The Super Bowl of scan dumps (Part 2)

I'll probably jinx it, but I was surprised by how many people stopped by the previous post. I was gonna say in that one that two football posts in a row is akin to blog suicide, but maybe I'm wrong for thinking that? I'm guessing that the two-part scan dump that'll have to do for basketball in a few months might be a bit rough though. I'll probably have to follow those with a free stuff post just to get folks to come back again.

Similar to the first post, a lot of today's stuff came from COMC, and has been sitting in folders for a few years now. There are few exceptions though, like the above SI for Kids Eric Dickerson, which I had marked as just "TCDB". I don't recall getting it, but it must've been part of a trade some years back. I may not remember getting it, but I do really like the card. It's always fun to be able to add those cards to player collections. Even more so if said player collections are in binders, as these cards can really brighten up a page.

I'm pretty sure that this was the only time that Ernie Ladd was ever referred to as "Little Samson". Someone at Fleer must've thought that he needed a nickname. It didn't stick. A few years later people would come to know him as "The Big Cat", which was a moniker that he proudly wore for the rest of his life. If you're like me and gonna own only one '63 Fleer, this is a pretty good one to have.

I originally bought this card for myself, as I really liked the colors when I first saw it, but somewhere in-between the buying and getting I fell out of love with it. That happens to me more than it probably should. At least in this case though, Steve was able to find a good home with Fuji.

Wild Card stripes are a real bitch for player collectors, especially those elusive 1000's. I think this 50 is the only one I have for Ronnie's "rainbow" so far.

I don't know who, or if, anyone still owns the Action Packed name, but if it could be done right, i.e. look like it used to, I'd be all for seeing the brand's return. Of course the way things are now, it'd probably end up being a Leaf product, and end up being Action Packed in name only.

This card had been on my want list for quite awhile prior to getting it. I know I had bid on, and then subsequently lost out on multiple copies on eBay. Under the photo in my scan folder I had noted the price of $1.50, which I must've thought was good at the time to have wanted to save it. This was, and still is, my only card of Fran as a Giant. I really should work on getting more.

Despite not being very interested in modern happenings, I found myself quite enthralled with Alex Smith's situation a few years back. As far as comeback stories go, his was one of, if not the most impressive that I can recall. Not only was his determination to return amazing, but his story also highlighted just how far sports medicine has come (now if the rest of the medical profession could just catch up). Like all modern players, Alex has close to 3 trillion cards out there, which I didn't want to collect all of, but did, thanks to his saga, want to pick up a few. I ended up targeting red cards only, mostly just because he played for three teams who had red in their jersey colors, which all look really good on red parallels.

I got all of the card in this post (as well as a few more) right around the time of his return, and despite the media attention, there didn't seem to be a lot interest from other collectors in his stuff. Because of that, I was able to get pretty much all of the cards I did for less than a buck apiece, including some that were serial-numbered.

I'm not really all that big on refractors anymore, but this one is just awesome in person. I think too that this was the only card of his that I paid more than a buck for. It's also my favorite. My collection as it were, ended up at around a dozen cards. I haven't been actively looking for anything to add to it, but I probably will start doing so at some point.

This scan and next one contain the oldest purchases from these last two posts. I'm not as into the Kellogg's 3-D cards as a lot of the other bloggers seem to be, but I do really like the two football sets, and if I weren't afraid of them all cracking eventually, I'd love to collect both sets. It's been so long that I can't even remember why I got Ed Meador. Dave Wilcox is one of a handful of former Ducks that I actively collect. And I had an idea to start seeking out cards of guys doing the Heisman pose, hence the Lance's inclusion. I didn't get very far with that collection, but it's not one that I've abandoned either.

All six of the Kellogg's came from the same seller, and if I remember correctly, the ones in the first row were around a dollar each, while these three were around two dollars apiece; which seemed like a pretty good deal given their collective star power. I actively collect all three of these guys, Mel, because of Ducks again, Alex, for his post football career, and Deacon, because he was a destroyer of worlds.

I was eight years old when Action Packed first came onto the scene, and I can remember being completely blown away by their look the first time I saw them. I never got more than a few packs, but have as of late I've really been thinking about trying to build the set via a box (or two if need be). These two came from Sportlots last year, and both went towards my Reggie Roby run. I can't keep track of the Collector's Edge parallels, but this was one of them.

