Collectors Corner

Time 2020-09-20 15:04:30

Web Name: Collectors Corner

WebSite: http://www.bobbyorrcollector.com

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Well what do we have here. A new blog post and on a Thursday to boot. Since today (March 20th) is Bobby Orr s 66th birthday, I thought that this would be the perfect time to show you something that I just picked up. This piece dates back to his younger days, just after his 19th birthday actually. It s not quite a piece of memorabilia, but it is unique.First is the back story to this item. On April 2, 1967, which was at the end off Orr s rookie season, a banquet was held in North Reading, MA. to support the towns independent hockey team. Special guests included Bruins players Joe Watson, Johnny McKenzie and of course Bobby Orr.Here are some clippings of the event that were in the local paper.The middle photo shows Bobby signing an autograph for a young fan.According to the article, Due to a mix up in dates, Orr did not attend the banquet, but did meet up with everyone after at the Congregational Church Hall to greet youngsters and sign autographs .Here s the item I picked up.This is the check paid to Orr for his appearance. As you can see in the first picture, it s made out to Bobby. The second picture shows his signature on the back of the check. PSA grading services authenticated the signature.What makes this check so unique is that it s probably one of the first, if not the very first, paid appearances that Orr made for the Bruins. A very tidy sum of $25 for an hours worth of his time to talk and sign autographs for those in attendance. Nowadays, you would probably have to add about three zeroes to the end of that figure.Thanks for reading. See you again hopefully soon with post #200. Happy Birthday Bobby! It s been awhile, but I m back this week with a new post. Why now? Well, I got something recently that I thought was pretty cool and I wanted to show it to you all.Everyone knows or has seen the various versions of Bobby Orr table hockey games that are out there. Refresh your memory by checking out this past post.The item I have for you this week is much rarer. I ve only ever seen it one other time and that is because a fellow Orr collector has it and sent me pictures a long time ago.Without further adieu here it is.Bobby Orr Glide Hockey. The box is in tough shape, but I don t care because the main part featuring Bobby still looks pretty good.Here s what the game actually looks like.Nothing fancy here. As the box says, it features a super fast Munite playing surface. I have no idea about that, as I have no intention of playing it, just displaying it.As I said above. this is only the second one that I have ever seen. I can t imagine that this was very popular as I m sure most kids preferred the more traditional table hockey game.There you have it. I ve picked up some other unique Orr pieces during my sabbatical and will be featuring them as time goes on. Thanks to everyone who still continues to check my site. There will be more posts coming. It s been a couple of weeks (very busy couple of weeks), but I m back with something that I ve had for awhile and am not sure why I waited so long to talk about it.This item that I m about to show you isn t a Bobby Orr item per se. As the title of this post says, it s more generic Bobby Orr. What I mean by that is there were items produced during Orr s playing days that showed a generic Bruins player on it, but everyone knows it was meant to be Orr.Here is what I m talking about.This is a Bruins weave rug from the late 60 s early 70 s. You have both sides of a generic Bruins player. No way. You can t tell me that s not supposed to be Bobby Orr.Want a little proof? Check out this poster from the same time period.Remarkable similarities. It s basically the same image minus the number 4 on his gloves and sleeves.When I bought the rug years ago, I did it more because I liked the design of it, not because I thought it was Bobby Orr on it. And truthfully, it wouldn t be listed as an Orr item, but I think it is.Thanks for staying with me these past few weeks. As I ve said previously I m cutting back on my posts. Keep checking in though as I plan to continue posting at least a few time a month and maybe more depending on what items I have. After a one week hiatus I m back. Not sure what my schedule for posts will be from here on out. I ll guarantee however that at the minimum I will have a post at least every two weeks.This weeks item is something I picked up recently and is among my favorite type of Bobby Orr collectibles: Original artwork prints.This is a print by well known sports cartoonist Bob Coyne. I wrote about him in one of my previous posts.I would venture that this was done for one of the local papers during the 1970-71 season because it lists his statistics and awards won from the previous year.Coyne really did a great job of capturing Orr in motion. The added facts about his career is just icing on cake.I really do love artwork like this and plan on framing it and hanging it in my Bobby Orr room.I really don t know how many of these drawings exist. This is the first I ve ever seen of this particular one.If you ever happen to see another one, I d say grab it because I don t think there are too many out there.Thanks for checking in this week. Next week is comic-con (my other collecting passion) so I ll see you again in two weeks. I got a message on Friday from a frequent Orr memorabilia supplier of mine, Sportsworld in Saugus, Mass. saying that a unique Orr item recently came into the store. Of course when I read that I knew that I had to go check it out.When I saw it I realized that it looked very familiar.Here we have an original 5 7 photo of Orr coming out behind the net against the New York Rangers. The reason why it looks so familiar is this:This is a poster of the same