Questions soon answered about the '81 Rochester TCMA cards: Opening questions answered

ripkenintheminors · September 17, 2009 3:51AM

Been a good day. In addition to catching up on things I received a call from Michael Aronstein, one half of the TCMA creating team. I have wanted to chat with him since locating and interviewing Steve Kozel (1981 WTF Rochester). Michael was a great conversation and agreed to answer questions about the set. I have to admit that I am thrilled!

Please feel free to LMK if any of you have anything you have always wondered about the cards and I will pass the questions on.

slantycouch · September 17, 2009 3:52AM

Is there a stockpile of cards somewhere that I could have for free?

Ironmanfan · September 17, 2009 5:53AM

do you think he will disclose the production run? or if he is aware of any counterfeit attempts

WinPitcher · September 17, 2009 5:56AM

Hopefully he will tell you the truth.

Steve

ripkenintheminors · September 17, 2009 6:17AM

<< Hopefully he will tell you the truth.

Steve >>

At the risk of sounding ignorant, is there a reason I should expect anything less?

WinPitcher · September 17, 2009 6:24AM

Pm sent.

Steve

ken61 · September 17, 2009 8:40AM

I believe TCMA sold much of their leftover stock to Don Harrison, who runs a store called the 10th Inning in Hampton, VA. In the mid-90s, the 10th Inning would raffle off a 1981 Rochester TCMA set every month or so. Spend XX amount in the store and get XX tickets in the jug. This is how I got my set.

ripkenintheminors · September 17, 2009 12:12PM

<< I believe TCMA sold much of their leftover stock to Don Harrison, who runs a store called the 10th Inning in Hampton, VA. In the mid-90s, the 10th Inning would raffle off a 1981 Rochester TCMA set every month or so. Spend XX amount in the store and get XX tickets in the jug. This is how I got my set. >>

I remember chatting with that guy once or twice after I built the site. He knew the names of the creators but was not sure how to get in touch with them.

ripkenintheminors · September 19, 2009 9:20AM

Got responses to the questions I sent to Michael. I had a Homecoming football game to announce so I only had a chance to glance over the responses. I will say something about the production run of the Rochester TCMA cards. Although I am not sure where the info initially came from, it has been said that the run was 3,500 sets. Although the number could be as few as 3,000, the accepted 3,500 set run could be off by a pretty good percentage.

tunahead08 · September 19, 2009 9:25AM

Looking forward to the new updates on the site!

swartz1 · September 19, 2009 9:35AM

Older thread...

good info...

nice pic...

tunahead08 · September 19, 2009 9:43AM

<< Older thread...

good info...

nice pic... >>

I am glad I forwarded that 1981 WTF pic to RITM when I did, a few months after that my hard drive crashed and I wasn't able to recover the saved auction page

ripkenintheminors · September 21, 2009 6:25AM

<< 

<< Older thread...

good info...

nice pic... >>

I am glad I forwarded that 1981 WTF pic to RITM when I did, a few months after that my hard drive crashed and I wasn't able to recover the saved auction page

>>

Agreed. It was a great resource to get and add to the files. In addition, it was good to confirm that the PSA 10 was legit.

Still working on the interviews with Cat Whitfield and Mike Aronstein. It will take awhile to type everything up and get it posted but I will pass this on. If you are looking to buy a WBTV of Cal you should go ahead and get it. If you are looking to sell a TCMA Ripken you should probably go for it. You might recall the interview with the Clubhouse Manager for Charlotte that told the story of throwing enough cards to fill a cart in the dumpster. Although some doubted the accuracy at the time Cat Whitfield confirmed that there were a lot of sets not given out that night. Granted, the sets Cat spoke of could've ended up in collections. Either way, there are now 2 stories saying that for whatever reason a lot of sets did not go out of the park that night. As far as the TCMA goes I have always understood the production to be 3,500. According to Mike the initial print run could've exceeded 3,500 by a decent margin. In addition, there might have been a second printing of the Rochester set. Thought I'd go ahead and pass that info out. Mike is working on locating any notes he may have kept.

Questions soon answered about the '81 Rochester TCMA cards: Opening questions answered

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