Ep.230 w/ Artist Dick Perez & Director Marq Evans "The Diamond King"

SPEAKER 1: What is up everybody?

SPEAKER 1: Episode 2 30 of Sports Car Nation got a great episode on tap.

SPEAKER 1: A lot of stuff to pertaining to this episode.

SPEAKER 1: Let's talk about it.

SPEAKER 1: One thing we pride with the show.

SPEAKER 1: Right.

SPEAKER 1: The tagline.

SPEAKER 1: The hobby is the people, all people from young kids, all the way up to older folks like me and older and CEO S and, and everybody, we've had a lot of people on the show and I didn't plan it for episode 2 30.

SPEAKER 1: Exactly.

SPEAKER 1: Like it turned out.

SPEAKER 1: But I, I think it turned out kind of, interesting.

SPEAKER 1: So, prior to this episode, we have had 100 and 98 different guests on the show.

SPEAKER 1: Different people on the show.

SPEAKER 1: Well, we have two guests on today's show, making them guest, number 1 99 and guest number 202 100 different person, on the show and two great guests.

SPEAKER 1: They are, but I'm gonna tease here before I reveal, I have done promo.

SPEAKER 1: So you might already know.

SPEAKER 1: But, you know, getting into hobby in 1979 as a seven year old kid and then staying in the hobby and, and growing up through that era, right, of the early eighties, you know, late seventies, early eighties and, and then all the way through, the, the gentleman, one of the gentlemen on the show was very instrumental in my card upbringing if, if you will.

SPEAKER 1: And, most people in the hobby know his work, know of him but may not know the story of him.

SPEAKER 1: And we're gonna cover a little bit about that today.

SPEAKER 1: But that's the, the legendary art artist Mr Dick Perez.

SPEAKER 1: Dick Perez is the father of the Diamond King, him and his partner, Frank Steele famous for the postcards, their Hall Of Fame work.

SPEAKER 1: He was an official artist for the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

SPEAKER 1: He's done other works as well.

SPEAKER 1: But in the hobby, we're very familiar with his work on the Donruss Diamond Kings.

SPEAKER 1: We want to learn about how those players got selected his start.

SPEAKER 1: It's a story of perseverance.

SPEAKER 1: He came over as a young man from his native Puerto Rico by himself on the plane.

SPEAKER 1: We're gonna learn about that.

SPEAKER 1: And also joining him, his acclaimed award-winning director, Mark Evans who is doing a biopic due out in 2024 called the Diamond King.

SPEAKER 1: No Less.

SPEAKER 1: And both gentlemen are gonna talk about what they do.

SPEAKER 1: And and kinda, you know, Dick Perez's trajectory from young man coming over from Puerto Rico to now.

SPEAKER 1: Hobby legend.

SPEAKER 1: But, more than that, just a great guy.

SPEAKER 1: So, this is a, a really, really cool episode if I may be so bold to, to say.

SPEAKER 1: And, you know, when I, again, I, I know I say this every so often when I started this show in November 2018, which seems like decades ago.

SPEAKER 1: It's, it's five years but in content creation, that's, I guess that's a long time.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I've interviewed great, great people on the show and, and everyone is great.

SPEAKER 1: That, that's been on the show.

SPEAKER 1: But to think that, you know, when, when Diamond Kings came out in 1982 you know, I was 10 years old to think, you know, Social Media wasn't around yet.

SPEAKER 1: Podcasts weren't around yet.

SPEAKER 1: But to think, you know, 10 year old me to think like, you know, 40 something years later, I get to talk to the man behind Diamond Kings and, and learn about him.

SPEAKER 1: You know, would, would have been something else and, and yet here we are.

SPEAKER 1: So without further ado, let's get this show started.

SPEAKER 2: This is Sports Card nation time for our hobby is the people announcer of the week.

SPEAKER 3: Hey, there, this is John Keating from that seventies card show with a friendly reminder that the hobby is the people, if you'd like to be the hobby is the people announcer of the week.

SPEAKER 2: Do a wave or MP3 file and send it to Sports Card nation PC at gmail dot com.

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SPEAKER 5: Hi, this is Pat Hughes Cubs announcer.

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SPEAKER 1: I am very excited to have the next two gentlemen on the Sports Card shop guest line.

SPEAKER 1: You know, one is a legend of the hobby and one is an extraordinary filmmaker.

SPEAKER 1: We'Ll, We'Ll start with Mr Mark Evans, his, films, the Glamour and the sla, a biopic about, Rock DJ, Marco Collins Clay Dream, about the life of, master clay animator, Will Vinton.

SPEAKER 1: And we're gonna talk about a new project, that he's releasing very shortly.

SPEAKER 1: And a man that if you're in the hobby or a card collector, he's synonymous in my book with the hobby, you know, great artist, Mr Dick Perez.

SPEAKER 1: Welcome, gentlemen.

SPEAKER 1: So I, I'Ll start with this.

SPEAKER 1: I think you both kind of share a thread in common and you guys can correct me if, if I'm wrong, you both when you were younger, wanted to be a Major League Baseball players.

SPEAKER 1: Is that right?

SPEAKER 1: Or, or?

SPEAKER 6: Oh, yeah, I, oh, yes, I, I, I, I came to this country in 1947 at six years old and, one of the things that the, the New York offered for me, me was the game of baseball and it was, it was a mecca of baseball to me.

SPEAKER 6: As I look back because three teams were here and you could have a bunch of friends and you had, three different teams being favored.

SPEAKER 6: Anyway, you know, I know normal language.

SPEAKER 6: I made friends but, it was playing baseball, every day and, and, and that, and, I mean, I Don't mean in a ballpark so much as these playgrounds that had softball field, so to speak.

SPEAKER 6: And we did that and we even play hardball on, on those things but, that, was an introduction and, and, I wanted to be identified with America and it, it looked like everybody loved baseball.

SPEAKER 6: And the, to me, the most American looking, I mean, and I say that in quote, was Mickey Mantle.

SPEAKER 6: And, he was a member of the Yankees and another friend who was, I was very close with was a Yankee fan and that's how you become fans of something when you know your, your peers and your friends and what's going on.

SPEAKER 6: So that's me.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah.

SPEAKER 7: And you know, my history of baseball is not as interesting as Dick's where, you know, he learned about this whole country through baseball and through Mickey Mantle, you know, as a, as a, as a youngster, he, I just grew up playing, loved the game.

SPEAKER 7: It was what I did with all my free time was I wanted to play baseball.

SPEAKER 7: It's funny.

SPEAKER 7: I have a, I have a six year old nephew right now who is following kind of that track.

SPEAKER 7: Like you can't hang out with him without him being like, let's go play pitch to me, you know, and, that's how I was as a kid.

SPEAKER 7: I was always wanting to play, always collecting cards.