photo. It was put out by T.J.B. Enterprises of Wakefield, Ma. in 1971. So was this the actual photo that the poster was taken from? Quite possibly. Pretty cool nevertheless.There were three other non Orr Bruin photos included.I know for sure that the photo on the right was also made into a poster. I can t remember if the other ones were or not. All in all I m pretty happy to have these four original photos, especially the Orr one.See you again next weekend with more of Orr. That s right, I don t want the item(s) that I m going to show you today.First, let me start off telling you why I am writing about this today. Truthfully, I didn t want to do a post this week. The temperature here in Mass. has been 90-95 degrees for the past four days. I ve had a busy weekend and was coming home from a trip to the flea market with friends when I casually mentioned that I was going to take this week off, which would be my first since I started this blog back in December 2009.They urged me to keep going. I said that it s getting tougher to find interesting items to write about. They said to think outside the box. Maybe write about what I look for in an Orr collectible or just talk about Orr collecting in general. It doesn t have to be a long write up, just something.As they were talking I suddenly remembered reading a controversial story about an Orr painting a few years back. Some of you might know what I m talking about already. If not, here it is.Bobby Orr nude by artist Kurt Kauper. This was painted in 2007 and shown as part of an exhibit in New York. This is the painting from the waist up.He also did this one of Orr.Besides Orr he also did a similar painting of former Bruin Derek Sanderson as well as movie star Cary Grant.Here is a write up about the event, artist and paintings: It s Bobby Orr as you ve never seen him stark naked and smiling.An oil painting of the hockey icon au naturel is the centrepiece of an art exhibition in New York City featuring the work of Kurt Kauper, a Boston-area artist who grew up in the 1970s worshipping Mr. Orr and the Boston Bruins.The Orr nude stands 2.28 metres tall (seven-foot-six), and shows him turned slightly to the side.The thought of Mr. Orr naked in an art gallery must be turning Don Cherry s face a vermilion hue, even brighter than his neckties.The painting is based on a hockey card of Mr. Orr in full uniform on the ice. Mr. Orr did not pose for the painting nor was he aware what the artist was up to.The exhibit, titled Everybody Knew Canadians Were The Best Hockey Players also features a portrait of Mr. Orr s teammate, Derek Sanderson, in the buff.Mr. Sanderson a notorious party animal in his prime likely would have agreed to pose nude back in the day. But like Mr. Orr, he was not aware he had been turned into a gallery nude. Mr. Sanderson is painted standing next to his locker with nothing but his hockey stick.The hockey paintings have resonated with New York s blasé art-world types. Mr. Kauper told the Boston Globe that several paintings in the New York show, which runs through Dec. 15, have sold for between $50,000 and $135,000 U.S.A staffer at the hip Deitch Projects gallery said last night that one of the two nude Orr paintings remains available. The other has been purchased, as has the Sanderson. The exhibition includes some non-nude portraits of several hockey players.Mr. Kauper, 41, told the Boston newspaper that he was big hockey fan growing up and suffered watching the Bruins lose to the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1974 Stanley Cup finals. I would call my interest in Bobby Orr more of an obsession at that age, he said. When we would play games in the neighbourhood, cops and robbers, I would pretend I was Bobby Orr moonlighting as a cop. Mr. Kauper said he was inspired to create the hockey portraits after seeing photographs of a series of old hockey trading cards in 2000. It occurred to me that it would be interesting to try to make a painting of an icon in the nude and see what kind of response I got from viewers. Mr. Kauper said the images on the hockey cards reminded him of 19th-century locket portraits. A locket portrait is a portrait of somebody you love and want to hold close to your heart, he said. When I think back to my obsession with Bobby Orr, it had a lot to do with almost a crush on Bobby Orr and I don t mean that sexually. So is it physical? It s not physical in the sense of erotic lust, but there s definitely some physical attraction to Bobby Orr s image and his body. He said many have made the wrong assumption about his sexual orientation. People didn t really ask the question so much as assume that I m gay, said Mr. Kauper, who is straight and lives in New York with his wife, photographer Annelizabeth Wells, and their two children. If a woman paints another woman in the nude, it would be interpreted as a painting having to do with a woman s identity. But when a man paints this painting, it s associated with homoerotic activity. One New York art critic was clearly smitten with the exhibition. Stripped of their team uniforms in four larger-than-life paintings, the hockey icons appear almost unbearably vulnerable in Kauper s immaculate, neo-academic style, he said in a review.But Brad Park, who played briefly with Mr. Orr and Mr. Sanderson on the Bruins was repelled when he viewed the paintings online. I see a picture of Bobby with some genitals, and a picture of Turk with some genitals. That s hard to take, Mr. Park told the Boston Globe. I definitely would think Bobby would be uncomfortable with it. Derek, in his heyday, would have posed for it. Mr. Kauper is entitled to paint the hockey players without their permission under a First Amendment right to artistic expression. Now as much as I love all things Bobby Orr, this is just a little too much even for me.If you are interested in what the exhibit looked