1978 HILTON HOTELS PROMOTIONAL POSTCARD (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED LICENSED IMAGE) MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅
I bought this after watching it sit on eBay for months. The seller said he acquired it in a lot from the family of a St. Louis collector who had passed. He didn't know anything else about it. The image itself is from an actual Schmidt poster produced in 1978 by Sports Illustrated. The poster was copyrighted by MARKETCOM and distributed by Crosswinds Corporation, both based in St. Louis. The best I can guess is that this may have been a handout at a Hilton-hosted corporate event or convention. It's also autographed, so it begs the question if Schmidt himself was in attendance or at least signed a few of these ahead of time. It's an odd piece, no doubt.
Supporting images
Snarky Says
This is either a forgotten piece of baseball history or the world's most elaborate hotel souvenir. I'm strangely okay with never knowing which.
1978 HOSTESS LOPES/SCHMIDT/RUDI HAND CUT-PANEL
Owned ✅
1978 HOSTESS MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅
1978 KELLOGGS MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅
One, this card is awesome. Two, have you seen these Kellogg’s cards listed on eBay in the semi-translucent single packages they came in? Yeah, some people are slabbing those, and that's dumb as hell. Don't do that.
Supporting images
Snarky Says
Congratulations on preserving the card by making it impossible to see the card.
1978 MSA SPORTS DISCS WIFFLE BALL INSERT MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅
Every kid who played Wiffle Ball has a story of either accidentally whacking someone in the face with a plastic bat, or they were the one standing too close when the batter swung. Fun fact: Before the invention of Wiffle Ball, these incidents were known as fatalities.
Snarky Says
Every neighborhood had one kid named Kevin who insisted on standing directly behind the batter. Evolution had several opportunities to intervene.
1978 O-PEE-CHEE MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅, PSA Grade: 8
1978 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES TEAM ISSUE PHOTO PACKS
Owned ✅
The blank back multi-sheet nature of these makes me wonder if they were intended to be cut up … like cards? Why else would they have two different photos of several players on five sheets? They're different from the trifold brochures, which were singular and had the roster and schedule on the back. Oh wait … I bet these were for the press. That would make the most sense.
Snarky Says
The line between "team photo pack" and "hand-cut set" is apparently one pair of scissors. The Phillies included two different Mike Schmidts because one Mike Schmidt was clearly insufficient.
1978 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES TEAM ISSUE PHOTOCARDS MIKE SCHMIDT
Not owned ❌
1978 PHILLIES YEARBOOK
Owned ✅
This yearbook has a colorful story about Mike getting beaned, charging the mound and breaking a finger. That's not the kind of thing you'd find in a team program nowadays.
Snarky Says
The Phillies once thought "our star player got beaned, rushed the pitcher, and broke a finger" was excellent promotional material. They were correct.
1978 ROYAL CROWN COLA IRON-ONS-HAND CUT MIKE SCHMIDT
Not owned ❌
1978 SPORTS PHOTO ASSOC INC 3” BUTTON MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅
1978 SSPC BASEBALL THE PHILLIES WAY BOOK
Owned ✅
In case anyone ever wondered where that hand-cut card comes from.
Snarky Says
Imagine spending your free time building a searchable database explaining where obscure hand-cut Mike Schmidt cards came from. Now imagine publishing it. But yeah, nah, this is an important historical artifact for anyone currently shouting, "But what book did they cut it out of?”
1978 SSPC BASEBALL THE PHILLIES WAY MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅, PSA Grade: 9
1978 TOPPS MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅, PSA Grade: 6
1978 TOPPS PHILLIES TEAM
Owned ✅
Snarky Says
I paid money for a card where the featured player is roughly the size of a sesame seed.
1978 TOPPS TEAM CHECKLIST SHEET-HAND-CUT PHILLIES TEAM
Owned ✅
Snarky Says
Collecting team photos is a bit like collecting Where's Waldo books, except the cards are more expensive and nobody's having fun.
1979 BURGER KING PHILLIES MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅, PSA Grade: 8
1979 HOSTESS MAZZILLI GARVEY SCHMIDT HAND-CUT PANEL
Owned ✅
1979 HOSTESS MIKE SCHMIDT
Owned ✅
The last of the Hostess cards. Kraft seemed to try to capture the same magic in 1987 with their Home Plate Heroes series, but it came up short on the execution. It was almost as disappointing as the macaroni.
Snarky Says
Hostess gave us Mike Schmidt with snack cakes. Kraft gave us Mike Schmidt with homework-night dinner. The vibes were different.
1979 LEMOYNE SLEEPER STORES PROMOTIONAL PHOTO 8 X 10
Owned ✅
This has to be my favorite item in my Schmidt collection. It’s torn, crinkled, and scribbled on, but it always makes me laugh. No context, no cheesy “Sleep Like a Champion” slogan. Just … mattress. I wonder if Mike drove to the showroom in his Phillies uniform or if he changed when he got there. Has JSA cert for autograph. Date is approximate.
Snarky Says
Of all the photographs ever taken of Mike Schmidt, this is certainly one of them. Mike Schmidt hit 548 home runs and won three MVP awards. This advertisement suggests his greatest achievement was locating a mattress. This ad also raises several questions. Most of them begin with, "Why?” This is the sort of local advertising that reminds us the 1970s and 1980s were completely unsupervised.
1979 MIKE SCHMIDT PHILLIES CHRISTIAN CHILDREN'S FUND 8 X 11 MAGAZINE AD
Owned ✅
I was drunk when I bought this.
Snarky Says
Every collection has a few purchases that require additional context. This is one of them. Nobody wakes up planning to own a Mike Schmidt Christian Children's Fund advertisement. Life comes at you fast.
Whoa, the Sportflics are amazing! How in the heck did you do that?