Ray Lewis Book Ends

Greeting friends... It's been a while, but rest assured I'm currently hard at work on inventory.  I've got over 1,500 1986 Topps cards, and NOT a complete set.  Needless to say I'll be giving away alot of 86 Topps to some kids who may just get a small thrill out of it or need some cheap stuffing for a hamster cage.

I did get a recent addition to my collection and wanted to share.  As most of you know I'm a big baseball collector and love the Baltimore Orioles.  However I do have a small part of my collection dedicated to the Baltimore Ravens.  I have 3 mini helmets signed by Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, and Ray Lewis.  I also have another photo (on loan from my brother) of Ray Lewis that is autographed.

Aside from these few autographed items I also have some cool ticket stubs.  My uncle has been a ticket holder since the Ravens came to town and I happen to have his first game ticket stub against the Steelers.  This of course would be the first regular season game played by future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis.  Check it out!

NOTE: This is what my stub looks like but isn't the exact one.  I pulled it off eBay because I'm too fuggin lazy to go down to the cave and take a picture of it.  Sorry...

So that very same Uncle decided to drop a lot of coin on a once in a lifetime trip to New Orleans in order to see Baltimore beat up San Fransisco.  When I heard he was going I called him and told him A: I was extremely jealous and B: If it wasn't too much to ask could I have his ticket stub to add to my collection.

My Uncle being the kick ass man that he is obliged and brought me home his ticket stub as well as the little finger lights given out for the half time show.  Those are still in the plastic bag... I'm guessing my Uncle was more interested in holding his beer than putting a couple lighted fingers in the sky for half time.  Check out that stub too!

NOTE: This too was pulled of the Internet because again, I'm too lazy to snap a pic and load it on my computer.  I only have the one stub but it has the same face value $950 as well as this program right next to it.

So calling back to the title of this post.  I have Ray Lewis' first regular season game ticket stub as well as his last professional game ticket stub. 

Interestingly enough when I got the mini helmet signed by Ray Lewis he also signed the certificate of authenticity.  This is the ONLY time I've seen an athlete sign both the item and the certificate of authenticity.  I think I'll put together the two ticket stubs and frame the autograph in one nice display to be hung on the wall in the cave!  Unless you guys think I should do something different with them... feel free to chime in below. 

When I'm done organizing my 1986 Topps I'll post about which cards I need and if anyone can help me I'd appreciate it.  Just don't expect a big time trade.  The complete set is only worth $25... It's like I'm paying myself $.50 an hour to organize this set. 

A true labor of love.

Till next time...

Thanks for reading.