My Oldest Football Cards (That Aren't Steelers)

Remember when the Topps MCG site was all the rage and everyone was clamoring to capture as many code cards as they could?  Of course you do because it was only a month or two ago when it stopped.  Topps also had the same kind of promotion going for their football product as well. 

The Gridiron Giveaway, just like the MCG, came to an end not too long ago and I decided to see about having some items sent from my collection.  When the time came for the Million Card Giveaway, I took a look at my collection and realized that there was nothing in there worth having shipped.  Most of my collection was made up of mid-70s and late 80s items that I can find plenty of elsewhere.  My thoughts on obtaining these were further confirmed when I read the countless blog postings about the poor shipping and condition of the cards that others had begun "cashing in".  The Gridiron Giveaway, on the other hand, was different.

I was pretty successful at pulling some older cards from my code cards and after doing a few trades, I amassed a collection of over 50 cards.  But, as with most people's collections, it was again made up of mostly 80s and 90s stuff with a few older cards sprinkled in.  It was those cards that I was targeting.  I decided to have 3 total cards shipped and we would see how we did.

First up was a 1970 Mel Farr rookie card.  Farr, for those who don't know, was a standout half-back at UCLA when he was drafted #7 overall in 1967, spending his entire NFL career in Detroit.  Perhaps more known for his car dealerships rather than his play on the field, Farr built one of the largest Ford dealerships in the country during his retirement.  Those of you from Michigan may remember the Superstar commercials of the mid to late 80s.  The condition of the card isn't really that bad here.  There is a small nick at the bottom left corner and the back of the card has one on the bottom right.  Other than that, it looks pretty decent.

Next up was this 1959 Joe Fortunato rookie card.  Joe was a Bear during his whole career.  He played 12 seasons and then spent two more years as a coach (linebackers coach in '67 and defensive coordinator in '68).  Joe had a very solid career, making the Pro Bowl 5 times and was named to the NFL's top 300 players of all-time.  This card is in pretty great condition for being over 50 years old.  It is a little off centered as you can see by all the white space but has four sharp corners and isn't faded like a lot of 50's cards I see at shows.  2 for 2 in my book so far.

Finally, I pulled the trigger on what is now the oldest football card in my collection that doesn't have a Pittsburgh Steeler on it.  This is a 1957 Clyde Conner rookie card.  Clyde played wide receiver for the 49ers for eight years, his entire career.  Although I can't say I know much about him, from the looks of the back of the card, he seems to have been better know for his basketball skills during his College of the Pacific playing days.  This card was almost like the Fortunato in that it had four sharp corners but the bottom edge, as you can see by the scan, has almost a "deckled" edge to it because of the way it was cut.  Still, it's a nice card to have for a buck (sure they were free but shipping was about a dollar a card). 

So did you pick up on my theme yet?  All rookie cards, all from the vintage era, all players played for their respective teams for their entire careers.  I have a ton of respect for guys that begin and end their careers with one franchise.  You don't find that too often these days with free agency plucking guys left and right to the teams with the biggest wallets.  There is something to be said for hard work, commitment, and loyalty to one team.

That being said, if you have any GIG cards that you are debating having shipped, I would say do it based on my experience.  I think everyone has until June 1st to get their orders processed.

Absurdity Inspired By dayf

I read on one of Cardboard Junkie's posts about some absurdity in the TMCG trading zone.  It seems he keeps getting ridiculous offers of junk wax for vintage.  Well, this prompted me to check mine.  Afterall, I have been out of commission for awhile so it has been a few months since I logged into either the TMCG site or the Gridiron equivalent.  I know, I know.  The offers go away if you ignore them so I probably missed my chance to trade a 1988 Brian Bosworth for a 1984 Dan Marino rookie.  I just thought it would be fun to share.

Here are some of the awesome deals that awaited me.  First on the Gridiron Giveaway site...

I can either go with Gene Washington (78) or Jim Mitchell (72) for my 1957 Clyde Conner.  Now, Conner was no big name player and neither are either of these guys but a 57 for either a 72 or 78?  Please.  Although, I think Gene Washington guest starred as a dead guy on "The Mod Squad" once.

Next we have a 1979 Pat Leahy offered up for my 1959 Joe Fortunato rookie card.  Let's see...Fortunato was named to the Pro Bowl 5 times and NFL All-Pro 3 times.  Joe was a member of one of the greatest linebacking groups in NFL history, teaming up with Larry Morris and Bill George, who played together in the 1963 NFL Championship season and helped give staying power to the nickname "Monsters Of the Midway". Fortunato was also named as one of the 300 best NFL players of all time. 

But Pat Leahy!  Well I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he is the Jets all-time leading scorer.  But did I mention he is a kicker?  I know the Fortunato will only get me a buck or two but it's the principle here people.  Geez!

So I headed over to the Topps Million Card Giveaway site.  Here is what I found.  Let's take one card as an example.

