By BABE WAXPAK, Scripps Howard News Service

Dear Babe: I found five 33-RPM baseball records. They include Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, "Fred Lynn Has Incredible Day at Detroit,'' "Johnny Bench Beats Pirates in '72 Playoffs,'' and one with Jerry Koosman and Donn Clendenon on the front entitled, "1969 Miracle Mets.'' -- Jane Liljedahl, Redding, Calif.

When it comes to set building, even Da Babe has questions in this day and age of parallel sets and short-prints.

It all came to the forefront last year as I checked out a card show in Medford, N.Y.

Da Babe spotted a short-printed rookie card needed to fill a 2008-09 Topps basketball set. The only problem was the card was a parallel with gold foil printing on the front.

Dear Babe: I have a baseball dated July 20, 1947. It is signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers including Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese and many more. It has 26 signatures. -- Steve Stillson, Northlake, Ill.

Dear Babe: In the late 1990s, the NHL All-Star game was held in Boston. I have a puck signed by Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr. -- David Merrill, Hudson, N.H.
Who'd have thunk it? Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe detracting from the value.

Dear Babe: My Dad received a ball before I was born. It has Babe Ruth's name printed on it. Our family has believed it to be genuine, because he did. As I have compared it with images from the Internet of Babe Ruth signatures, it appears to be quite different. The ball has the two color stitching (red and black), but I am afraid it's either a bogus signature or a trace.

Dear Babe: I was looking through my 1977 Pepsi baseball disc set, and yes, I know that the value is lowered because they have been separated from the gloves. I noticed that there are four variations of Mike Schmidt and Reggie Jackson -- different colors on the card edges. I haven't seen any collector's almanacs that list these variations.

Dear Babe: I have a newspaper photo dated Aug. 8, 1928, that pictures Lou Gehrig, Johnny Evers and Babe Ruth. All three signed it. -- Ron Hermann, Riverside, Calif.

Dear Babe: I have a Notre Dame football signed by all the former Heisman Trophy winners -- Angelo Bertelli, John Lujack, John Lattner, Leon Hart, Paul Hornung, John Huarte and Tim Brown. It says No. 3,589 of 5,000. I think I bought in the 1980s. -- Bob Higgins, Lawrenceville, Ga.

There few limits to how far Da Babe will go in his quest for information. That probably explains how I ended up chatting about autographs and memorabilia with Pietro Piller Cottrer, Italy's top cross country skier, in a "palestra (gym)'' in this small town in the Italian Alps near the Austrian border.

Dear Babe: Are you familiar with the original (oil painted proofs) from Topps of 1953 that were purchased by Marriott? Marriott then had a special printing of four different players -- Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Whitey Ford and Bob Feller. At the time my roommate worked for the printer who was contracted for the special prints and he gave me a set. They are 7-x-10 inches.