1979 Metallic Creations Signature Miniatures

[FireGardy]

Does anybody have any information on these or the manufacturer beyond what is in the Standard Catalog? I'm looking for the Carew statues if anybody has them. I have 2 versions of the card:





I also found these described as postcards, and they don't have the black border. There is a lot of them on ebay right now http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=350482299871



Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[sschauer]

Here's all the info I could come up with with slightly expanded checklist. They all are pretty scarce and some of the statues have never been seen and doubtful the exist. I can attest that the Rose statue has never been seen and no card has been seen but a proof artist card does exist which is also blank backed so that might be what the blank back version is for all.

Not too much is know about this issue but the company seems to have gone into bankruptcy and ceased production late into the run so some of the statues are extremely scarce and may not exist at all. Manufactored by Metallic Creations they issued pewter statue in an original box (name stamped on side) with an enclosed card. Statues are approx 3”-3 1/2" tall depending on the pose. Card is approx 3.5" x 4.75" each player also has a facsimile autograph on the front the back has career statistics on them. The cards are unnumbered and have sequenced them in alphabetical order. The statues and the cards were available for $7.95 upon release. The players listed as SP's were produced late in the run and are available in lesser quantities than the other players listed in our checklist.

Checklist believed to be complete at 24


Hank Aaron
George Brett SP
Rod Carew
Cesar Cedeno SP
Roberto Clemente SP
Ty Cobb
Steve Garvey
Lou Gehrig
Ron Guidy
Roger Hornsby
Walter Johnson
Ralph Kiner
Sandy Koufax SP
Davey Lopes
Christy Mathewson
Willie Mays
Willie McCovey
Thurman Munson SP
Mel Ott
Pete Rose SP
Babe Ruth
Nolan Ryan SP
Tris Speaker
Honus Wagner

[FireGardy]

I also have this large framed card. I don't know much about it except that I was told that it was from around the time period of the set. It is about 11" square. The same seller had a Mays and Ryan that he sold at the same time as this Carew; all three were different sizes. It was framed in California according to the sticker on the back of the frame.

[laughlinfan]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, FireGardy! Just had a nice long phone conversation with my mom, who has been my collecting "buddy" for the past 40 years or so. We collected these when they came out since we really liked collecting sports figures, among other things. I will tell you the history as we collectively remembered it: The first eight were all old time Hall of Famers, and were issued with the "photo" cards - no borders slightly rounded corners, and nothing on the back but the photo watermark - printed on Kodak paper or something like that. They then put out another set of players, and did this for a few small series, I think. These had the black bordered cards that had stats on the back. They also started issuing the original 8 with the new style card as well, so you can see those 8 in either variation. I think they got to about 16 or so and started having financial issues. I thought the Carew and the McCovey were at the tail end of what we were able to get from the company directly. I remember we got the McCovey with a broken bat and weren't sure if we could get a replacement. I think that got us to 18 different, all with cards. From then it was picking up the remnants whenever we found them. The ones after the original 18 started looking pretty crude. The sizes were odd, and it seemed like they had gotten a different sculptor. (Maybe a more affordable art school drop out!) The George Brett looked more like Pete Rose. Clemente and Munson were almost laughable, I think. (Just going on memory here). When we did pick up the Brett, Clemente, Munson, and Cedeno over the next several years, they didn't have cards, and I've never seen cards for those. I first saw a Ryan card about ten years ago, and had no idea he was part of the set. I've never seen a Ryan statue. I also have never seen a Rose card or statue. There were a couple of Rose pewter statues put out at nearly the same time in honor of his 3000th hit and his hitting streak, but none was issued in this series that I ever saw. In the 2009 Standard Catalog, they list 21 in the set, with no mention of Rose, Brett, or Clemente. They only list a Cedeno card but we have only the statue. They allude to the scarcity of the later subjects, and say that a Munson statue has been confirmed, but then list the statue at $10. The prices seem pretty low across the board, based on the scarcity, especially beyond the first 8 in the set. I will try to get a picture of some of ours posted later.

[FireGardy]

I know my 2010 Standard Catalog has the 24 listed and my 2004 Beckett Catalog only had 20 cards in the set; the 2010 catalog also mentions pewter and silver plated statues. I'd like to see some of the statues especially the silver ones. There are several of the old time players listed on ebay with statues (either card variation) that never seem to sell. I'm sure a Ryan would pull decent coin and Rose would probably draw an insane price. I paid more for each of my Rod Carews than I did for the lot of the 8 old time guys which surprised me a bit. There are singles of a few more modern guys on ebay right now that have the the little logo thingy on them like the one just over Rod's right shoulder on this which would lead me to believe they are blank backed.

They must have changed artists on the prints at some point, too. My '04 Beckett says P. Herek was the artist (I've seen his name on a Gehrig image but can't make out artist on other cards pictured online) while the '10 Standard Catalog has J. Payette listed as the artist (he did the Carew).

[laughlinfan]

Got my mom to send me a picture. No laughing at the quality display case I built - I was only 15!

[mwchus]

If anyone knows of any items for sale, i would be interested in purchasing.

Thanks so much!!