****I blew my chance at stardom! I was contacted (along with other local dealers) to be a part of a movie titled "Diminished  Capacity" starring Mathew Broderick, Alan Alda, Virginia Madsen and Ernie Banks. Part of the movie will take place at a Baseball Card Show and they wanted dealers to set up booths and be extras. I thought about it- the pay was lousy, the hours were long and I just know I would have ended up on the "cutting room floor"- so I declined. But what if- I was discovered and became a Hollywood star- nah- wouldn't happen. I've been told that I have a face for radio. Oh well- another dream shattered- I'm still waiting for the Yankees to call.

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ITALIAN BASEBALL FIGURINES

Today's topic is about a series of Italian made baseball figurines that were issued in the 40's. I first noticed them about 15 years ago at Atlantique (Atlantic City) and I knew they were right up my alley. They are some of the craziest figurines you will ever see. There are two teams (red and blue) and several that include umpires. They are made of paper-mache and the tallest figure stands about 4 inches tall.

Each figure is posed in a different comical baseball scene. The fielders make hysterical errors, the batter whiffs and the umpires are priceless. They remind us of the works of L.L. Rittgers in that some of the players are almost ogre-like. As far as we can tell there are 9 differnt players of each color(the players are repeated in each color) and at least two umpires. The batter is the only black player made.

These figurines display beautifully in any figural collection. Because of their fragility, there are usually some condition problems. Even with their flaws, they still look great. We have featured them in several of our auctions (see our June 29 auction) and they seem to be catching on fast with collectors. We think you'll enjoy the challenge of collecting them.