Stamp of Approval

Former Postmaster General Anthony M. Frank, the man who put Elvis Presley’s face on a stamp, is becoming a more familiar face himself.

Frank appears in ads endorsing the Pritikin Longevity Center, the Santa Monica health and nutrition facility. He is shown running in the surf under the words “Life Begins at 177,” a reference to his new, healthier cholesterol level.

Frank is identified only as “Tony Frank, CEO,” with no mention of his tenure as U.S. Postal Service chief. Frank, who plans to soon run a new Arizona bank, says he received no money and agreed to appear because he believes in the program.

“They called me recently and said they now want to use it in a mail campaign,” he says. “What could be more appropriate than that?”

A Real Fall Classic

Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall is known for finding rare collectibles. But his Superior Galleries in Beverly Hills has found something that can only be described as unbelievable.

A catalogue for a Superior sports memorabilia auction this month advertises three unused 1969 World Series tickets for a “game played at Astrodome.” Estimated value: $100 to $200.

The problem? No World Series game was played in 1969 at the Astrodome, home of the Houston Astros, because the New York Mets were National League champions. For that matter, no World Series game has ever been played in the Astrodome because the Astros have never made it that far.

Turns out the tickets being sold reflect wishful thinking that year by the Astros, which printed them before the team faded.

Slipping the Punch

Speaking of sports memorabilia, Superior nearly had a fight on its hands for selling three Mike Tyson items.

Superior plans to auction this month the three championship belts Tyson took with him to Tokyo when he lost his heavyweight titles in 1990 to James (Buster) Douglas. Estimated value is $40,000 to $50,000.

Superior says it got the belts from an Upstate New York coin dealer, who bought them from Tyson’s former trainer, Kevin Rooney, who claims that Tyson gave him the belts. (Tyson is now in prison on a rape conviction.)

After Superior started promoting the belts, a letter arrived from Tyson’s lawyers alleging that the belts weren’t authentic. Superior officials say they wrote back, claiming they have plenty of proof, and say they haven’t heard anything since.

Briefly . . .

Revolving door: USC’s “Marketplace” business radio program is hiring former Labor Secretary Lynn Martin as a commentator to replace Robert B. Reich, who gave up the position when President Clinton picked him to replace Martin. . . . General Motors lost nearly $2.7 million an hour in 1992. . . . “Who Loves Ya, Baby?”: Players International, a Calabasas marketer of gambling resort discount packages, attributed more than $2 million of its latest quarterly loss to charges stemming from the ending of its contract with spokesman Telly Savalas.