Rickey Henderson Pins & Buttons: Part II

Update 8/12: Thanks to Neil (RickeyFanatic on The Bench), I've added a button variation that I didn't even know existed. It seems that the 1986 Baseball Button comes in both a 3" and 1 1/2" version.

Now that I've completed the pins section of this post, it's time for the buttons! I don't have nearly as many buttons as I do pins, so this post will be considerably shorter.



We'll start with what I believe to be the oldest of the buttons in my collection. The front of the button features a young Rickey in a classic A's jersey. It includes his name in black block letters, as well as a facsimile signature and the number 254. It seems odd to me to include a number right next to the players face, but that's where they put it. On the edge of the button it reads "Sports Photo Assoc., Hawthorne, N.J. c 1978." I'm not sure if the button was actually produced in 1978, since Rickey first played for the A's in 1979, but it's definitely from one of his earlier seasons.



Continuing along chronologically, this mini button (it's only about 1" across) was produced in 1984 by Fun Foods. This button is actually officially recognized by Beckett, and is listed as "Fun Foods Pins 17."



Along with the button, I also have a paper "proof" of the Rickey Fun Foods pin. It's basically an uncut square of the buttons image before it was actually applied to the button itself.



The four pins above are the remaining members of the A's (Dwayne Murphy, Dave Kingman, Carney Lansford, and Joe Morgan) that were included in the 1984 Fun Foods set. Although not Rickey-related, I had the buttons in the same box as the Rickey ones, so figured I might as well include them.



The next "Vincentown" buttons I've actually blogged about before, but I wanted to post them all in one place, so I've included them here as well. The button is about 3" round and features a head shot of Rickey, along with his name in all black capital letters. On the side of the button it says "M.L.B.P.A. Baseball Buttons, Vincentown NJ 08088." Beckett categorizes this button as "1986 Baseball Star Buttons 55," which as I mentioned in the previous post, was an item off of their list that I had and didn't even know it!





EDIT: Thanks again to reader Neil for providing the picture of the 1 1/2" 1986 Baseball Star Button. I've included a picture of my button (also with a dollar as reference), so that the two are able to be compared side by side. Based on discussions with other collectors, it seems that the 1/ 1/2" (or officially 1 7/16") size is the "correct" one. I have no idea where my 3" button came from, but now I need to find the smaller version as well.



Included above are three other Vincentown buttons that I have, which unlike the earlier 1986 button, are not included in Beckett's master checklist. The button on the left is another 3" button that says "Baseball Buttons, Vincentown, NJ, O8088, 1990 MLB MLBPA."

The two buttons on the right are only about 1 1/2" in size. The top button says on the front that it's from 1991, but the copyright on the side says "Baseball Buttons, 1990 MLB MLBPA." The bottom button, from 1992 and number 111 of 120 in the set, is marked "MLBPA Baseball Buttons, Vincentown NJ, 1991 MLB." Like the one before, the copyright year is one year before the year on the button. Also, note that these buttons all feature the same picture of Rickey, only cropped slightly different.



This final button is one that I only recently acquired. It was produced in 1991 an is a Starhots Official Celebrity Badge. The button comes in a plastic case on a cardboard "easel" which also includes his stats from the past few years. Unlike the past few buttons, Beckett does recognize this one, and lists it as "1991 Starshots Pinback Badges 24."

I know that there has to be at least a few Rickey buttons out there that I don't have. As with the pins before, if any readers have any that I have not posted, I would love to get a scan and add them to the collection. My goal with this blog is not to showcase only my collection, but to be a "Rickey Encyclopedia" of everything that is out there.

Rickey Henderson Pins & Buttons: Part I

UPDATE 8/11: Thanks to fellow Rickey collector Brian (whose Pacific Prisms have been showcased here recently), I've been able to add 4 new Rickey pins to the collection, and also solved the "mystery" of the 1992 MVP pin series.

Among all of the oddball items produced, I've always been a big fan of the cloisonne pins and pinback buttons that can be found from various sources. Part I of this post will focus only on Rickey pins, while Part II will be dedicated to buttons.

I think I have a pretty good collection of Rickey's pins and buttons, but I know that there are more out there that I don't have. If anyone reading this has a pin or a button that I haven't posted, I would definitely be interested in learning more about it, and acquiring it if you're willing to part with it.