The Subject:

1972 Topps Steve Mingori

I'm not going to pretend that I know who this is and start rattling stats off from his career as a left-handed middle reliever for the Kansas City Royals.  I'm not.  But it's a 1972 card that looks pretty cool and it was printed before I was born so it has some clout in my book.

Here is what awaited me in trade...

2001 Ivan Rodriquez - Not a horrible card but for a 1972?

1984 Broderick Perkins - Seriously, without looking it up...who the hell is this guy?

1988 Mike Aldrete - If Topps took all the 1987-1991 cards they have and burned them all, there would still be too many out there.  Which gives me an idea for a stunt that will most certainly be done to some Card Garage inventory once the winter winds subside.

1979 Steve Mingori - Well at least this person made an effort

 1974 Pepe Frias - The name on the front of his card is just a nickname.  His real name...Jesús María Frías Andújar.  Yeah, I'd go with Pepe, too.

So there you have it.  I have other offers too but none of them are as interesting as this.  I will admit that I am guilty of the same thing sometimes.  But, in my defense, I try to offer up a multitude of junk for a card I like rather than a one-for-one swap.  It's only the courteous thing to do.  I still can't figure out why, other than from Play At the Plate, I have never been offered any Pirates cards?  Are there that many Pirates fans that want to hang onto their TMCG cards from the Buccos?  I see in Dayf's rant, he got offered Oliver Perez, Jerry Reuss, and Bob Robertson all as Pirates.  I guess Steve Mingori is not worthy of any Pirate cards.

2010 Topps Football - - My first packs

Now that the 2010 Topps Football has permeated it's way through all the store shelves and all the blogs, I decided enough was enough and I wasn't about to get left behind.  I finally took a stab at a few packs.

I decided about a year or so ago that since I build sets and I need the most bang for my buck, retail shelf rack packs were always my best bet.  Some argue that these are the worst because the odds are different for the "hits" but you get the most for your money out of these packs because of the sheer number of cards and price per card.

Feel free to disagree as I know many of you will but when you have very little access to a card shop and means out of my own control preventing ordering hobby boxes online, retail is sometimes your only option.  Since I can't bring myself to trust loose packs on the shelf or those nifty gravity boxes because of all the pack searchers, I keep returning to the rack packs.  Sure, blaster boxes can get you some guaranteed hits as well as some increasingly fair collation over the last few years.  But the cost per card is higher than a rack pack and I'm really not interested in anymore of these "hits" that contain plain white swatches of bench players (regardless of sport) or prospect autographs of guys that will never get off their minor league islands.

Did I mention I picked up a few packs?  Well I did.  10 to be exact.  At $4.99 a pop, that was a nice piece of change until I realized all the trading cards were an additional 30% off.  Sweet, $3.50 a pack!!  There were only 10 or else I would have picked up a few more.  At any rate, I'll get this out of the way real quick...there were no autos, no game used, no super short prints, and no rookie variations.  Instead there were tons of base cards that put me well on my way to putting the set together, 10 Gridiron Lineage cards, 10 Topps Attaks/Toppstown cards, 10 Peak Performances, 2 Topps Gold /2010, 3 75th Anniversary Draft cards, 10 '52 Bowman reprints, and 2 55th Anniversary reprints.  Plus, out of 10 packs, I pulled 7 Gridiron Giveaway cards.

These are what I wanted to focus on because everyone out there has already seen the base and the inserts a hundred times.  Not being one to allow anything to sit more than 10 minutes, I immediately logged into the TGG site, surprisingly using my same ID and PW for the TMCG site.  I checked their "transmogrifier" for any recent trends in new vs. old and noticed it was a pretty even mix so I figured why not?  Here they are in no particular order...

1988 Jim Covert

2006 Doug Gabriel

1979 Lenvil Elliott

1979 Raymond Clayborn

1959 Joe Fortunato (R)

1984 Garry Cobb

1999 Travis Hall

This was a pretty interesting mix.  Better variety than the over-abundance of 1985-1989 on it's baseball counterpart.  I unlocked 2 cards from the 70s, 2 from the 80s, 1 from the 90s, 1 from the 2000s, and my one and only card from the 50s that I own that isn't a Pittsburgh Steeler.  Joe Fortunado's rookie card, as it appears to be, is probably still a common by all other standards but since I live in the Chicago area, he's at least a guy I have heard of.  Playing 12 seasons for the Bears, he made the Pro Bowl 5 times and is considered one of the top 300 players of all time.  He was named to the All Decade team of the 50s.  

I have already sorted my base cards but I haven't made a list of what I need yet.  That will go to my set needs page as soon as I have an opportunity.  I also pulled a small pile of doubles and a few triples surprisingly so if anyone else is putting this together, let me know.

I know, I know.  I said I wasn't picking up anything new for awhile a few posts ago but the urge to bust wax overcame me and I caved.  It won't happen again...today.