Potpourri

Get The Willies

Willie Mosconi was a child prodigy who eventually racked up 15 Pocket Billiard World Championships before he retired in 1957. The Mosconi estate has commissioned a set of five trading cards to commemorate him. The price: $20, sent to the Willie Mosconi Card Collection, P.O. Box 3661, Arlington, Washington 98223. More Mosconi trading cards will be issued soon.

Czar Horizon

Now that Russia has embraced capitalism, czarist-chic drinking vessels are a hot export. The bear and stag hunting-horn goblets pictured below, for example, are $100 each, as is the Fabergé-inspired helmet vodka cup. All are from Russian Fine Arts & Collectibles, LLC, 800--335--2764. (All the vessels are gilt-finished.) And if your tastes run to hand-etched Romanov and Nicholas II crystal goblets and decanters, the company sells those, too.

Elvgren and bare it

Referred to as the Norman Rockwell of cheesecake, Gil Elvgren is an American pinup legend. Collector's Press, P.O. Box 230986, Portland, Oregon 97281, has just released an oversize softcover book titled Pin-Up Poster Book: The Elvgren Collection that includes a biography of the artist as well as 16 of his sexiest illustrations. (I Gave Him the Brush-off is pictured here.) Price: $25. And for $80, Collector's Press also offers a limited-edition hardcover version signed by the book's author, Marianne Ohl Phillips, an authority on pinups, and Elvgren's son, Drake. Call 503--864--3030.

Going out with a Bang

"Serving the needs of model makers, restorers and other serious students of antique artillery" is how South Bend Replicas, Inc., describes itself. And if you've ever wanted to really celebrate the Fourth of July, this is the place to write. Prices range from about $285 for the Continental, a 26"-long model of a Revolutionary War cannon on wheels, to $20,000 for an authentic reproduction of a Civil War field gun that's powerful enough to blow the bejesus out of just about anything. Write South Bend Replicas at 61650 Oak Road, South Bend, Indiana 46614, for its huge $7 catalog. No, Replicas doesn't sell earplugs.

Cute Cutouts

Sculpt' Art is a Miami company that specializes in multidimensional laser-cut acrylic sculptures in sizes from 3" x 5" to eight feet tall. Just send a photo or a negative to 299 SW 8th Street, 2nd floor, Miami 33130, and specify the size you'd like. (An 8" x 10" creation is $42.95, and the company does not have a problem with intimate shots.) In about a week, you'll get your sculpture and the original photo will be returned. Call 305--860--1345 with questions. And in addition to three-dimensional sculptures, Sculpt' Art also creates silhouette cutouts. Yes, the prices are cheaper.

Links to the Past

Eugene Klompus, president of the National Cuff Link Society, owns 30,000 pairs. And if cuff links turn you on like they do Klompus, then $25 for a year's membership would be money well spent. In addition to receiving four issues of The Link, which provides info on cuff link trends, collectibles and special events, you'll get up to six free cuff link appraisals a year as well as discounts at jewelers. The society's address is P.O. Box 346, Prospect Heights, Illinois 60070.

Britannia Rules the Waves

The classic English pond yacht is a nautical toy that refuses to sink. Prentiss Court, P.O. Box 8662, Greenville, South Carolina 29604, sells five styles of handmade wooden yachts. Designed for display, not play, the boats measure about 30" long and are priced from $200 to $415. The $400 Concordia (pictured here) is a traditional knockabout with a gaff rig. A catalog costs $2. Call 803--299--3929.

Mr. Toad, Eat Your Heart Out

Sure, today's automobiles are probably the safest and soundest machines to ever ease down the road. But the cars of yester-year--Hispano-Suizas, Bugattis, Cords and Duesenbergs--were the wheels that kings drove. Now Phaidon Press has published Dashboards, a gorgeous 240-page coffee-table book that features the view from behind the steering wheel of 52 exciting automobiles. Start your journey in a Panhard 80CV and end it aboard a BMW 2002 Turbo. Price: $39.95; to order, call 800--722--6657.

Line of Attack

Navy Seals, Marine Force Recons and others who serve in the Special Operations branch of the military are a special breed, and their adventures past and present make for great reading. Our choice for firepower by the fireside? Behind the Lines, "The Journal of U.S. Military Operation," a bimonthly publication full of warrior lore. A year's subscription is $24, sent to Behind the Lines, P.O. Box 456, Festus, Missouri 63028. And if you like the LRP/Ranger image pictured here, it's available on a T-shirt for $19.95 (sizes medium to extra large). Tough-looking Marine Force Recon and Sealudt T-shirts are also available.