Ron’s precious
ken kammannucci
rookie card
For those of you that don’t know, a ROOKIE CARD of a star player is usually considered far more valuable than those issued from the rest of their career. This is for a variety of reasons, mainly because the players are young and not usually stars yet, so less of their cards are printed and even less of those of sold are saved by people who buy packs of baseball cards, making them become far more rare when the player eventually does blow up into stardom.
Ron opened up a pack of cards when he was a little boy and saved the KEN KAMMANNUCCI Rookie card he got inside throughout the years because he was a genuine fan of his, mesmerized by his watermelon sized arms and powerful swing. Ron idolized The Nooch as he went on to smash all of baseball’s Home Run records in the 1990s, even attempting to become a baseball player himself in college.
Ron couldn’t cut it as a baseball player, though, he got more into Sports Memorabilia and eventually opened up his own store. But, Ron likes to keep all the good stuff for himself and sell mainly fake, crappy signatures that he doesn’t want.
Even though Ron has his own store and access to all the craziest memorabilia in the business, the most precious item he has is his KEN KAMMANNUCCI card that he got when he was a little boy. Ron keeps it locked in a safe in his man-cave, where the card will eventually drive multiple characters in our story into conflict.
Karen’s necklace
war medal
from her father
Karen’s Father, Floyd Derber, served in the Navy in the 1980’s and received a medal for his service that he got directly from President Ronal Reagan himself. Floyd gave the medal to Karen, instead, when she was a little girl, never accepting it or a wearing it once.
The reason he got the medal, though, was because he was captain of the ship USS Vincennes when his ship shot down Iran Air 655, killing all of the innocent civilians aboard. It was considered a horrible accident, with the ship accidentally shooting an Iranian Airliner as it crossed the Persian Gulf. Instead of apologizing, the government celebrated Floyd and gave him that medal instead.
Karen isn’t really aware of the history behind the medal, though, which she discovers through the course of the film, simply thinking her father got it because he is a“War Hero”.
THe piece of a
ufo
ron is selling in his shop
The Sports memorabilia business isn’t quite what it used to be anymore, leaving Ron to try pushing a bunch of non-sports related stuff in his store that kids today are usually more interested in. The only people buying memorabilia are old Boomers, but the kids will stop to check out some “Dinosaur Bones” or odd crystals or even this weird looking object Ron is selling that he claims is a “Genuine Piece of UFO.”
It’s got tiny little “Alien” writing on it and is tucked underneath a thick glass case with a plaque labelled “UFO”. Ron always uses this item to get people to pay attention as his “show stopper” piece, and eventually brings it to the baseball card show with him to draw in customers. Neither Ron nor Karen believe it’s real, but call it a “UFO” regardless.
He got it from Karen’s father, Floyd, who gave it to him years ago when he was in the Navy.
doctor wangles
the kittty cat
Doctor Wangles is Karen’s Cat.
He’s not only her favorite thing in the world, she sings little songs to him all day long and every time he enters the room, Karen sings him his own “Theme Song.”
While Karen and Ron agree that Doctor Wangles needs a theme song, they disagree on which song is the right choice for him and argue about it frequently.
When Ron wants to get back at Karen any way he can, he goes after her where he knows it hurts; taking Doctor Wangles from her and causing her to go into complete hysteria.
marcus ademonte’s
stolen helmet
Marcus Ademonte is the new hot shot quarterback in town on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s the most popular player around at the moment, the one who everybody wants an autograph from. A few days ago somebody stole all his equipment from his practice locker, literally taking his helmet and pads and all his gear from the facility. It was reported to the police and even made it on the local news.
Sure, it’s not a major crime or something the police are committing a team to crack the case, but when the cops just so happen to walk in on Karen transporting a bunch of sports memorabilia in her garage and see Marcus’ Helmet - they immediately forward the tip off and the FBI starts investigating Ron’s shop. It doesn’t take much for them to realize he’s selling loads of fake merchandise.
To catch Ron, though, they send in an informant to go and pull a sting operation in his shop to buy the Helmet, causing the entire plot to unfold from there.
ninjunto
trading cards
Japanese Ninjunto cards area all the rage with kids at the moment. Instead of looking for baseball cards or hockey cards, like Ron’s generation did when they were kids, they now seek out these weird looking adorable Japanese anime trading cards.
Everything about it boils Ron’s blood, but he’s forced to shift with the market and he starts selling Ninjunto cards in his store because that’s what the kids buy.
They are collectable trading cards based on a Japanese anime series, with full on videogame and movie tie ins. As Sports Memorabilia becomes an increasingly older demographic, Ron’s store is being taken up more and more by Ninjunto merchandise.