SPEAKER 7: And I played through high school, you know, I was a good pitcher led our league in, in, er, a, my senior year, we won the state tournament state championship.

SPEAKER 7: But, and I had some offers to play in college, but kind of realized at that point it was time to just move on with my life as tough as that was.

SPEAKER 7: But, but that, that's what it gets me so excited about this project.

SPEAKER 7: You know, this is the first, sports film that I've been making, first baseball film and it's just great to be kind of back to, the roots in that way.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I know you, you mentioned you collect cards, Mark.

SPEAKER 1: I mean, I'm, I'm sure you, you saw Diamond Kings back in the day, did you have, I mean, obviously I know the answer to this but to think, you know, that you would be, you know, doing a film about Mr Perez, here you are with the Diamond in hand and, and all these years later, you know, you're going to be doing a, a film pertaining to them.

SPEAKER 1: I mean, what's, what's that like?

SPEAKER 7: I imagine it's a little surreal and, and, and that, but so, you know, as I was collecting as a kid and I, and I grew up and collected in the, you know, the heyday of the Diamond Kings, I, I think I started collecting in probably 1987 and 82 was the first year of the Diamond Kings.

SPEAKER 7: So those were really important cards to me.

SPEAKER 7: But to be candid, you know, when you're seven years old you're not really thinking at that point about who, who painted these, right?

SPEAKER 7: Like you just know that this is a cool card and it's King Griffey Junior or Bo Jackson or Wade Boggs.

SPEAKER 7: And you know, my, my favorite players.

SPEAKER 7: So it wasn't until last year.

SPEAKER 7: My, I've got a 12 year old son and he's been, he kind of fell in love with baseball really last year.

SPEAKER 7: As Julio Rodriguez came on the scene that was the player he really you know, enjoyed watching.

SPEAKER 7: And so he got interested in baseball cards and we were going through my whole collection and it was then when I, as I was going through and looking at the Diamond Kings thinking, what's, what's the story of Dick Perez, the, you know, the, the, the artist that painted these.

SPEAKER 7: And so that was kind of my, you know, that's when I went to school on the life and works of, of Dick Perez and was just blown away.

SPEAKER 7: You know, obviously, not just by the Diamond Kings, but the fact that he's painted the entire history of the game.

SPEAKER 7: And you know, 20 plus years as the National Baseball Hall Of Fame, official painter and official artist of the Phillies for decades.

SPEAKER 7: And I just thought this is a great story and it would be a great, a great film.

SPEAKER 7: And so I reached out to Dick, you know, I had been, we didn't know each other and, we had, and it's been a lot of fun for, you know, the past several months making this film and really excited for people to see it too because I think they're gonna be really blown away by, by his story.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER 1: Dick, you came over if, if, if I got my facts, not crossed up.

SPEAKER 1: You came over like you said, you were six years old from Puerto Rico to, to New York.

SPEAKER 1: Did you?

SPEAKER 1: Am I right?

SPEAKER 1: Did you you were put on a plane by yourself at six?

SPEAKER 6: Well, I was put on my phone on the plane by my mother and a bunch of other Puerto.

SPEAKER 6: But what they told me was, look, I Don't know, I didn't know the people who I, I, I know that I didn't even know what, what I was going to be doing in a plane.

SPEAKER 6: But I, they told me that when I get to the other side, stewardess will take me into the welcoming at those days.

SPEAKER 6: You can come right up to the door of the plane practically and these people will know your name.

SPEAKER 6: They'll be happy to see you, they'll hug, they'll kiss you, they'll pick you up and they'll take you with them.

SPEAKER 6: Go and that's what happened.

SPEAKER 6: And I get the a wonderful people that came with the one was my aunt, which was the sister of my recently deceased father and she was staying with her aunt in this big house in the Bronx.

SPEAKER 6: And you know, it took me in and then in about a year later, my mother and my sister followed because we had raised enough fare to get in for them to come.

SPEAKER 6: And, you know, we started our life basically from, from the Bronx, we really went for most of my young life into, to, to Harlem to Manhattan where I fell at home and there were a lot of Latinos there.

SPEAKER 6: And so, you know, it was I find it wonderful.

SPEAKER 6: I have no, you know, I have no, no, I love the, I love, I love my first molten milk was introduced to me, which was like unbelievable egg cream snow.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, it was it was a, a wonderland.

SPEAKER 6: So, you know, it was AAA thing that I'm sure a lot of other, you know, immigrants because I, even though we are part of the United States, we still come from another place that doesn't speak the language.

SPEAKER 6: So I consider myself in a way an immigrant which is not, you know, it's, it's OK.

SPEAKER 6: That's what this country really is for the most part composed of.

SPEAKER 6: So, you know, my life went on from there.

SPEAKER 6: I, I I did aspire to play baseball and for the longest time I thought I would be doing it.

SPEAKER 6: Like you, like, you decide to be an engineer and all you get I do is do it and you might not be the best engineer.

SPEAKER 6: But, you know, you're, you're an engineer.

SPEAKER 6: Well, that doesn't work in baseball.

SPEAKER 6: You gotta be like the best ever.

SPEAKER 6: And I, and I, I played in some good teams, you know, youth team.

SPEAKER 6: I never made my high school team, which should have told me something.

SPEAKER 6: But I, I tried for every position, even though I was left handed, I even tried catching and you know, it, it, it eventually and I used to draw to alongside of that.

SPEAKER 6: So eventually, instead of playing more and drawing, left side became, I started to draw more and play less.

SPEAKER 6: And I didn't, I mean, I didn't, I didn't plan my future.

SPEAKER 6: I didn't plan that I was going to be doing baseball art or anything like that.

SPEAKER 6: I just like to draw and I did still didn't know what, since I'm not gonna be a ballplayer, what am I gonna be?

SPEAKER 6: And I never really addressed that you're a kid, you're a kid and you Don't, if you Don't make those decisions.

SPEAKER 6: So, that's how I, you know, that's how I grew up.

SPEAKER 1: I gotta ask you like, I'm still scared to fly and I'm 50 years old, you're six years old.

SPEAKER 1: I mean, you're like you said, you're to put you on the plane and and gave you directions.

SPEAKER 1: But I mean, talk about like what's going, you know, at six you're on a plane by yourself.

SPEAKER 1: Is it, are you scared?

SPEAKER 1: Like what's going through your mind as, as a young man?

SPEAKER 6: Well, what happened was it's interesting you ask that question because I get on the plane, they put all these pan pan American.

SPEAKER 6: I forget what the name of the but they were all propeller planes for, for prop on the wing, excuse me, two on the wing and I was put on by the window sitting there and I'm looking at the, these engines going around and we're in the air and all of a sudden one of them stops and I'm saying that ain't right.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, that, that doesn't seem like something that should happen because, you know, so I was a little apprehensive about that but I didn't know, you know, I didn't have a fear.

