30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Looked for a Luck... Turned up a Tebow!

Since 1989, Sports Illustrated for Kids has been published on monthly basis. And in each issue, readers receive a nine card perforated sheet.

I'm pretty sure that the 1996 Tiger Woods card is the most sought after and valuable. I remember hearing about a graded copy sold for over $100,000. Today, Beckett lists the card for $250.

It's highly unlikely any future SI for Kids cards will come close to that figure, since the print run is astronomical. But that's a blessing in disguise... because that means you can usually find these sheets cheap. And every once in awhile, SI produces the first official cards of an athlete... like Tiger Woods and Andrew Luck.

Yesterday, I went on a mission to find the Luck, which was inserted into an issue earlier this year. Instead, I came home with a Tim Tebow.

Before I discuss my new acquisition... let me get this out of the way. The show stunk and I spent more money on gas and food, than I did on cardboard. There were probably 15 dealers in all... possibly 20, but that's a stretch.

At least my buddy was set up, so I was able to hang out... otherwise I would have finished the whole show in under 30 minutes. The dealer with the 10 cards for a buck was also there, so I was pretty stoked about that. Nothing finer than cheap cool cards.

So as I was leaving the show, I continued to stop at dealer's tables just to see if there was anything I missed. One of the dealers had a bunch of cool items like old cereal boxes and sports programs. He also had a bin with old magazine clippings, 8x10's, and other random oversized items. One of them was this sheet of SI for Kids cards:



I immediately saw the Tebow and asked the guy how much he wanted. He looked over the sheet and told me a dollar. FYI... I was prepared to pay up to $2 for the sheet... so I'm pretty stoked.


Earlier this week, the Denver Broncos announced that Tim Tebow would get his first start of the season after the slow 1-4 start under Kyle Orton.


It's not the first time Tebow will start for the Broncos. Last season, he started the final three games last year in his rookie season. He threw four touchdown passes and only three interceptions in those three starts. But he rushed for three touchdowns too. Not bad for a rookie QB.

Today's question of the day...

What's your opinion of Tim Tebow and his career?
HOF Hopeful? Future Flop?

Personally... I'm not sure about his career. My guess is he'll be somewhere in between, like a Randall Cunningham. Regardless... he's definitely one of the greatest college football players to take the field. I hope Mr. Tebow becomes an elite NFL QB, since he seems like a stand up guy and a ton of hobbyists collect him.

I guess we'll find out in about 10 minutes. Time to get ready for the Seattle/Cleveland game. Go Hawks!

I'll show off the rest of my card show pickups tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Sayonara!

8 comments:

Ryan G said...

I was talking with my buddy about whether you would come all the way up to Tanforan. The show certainly was a disappointment, and Max was the only dealer I bought from (10/$1 stuff).

Fuji said...

The perfect card show would require every dealer to put out 10 cent bins, with the quality of stuff Max puts in. I easily spend the most time at his table at every show I attend.

The Lost Collector said...

I think he'll be a top 20 QB in the league. Similar to a Kordell Stewart type. He won't be a HOFer, but I can see him having an ok career.

Cardhobbyist said...

Great timing on this post Fuji. As Tebow has kept the Dolphins in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes with the win today.

John Bateman said...

I hope he succeeds but I don't expect it, the way he plays will lead to injury and his decline.

I wonder if anyone in this world owns all of those SI cards since they were issued

Ryan G said...

John: I bet there are a few people at least who have them all. It's one of the sets I'm building, but I'm not putting much effort into the older cards.

Fuji said...

the lost collector - lol... thought about using slash as my example in my post. nice call.

cardhobbyist - they looked like they were going to grab their first win... epic fail for dolphins.

john bateman - this is one living set that would be fun to collect. i'm sure somebody out there has a complete set. i have at least 50 different sheets that i've collected over the years... but the one i want the most (the luck) has alluded me.

Mini Groover said...

I love these and have a shett with Jimmer Fredette. I'm looking for Sebastian Vettel as I'm a F1 fan. :D