Friday, July 19, 2013

Grabbed Me Some Bears

There are five movies that stand out from my early childhood:  The Wizard of Oz, Murder By Death, Pride of the Yankees, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and The Bad News Bears.  I know there's no way it could be true, but it seems like I watched these movies over and over again on a weekly basis when I was a kid. 

That's why I was extremely excited to find out that Panini was going to produce cards featuring some of the main characters from The Bad News Bears.  And as soon as I saw fellow bloggers post their copies, I knew I'd have to track some down for my own collection.

But as you're probably aware... I'm not a huge fan of busting current wax boxes.  That's why I turned to Just Commons which offers free shipping if you spend over $10.


Base Set
Amanda Whurlizer, Ahmad Abdul-Rahim, and Kelly Leak


Toby Whitewood, Rudi Stein, and Mike Engelberg

I was able to purchase all six of the base set singles for $1.25.  Hopefully they'll eventually release cards of Buttermaker and two of my favorite Bears:  Timmy Lupus and Tanner Boyle.


American Caramel Blue Back Mini's

They also had five out of six of the American Caramel Blue Back mini's, so I grabbed them for an additional $3.15.  Now if I can only get my hands on card #148 which features Toby Whitewood.


Carolina Brights Green Back Mini

I actually have a mini of Whitewood, but it's part of a different set: Carolina Brights Green Back's.  I'm going to attempt to build this team set too.


Tip Top Bread Labels

And finally, the last card I grabbed was this Kelly Leak from the Tip Top Bread Label insert set.  Outside of the autographs and harder to find parallels, I think this is the only other insert featuring The Bad News Bears.  If I'm mistaken, feel free to comment below and I'll try to track them down too.

By the way, if anyone out there has any of the mini's I need for my set and is looking to trade them, please contact me.  Otherwise, I'll eventually pick up the ones I need on eBay, Sportlots, or Just Commons.

In the meantime...

Who's your favorite Bad News Bear character?

I was always a fan of Engelberg, because he was fat... but could hit.  Maybe he's the reason I collect Gwynn and Puckett.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

9 comments:

night owl said...

I have to get those cards. Like you, Bad News Bears was a major movie as a kid (also Willie Wonka and Wizard of Oz ... I'd add Freaky Friday, too). I'm interested in opening a few packs of Golden Age but I can't find it anywhere.

sg488 said...

Great pick-ups,I will start looking for them right away.My favorite Bear?Gotta go with Kelly Leak.

BASEBALL DAD said...

Bad News Bears was a little past my childhood, but I still like it.
I'm looking for those as well.

Greg Zakwin said...

Don't recall ever seeing the movie; definitely didn't see the remake.

Corky said...

While Kelly Leak was the bad ass and the best player on the field I always liked Amanda, I think Tatum O'Neal was my first childhood movie star crush. I was starting to hunt down the cards but I think I am going to go the same route as you with Just Commons, the prices are so much better when compared to eBay.

Nick said...

Bad News Bears is still one of my all-time favorite baseball movies. I've always thought Breaking Training was much better than most people give it credit for. I've never seen the third one all the way through. And let's not even get into the remake.

Engleberg would have to be my favorite Bear, I think. I definitely hope I can track some of these Golden Age cards down at the National.

Fuji said...

I highly recommend that you watch at least the original BNB. I haven't seen the remake either.

Fuji said...

Just Commons has their advantages. Sometimes their prices are pretty high... but I like their free shipping w/$10 purchase.

Fuji said...

I picked up a pair of extra (BNB team) sets that I'll be giving away in next month's contest.