SPEAKER 6: I was still little but it just something that didn't seem right, but that has lived with me and I too am very apprehensive about flying because of that one little thing.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah.

SPEAKER 1: I have to, I have to take a Xanax usually before I fly, I've gotten better.

SPEAKER 1: I've got better.

SPEAKER 1: The, the older I, I get, the more I, I do it Mark you're famous for, for doing some great documentaries about some incredible and interesting folks.

SPEAKER 1: What is it when you know, when you got into filmmaking, did you know, you want, you wanted to go down the alley of, of documentaries, kind of how did that all sort of that?

SPEAKER 1: That was your lane that you, you, you kind of went into?

SPEAKER 7: Yeah.

SPEAKER 7: You know, so because I grew up wanting to be a baseball player, I didn't grow up wanting to be filmmaker thinking about that and I kind of stumbled into it.

SPEAKER 7: My, my older stepbrother, Kevin Nolan, he, he did grow up wanting to be a filmmaker and he, he's 10 years older than I am.

SPEAKER 7: So he, he went to college, not, not to film school, he went to University Of Washington and then, but right after he graduated, he moved to L A and he was, you know, sweeping floors getting coffees doing, you know, starting from the bottom in, in that industry.

SPEAKER 7: And and eventually, you know, made some films of his own, he directed his, his first feature film was called Americano that starred Dennis Hopper and Joshua Jackson.

SPEAKER 7: And, and so he kind of like opened up some of those doors and then in 2010 is when really, I caught the filmmaking bug because we my, my stepdad, my, my stepbrother's dad passed away and at the same time, pretty much was a big earthquake in Haiti that killed, you know, like 250,000 people.

SPEAKER 7: And we just kind of felt this attraction to that place and that story.

SPEAKER 7: And so we went down there and started making a documentary that we're still making today.

SPEAKER 7: 13 years later, There's a reason this would be like about a 15 year project before, before it gets released.

SPEAKER 7: And that was my film school.

SPEAKER 7: That's where I learned how to shoot, learn how to edit.

SPEAKER 7: I raised the money for it and I just fell in love with doing this thing.

SPEAKER 7: And so, I just went all in, I was looking for stories, looking for things, you know, things to make movies about and came across the story of Marco Collins who was a radio DJ who's in the rock and roll Hall Of Fame for kind of pressing play on the whole grunge music scene that came out of Seattle in 1991.

SPEAKER 7: So he was the first to play Nirvana and Pearl Sam and Alison, you know, bands like that.

SPEAKER 7: And so that was just an interest like I loved that music growing up.

SPEAKER 7: And I wanted to, I just thought this is a great story.

SPEAKER 7: People, more people outside of Seattle should know this name.

SPEAKER 7: And it was kind of similar, I think with Clay Dream where you've got this animator that everybody in the animation world knew and loved, but nobody else really knew that story, especially outside of Portland, Oregon.

SPEAKER 7: And and I grew up with those characters that Will Vinton had created and so it's, it's a similar thing here with, with, with Dick Perez, you know, I grew up with these cards and I just had an interest and it was just, you know, on a whim reached out, like, just thought this would be a cool story.

SPEAKER 7: And, and, and fortunately Dick was open minded to it and, but I think that first call, I think we talked for a couple of hours on that first conversation and, and just, it was a good feeling, you know, and we just thought, well, yeah, let's see, let's see what happens here.

SPEAKER 7: And, and it's, and it's been great.

SPEAKER 7: So I, you know, I think it was just kind of following the curiosities and things that interest me and, figuring, you know, there's, there's other people that would be interested in this as well.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER 1: And, and, you know, you kind of learn trial by fire, right?

SPEAKER 1: You kind of learned in, in doing it sometimes.

SPEAKER 1: That's the best way people will tell you that's the best way to, you know, hone your craft is just doing it.

SPEAKER 7: Rather, you definitely learn way more, I think with mistakes than you do successes, right?

SPEAKER 7: So, yeah, hopefully I got a lot of those out of the way early.

SPEAKER 1: But yeah, Dick, when, when, what age did you realize?

SPEAKER 1: Like, hey, I can, I can draw, I can paint, like, for me, my dad's an actual is a very good artist.

SPEAKER 1: I can't draw a stick figure and my son's very good.

SPEAKER 1: So it skipped me.

SPEAKER 1: It's like every other.

SPEAKER 1: When did you personally say, hey, I, I, I enjoy this and I think I'm pretty good at it.

SPEAKER 6: Well, I Don't think, I Don't remember the beginning.

SPEAKER 6: I remember doing it all my life.

SPEAKER 6: And mostly they were drawing just pencil, drawing the long margins of notebooks of caricatures of my classmates and, and maybe what I thought Mickey Mantle looked like and, and things like that.

SPEAKER 6: So, and then it was an evolution that was interrupted by the reality of the fact that how do you make a living doing this?

SPEAKER 6: And I know that you can become a, I mean, by that time I was in, you know, pretty much in high school and all.

SPEAKER 6: And I, and I, and I knew there was such things as this graphic design and that I knew that might, that's gonna give me a job somewhere.

SPEAKER 6: I hope so.

SPEAKER 6: I pursued a lot of education in graphic design.

SPEAKER 6: I only had one painting course in, in, in art school and one drawing course in art school.

SPEAKER 6: The rest of it was all color and design and graphics and typography and, and stuff like that.

SPEAKER 6: And then I got into the field of that, but the fortuity is that I got, I met people that required illustrations for the probably like the Phillies or Villanova University or the Philadelphia Eagles.

SPEAKER 6: And I started playing around.

SPEAKER 6: I would buy the, I would hire people to do that for the magazines I were designing for these people, like the yearbooks and so forth.

SPEAKER 6: And I started, well, let me, let me and I just kept, you know, fooling around with it.

SPEAKER 6: And, I look back on those paintings.

SPEAKER 6: I said, how did I ever think I could go anywhere any further than this?

SPEAKER 6: But I did and they accepted them and, you know, I just, I just kept doing it and eventually it became the sole, you know, my sole purpose for, for being an artist.

SPEAKER 1: Now, did you, I'm assuming, did you collect cards as a young man?

SPEAKER 1: You, you were a fan of the sport?

SPEAKER 1: Was the cards come along with that.

SPEAKER 1: Was that a natural?

SPEAKER 6: I think, I think those things happened to, just about every little kid that, that loves baseball.

SPEAKER 6: I think that's why the cards are so successful and, and, and, and at that time, the tops had a monopoly on, on, on the thing.

SPEAKER 6: But to me, every spring was like, it wasn't just the beginning of the spring training season, but it was when the cards were coming out at the candy store and I would be right up to the candy store then.

