat on how many cards were printed - 800,000,000! I'm going to have to google more of his writings.
"Molon Labe"
RIP. Sad news.
No need to google, here is a link to his Blog...Lot of great reading here!
boblemke.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2016-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2017-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=50
Really sorry to read this. I have his Dale Murphy '76 custom. He could not have been cooler and nicer when I bought it from him.
Apart from our personal dealings with him, he was a true giant in the hobby (although you wouldn't have known that from interacting with him.)
Thanks for the link Ironmanfan!
"Molon Labe"
Was at the mall with Mary - always bring something to read - saw this in an old SCD.
Bob Lemke - 1981 SCD Person of the Year
Bob had a resume - the envy of anyone in the hobby.
I'm going to add this here - it's a prelude to what I'll be writing - how price guides/pubs shaped our hobby along with Topps losing their battle to monopolize card sales.
Baseball Cards Magazine Issue #1
This is the "first" Nationally published magazine to hit the news stands in 1981.
The prime mover was Bob Lemke.
I'm currently working on a writeup of the impact that hobby pubs - price guides - checklists...had on the industry.
I liked what Lemke wrote in the premier issue:
Bob was focusing in on people ripping off unsuspecting sellers of cards for the bigger goal of growing the hobby - at least try to remove the "sleaze" - and perhaps bring new people into the hobby predicated on their "finds" in attics, basements, closets....items from a family member e.g.
More to come.
RIP, here is an interview with Bob from 2008. He talks about how he got into collecting and more.
Thanx Trevor.
I'm in the process of getting my "original" pubs in order - to include Beckett, Trader Speaks, Tuff Stuff, SCD...and do a writeup on the explosion of our hobby.
Some of it is very interesting since it goes to the psyche of individuals and what they like to do.
Bob was pivotally on the cusp of the expansion of our hobby.
I hope to interest some in this endeavor?
I have fond memories of picking up the Baseball Cards magazine each month when I was a kid. I didn't start getting them until 1988. It would be awesome to see what content the 1st issue had.
Mike,
That is something I would love to see. Can we make a sports industry hall of fame? It would be really cool to see the accomplishments of Bob, and the many other dedicated/pioneering collectors that have greatly improved this industry.
Stone. Looking forward to your future writings on this topic.
Good point Trevor.
It won't get a lot of love but worthy of mentioning.
I'll dedicate a post to some of the "kings" of the industry during the "surge." I.e., the 70s into the 80s when the hobby started to grow.
The First "National" in Anaheim was the brainchild of Gavin Riley (if memory serves, a collector and school teacher) along with Mike Berkus (of Tuff Stuff) and John Broggi - these are collectors well known in the hobby at that time.
Certain events or endeavors were the "prime mover" in the _"big bang of our hobby" _
I have copies of most old pubs - a few are not the original but old - I do have the first Beckett also and Vol No. 1 of SCD. When SCD had their 25th anniversary, they did include in it a reprint of their 1973 premier.
In the ongoing saga (thread) - I'll see if I can highlight some of the thinking back then.
Some of it is kind of funny. E.g. collectors bitching about having to fork out 10 whole dollars for an "update" set to the regular season Topps set.
More to come
He gave Allan Lewis a card (THE PANAMANIAN EXPRESS)
http://boblemke.blogspot.com/2012/09/allan-lewis-panamanian-express-finally.html
RIP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
Mike-
I might be wrong, but I think the first National was in LA, not Anaheim. I had a table and sold off my original collection at that one, and took 20 years off.
Gavin was a teacher, super nice guy. Wrote a lot in The Trader Speaks. I think Steve Brunner was involved as well.
The first convention/show was put on by Jim Nowell in Orange County in '69, possibly Fullerton I think. A show in Detroit followed a few months later.
I didn't go to one until '74. Jim had the first few at his house, but soon outgrew that and they were held at the Anaheim Hyatt House. These evolved into the National by 1980.
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
RIP Bob
I remember getting the first issue of Baseball Cards! I can still remember that day as if it was last week! 7-11 in Vernon CT with a Big Gulp and 10 packs of 81 Topps!! Bob sure put in a lot of work for our hobby..
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
Hiya Anthony
My bad. I know nothing about LA - yes - the first was at the Airport Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles, beginning the Wednesday before the Labor Day weekend.
I just looked this up - easy "read" link.
Lionel Carter had a convention of sorts also in 1958. From what I understand, as large and successful as the first convention was, it was still overshadowed by the Philly show.
I'm writing a lot of this from memory but when I put together my post on publications of influence, I'll try to keep research in front of me.
This sounds like a great project. I started collecting in 86/87 and have no real sense of the hobby prior to that time frame. Really looking forward to your posts.
John
RIP..Bob