And from another Sportlots order, this Silver Die-Cut(?). Part of me wishes that Reggie had been able to play longer so that I'd have more cards of his to collect, but then the other part is glad that he didn't, otherwise I'd have considerably more kooky parallels to have to try and track down.

   

I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to tack on a newer purchase to the end of this second post. A recent lot from eBay really helps my burgeoning 1990 SLU set. 

The lot was made up of eight cards, and as you can see, four guys were "complete". Finding cards paired together like this really makes things easier. It seems like though, despite each figure coming with two cards, more often than not you just see singles being offered for sale. I think that this lot was a perfect example too of why I'm getting so much enjoyment from the SLU cards, in that these were all guys that I remember from my earliest days of getting football cards, but they're being shown on cards that A). I haven't already collected once before, and B). that I haven't seen a million times over the years. Both of which make collecting a set much more fun for me.

I'm getting this one in just under the wire. As mentioned in the previous post, I won't be partaking in tomorrow's festivities, but for those that will be doing so, have fun; but don't overdo it. And for those out driving, be careful, there's probably gonna be a lot of drunks out there on the roads; before, and after, the game.

The Super Bowl of scan dumps (Part 1)

One of my unofficial goals for this blog, this year, is to finally get all of my old scans, some of which have been collecting virtual dust for upwards of three years, into posts. I don't know how doable this'll be, what with me only posting a couple of times a month on here now, but I'm still gonna try to have all of the old folders cleared by year's end.

I think that the easiest way to achieve this goal will be to do a series of themed scan dumps (like I did last Halloween). One a month might be enough to get caught up, and still allow me to talk about other things in-between dumps (😄). 

The first batch for this year will be a two-parter in honor of the coming Super Bowl. 

As I've said on many occasions, I haven't watched a current sporting event in many years now, with the Super Bowl being no exception. I can't remember what year it was, but the last one that I watched was the Patriots v. Seahawks.

I'm so out of touch with what's currently happening that I couldn't even tell you whose playing this year. The only reason I know it's coming is from hearing commercials on the radio. In year's past, you could know the game was coming by all of the commercials about the "Big Game" starting up. Those are still a thing, but in recent years you also get an influx of commercials for sports betting apps/sites as well. You know those, right, the one's that promise you the potential for fabulous riches if you'd just be willing to bet next week's paycheck. I'm sure that I'm in the minority, but I can't be the only one who thinks that those ads are gross. I hear them so often now that's already becoming hard to remember that there was a time when such things were considered taboo.

Anyway, despite my zero interest in current football happenings, I do still collect football cards; though I don't get them nearly as often as I used to. And when I do, they're are usually just for player collections (there's a few exceptions to that in this post).

Everything in this post came from COMC, and I believe that it's all been sitting in scan folders for at least two years, which - since I only request my stuff from them to be shipped once a year - means some of these could've been purchased upwards of 3-4 years ago.

I'm pretty sure that I got this card and the Bethea up top from the same seller, and only did so at the time because A). They were extremely cheap, and B). I didn't own a card of either guy and thought, at the time, that I should. Now that a couple of years have passed, I'm not so sure that I needed to.

Color-matching Prizms became all the rage for basketball collectors after the boom got going (mostly thanks to "influencers"), but I don't know if that same craze ever carried over to football. My interest in all things Prizm pretty much died once the boom started, and I've since sold off the bulk of my Prizm cards. I did keep all of the ones I had in player collections though. I think that this one in particular might just be one of my favorites, and is also one of my favorite Ronnie Lott cards (that I own).

I like the 2014 purple Prizm that I have for Fran a lot more than this 2015, but for less than a buck (I don't think that I would've paid more than that for it) this one isn't too bad. John Bunting didn't appear on a lot of cards, so it's kind of neat to see him lurking in the background of this one.

I briefly thought about collecting Tim Tebow, and I must've bought these two during that period. The thought didn't last long, and honestly, if I hadn't had these scanned I probably wouldn't have even remembered getting them. They're nice enough cards, I guess, but they're not doing anything for me these days.

Speaking of cards that aren't doing anything for me. I really enjoyed watching Mike Alstott play and did start collecting him a few years ago, but it wasn't until after I started doing so that I realized that his cards appear in an awful lot of sets whose designs are unappealing to me visually (I had the same problem with Ichiro). So, while I'd love to collect him, the thought of having a binder full of ugly cards, that I'd never want to look at, forced me to stop doing so. And even though I've decided recently to take on some SLU sets, this isn't one of them, so it's expendable. Fuji recently mentioned having a couple of binders of SLU cards, so I'll give him first crack at it. If he doesn't need it though, it'll be available (for nothing in return) to whoever else might want it. 

