by Bill Retskin

(Editor's Note: This article was written in September 1994, but never published.)

In a recent Sport's Collector's Digest advertisement for baseball items, a member of our matchcover collecting club, The American Matchcover Collecting Club (AMCC), sent me an advertisement for the Mickey Mantle Holiday Inn (green back version) 30-strike matchcover. The asking price was $85.00.

For the past year, I have been estimating the value of this matchcover in the AMCC quarterly matchcover auction for $25.00 and in a reply to the member who sent me the clipping, I suggested that the ad probably cost $1,500 or more and the advertiser had expenses.

"There is life outside our hobby," I continued in my reply to the member. Thinking about this reply suggested this article and my thoughts about specialty hobbies and how matchcover collecting plays a big part in the hobby world in general.

Matchcover collecting is both a specialized and a general hobby. The medium is matchcovers but more than that, the medium is the advertising or messages on the matchcovers. That makes it a specializes hobby. "Nobody collects blank cover matchcovers."

The general nature of the hobby stems from the fact that everything from Airlines to Zoos has been advertised on matchcovers, including such far reaching products and services as dressed rabbits, calculators, hospitals and messages about not smoking.

Category lists, made up by matchcover collectors, probably include several categories that are hobbies unto themselves. At last count there were over 650 matchcover categories reported, and that list is growing every day.

Recently, I received a letter from a railroadiana collector in Pennsylvania. He wanted several matchcovers from a now defunct railroad line and I was happy to oblige. "I'll pay anything you ask," were the last words in his letter.

I sent him four items, two full books and two flattened matchcovers and a modest bill for $10.00. His check for $25.00 came a few days later with the following note: "Thanks for your efforts. I've been looking for these for 10 years now. I'd have paid $100 for the matchcovers. Good luck!"

"There is life outside our hobby." I have helped other collectors with their specialty several times before and since and am happy to promote matchcovers in this way. But it gives me a moment to stop and reflect about my hobby and collecting hobbies in general. I don't suppose a railroad matchcover collector would purchase model trains as a peripheral to his matchcover collection, but why not go the other way.

As an older, but relatively innocent hobby, matchcover collecting owes a big debt to the collectibles world in general. Formally established over 50 years ago during the 1939 New York World's Fair, the hobby of matchcover collecting has been a trading hobby without established prices until 1993, when the first real price guide was written and published.

Not to go on about the book, The Matchcover Collector's Price Guide, 1st Edition, since I am the author, I wrote it because I knew that matchcover collecting would remain a localized hobby without national respect and acceptance had a book on the subject not been produced.

I wrote the price guide not only for matchcover collectors but also for the hundreds of thousands of specialty collectors who would like to add a few relatively inexpensive peripherals to their collections. The concept of "life outside our hobby" is a product of the world of collectibles and every hobby owes a certain allegiance to sister hobbies for this very reason.

Price guides, in general, can be a blessing or a curse. If used as a bible, as so many neophyte collectors and nefarious dealers do, it can be a curse not only to the hobby it represents, but also to the collector and his collecting. Used as a guide, it can help encourage traffic in the specific hobby and benefit all involved.

No matter what is said about price guides, however, they are an important part of any hobby. A hobby without a price guide is like a busy intersection without a traffic light. I am the first one to admit that no one knows everything about any hobby, but am early to recognize the importance of some regulation and standards.

I was both overjoyed and saddened to see the Mickey Mantle matchcover advertised for $85.00. I was ecstatic because it shows that more exposure is being given to this little understood and under rated hobby and matchcover collecting may yet make a national comeback. I was saddened knowing how many Mickey Mantle matchcovers I sold for $10.00 and $20.00. Oh, well, that's life.

In a final note I wish to say that I am proud to tell everyone that my primary collectible is matchcovers. I am also pleased that it fits so comfortably and easily into hundreds of other specialized collectible fields.

For those of you who haven't discovered matchcover collecting as a peripheral hobby to your specialty, you're missing the boat. Prices are still low. There are few proclaimed matchcover dealers, such as myself, but only one price guide currently on the market. By these standards, this hobby is still in its infancy.

The American Matchcover Collecting Club will be glad, to the best of our ability, to answer your questions about matchcover collecting and give you more information on how to enjoy this hobby both for itself and as an adjunct to your current specialty.