Once or twice a week, I'll scan a bunch of my old sports cards and post them, along with some stories about collecting, being a sports fan, the history that goes with the cards, and my opinions about the hobby as a buyer and a seller.
1980 Topps Nolan Ryan |
My crown jewel - John Elway's rookie card |
Nevertheless, I remained faithful, and my card collecting expanded. I started pouring more of my lawn-mowing money into cards. By 1989, the sports card industry boom made its way to football from baseball, and instead of just the Topps cards, now I had multiple sets to collect. The most impressive company to me was Pro Set, who produced cards in full glossy color, complete with photos and full stats on the back. I grew with the hobby, and by 1991 I was collecting almost a dozen different sets.
The industry began to take its toll on collectors, however. I couldn't justify spending $20-$25 on a box of cards for six different sets, only to find that a box couldn't complete my set. And the chase inserts were driving up the cost as well. When I started collecting seriously in 1989, the retail price of a pack was $.50 for 15 cards. By the mid-90s most packs were approaching $2. The last regular pack of cards I bought in 2001 were $2 each for something like 8 cards. As I grew older and more things vied for my money (in particular, collectible card games like Magic, Star Wars, and Legend of the Five Rings), I back off of a hobby that was pricing out the kid in favor of the serious collector. The cards gradually were relegated to the attic.
Last year, my parents asked me if I could clean out some of my
old boxes out of the attic. Instead of simply throwing away the cards,
as so many parents did for decades, I took my cards home and shoved
them in my closet. Recently, I decided to pull them out and finally
organize them. I've been meaning to scan a bunch of them and share them
with my online football communities, and the off-season felt like the
perfect time to do this. So, in the coming weeks, I'll put together a
bunch of card scans and share them with you. Some of these "articles"
will have a theme.
Some will just be attempts to troll specific fantasies. For example...
Hey Packers Fans! Remember when you drafted this guy?
Instead of any of these guys?
And it wasn't just football cards; I've got some baseball cards worth showing (for r/baseball and r/mlb).
And of course some basketball for r/nba and r/collegebasketball
And not all of it is Rony Seikaly fanart masquerading as Upper Deck product, I promise.But they're all designed to do two things; allow me to wax nostalgic, and maintain some original and interesting offseason content
on r/nfl (and a little for some of the other subreddits)
- UNC_Samurai