As far as set designs go, the '62 Topps Football is arguably the most unique from that decade. The little inset photo is where it's all about for me. The photo on this card is particularly good. It's hard to tell if John got that pass off or not. It looks like he did, but who knows. I'd also be curious to know who #74 in the photo is. I only know of two players from that time that wore #74, Bob Lilly, who it most certainly isn't, and Merlin Olsen, who was just drafted in '62, so it doesn't seem like it could be him either. 

John Brodie isn't a guy that I actively collect, but if I come across any cheap cards of his I won't turn them down.

Were it still doable, I'd love to try and collect all of the 90's Dufex parallel sets, but I think I'm a couple of decades too late such an attempt though. I'll just have to continue to be content with the ones I get for player collections. I'm not sure too, but I think that that's Natrone Means that Steve is about to bring down. I haven't heard Natrone's name mentioned in years, I should probably go see what he's been up to.

Seeing as how his cards are still so cheap, I really should put more effort into completing my Papa Nerf collection. As it stands, I've only got like 4 or 5 of his cards; though one of his better one's is in my coming COMC shipment. I don't how unique it is amongst kickers, but I always thought it was kind of interesting that he never missed a single game during his 15-year career.

Looking through my old scan folders sometimes leave's me wondering what I was thinking when I scanned certain things; this one being a perfect example. I mean, aside from both being for player collections, these two cards have zero things in common (okay, I guess they're both parallels, but...) and don't even look good scanned together.

It looks like shit in the scan, but those old Collector's Choice gold parallels still look really good in person. And their one-per-box ratio means that they can still be difficult to find (depending on the player, of course) thirty years later. This is another set that I wish I would've started working on back when they were new. I don't know if it would be completed by now if I had, but I'm sure that I'd have more than the three cards from it that I currently have.

The J-Stew is kind of an ugly die-cut from his stint with the Giants, which I never saw any of, but it's still sort of color matching, and had to be very cheap for me to have bought it.

Speaking of J-Stew...

All of these are blue parallels of one kind or another too, which look a bit better with his Panthers jersey than the light blue/Giants combination up above. I can't remember what it's called, but the Prizm on the right is my favorite from group.

I think if I didn't have anything else to collect, I'd seriously consider trying to complete full runs (i.e. all of the colors) of the old McDonald's sets. I really do like them. It's just not in the "cards" right now. 

My Steve Young collection has really fallen by the wayside since I stopped going to shows. The same could be said for Eric Dickerson too. In fact, I think that these last two cards might've been the last two that I've added to their respective collections. If you blink you might miss that this is a 1st Day Issue. The stamp doesn't stand out quite as much as it does for those of the baseball and basketball varieties. Still a neat card though.

The last three cards in this post are a bit off-beat for a football card post, but I don't know where else to put them, so...

Saved by the Bell: The College Years was the shits, and as a kid I found it to be a bit depressing as well. In my opinion, this card, a Prism insert of Bob Golic as Mike Rogers, is the only good thing that ever came from this shows existence. I think I have three copies in my Bob Golic collection, and am always up for getting more.

Ted Fritsch is best know for his time with the Green Bay Packers, but he also played in the NBA during it's early days, and even spent a year playing minor league baseball. I believe that this 1977 Fritsch One Year Winners is his only baseball card. I had an idea for a mini-collection that never panned out, and therefor no longer need this card, so if anyone wants it just say the word.

American Gladiators was a huge part of my childhood/early teen years. For fans of the show, who are also card collectors, aside from Topps' 1991 Gladiators release, there aren't a whole lot of options out there. To my knowledge, only two autographs of Gladiators have appeared in sets thus far, Lee Reherman, who was Hawk, being one of them (Jim Starr in Topps' 75th Anniversary set being the other). It's a bit of a stretch, but Lee did play football at Cornell University, hence his inclusion in this post.

My recent health issue (as mentioned on my non-card blog) has made computering rather difficult as of late, so this post is showing up much later in the week than I wanted, but I'm still gonna try and get part two out before the "Big Game", which I'm assuming (based, again, on the increase of radio ads) is this Sunday.