SPEAKER 6: And I, I said this before in other interviews that there was a set of cards in the 52 53 Bowman 50 that looked different from the others.

SPEAKER 6: I didn't, I didn't immediately think that they were really art that they were just a different kind of photograph.

SPEAKER 6: And, as it, as it was, it, they were art cards and those were the last art cards that, that, that I ever saw in cards after those early fifties.

SPEAKER 6: So there was a, a span of years there where there was no art in, in baseball, which sparkled my mind that once I became involved in sports that, how about that, that, that could be a because, well, there's a long story about Don Russ, getting a license to sell cards because the courts overturned tops, idea that, they're the only ones that could do this.

SPEAKER 6: So, Don Russ was, was AAA card company, but they know nothing about baseball.

SPEAKER 6: They didn't do baseball, they did Elvis prefer TV shows and golfers and stuff of that nature.

SPEAKER 6: And, so when they got the license, they didn't know what to do basically.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, how, I mean, they knew that they're gonna be getting pictures from somebody.

SPEAKER 6: They would be hiring photographers, which they had a license to do anyway, they needed something to separate the, them from the rest of the pack.

SPEAKER 6: And, the writer for the back of the card was Bill Madden who was a sports writer.

SPEAKER 6: And, he knew us because he collected the Perez Steel cards that I, that Frank Steele and I were doing before Don Ross got into the picture and he was chatting with them and, and, and they, they were talking about what can we do?

SPEAKER 6: That's different, what they were trying to explore and what, what would identify them as a different card company.

SPEAKER 6: And Bill man said you should talk to Dick Perez and Frank Steele.

SPEAKER 6: They do cards, Art Garden.

SPEAKER 6: So in essence, I think Diamond Kings, I could, I think Bill Matton had a lot to do with the, you know, with the idea of Diamond, with the with of Diamond Kings coming into existence.

SPEAKER 6: So anyway, we, we had, we talked, they, they called us and we met them and one thing led to another and, and before I, I knew it, I was doing art cards again and that was my whole purpose.

SPEAKER 1: Now, you, you were, you were allowed to pick who was depicted on the cards, right?

SPEAKER 1: They didn't tell you we want these plays.

SPEAKER 1: You were given that sort of poetic.

SPEAKER 6: They had no idea who, you know who Lenny was.

SPEAKER 6: They it was they gave it to Frank and me to do since, you know, since we, you know, at one time, I think me, even Bill Matt might have been involved in it, but I Don't think he wrote the card for very long.

SPEAKER 6: And so Frank and I would decide a year before what's gonna be the Diamond King for whatever, for whoever in the, in the following year.

SPEAKER 6: So we had a half a year, half a season, the, the priory of the car of the actual card coming out, which there were some people, some players who had all, you know, had, had identified themselves, having, having a good year and they continued to do that for, fortunately for us for, except for a couple of them that we haven't changed at the last minute.

SPEAKER 6: But it was that and it was the fact that some of these teams have their own stars.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, Johnny Bench and, you know, Steve Carlton Mike Schmidt, they're shooing for, for being a Diamond King.

SPEAKER 6: They were already established careers.

SPEAKER 6: So we never had a, I think I read something the other day that said some of these players were nothing.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, they, they, nothing happened to them later, but they had a good year before the, and one guy was that I forget, Mark, you might remember the name of the Baltimore Orioles guy that had a fantastic year and he was on, on P D E P, you know, and then, then he somehow he got caught and he went back down into the toilet.

SPEAKER 6: So, anyway, we, we, we, he and I talked about it, we researched it and then we told Don Russ, send us as many pictures as you can of these guys because I, I wanted, I didn't want them to send me one picture and that's what I'm going to paint.

SPEAKER 6: I was gonna either make them up with a lot of pictures or, or choose one that was ideal.

SPEAKER 6: So they did that.

SPEAKER 6: And, the style of illustration was totally in my hands no matter what I did.

SPEAKER 6: They never said anything.

SPEAKER 6: And, you know, they never said I Don't, I think that's too unrealistic or whatever and they never interfered and it was a great, great run for me.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, I to be, to have that, you know, that acceptance, I got to ask the, the, the moniker, the name Diamond King.

SPEAKER 1: There was that something you came up with who, who came up with coin Diamond, Frank Steele actually came up with that.

SPEAKER 6: He, we were gonna name it Diamond Star.

SPEAKER 6: And then, but I think that I think he said no, I, we had just found out in the thirties there was a car, car set called Diamond Stars.

SPEAKER 6: So we toyed around and I, I, he thought, well, Diamond Kings, you know, and I, yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER 6: It sounded good to me.

SPEAKER 6: And yeah, he came up, he actually was the one that came up with diamonds, but he couldn't draw, he was, he was the brains behind the operation.

SPEAKER 2: It's time for a quick break, but We'Ll be right back.

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SPEAKER 1: We when you're doing these, did you, did you know then like the significance this would be in, in the hobby.

SPEAKER 1: Did you have any sort of clairvoyance?

SPEAKER 1: Did you, did you know the impact or or were you, were you working and enjoying the, the process?

SPEAKER 6: No, not at all.

SPEAKER 6: I, I just thought that, you know, people will accept it, they'll look at it, they'll talk about it among each other and all that.

SPEAKER 6: But I Don't think it was gonna become a collector phenomenon.

SPEAKER 6: So that, in fact, through the 15 years, I think something like that, that I did them, I never got AAA letter from anybody saying I love this work or whatever, you know, and, and I was getting fan mail from other things from the part.

SPEAKER 6: And so I just accepted the fact that, ok, they, you know, they, I, I know that I was doing something special but then I'm sure other people did too.

SPEAKER 6: And, it was after these kids who collected these cards grew up, email was a all around.

SPEAKER 6: Now they got married like Mark and had a child.

SPEAKER 6: And all of a sudden there was this, this common ground that, that and not only just sons but daughters too, I get email, I mean, well, emails too and I get, I get on a lot of, fan mail that asking me to sign cards and stuff and I get it from all over the place and I get story, family stories that, that will break your heart because the father is collecting with his son because he's terminally.

SPEAKER 6: I, and you know, then I get a letter telling me when he had passed.

SPEAKER 6: But I mean, this is the kind of connection that I never would imagine that with, with the guy.

SPEAKER 6: I even got it.

SPEAKER 6: And I think I showed it to Mark a letter from a guy who was a murderer in prison.

SPEAKER 6: And he was, he, I think he wanted, he wanted cars to sell, he, he wanted to send me a bunch of cards that you said that was given to him.

SPEAKER 6: And I, and I, I Don't know, he was a murderer for, for sure, but he was in, for about 25 years and he had 63 to go.