like, including the full paintings, check it out here Bobby Orr collectibles are never ending. At least that s what it seems like. Just when I thought I had seen it all something comes along that I had no idea was out there.This happened to me a couple of weeks ago regarding Bobby Orr newspaper/magazine photos.Last year I did a post about these. At the time I thought that I had every cover that he appeared on. Apparently I was wrong.Here is a weekend sports insert from the Montreal-Matin newspaper. I have the other three covers he was on but had never seen this one before. This is from March 31, 1973. Behind Orr are Peter Mahovlich and Ed Johnston.Being the completist that I am, I also picked this up.This one is from April 1, 1972. Even though Orr isn t the main focus, there s still enough of him in there to make me want this.Here is another piece that I wasn t aware of.This is La Presse Montreal Forum Magazine from November 1, 1968. Once again Orr is not the featured player, but there he is on the right hand side.Once again the entire paper is in French, which makes me wish that I took that instead of Spanish in high school.While these are not the most expensive or unique Orr items in my collection, I m still happy to have them and put them on display.Thanks for checking in this week. I ll be back next Sunday with more Bobby Orr items. During his playing days (and even in retirement) Bobby Orr helped promote many products and companies. Not surprising since he s the greatest hockey player in the world.What I have to show you this week is two items of Orr promoting Lowney s Chocolates.This first item is a poster of Bobby for Lowney s Save and Score promotion. This was a program that benefited the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. Not sure if this poster was a giveaway or if you could get it by saving wrappers. Perhaps one of my readers in Canada who is familiar with the program can shed some more light on it.As you can see here, the drawing of Orr is the same as the poster, but this is an advertising piece used in stores. It urges consumers to buy more Lowney s chocolates and save the wrappers.The advertising piece is a lot more interesting than the regular poster. It s also mounted on foam board which makes it easier to display.See you again next weekend with more Bobby Orr. As I said last week, there s nothing quite like the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins and Blackhawks are currently tied 1 1 in the finals and both games have been overtime classics. With that in mind I thought it would a good idea to continue with the Stanley Cup theme this week seeing as how I ve acquired a few items in the past few months that deal directly with the Bruins winning the cup.First up is something you don t see too often anymore.Here are three 8 mm home movie highlight films of the 1970, 1971 and 1972 Stanley Cup Playoffs. All are still sealed in their original packaging and are official films of the NHL. Orr is prominently featured on all three covers. It s interesting to note that each one depicts the Bruins playing against the New York Rangers. Not sure if this was done on purpose or just a coincidence.Speaking of the Rangers, this is the program for game 5 of the finals which was on May 9, 1972. The Bruins could have clinched the Cup if they won this game, but they lost to the Rangers 3-2. I ve always loved this cover because it feature the two greatest Bruins of that era, Bobby and Phil Esposito, with a great photo of the Stanley Cup between them.Not to worry however because there s this.Here is the program and ticket stub from game 6 in Madison Square Garden. The Bruins won the Cup with a 3 0 victory.Here is the line-up page.Finally I have this really tough to find item.This is a ticket stub from The Goal game, May 10, 1970. You see the red 7 on the ticket. That indicates that it s for the seventh Bruins home game of the playoffs. That year they played three games at home in the first round, two in the second and two in the finals. You don t see this ticket stub for sale too often and is definitely a nice piece of both Bruins and Bobby Orr history.That s all for this week. Hope you are enjoying watching the Bruins Blackhawks series. Go Bruins!! There s nothing in all of sports that compares to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The intensity of each game is off the charts. This year should be a great final as the Bruins take on the Black Hawks. I m lucky enough to have tickets to game 3 in Boston.Bobby Orr played in three Stanley Cup Finals, winning two of them and getting to hoist the cup, which is the ultimate trophy to win.The Stanley Cup is this weeks Orr item that I m going to show you. Two weeks ago I posted that I had Orr sign a few items for me. Here is the one that I wanted signed the most.Here is a two foot replica of the cup. While not a Bobby Orr item per se, I got his signature on the top band. You can see it a little better in this next pic.My goal is to have as many members of the 1970 and 1972 cup winning teams sign it. So far I have fourteen signatures. I have most of the main guys except for Phil Esposito and Ed Westfall. If I can get those two guys then I d be happy.Of course I considered Orr s signature to be the most important. He s the only one that is going to sign that top rung.The only other thing I would want is a picture of me and Bobby with the cup. Unfortunately, since it was a private signing I couldn t do that. In most other cases when I bring the cup to a show to get signed I usually take a photo with the player. Here are two that I took with John Bucyk and Milt Schmidt.Here s a pic of Orr with the real Stanley Cup.That s all for this week. Looking forward to this year s version of the Bruins hoisting the cup sometime next week. Until next Sunday, Go Bruins!

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