Pack Sampling: 2024 CardBoredom Exclusive

From what I've been able to gather, the blogs will soon be inundated with the opening of packs and boxes from the coming release of Topps' flagship baseball set. Spoiler alert: I will be one of the few who doesn't partake in that particular frenzy. Nor will I be joining the craze for the next big thing the following week, or the week after that. But some of you probably already knew that. Thankfully, I'm many years past that kind of chaos. That being said, I won't be missing out entirely on the ripfest; as I've just unknowingly lucked into a pack of cards from what will undoubtedly be this year's hottest release.

This came courtesy of, David, who not only helms the excellent CardBoredom website, but is also behind the semi-recently started blog of the same name. I don't know how many packs were produced, but I'm assuming that they were fairly limited.

This release has received little to no hype, has had no commercials produced for it, no previews have been dropped on the Twitter, and no breakers have been paid to influence anyone to spend their lifesavings on it. In other words, I don't know what to expect from it. In a way, it's kind of like the old days when you didn't know what was what until you actually opened up your first pack. If the design of the pack is anything to go by though, I think I'm gonna be in for something good.

I've heard of people pulling something of great interest to them and then stating that it was almost like the that pack had their name on it. Well, this pack literally has my name on it, so that's gotta be a good sign, right?

It's been a few years since I've last opened up a pack of cards, and even longer since said pack was of the wax variety. I've dusted off my old, albeit short-lived, pack opening series for the occasion, and am ready to see if I remember how to do this right. So, without further ado...

Wow, a 1961 Topps Billy Muffett! I haven't opened any packs for a few years now, but I'd probably be more inclined to do so if more of them started off like this. It's hard to imagine that anything better could out of this particular pack, but there's still 14 more cards to go...

Another 1961 Topps Billy Muffett!! Were I to be attempting to collect this set I might be inclined to say something about the poor collation of this pack, but I'm not, so I won't. In fact, so far, this pack is collated almost like it had my name on it 😏

Two down, 13 to go...

It's a Billy Muffett hot pack!

I can imagine someone whose shown up here for the first time being confused by what they're seeing, and/or possibly thinking that I've been the recipient of a practical joke. If you're that someone, I can assure you that, no, I was not pranked -- this is one of my all-time favorite cards, and is one that I'm mildly hoarding. I say mildly, only because it's not my goal to own every single copy produced; just a whole bunch of them. And in case those in the know haven't figured out yet what David's done, let's move on to card #4...

Yep, it's another one. I was really tempted to do this 11 more times, but I'll put you out of your misery (the suspense must be killing you!)...

That's officially the best photo that you'll see on the blogs today. 

I can, without any hyperbole, say that is the greatest pack of cards that I've ever opened. Sure, I've probably opened packs that had cards worth more monetarily, but in terms of sentiment; this one top(p)s them all. And honestly too, I don't see how any future pack could ever take this one's place, well, maybe if there were 16 Billy Muffett's...

I can also now say, with only a hint of jest, that 15 of my beloved Billy Muffett's were pack pulled, by me no less. That's very cool.

Some may've noticed that the pack stated that it came with gum, which it did, safely sandwiched between two pieces of cardstock. Hopefully David won't be offended by my not chewing the gum; with all of my fillings I'd be afraid to try and chew gum at this point in my life (it sure smells good though!). I have, however, slipped it into a penny sleeve so that I can keep with the wrapper that I was thankfully able to salvage most of. I don't imagine that I'll ever be the recipient of another custom pack, so I will be keeping this one -- probably in the binder that's housing my Billy Muffett's.

I'd be remiss too if I didn't also show how the pack was shipped. Foam holders in between foam board. Take note Topps, that's how all of your cards can be guaranteed PSA 11's right from the get go.

To my monkey brain, people creating custom wrappers is akin to someone turning base metals into gold. Even with the curtain being pulled back, it still feels like wizardry. 

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical when I got David's email a few weeks ago saying that he had some cards for me. I don't have any want lists up on the blog currently, and aside from my leaving a few comments on his blog, we had never had any real contact. Clearly though, my skepticism was uncalled for, as David would've been hard pressed to send a better mailing.

Many thanks to David for this extremely fun (and thoughtful) surprise. I'm not sure that I was worth all of the effort, but am extremely grateful for it nonetheless.