SPEAKER 6: So, I mean, that's, you know, and he was some, some Southern prison and he told me, and he said that he, you know, he killed animals and in his letter, it was a great letter.

SPEAKER 6: So, but I mean, these are the kind of things that, aside from, you know, the, the intent, you know, actually in was that I'm doing baseball cards and I'm, I'm introducing something new to the collecting since, since 1952.

SPEAKER 6: It never dawned on me that I would do this.

SPEAKER 6: And then you get the call from a guy who, who is one of those guys who makes films and he wants to make a film for of me and there he is.

SPEAKER 6: And you know, so, so it's just part of the fortuity of my life, everything, everything that's happened to me because I met the right people at the right time and all I did was be reliable and do my best.

SPEAKER 6: And that, and that took care of itself.

SPEAKER 6: Everybody asked, you know, the Phillies asked the, I, they started with the Eagles, the Phillies asked the eagle who was doing their work because they would, they would like me to do it too.

SPEAKER 6: And it, it just, you know, you just get, I met Frank Steele, through the NFL.

SPEAKER 6: And, so, and that, you know, that's that really, that really did a lot for me.

SPEAKER 6: So a lot of it was luck and then you have to take, do something with that luck, you know, and, and I hope I did, well, I'm sure there was, there was some hard work in there, to Dick and, and so Mark calls you to, to do this film.

SPEAKER 1: Like initially, do you like, are you wondering like who's played?

SPEAKER 1: You know, you hear a movie, right?

SPEAKER 1: We all play that game, right?

SPEAKER 1: If there was a movie about my life who would play, who would play me?

SPEAKER 1: Did you do, did you do any of that at all?

SPEAKER 6: No, no, he, he, he was, from the start, I knew what, what he was looking for.

SPEAKER 6: And, because I've had a number of interviews, and one interview just led to another request and, I knew there was a story there, but I think the story is, you know, I'm trying to separate myself from the story.

SPEAKER 6: But the story as, as it, it, as I see it is an immigrant kid art, baseball, art and baseball and a lot for the game, I mean, there are just a number of things there that, that go together and inspired me.

SPEAKER 6: And you know, I, I was, then there was some, there were, there was somebody out there who really appreciate it.

SPEAKER 7: It is a good question though, Dick.

SPEAKER 7: If, if let's say this documentary gets turned into a feature film with an actor who plays Dick Perez, probably Brad Pitt dyes his hair.

SPEAKER 6: You know, I God, I Don't know me, I would like to do it.

SPEAKER 6: I'Ll dye my hair.

SPEAKER 1: There you go, there you go.

SPEAKER 1: Mark, you know, in doing documentaries, especially when someone is, is still around.

SPEAKER 1: Thankfully, is there is there any difficulties in that?

SPEAKER 1: Do people sometimes maybe not want to talk about things and you wanna, you wanna tell the whole story, right?

SPEAKER 1: You want to be as accurate and you know, is, is it difficult, you know, when we see the finished product, it looks seamless and easy as viewers, but as someone in the process and making, making these films, so maybe not even with Dick, but some or even the prior stuff.

SPEAKER 1: Is there difficulties with that sometimes?

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, it's a good question.

SPEAKER 7: And it depends on the project and the subject for sure.

SPEAKER 7: You know, my, my first film, you know, I, I, it was the first film and I didn't, I probably should have been more collaborative with the subject.

SPEAKER 7: And, but I'd always been told, like, you Don't show anything because, you know, you Don't show the subject anything.

SPEAKER 7: And so I kind of was just following those rules and, and then I realized, you know, what I kind of wish I would have had them more involved.

SPEAKER 7: Obviously, they weren't like, scared about what was gonna happen.

SPEAKER 7: And in that film, you know, there was a lot of conflict in that story.

SPEAKER 7: And, and from the beginning though, we had decided we're not going to shy away from any of that and, and we didn't, and then in, in Clay Dream, you know, when I started that film, the subject Will Vinton was alive and he passed away during the making of that, which, you know, I didn't expect.

SPEAKER 7: And I Don't know if that film ended up being any different, you know, because of that.

SPEAKER 7: You know, I certainly was continuing to make the film that I wanted to make.

SPEAKER 7: There might have been some people that were maybe not wanting to talk, maybe didn't want to talk to me for an interview.

SPEAKER 7: But then once he passed, they thought, ok, well, you know, I, I'm, I can tell this story now.

SPEAKER 7: I didn't really want to tell it but I, but I wasn't looking for, you know, like gotcha moments and then with this story, you know, and getting to know Dick it, you know, we, we, I, I realized really early like, you know, this isn't a story that had, that I'm gonna try to like manufacture conflict or drama.

SPEAKER 7: It's just an inspiration story.

SPEAKER 7: I mean, he's his, his true life story is inspiring.

SPEAKER 7: And right, right down to the fact that, you know, he's been married to his wonderful wife, Lou for 50 plus years.

SPEAKER 7: And so that's just, you know, the film that we're making and, and, and, and, you know, the previous film that I made, what did have a ton of conflict and I, you know, I wasn't looking to, you know, do the same thing, but just in the, in the, in the baseball art world, you know, you know, you spoke, you know, what you spoke sometimes with the, the difficulties of, of a movie where maybe someone doesn't want to say something or comment this one you mentioned, kind of, it was, you know, more of a happier story if you want.

SPEAKER 1: I Don't know if that's the right words is, is, you know, do you have a preference or just what comes with the territory?

SPEAKER 7: Yeah, I think every, every project is different.

SPEAKER 7: And every subject is different and finding what the best version of that story is, again, you do have to kind of find out on every project.

SPEAKER 7: And you know, we, we could, we could look to try to, you know, this story hypothetically, it's like we could look to try to create conflict in certain ways, but it's like that's not the best version of the story anyway.

SPEAKER 7: So, whereas, you know, the last film, I could have decided to avoid the, the conflict that was there in that story and that wouldn't have been the best version.

SPEAKER 7: So it just, it's just spending time with it and, and figuring out what's, what's real, what's authentic and what serves the, the story in the film the best way and the subject.

SPEAKER 7: Yeah.

SPEAKER 1: And another question piggy, big enough that you Don't have to mention names, obviously.

SPEAKER 1: Have you ever had someone you wanted to do a collaboration to film with or about?

SPEAKER 1: And they just didn't want, they didn't want to do it or be a part of it?

SPEAKER 7: I mean, I've definitely had interview like subjects that I've wanted to interview for a film about somebody else that I was hoping to get and that never came around.

SPEAKER 7: I mean, that that happens.

SPEAKER 7: And then, yeah, I mean, there's, there's been some people that I thought, oh, this would be a great film that I've reached out to and we've had some conversations and for one reason or another you know, it hasn't gone anywhere.

SPEAKER 7: Yeah, and that happens too but not nothing, you know, no stories where it's just like, oh, my gosh, you got to hear this.

