Welcome back to our fourth installation of Collector’s Corner! In this edition I interviewed Philip Reggio. I was first introduced to Philip almost a year ago in the Detroit Sports & Memorabilia Facebook group when I won a dozen Rawlings OMLB baseballs from him in a razz! From there, Philip and I have had extensive dialogue about Al Kaline and items we are looking to add to our collections, and he also started his Wednesday Night Auctions. After getting to know Philip, I thought it would be nice to get everyone a little bit of a deeper look at who Philip really is!
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Phil Reggio.
Q: Tell us a little bit more about yourself.
A: Well, I grew up in Clinton Township, Michigan. After graduating from Clintondale High School in 1988, I floated around for a while before landing at Ferris State and eventually transferred to Central Michigan University where I earned a B.S. in Education and History. I’ve spent the past 24 years working as a 6th grade teacher in the Kennett Consolidated School District, which is located about 30 miles south of Philadelphia. I currently live in Wilmington, Delaware and married an assistant principal, Rebecca. Together we have two great kids, Zach (17) and Elli (14).
Q: What got you into the collecting world?
A: As a young kid, I often got into trouble and spent a good portion of my childhood grounded. I would sit in my room and thumb through baseball cards, pouring over statistics and player information. To say I knew EVERYTHING about every player in MLB would have been an understatement, thus, my knowledge of the 70’s/80’s players is very strong. My friends and I not only traded baseball cards, but we also used the cards as a form of currency in card games (i.e. Poker and Blackjack). I was infatuated with cards from the age of 5 through 17.
Q: What resources do you use to make purchases?
A: I’m fairly plugged into pricing. Although EBay isn’t a price guide, it does provide the best snapshot of what an item is currently worth. I go by “sold” items rather than the listing prices. In addition, I receive auction catalogs from numerous auction houses. To me, these auction catalogs are like encyclopedias; they provide knowledge and information on ALL things collectible and help me better understand the current value of cards, autographs and memorabilia.
Q: Do you prefer graded or ungraded cards?
A: I’m a PSA Set Registry guy. My entire collection is graded, and I would say 98% of everything that I own is PSA, with some SGC mixed in.
Q: Follow up, when it comes to graded cards, which company do you prefer and why?
A: I prefer PSA mainly because the Set Registry helps me stay organized in my pursuit of completing sets that I’ve been working on for years. I currently have the No. 2 ranking in the PSA Set Registry for All-Time Detroit Tigers. In addition, I’m also ranked No. 5 in All-Time Lions and No. 3 in All-Time Pistons. I just submitted to PSA my list for All-Time Red Wings, which oddly isn’t posted. I’m currently down to one elusive card, the 1948 Leaf Hal Newhouse (SP). This card is extremely rare. SGC is up and coming, but their cards tend to fall short when it comes to price realized compared to PSA overall, and, SGC lacks a Set Registry. However, SGC is starting to fetch prices comparable to PSA in the same grade, so I do see a shift in this part of the collecting world. Some auction houses have started going all SGC.
Q: Who/what team do you collect?
1997 Detroit Lions ticket connected to Barry Sanders rushing record from Philip’s collection.
A: I’m all Detroit, all four major sports, and anything connected to Detroit sports history. I did recently complete the Al Kaline Basic Set in the PSA Registry, and I am ranked No. 22. I also have 35+ Barry Sanders cards in PSA 10 with a few SGC 100s sprinkled in. The Barry Set includes all of his rookies in PSA 10; his rookies being Score, Topps Traded, Pro Set and the Oscar Mayer Police Set.
Q: What drives your collection?
A: Being a history major, there is something about connecting dates and times to decades. I focus mainly on milestones, rookie cards, tickets, autographs and memorabilia. I’ve become more selective over time, seeking out rare items, short prints and special inscriptions. I see the collectible market evolving. Rare and vintage never lose value, and I see vintage tickets starting to explode in price, specifically milestones. I’m a completist; however, I will venture into collectible avenues to pick-up an elusive item that tells a story.
Q: Do you collect for eye appeal?
