BASEically Awesome Part 1:2012 Gridiron Football

This new segment, I take a glance at base cards from a variety of sports and products and look at some of my favorite images of each. Yes, I am a collector who still cares about base cards so deal with it.

Today I kick off this new segment with a great one. I take a look at 2012 Gridiron Football. A product that wasn't really easy to narrow down some of my favorite images from as it was loaded, so I found these five images that were the most accessible to grab from my collection that way other images from the set won't be jealous I left them out.

Gridiron is the first and one of the very few that Panini took a lot of effort in amazing choosing images for. It's too bad the product was a one year and done one.

So let's take a gander.

This is probably my favorite image of this group. I hope the fans involved in this image with Jamaal got themselves a copy. They made it onto a football card for just being at a game!

Matty Ice running an audible and most likely looking Julio's way.

 

No butt fumble here. Straight up TD. Jets a flyin!

Brees is a tough guy who fights for extra yards when he can and I still think one of the more underrated throwers in the game. Guy puts up incredible record breaking numbers every year with a bunch of no name WR's. He turns them into stars.

And Larry Fitz, boy we will miss him making plays like this attempt to break free from a wannabe tackler.

Sadly these are just a tip of the iceberg of images in this product. I could have posted every card, but 200 images is a lot to post. Though I am sure you guys would have enjoyed every one of them.

Which one of the above images are your favorite? If you know this product well or wanna spend a few minutes looking up the images online, which card overall in the set is your top notch favorite? Let me know in comments!

Iconic Childhood Designs Part 1:1995 Score Football

This new segment takes a look at some of my favorite designs from my early years of collecting. These are designs I will never forget and when I see them, they will take me down memory lane.

1995 Score was affordable, had a nice looking base set (though not action packed) and some superb inserts and parallels.

I can't even begin to remember how many packs of this stuff I opened back then. Felt like tons. I spent time chasing NY Giants, my favorite rookies and the parallels. I think I almost had a base set at one point.There was just something with the base that had me wrapped around Score 1995. Maybe as a youngin' it just had eye appeal. I can't explain it.

The base set had a featured player in the forefront with a "ripped" corner that featured the team logo. If a player had changed teams, it would feature the new teams logo in the corner and the player in the previous teams uniform.

Even the subset was fun..Star Struck gave certain players a Hollywood appeal as "fans" or players were reaching out for them in the limelight. I was happy when I had found all of these.

Rookie cards looked neat. Like a child had drew the design, a cool squiggly one, as rookies came tearing up the middle....of the frame in the card. My excitement for the rookies was mainly focused on Kerry Collins who was drafted by the expansion Carolina Panthers with the 5th overall pick. After I found him in a pack, all was good. I felt giddy and accomplished as it was my biggest pull. I think I now own three to five of them and don't ask for one, I am not letting them go!

I also miss the times of NCAA being in an NFL product if it was released before or just after the draft. Better than those plain colored helmets and jerseys or the dreaded 00 jerseys.

Up next, checklists, yes checklists even had me excited in the product. Nothing was wrong with finding one. Helped me collect one more card of a favorite player while trying to figure out what I was missing from the set. (I could never cross it off on the card physically as that would be destroying it. I made a separate list)

Red Siege parallels were cool and fun to find in packs and the odds weren't too tough either. You knew you had pulled one with the base all white. There were Artist Proof versions to find as well.

Other than parallels, there were inserts to find as well, but the base and the Red Siege were the cards that always stuck out most to me in 1995 Score. I think the Elway Red Siege above was my best pull of the parallel set that was pulled in the last few years. I don't think I ever hit the "jackpot" as a kid.

What do you think of 1995 Score football? The design? You ever bust any or have any memories of it? Let me know in comments!

Remnants Of A Yard Sale Breakdown Part 1

Yesterday, I posted a new round of yard sale boxes that my mother-in-law picked up and now here is what I was able to save. There were a lot of damaged cards with corners and rubber band marks, but there were also some really good saves. I think this yard sale find overall was my best of the year.

