Chuck Hoey, Curator museum@ittf.com
Issue # 5 February 14, 2008	ITTF Museum Newsletter
Happy Valentines Day!

World Team Championships: 24 February-2 March 2008 Guangzhou, China The World Team Championships begin in only 10 days - good luck to all the competitors - play with heart! The curator has sustained an unfortunate injury that will prevent his attendance, so I will miss the opportunity to meet our World Champions, past and present. But my message to our Champions is well beyond a personal meeting: Plan ahead to preserve your legacy, so that your achievements will never be forgotten. This is one of the most important missions of the ITTF Museum, and I ask each of our World and Olympic Champions to send a racket used to win an important event, and any medals or personal memorabilia, for permanent exhibition in our Hall of Champions.

Beijing 2008 Pins & Collectibles A Preview of Coming Attractions The Olympic Games in Beijing are fast approaching, and already a series of official pins and other products are available. Pins are very popular collectibles, relatively low cost items that are attractive to many fans. Here is an illustrated list of pins & related items that have been released - there will likely be more such pins issued during the coming months. The ITTF Museum wants to exhibit all such pins, so if you know of any others not shown, please contact the curator at: museum@ittf.com

Online Table Tennis History Journal Winter 2008 issue released! A magazine devoted to the history of Table Tennis and its memorabilia is available via the ITTF Museum website, or by direct link: Magazine The Table Tennis Collector is published 4 times a year, and is enjoyed not only by collectors across the globe, but also by those who are fascinated by the colorful history of our sport - over 1 million pages downloaded since the ITTF Museum began its publication in 2006. Check out the latest issue: Winter 2008 Each issue is packed with 24 pages of historic information: research articles, vintage photographs, exhibit reports, and regular columns on auction trends, books and Table Tennis philately. The new issue contains a retrospective on the classic Barna bat, an article about the origins of the pimpled rubber racket, as well as a history of celluloid and how a ball is made. This is a free online publication in full color, in the format of a pdf download. Contact the curator if you would like to receive e-mail notification of when the next issue is available for download: museum@ittf.com

Did You Know ... ?

There are over 5000 pieces in the ITTF Museum, including 1000 rackets! Why not plan a visit to the Museum soon - groups welcome. Contact the curator to make a reservation.