A: Yes. My philosophy is…if you collect to put cards in a binder or pack them away in a box, why collect? You can’t see or appreciate what you have. Everything I collect is on display, and each item tells a story. My basement is finished and has a title: The Detroit Sports Hall of Fame. I spare my friends the admission tag. Seriously, I consider the collection a living/breathing museum. Each section of my basement is broken down by theme and/or team. I have a ticket collection, Red Wing collection, Kaline and Sanders collections, autograph HOF framed jersey collection, and a pennant collection courtesy of Steven Rodriguez who started me out, educated me on the topic, and sparked my frenzied search for rare milestone pennants. There is also a 1984 Topps Tigers autographed PSA/DNA collection, which I still need 3 cards to complete. I also have over 100 Rawlings OMLB’s (or OALB/ONLB), each ball is sweet spot autographed by HOF’ers.
Q: Do you currently have any goals for your collection?
A: For the past 10 years, I’ve been building PSA Registry sets. In the next year, I plan on purchasing the ’48 Leaf Hal Newhouser in a PSA 2/4 which will complete my card collection. I continue to purchase milestone tickets, PSA slabbed. I recently added a Bob Probert Fight #1 ticket, at Vancouver, 1985. I have also been looking for a Steve Yzerman debut ticket (at Winnipeg/1983/Game 1), and I’ve only ever seen 1 of those tickets. John Yu at Pro Sports Zone does my framing and I have Howe and Sanders jerseys that he will be reframing. I also would like to add a 1935 Detroit Tigers pennant. Of course, anything vintage or rare that pops up, I will make the purchase.
Q: What is the ultimate item you would like to add to your collection? Why?
A: For me, it’s going to be the ’48 Leaf Newhouser, preferably in a PSA 4. That ticket falls in the $2,500 range. Vintage rookie card prices have exploded over the past 3 years, so who knows where the price will be in 3/6 months. For me, that will complete the All-Time Detroit Teams (rookie cards) set, which is something I have been working on for years. In addition, I recently started collecting the 1984 Topps Tiger team set, autographed and PSA/DNA slabbed. I have 28 of the cards slabbed to this point. Five cares are waiting to be slabbed, and I still need two cards. I did add the custom cards that came from some of the Detroit area card shows. I’m also adding the Jack Morris/Steve Carlton AL/NL Strikeout Leaders card from the ’84 Topps set as well. I will finish that set and then have them custom framed by John Yu over at Pro Sports Zone.
Q: When you do your auctions, are the items from your PC or items you’ve picked up over time looking to move?
A: Many of the items are from my PC, which I’ve scaled down over time. When I first got back into collecting, I purchased everything! I then shifted to focusing on more rare, vintage items. I still have a collection of over 2,000 Barry Sanders cards, along with a fairly large Steve Yzerman collection. In addition, I have thousands of baseball HOF’ers from the 70s and 80s, including a fairly big Don Mattingly collection, 10+ full binders of cards. I’ve scaled back over the last few years. As I stated earlier, if I can’t display the item, I’m moving it along. I’ve started auctioning many of these cards in bulk lots, but still have thousands of cards to move. I have a Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander collection, and many of those cards have been auctioned as well. From time to time, I will auction items I’ve purchased if I can’t display them, or I have upgraded a card. Sometimes, I’ll start a new journey to build a theme and decide to get out of it.
Q: Follow up, how do you choose what you will auction off?
A: Well….first, I only have an auction once a month (compared to George Jackson’s weekly Sunday auction). My auctions are mainly all Detroit because that’s what I collect. Those who have participated in my auctions will PM me and say how much they enjoy the banter and feedback I provide. George Jackson has his Fireball’s and I like to talk sports, tell stories and sprinkle in some humor. For me, I just enjoy the experience. George has been a great resource for items that I may not know anything about, and through our conversations in Facebook, we’ve struck up a friendship. Chris O’Bryant has also become a friend, along with Mark Brummer and Ben Martinez. John Beaufait was one of the first people I befriended, and he was in my very first auction. I hope to continue to do auctions once a month. It’s a good way to share parts of my collection with others, and, build friendships and acquire knowledge on what we all love, Detroit sports collectibles.
I would like to thank Philip Reggio for taking the time to answer these questions for this edition of Collector’s Corner. It truly is wonderful to get that chance to know a fellow collector a little bit better. If anyone has any questions for Philip himself, please comment below! I will make sure they find their way to him so he can answer! Finally, if you have any ideas for future interviews or interview questions please let me know, I’m always looking for ideas!
Don’t forget to follow on Instagram and Twitter @DetroitSportsA1.