But, I will let you guys help be the judge of it.

So out of probably one or two thousand cards, this was all I was able to keep. The rest will be donated, some trashed and some given to kids at my yard sales.

 Once again there were way too many cards to take pictures of , so I only took the best of the best.

Up first, Collect A Books of LT and John Elway. I didn't have either so they were nice adds for this 90's guy.

Older SI For Kids cards, a Johnny Damon Minor League card and an Al Leiter rookie.

Some football inserts. I was always a fan of the MVP's out of Collectors Choice. Even got one of my favorite players in TD.

Star Quest and a couple more nice Collectors Choice inserts. The Star Quest came in many levels but I only found the basics here.

More football inserts. The Wilkinson had some weird numbering on the back.

Minted In Canton parallels. Sapp was a nice find.

I like GOOOOOOOOOOLLLD.

Gary Payton rookie was a nice find. The Gold Ultra Medallion hockey card was the only hockey card of the bunch.

Not sure what these Reggie Miller cards are. They were small and torn apart like out of a magazine. I am sure one of you will comment and let me know!

And to end today's part, our once Presidential Leader. Dig finding oddballs like this.

 

This is just part one of the finds and like I said, I didn't post all. I feel today's allotment above alone is worth the $5 to me. Maybe not to everyone. 

Part 2 is posting tomorrow and thoughts on today's part are welcomed in comments!

Rookies Galore! Another Grady Mail Day Part 1

Earlier last week, the Twitter world for me was quiet. Then I saw I had a new notification that had the best words I have ever heard....Keep Your Eyes Peeled! Which means, Grady had sent me out another mail day.

What I didn't expect on Thursday when the package arrived, was a 400 ct white box LOADED full of goodies!

So with so many cards and so much show off, I had to break this down to a 5-part series. So make sure you return on a daily basis to view complete awesomeness!

In part 1 of my showcase, I am showing off the rookies from the box. There are tons to show!

Football rookies, mostly defense, but some key ones in Aaron Donald and Ha Ha Clinton Dix!

A Clowney and Borland sighting here.

Rookie parallels.Well, Gilbert isn't but he is numbered so I stuck him here.

  

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh my eyes!!! The design is awful, but got some Bowman rookies I didn't have.

 

Some much needed 2015 rookies. Man, I am really going to miss Upper Deck football :(

And to close up Part 1 of this mail day, a Young Gun. Man, I love getting these. I wished all rookie cards were done this way, it would help with their values and make the chase more fun.

Just think, this is only the scratch of the surface. Stay tuned as Grady's mail day week continues tomorrow!

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! PART 1

WHAT'S IN THE BOX??!!!! I yelled, well, quietly yelled to myself making a movie reference from the ending of Seven. Cause honestly like Brad Pitt, I had no idea what was inside this shoe box.

So cautiously hoping not to find a head, I opened the box and found many scrap papers, trash and some hobby items. Yes, buried within this box were some hobby items I had forgotten about. So for fun, I thought I would come up with a new segment to show you what I found.

The very first hobby item I found in the box was an uncut, well it was cut from the back of the box, Olympic cards from the back of a Frosted Flake box. These were released recently in 2012 and were given to me by family members who know my love of collecting and collecting anything that is on cardboard.

I have held onto them, mostly cause I forgot, but will still continue to as they may be something more valuable down the road.

Here is the front of the cards.

The back.

Stay tuned for more surprises from THE BOX. There are 7 parts in all and a little bit of everything including an auto from a "hobby celebrity". Come back to see!

THIS vs THAT Battle 1

As you all know, I am a huge 90's card collector and loved everything to do with that era of collecting. It's not like I still don't enjoy collecting today, but there was just something about that era that will never be surpassed.

So I thought it would be fun to do a BATTLE OF THE....... CAAAAAAAAARDS (picture a deep voice and drawn out ending). If any of you watch SportsCenter, you would know they have a segment called the Best Of The Best where they pin two of the best plays against one another. One play may have been from previous days in a row against a new one. The goal is to narrow down the best. Well, I want to do a Best Of The Best card version but mine is called This vs That.