SPEAKER 7: Just things that, that come with territory.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah.

SPEAKER 1: No, no doubt.

SPEAKER 1: Back to Dick.

SPEAKER 1: Dick.

SPEAKER 1: And then you went, you went in and you, you know, I Don't know if I know this but there might be some people who Don't, I Don't know how but it does happen.

SPEAKER 1: Not everyone's aware.

SPEAKER 1: You know, you did the Top Turkey red artwork as well, so kind of speak.

SPEAKER 1: You know, this is obviously post Diamond Kings, your, your time with Don and, and Diamond Kings.

SPEAKER 1: How, how did that come about?

SPEAKER 6: Well, at the time and I think they're still doing it cos was playing homage to a number of card designs of the path.

SPEAKER 6: I thought that was great.

SPEAKER 6: This is what Frank Steele and I, that's what we intended to do.

SPEAKER 6: We, we the, the productions that we did, the celebration set, the Hall Of Hall Of Fame Art Postcard, the great moments and few others.

SPEAKER 6: They were all based on the design cards of the path.

SPEAKER 6: So we were honoring and playing homage to design to car to baseball card.

SPEAKER 6: And top was already do was doing that and they came to me to do terrible project Little Two by One art and you know, for collectors and, and I would do these little paintings, which are terrible.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, had a hard time doing that.

SPEAKER 6: And, that was the first thing that I did.

SPEAKER 6: And then they, they, I mean, the ideas were all there and they said to me, we're, we're trying to, to do a car set of the Turkey Reds actual side.

SPEAKER 6: And I said, I'm ready and he said, they said, ok, and they pick 51 players and we, we're talking and time is passing by and, and Tom said, you know, maybe we should get you some help with this.

SPEAKER 6: And I said, excuse me, I said, no, no, if you want to either you want to get other players and other artists, well, then you just make the whole thing, other artist.

SPEAKER 6: But if you're gonna want me to do it, I wanna be the guy that does the whole thing without, I would like the consistency of one style and I have a great affinity.

SPEAKER 6: That is my favorite card set of all time is the Turkey be even though they're, you know, they're outside, but they were wonderful period paintings there.

SPEAKER 6: And I tried to, so the rest of it was left up to me, you know, I'm putting, putting behind them a scene of a ballpark that the team that they play for now, you know, like, I mean, Alex Rodriguez, OK, the Yankee, he's, he's, he's in front of the, of the Highlander Park in New York.

SPEAKER 6: And I did that with, with just about all of the players.

SPEAKER 6: And, and it was, it was probably the best, my best thing for them.

SPEAKER 6: Was that, that particular set because it was happened to be my personal, best card set.

SPEAKER 1: So, you know, you know, you're a pioneer when it comes to, to card art.

SPEAKER 1: We've seen Tops in the last few years, really sort of revisit that with the, the Tops Project 2020 the spotlight 70.

SPEAKER 1: I've had those, some of those artists, half of the project 2020 artists have been on this very podcast and many of them sort of point to you Dick as sort of the inspiration or where they get, you know, what do you think of where card art is today, in relative to, you know, where it was?

SPEAKER 1: Is it, is it, you know, what's your, your thoughts on, on, on the present day?

SPEAKER 6: Well, I think the more the better I think, I think, it's not gonna be what it used to be where you have the entire roster of base, you know, rosters of baseball team, paint it.

SPEAKER 6: But, but I think it at subsets and special cards within the, the, the actual set, I think it's fine and it doesn't mean, I mean, the last thing that I would do if my son or daughter came to, I want to be a professional artist.

SPEAKER 6: I would say why, you know, it's like, it's, it's, it's an unsure future.

SPEAKER 6: You, you know, how do you do that?

SPEAKER 6: It's like saying I wanna be an actor.

SPEAKER 6: I want to be a lead actor in a movie, in movies.

SPEAKER 6: Well, that's almost the same kind of thing.

SPEAKER 6: So it's nice that, that artists are getting work and artists who, who like baseball and also like to, to, to, to do, to do art.

SPEAKER 6: So they're like versions of me out there so to speak, enjoying the same thing that I enjoyed when I was doing what I was doing.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER 1: And, and, and, and like I said, some of them have distinctively pointed to you and, and paid homage to, you know, giving credit to, to you.

SPEAKER 1: I, I meant to ask this earlier, know when you sort of picked players to, to be depicted on the Diamond Kings.

SPEAKER 1: You did, have you ever had a player politic for themselves?

SPEAKER 1: Like, hey, am I gonna be in the Diamond King set anytime soon?

SPEAKER 1: Do you ever have that happen?

SPEAKER 6: No, it never happened.

SPEAKER 6: And that's probably the reason I never thought, you know, if there were good things to do, but it wasn't having any impact anywhere.

SPEAKER 6: So I think let me see.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah.

SPEAKER 6: No, I, I Don't, I Don't.

SPEAKER 6: I, oh yeah.

SPEAKER 7: The only the Diamond Kings though, right.

SPEAKER 7: Pardon me?

SPEAKER 7: You did have some players react to the Diamond.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER 6: And, and one of them was, which is amazing.

SPEAKER 6: It just taught me how, how, how much players pay attention to themselves.

SPEAKER 6: But, I did a Diamond King, I believe of, John Crook.

SPEAKER 7: Right.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah, Crook, who, who was in a San Diego uniform.

SPEAKER 6: But I, he was playing for the Phillies, so I just changed the uniform and he just remembered the batting pose that, you know, and it was a post shot.

SPEAKER 6: It was in a, a game shot which would identify, help him identify better.

SPEAKER 6: And he said, you know, painted me with a, with a wrong uniform and you just changed it, didn't you?

SPEAKER 6: And this was at an art art art exhibit that he attended that I had in, in Philadelphia.

SPEAKER 6: And I say, yeah, you got a problem with that.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, it's like, it's who knows you and I know are the only people who know now and, and that and I've had players comment, not necessarily Diamond Kings, but I think Riley fingers looked at me and said, you see that painting you did with me.

SPEAKER 6: And I said, yeah, I said, you have AAA sign in the back for the number of feet which is in center field and it's only like 340 ft if I pitched in a ballpark that had a center field of 300.

SPEAKER 6: If I wouldn't be in this building.

SPEAKER 6: So I said, well, I, I'm sure it was in the photo and I couldn't find a photograph to prove it to him.

SPEAKER 6: And the course Joe Diago also, he, he had, he was full of complaints, but he had one where I did a painting of him and he, and he, and, the collector with a friend of his and showed it and he said, if I have a song like that, my God, I never saw the guy came back to me and I said, I took it right from the photo.

SPEAKER 6: I mean, he did that.

