This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/7/2018
This poster was issued exclusively to participating retailers and was intended for display on store walls in promotion of the company's most recent line of Little League bats. As clearly noted along the top, all of the Louisville Sluggers pictured here are "Approved Little League Bats." Given the "star" power of its endorsers, it's no surprise that Louisville Slugger bats were the bat of choice for nearly every youngster in America at the time. This exceedingly rare retail store display poster (we have never before even seen another example) showcases the H&B line of Little League bats for the 1967 season and features endorsements from nineteen of the game's top stars: Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, Roger Maris, Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks, Brooks Robinson, Orlando Cepeda, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Joe Torre, Tony Oliva, Pete Rose, Rocky Colavito, Ken Harrelson, Rusty Staub, Tim McCarver, Jim Fregosi, and Willie Horton. All of the players are pictured along the bottom, while examples of the various Louisville Slugger Little League bats for sale are pictured above. Both Pete Rose and Tim McCarver have signed the poster in blue ink atop their respective images (grading a 9 and a 5). Although the poster bears no year identifier, it can be conclusively dated to the 1967 season because Rocky Colavito is pictured as a member of the Chicago White Sox. (Colavito only played with the White Sox in 1967.) An exceptionally fragile poster that was issued on an exceedingly thin paper stock the poster has been attached to a thicker white poster stock which allows for the item to be handled much easier. (it appears as though this was done quite some time ago) The poster does show wear along the fragile edges with some small tears apparent, most noticeably the right edge exhibits a 5" tear that has been masked with some vintage clear tape which is now underneath the lamination and for the purposes of display actually presents very well. It should be noted that there are numerous H&B "fantasy" retail posters circulating in the marketplace, which might leave some collectors with a distorted notion regarding the availability of such pieces. Original, vintage pieces such as this are virtually nonexistent. The poster measures 22.5 x 35 inches and despite the minor flaws, the central image area remains relatively clean and bright, especially the player panel, and the poster displays an overall Excellent appearance. This poster is an exceptional display piece from an era that has very few store-display pieces of this type or caliber and would be a welcome and significant addition to any world-class advanced baseball advertising collection.