Here is how this is going to work.

1. I will put a post up such as this one and you will have one week to vote on one card or the other by telling me in comments which one you like more. 
2. There will be one card from the 90's, one card from the 2000's. 
3. There will be a variety of sports versing one another. This contest isn't to pin sport vs sport. 
4. Voting is based upon the OVERALL card and looking at things such as design, creativity, photography and eye appeal. Don't judge a card because it's an autograph or jersey card vs a base card. This "contest" is to see which card is OVERALL better and not just because it's signed or has someone's memorabilia. Same goes for the inserts vs the base. I will try my best to make them the fairest I see possible.
5. After a week of voting, the card with the most votes moves on to face another card. 
6. A card that loses cannot be brought back nor can its design.Example is if I use the 1993-1994 Stadium Club hockey card design, I cannot use the 1994 Stadium Club football card design later on as they are most likely the same thing. The designs on the cards must be different.
7. I will keep a tally on which cards have won and how many times they have won at the top of the next weeks post.

I am not sure when I will end the overall "contest", maybe by the end of the year, let's see how many voters show up first. But, the goal is to see which card ends up being the best and which era gets more wins.

Now let's move onto the very first This vs That!


THIS
1993-1994 Stadium Club First Day Issue

VS


THAT
2014 Panini Contenders

Put your vote in below in comments on which card you like best, OVERALL.

Voting ends on March 21st, 2015.

2014 Flair Showcase Football Set Part 2

For the first time in awhile, I am trying to chase down a set BIG TIME. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, SET COLLECTORS STILL DO EXIST!

I have had half attempts at sets in recent years, some I completed, some I ended up giving up in the end. This time however, I will continue to build upon this set from time to time when I can afford to pick up the missing pieces or can find them. I really want to accomplish this one since I am pretty close and the fact that I really dig the design as it throws me back to what I consider the good years of collecting, the 90's.

I have paged all of my set so far, so I figured I would roughly show off three pages at a time of what I have so far. In the meantime, I may post updates of missing numbers I bring in and will continue to cross them off my checklist that resides on the right side of the blog if you haven't seen it yet.

Flair Showcase is set up similar to the one in the 90's as it's broken down into three sections Row 2, that come most per pack. Row 1 that comes a couple per pack and Row 0 with veterans and rookies falls at toughie at 1:6. The set will be a challenge with the Row 0's, but one I am willing to accept.

Yesterday I showed you Part 1 with the top quarterbacks in the class. Today's isn't so big time in players but still very eye catching.

Without further ado...Part 2:

Some good players in the second round as well including THE BEAST Odell Beckham Jr. who I am hoping has a BIG GAME tonight! Go Gmen! This card alone serves as two purposes as a part of this set and apart of my Giants PC.

Keep checking in on these posts and more updates! When and if I can complete it, wait for an all out post on the ENTIRE SET all at once!

2014 Flair Showcase Football Set Part 1

For the first time in awhile, I am trying to chase down a set BIG TIME. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, SET COLLECTORS STILL DO EXIST!

I have had half attempts at sets in recent years, some I completed, some I ended up giving up in the end. This time however, I will continue to build upon this set from time to time when I can afford to pick up the missing pieces or can find them. I really want to accomplish this one since I am pretty close and the fact that I really dig the design as it throws me back to what I consider the good years of collecting, the 90's.

I have paged all of my set so far, so I figured I would roughly show off three pages at a time of what I have so far. In the meantime, I may post updates of missing numbers I bring in and will continue to cross them off my checklist that resides on the right side of the blog if you haven't seen it yet.

Flair Showcase is set up similar to the one in the 90's as it's broken down into three sections Row 2, that come most per pack. Row 1 that comes a couple per pack and Row 0 with veterans and rookies falls at toughie at 1:6. The set will be a challenge with the Row 0's, but one I am willing to accept.