SPEAKER 6: So I produced the photo and I, and I sent it to the guy and, and then he, he, he sent me a, a magazine that had him on the cover that he from 19 fifties.

SPEAKER 6: That's that and that he autographed for me.

SPEAKER 6: But, but other than that, he was still a real, you know, piece of work.

SPEAKER 7: That guy didn't he have a policy that he wouldn't sign any person.

SPEAKER 6: The, the, the, an autobiography and not an autobiography.

SPEAKER 6: It was a biography of him that tells, in, in one of the chapters what he doesn't sign like he doesn't sign uniforms, he doesn't sign glove, you know, he does like a litany of, of things that are hard to hold and, and write on, I guess.

SPEAKER 6: And he said, and then one of the things that was Dick Perez work, you know, Perez steals stuff.

SPEAKER 6: You wouldn't sign any of that.

SPEAKER 6: He, he, he is, the story was that he, he called my friend, my partner Frank.

SPEAKER 6: And he said to him, listen, I've got a, a complaint.

SPEAKER 6: I, I, I went walking on main street in, in Cooperstown and I saw this card that you did of me and it was selling for $355 and it was autographed by me.

SPEAKER 6: And I want to know where's my share of that?

SPEAKER 6: And Frank said, you Don't understand this card is 355 or $75 because you signed it.

SPEAKER 6: The card actually was worth 50 cents.

SPEAKER 6: We, you know, because we, when we printed them all together and all that said that the price per car was, was municipal.

SPEAKER 6: And he said so, so $50.50 percent, you know, just like you and Billy Herman.

SPEAKER 6: He said, well, Billy Herman, you, you made a card and selling it for the same price as Billy Herman, but you couldn't help him.

SPEAKER 6: You couldn't, you couldn't, you know, get him from, from away from Yeah, you know, everyone's got a different size ego.

SPEAKER 1: I, I suppose some are, some are apparently bigger, bigger than, than others.

SPEAKER 1: Mark kind of coming down the home stretch here.

SPEAKER 1: Talk about this film like the process.

SPEAKER 1: I Don't wanna, you know, Don't give out any trade secrets or any of that stuff.

SPEAKER 1: But, you know, was it easier to make what, you know, with a subject like Mr Perez where maybe, you know, he's easy going and, and, and how long does the process take?

SPEAKER 1: And then, you know, when, when can, you know, people who want to see this film, when can we expect to see it?

SPEAKER 7: Yeah.

SPEAKER 7: So, I mean, the process has been really great working with Dick.

SPEAKER 7: He's been a great collaborator.

SPEAKER 7: We have a lot of fun every time we shoot and it's just been great and that's certainly not always the case.

SPEAKER 7: Sometimes people can be difficult and this is, this has been great.

SPEAKER 7: We, we got started, I think the first time we started shooting was last August.

SPEAKER 7: My, my previous two feature films, both took about five years and I was specifically looking for a project that I could do in a way that wasn't going to be a five year project where, where at first I thought, OK, this project with Dick Perez, maybe, maybe Dick will be the only person that I interviewed for the film.

SPEAKER 7: Which my previous films, I interviewed 50 people for each.

SPEAKER 7: And that takes you around the country and it takes time and it costs a lot of money.

SPEAKER 7: I, I have started interviewing some other people.

SPEAKER 7: John Thorn, the official historian of Major League Baseball provided a great interview for this film among some others.

SPEAKER 7: So I, I have gotten beyond that a little bit.

SPEAKER 7: But, but it's, it's pretty cool to see what we've done, you know, just since August.

SPEAKER 7: And, right now we have a Kickstarter campaign that, is, is live.

SPEAKER 7: And, so I'd encourage all your listeners and viewers to check that out because that will help us fund basically the rest of the film.

SPEAKER 7: So we can, we can get it finished.

SPEAKER 7: The film itself will be out sometime in 2024.

SPEAKER 7: So by the time we finish shooting and then the editing and all that and then, and then putting it through distribution.

SPEAKER 7: But this Kickstarter campaign, it has some really great rewards that people can participate in in exchange for a pledge.

SPEAKER 7: The one I think we're probably most excited about is there's a new Dick Perez card set that he designed.

SPEAKER 7: He's doing new paintings for You got a little sneak peek of what will be the Tom Sever.

SPEAKER 7: There's a, there's a show Otani and Aaron Judge Julio Rodriguez.

SPEAKER 7: So brand new paintings of current players and then players from the past, you know, starting from Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle and Roberta Clemente.

SPEAKER 7: So people, they, they're limited and there's only 499 sets.

SPEAKER 7: So people will probably wanna jump on that.

SPEAKER 7: But that's one of the handful of rewards that we're offering as part of this campaign.

SPEAKER 1: And I'Ll make sure to get that in the episode notes as well.

SPEAKER 1: Mark that way people can get over there support the project, get some maybe cards, in the process it's a win, win, right?

SPEAKER 1: You, you, you, you're, you're helping the film, to, to get done and if you're a card collector, you're gonna get, maybe get, some cards out of that, depending on what, you know, what level you, you and but whatever the case may be, it, it's nice because it's sort of interactive.

SPEAKER 1: You almost feel like maybe a small part of the, of the film as well.

SPEAKER 7: Yeah, that's what I love about, you know, Kickstarter or crowd funding is you do find an audience that wants to help support this project and they do become part of the team and then when the film is out, they're generally the ones that, you know, they've been part of this process and they want to tell their friends about it.

SPEAKER 7: So, I, I've always had a good experience, I've done this with all my projects in the past and I've just found it's a good way to build, build the came out a little bit.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER 1: And like I said, I'Ll make sure that gets in the that URL gets in the episode notes.

SPEAKER 1: So, Heather, if you want to give it out though, verbally as well, I'Ll put it in there, written in, you know, in type form.

SPEAKER 1: But, where can they go to, to find that?

SPEAKER 7: I mean, the, the best thing will be to click the link because they probably kind of have a lot of numbers.

SPEAKER 7: But it's, it's, it's a Kickstarter campaign.

SPEAKER 7: So it'll be on Kickstarter dot com.

SPEAKER 7: And then the, film title is the Diamond King.

SPEAKER 1: Which, which is, so if, if they, if they search Diamond King, it should, it should pop it up and We'Ll be sending the actual link out.

SPEAKER 1: Ok.

SPEAKER 1: All right.

SPEAKER 1: And I'Ll, like I said, I'Ll get that, in the show notes.

SPEAKER 1: Well, gentlemen, this was been, an honor and a privilege to, to, to speak with both the, today, for me as a, you know, someone in the hobby for 40 years myself, Dick, you know, you know, you Don't envision even when you start a podcast, even five years go.

SPEAKER 1: Right.

SPEAKER 1: You Don't assume you're going to get the opportunity to talk to certain people who were instrumental in your hobby journey.