We'll start with these two similar looking pins. The one on the left was produced in 1988 by Peter David Inc., while the one on the right doesn't include any markings on the back, but is probably from around 1990.



This pin was made in 1990 by PSI, and also features the MLBPA copyright. I like the fact that it's a fairly basic and simple pin, with not much to distract from his name and number.



The above package is a 1990 Ace MVP pin, which also includes a 1990 Score card. Rickey was included in the Ace MVP pin set in 1990, 1991, and 1992. These three pins are all recognized by Beckett, and are listed as 1990 M.V.P. Pins 74, 1991 M.V.P. Pins 40, and 1992 M.V.P. Pins 24, respectively.



On the left is a close-up of the 1990 Ace MVP pin, with the 1991 version on the right.



I don't have the 1992 pin, and I'm not sure that I've ever seen one. I have a feeling that it looks the same as the 1991 pin, but I don't have any information to confirm that. (EDIT: Thanks to Brian, I now have a picture of the 1992 Ace pin, which goes against my initial belief, now all I need to do is find one for my own collection. Somehow Ace managed to misspell his name in 1992, after having no problems with the 1990 and 1991 releases.)





When Rickey broke the stolen base record in 1991, the pin at the top, sponsored by All American Raisins, was given away at the Oakland Coliseum after the game. The above card was attached to the pin, which includes all of Rickey's milestone steals over his career.



The pin on the left is my favorite Rickey pin, and one that I fondly remember acquiring at the sporting goods store at the local mall growing up. It's also lacking any stamping on the back, but due to its subject matter, was probably produced in late 1991 or early 1992.

The pin on the right also commemorates Rickey's 939th stolen base, but also includes Nolan Ryan and his 7th no-hitter, which happened on the same day in 1991. Similar to the Man of Steal pin, this one includes only a blank gold back.



EDIT: The scan above was also provided by Brian, and is a pin that I recently featured in a post on Rickey items for sale on eBay (now I wished I'd actually bought it). This pin is similar to the 939 pin above, and once again features no markings on the back.



This next pin was available for purchase with a fill-up at Unocal 76 gas stations. It was produced in 1992 and is #2 of 5 in the "Record Setters in Oakland" set. Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco, and Rickey Henderson, all of the Oakland A's MVP's, are included on the pin. Unocal put out a different set of pins every year, but I believe this is the only one on which Rickey is included. Surprisingly, this pin is also recognized by Beckett, and is listed as "A's Unocal 76 Pins Athletics MVP's-Vida Blue-Reggie Jackson-Jose C 2."



The above pin was probably produced by the same company that put out the "History!" and "Man of Steal" pins in 1991. This pin commemorates Rickey's 1,000th stolen base, which he reached on May 1, 1992, ironically, one year to the day after he stole #939!



Above is a classically designed MLB pin, also produced by Peter David. It features a replica of Rickey's Padres jersey, with the team banner at the bottom. There has to be one of these out there somewhere with Rickey's A's jersey, but I don't yet have one.



EDIT: Ask and you shall receive! Another pin scan provided by Brian, this one is similar in style to the Padres jersey featured above, and is one that I do recall seeing at least once before. Based on the style and lack of details in the pin, I'm guessing that this one was probably produced around 1990 or so, but it also could have been just a lower end pin produced at a later time.



The next three pins were all Peter David pins released in 2001, a pretty iconic year for Rickey, as far as baseball milestones go. The top pin celebrates his 2,246 career run scored, setting the all-time record. The pin in the middle is for his 2,063 career walks, also an MLB record. Finally, the pin on the bottom showcases his 3,000 hits, which he also reached in 2001. It was a good year to be a Rickey fan in San Diego!



EDIT: The above pin from Brian seems to be similar in style and time frame to the 1991 and 1992 M.V.P. pins. I seem to recall running across this pin on eBay a few times, but never did pick one up. I'll have to try and remedy that in the future.



I'll conclude this post with two more generic Rickey pins, this time featuring replicas of two of his baseball cards. The one on the left is his 1991 Upper Deck card, and was probably created sometime around then. The pin on the right recreates his rookie card, but it's harder to pinpoint when it was created. Based on the style of the pin, and the lack of detail they were able to include, I think it's probably from the early to mid 1980's, but I can't be sure.