***Our Holiday auction ends this Friday- December 12, 2008. There is still plenty of time to place your bids and we'll try our best to get the winning bidders their "goodies" before the holidays. To view the entire auction, just click on the Auction tab at the top of the screen***
***********************************************************************
FRED KAIL's TRIBUTE TO THE 1958 COLTS
This morning I had the extreme pleasure to talk to Fred Kail. For those of you who don't know of Mr. Kail (we can't imagine that many figural collectors don't), he is the artist most famous in this hobby for creating NFL football statues & banks in the late 50's/ early 60's. His Joe Jolter series are some of the most popular figurals in the hobby today- and for good reason, they are awesome. The attention to detail of the helmets and uniform colors was simply spectacular.
Our conversation took us in many directions including his humble beginnings as an upstart artist. He first started creating his football statues in the late 50's and many of his works were done right on his mother's kitchen table. As an 18 year old, he got to know many NFL executives and players who loved his statues so much that he would custom make them and sell them via individual orders. It is well documented how the "Santa Claus" company literally stole his idea and tried to mass produce his statues in Japan. Unfortunately for Mr. Kail, he profited very little from his original creations. We are happy to report that Mr. Kail went on to bigger and better things and was actually commisioned to sculpt the statue of Johnny Unitas that stands outside of M&T Bank Stadium (home of the Baltimore Ravens).
During our conversation, Mr. Kail informed me of a piece he made that has a special historical interest this year. It was made 50 years ago shortly after the Colts won the game that many consider the "Greatest Game Ever Played"- the 1958 World Championship game against the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium. The game was the first "sudden death" game played in the NFL and it is credited with making NFL football the most popular sport in America. The statue is of the Colts defensive line. Each statue contains the number of the player and was mounted on a 2 foot board. The names of the players, Gino Marchetti, Art Donovan, Gene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, and Don Joyce are noted on engraved plaques in front of each player. This statue set has never been seen by any collector in 50 years and we are happy to announce that we are in negotiations to offer it for sale, perhaps by our first 2009 auction. It's an amazing work- that certainly will attract the attention of any Kail or figural collector.