Without further ado...Part 1:

Some great players in the first three pages including Manziel, Bortles and Bridgewater.

Keep checking in on these posts and more updates! When and if I can complete it, wait for an all out post on the ENTIRE SET all at once!

Collecting Basics 1: The Beginning, Choosing A Sport

Welcome to the new series, Collecting Basics. I am hoping to use this series to help NEW collectors or refresh the minds of collectors who may be jumping back in. Because as we all know, this hobby changes on a daily basis. The one thing that doesn't change, is the fun you can have in it.

Starting off this new series I thought I would help point collectors in the right direction with what sport or sports you may want to collect. Like the title states, Collecting Basics is literally starting from the beginning and moving all the way through.

Here are some quick tips from my personal experience on what sport or sports you may want to collect.

1. First and foremost, make it a sport(s) you connect to. Do you watch it? Do you know the players? Without this important piece, it will be really hard to decide what sport to choose. Watching a sport and knowing it will help you decide what players and teams you may want to dive into.
2. Do you play the sport(s)? Sometimes playing the sport(s) can drive your passion for collecting one sport or the other.
3. Knowing licensing for sports might persuade you as well especially if you are looking for just straight up cards from the NFL, MLB, NBA or you like the variety. Topps is exclusive to MLB baseball til 2020. Panini America and Upper Deck have MLBPA licenses. Meaning they can use MLB players in the cards they put out, but can't use logo's or team names on the cards. NBA has Panini as their exclusive license. Upper Deck does basketball but only NCAA or college to some. NFL is Panini America and Topps. Upper Deck does NCAA for this as well. There is also Sage and Press Pass who do football cards but can't use any logo's or team names. The NHL license is run by Panini America and Upper Deck. There are other companies that make hockey cards but can't use the logo's or team names.
4. If you are going to be a rookie card collector, it's nice to know that the easiest way to know if you have a rookie card are in the sports of NBA, NFL and NHL. The tougher sport to collect rookies in, in my experience, is baseball. Especially if you are a new collector to baseball, the word rookie and prospect may be plastered on some of the cards, however,  they may not be rookies. I will save the baseball card rookie definition for another rainy day.
5. Another tip may be collecting a sport(s) your friends or family does. That way you guys can trade back and forth with them.

I hope some of these tips will help you decide which sport or sports you want to collect. Remember that this how I decided to collect what I collect. It doesn't mean you have to use these tips in order to collect. They are just here for a reference if you need them.

As always, comments and thoughts are welcomed!

Happy Collecting!

Remembering Upper Deck NFL, NBA, MLB Cards Part 1:1989 Upper Deck Baseball

Factory sets like this still are worth around $100

A picture of one of the packs

A hobby box that still will run you around $120

Upper Deck 1989 baseball. The one that started it all! Some amazing cards were in this set. I remember as a kid seeing the Griffey Jr rookie card in the Beckett every month. I stared and stared at it. And I told myself that someday I was going to own one of the most iconic card and most popular cards in the baseball card industry. Which I do now own one. It has a special place in my collection. However, regretfully, I had to sell off my sealed factory set of 1989 Upper Deck baseball cards. Never knowing what the Griffey Jr on the inside looked like. Hoperfully the following gallery will bring you back memories of Upper Deck licensed baseball cards. Starting off with the most iconic card ever!

And some other great rookies as well just to name a couple:

Other popular rookies in the set are John Smoltz, Craig Biggio, Tom Gordon, Steve Finley, Jim Abbot and Omar Vizquel.

And who can forget about the talked about error card in the Dale Murphy Reverse Negative card.

 

The set consisted of 800 cards with a standout design. Each box has 36 packs with 15 cards per pack.

Leave feedback on what you thought of this popular set!!! And was there a moment in your life when you collected it or do you still chase cards from the set? Do you own the Griffey card? Did you ever regretfully get rid of some cards from this set and wished you had them back?