SPEAKER 1: And, and, and that happened today.

SPEAKER 1: So I want to thank both of you, gentlemen.

SPEAKER 1: I look forward to the film for sure.

SPEAKER 1: I know many others will as, as well and, and not just, not just hobbyists or collectors, but I think just fans of, of art or like you, like you said, Mar, a great story, right?

SPEAKER 1: You can, you can come over, you can be an immigrant and be a huge success and be an inspiration to many others.

SPEAKER 1: As Mr Perez is to many people, not just in the art world, but just in general.

SPEAKER 1: And I think that's a great message that I'm sure will be conveyed in the film.

SPEAKER 1: I'Ll give you guys both kind of the final words, any, any websites or anything you want to steer people to, by all means, take your time.

SPEAKER 7: Dick Perez dot com is, you can get lost in there for days.

SPEAKER 7: It's great.

SPEAKER 7: You know, a lot of his work is posted.

SPEAKER 7: And I find myself, you know, I, I, I go back to it all the time because I'm always just, you know, kind of thinking about, you know, inspiration for new ideas.

SPEAKER 7: So I'Ll, I'Ll, I'Ll scroll through his site.

SPEAKER 7: And then if you, if you Don't have his book yet, which came, which Dick?

SPEAKER 7: I Don't know when you released the first Immortals and then the supplement, but the Immortals book that Dick has put together is it, it's an amazing coffee table book and any baseball fan, every baseball fan should own that book.

SPEAKER 7: So, other than our Kickstarter campaign, I, I, I would direct people to, you know.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah, my website is, is great because I, I think, you know, it's got all the play I, and when you look at the collection of them.

SPEAKER 6: It's, it's a lot of people that some of them people won't even know.

SPEAKER 6: But I was, what, what I got out of this, this program is that I know that I was, what I was doing was something I was bringing art back to baseball.

SPEAKER 6: But I think with your conversation, John, was that you were talking to a number of artists who, which means I bought artists also back to baseball.

SPEAKER 6: So I learned that, I mean, I didn't, I wasn't thinking about that but it, it's nice to know that that, that I might have played a part in, in some of that.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah.

SPEAKER 1: No, very true.

SPEAKER 1: And that's not lip service.

SPEAKER 1: That was, that was them stating that, I mean, you, you're sort of the, the godfather of, of the G I know there's been other artists and I'm not, you know, trying to, but you're sort of like really brought it to the forefront and you know, made it mainstream if you will as it as it should be.

SPEAKER 1: And you know, I always tell people, right, all cards are sort of little works of, of art in themselves, but when you actually have art be part of the card, even, even, even, you know, amplifies that even more.

SPEAKER 1: So again, thank you.

SPEAKER 1: Thank you guys.

SPEAKER 1: I appreciate you making some time for the show and maybe love to have you back on too.

SPEAKER 1: Once, once the movie is out we can kinda revisit and, and, and talk about that.

SPEAKER 1: I, I definitely, We'Ll be watched though.

SPEAKER 7: Thanks John.

SPEAKER 7: It's fun.

SPEAKER 1: Ok, thank you.

SPEAKER 1: First off, I'd like to thank Mark Evans Dick Perez for making some time out of their schedules to come on the show.

SPEAKER 1: It was a real honor.

SPEAKER 1: For, again, a kid who collected in the eighties Diamond Kings were the, you know, what to, to, to hobbyists and collectors and enjoyed them.

SPEAKER 1: And just such an important part of my collecting history to think, you know, that I get to talk to the gentleman behind that, right?

SPEAKER 1: One of them that so instrumental in, in my hobby journey and, and what I enjoyed and collected and, and love pulling from packs and, and Mark Evans good on him, acclaimed director and saw, you know, the same thing that I did with, you know, what Dick Perez meant to the hobby to do this biopic, which will be coming out in 2024.

SPEAKER 1: I've included the Kickstarter link in the show notes if you'd like to support the film, be a backer of it.

SPEAKER 1: There are also only 499 sets produced card sets, 22 card sets to be exact with a great list of baseball players passed and present that Dick Perez is, is doing again.

SPEAKER 1: And this set is just for the movie and just through Kickstarter, so exclusive with, with a capital e only 499 sets produced.

SPEAKER 1: So, they're gonna go fast.

SPEAKER 1: You, you're gonna wanna jump on and, and get them and again, you know, I, I appreciate every guest we've had on this show.

SPEAKER 1: Mark and Dick were not 1 99 and 200.

SPEAKER 1: We've had 200 different people on this show and I'm proud of that.

SPEAKER 1: And I like to say, I set that up that way on purpose with Dick Perez being guest number 200.

SPEAKER 1: It was more merely coincidental but seems a as well and it was a, a great honor to have him on this show and get to talk to him.

SPEAKER 1: And I hope you, I hope you enjoyed that, that conversation.

SPEAKER 1: I hope you learned a few things because while I knew a lot of stuff about Diamond Kings and Mr Perez, I learned a few things in the conversation as well.

SPEAKER 10: For more than 30 years, Robert Edward auctions has been the nation's premier auction house specializing in sports memorabilia and trading cards with significant experience and expertise in all major sport, non sport and Americana collectibles R E A has helped clients achieve record breaking prices for their items and has done so with a reputation for integrity and transparency by actively partnering with collectors and enthusiasts throughout the entire process.

SPEAKER 10: R E A has created the hobby's most trusted forum for selling high quality collectibles.

SPEAKER 10: Go to Robert Edward auctions dot com.

SPEAKER 10: For more information on how to buy or sell in their next auction for nearly 50 years.

SPEAKER 10: Sports collectors digest has been the voice of the hobby.

SPEAKER 10: Bringing you comprehensive coverage of the sports collectible industry from industry news, auction results, market analysis and in depth stories about collectors and their collections.

SPEAKER 10: Sports collectors digest has everything you need to know about the hobby.

SPEAKER 10: Also your leading source for listings of sports collectible dealers, card shops, card shows and the latest from the industry's top companies to check out all the latest news or to subscribe to the hobby's oldest magazine.

SPEAKER 10: Visit sports collectors digest dot com or call 1 808 29 55 61.

SPEAKER 9: That's a wrap on another edition of the Sports Coordination podcast.

SPEAKER 9: Thank you to all the awesome listeners out there without you.

SPEAKER 9: There is no us.

SPEAKER 9: Thank you to all our great guests who drive this show and also our wonderful sponsors who help us produce the great hobby content every week.

SPEAKER 9: Remember another hobby, quick hits episode drops every Monday and Sports Coordination returns again.

SPEAKER 9: Next Friday.

SPEAKER 9: If you like the shows, we appreciate those positive reviews be well and all.

SPEAKER 9: But remember the hobby is the people.