Lovegrove Turns Pins into Business
March 16, 2001
By Linda R. Goodman
lgoodman@bcnnew.com
Daniel Lovegrove never thought he would become a sports memorabilia collector for a living, but after a chance interview with a family
friend for a school project, it changed his life. "When I was in eighth grade, we were given a project in school, we had to interview someone outside the family," Lovegrove, a lifelong Darien resident, said, "and
we were to spend the day with the person and see what they did for their job and then make a presentation to the class."
The friend of the family was Walter Hess, who worked for the L.G. Balfour Co., which make
press pins, including the 1977 New York Yankees World Series press pin. Lovegrove became fascinated with the pin.
"I was just in awe of the pin because it resembled a championship ring," he said. "Mr. Hess
used to design these and would sell these to the Yankees and if the Yankees got to the World Series they (Balfour) would make the press pins, the World Series trophy, and also the championship rings."
Lovegrove, who
has an undergraduate degree in theater from the University of Utah, had two visions in mind: the first was to write scripts and the other was to become a gemologist. But hip surgery in 1989 forged the way for Lovegrove to start
up his business. "The surgery was kind of a curveball," he said. "After Utah, I came back here and, it (the business) evolved. I started this business in 1990 and the business just took off."
And so
Recollectics was born. Lovegrove likes to call his business a mail order company and his main purpose for Recollectics was specifically to buy and sell press pins.
The inception of press pins dates back to 1911. Back in
1908, New York Giants manager John McGraw told his friends to get into the Polo Grounds in Manhattan by ducking under the turnstile. For the next three years, they did just that and would all congregate in the press box, making
a racket. The baseball writers became distracted and were not able to do their jobs.
"The baseball writers got fed up with it and this was before television," Lovegrove said. "So writing about the game
became extremely important and they got tired of (McGraw's friends in the press box). Because of this they founded the Baseball Writers Association of America, that's how it got started." The first press pins arrived in
time for the 1911 World Series between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Giants.
Lovegrove has been mentioned in magazines like Sports Collectors Digest and the book Sports Memorabilia for Dummies for his press pin
collection. Among his memorabilia collection is a pin that was issued on Sept. 5 and 6 1995, the days Baltimore Orioles shortstop/third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. tied and broke New York Yankees legend Lou Gehrig's
consecutive-games-played streak of 2130.
Lovegrove, who describes himself as a Yankee fan but also a baseball fan in general, has a few articles that have garnered some great value over the years. One of them is an
autographed photo of Gehrig, valued at $20,000 on Lovegrove's web site. Another is the 1939 All Star Game pin which was specially minted for Gehrig, although he retired in May of the same year. Gehrig was named honorary captain
of the team. Lovegrove purchased the pin in 1990 at a Guernsey's auction for $41,800 and now is offering it at his web site for $249,000. Lovegrove also collects championship rings, including the first World Series ring from
1922, which belonged to the New York Giants' Ralph Shinners.
"I had no real intention of getting involved in championship rings and all," Lovegrove said. "It was just something that came along the way. I'm
known throughout the country for the press pins, some people call them media pins. I never thought I would be selling, making sales internationally. I never thought people would call me and interview me, put me in magazines or
books, which is quite an honor." But Lovegrove was hesitant to discuss his incident involving a 1977 World Series ring, which he now describes as "something I have put behind me."
Lovegrove had purchased
the ring originally belonging to John Delorean who was part owner of the Yankees, at a Christie's auction in 1996. After he bought the ring, he put it up for sale on his web site and ended up in court because the ring had been
reported stolen. However, Lovegrove kept his receipt from the auction and he was allowed the keep the ring because the judge determined he had bought it in good faith, not knowing the history of the ring. Subsequently, he sold
the ring a short time after.
Although collecting pins is Lovegrove's main business venture, he also takes pride in giving something back to the town of Darien. In 1993, once his company got off the ground, he enlisted
the help of the Darien High School jobs office. He used the office to hire DHS students to work with him at his business. So, far he has employed 15 students to work for Recollectics. Lovegrove credits the DHS jobs office and
his student employees with getting Recollectics to where it is today. "It's been phenomenal because they've really helped me build the business," he said. "They really helped the web site for me."
In
turn Lovegrove has established Recollectics Service Scholarship to help his students work on a project outside the office which would benefit the community. One of his students built chairs, which are now at the Darien Senior
Center. Another student walked the Appalichian Trail and raised $7,000 for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. Lovegrove is also active with the Darien Little League Challenger Division, working as a sponsor and a coach.
Lovegrove has also become an inventor, developing the "Pultab" ring, which is a ring that has magnetic, but removable section below the face of the ring. He has been working on it for 10 years and hopes to
market it this year.
For more information on Daniel Lovegrove's sports memorabilia collection, visit