Sports Card Trifecta #20: Brett Favre

In a few hours the San Francisco 49ers will be taking on one of my favorite teams... the Green Bay Packers.  And I can't really explain why... but it made me think of the rivalry they had during the mid 90's when Steve Young and Jerry Rice battled Brett Favre and Antonio Freeman.

The difference is... the tables have turned.  Back then, I always felt confident that the Packers would handle their business... especially if they were playing at Lambeau Field.  However in the last sixteen months they've gone 0-3 against the red and gold.

So today, I figured I'd bring back some of that old school 90's mojo with my first Sports Card Trifecta in eleven months.  

Brett Favre helped turn the Green Bay Packers franchise around and he quickly became a fan favorite.  He became my favorite.  He was the centerpiece of my football collection for many, many years.  In fact when I sold off my collection in 2001, I held onto several Favres for sentimental reasons.

Now I'm not going to lie... it was hard to like him those two seasons he wore a Minnesota Vikings jersey.  But thankfully, those days are behind him.

And today I present to you my Brett Favre Sports Card Trifecta:

Memorabilia Card: 2008 UD Masterpieces "Captured on Canvas" #CC11

Rookie Card: 1991 Stadium Club #94

Autographed Card: 2006 Sweet Spot #36

During the 90's, Favre led the Packers to a 6-1 record against the 49ers.  And although I'm not too superstitious... I'm hoping Favre and this post can bring a little luck to Rodgers and company... because they're going to need all the help they can get if they want to take down one of the best teams in the league.

Go Pack Go!

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Flashback Friday #11: 1988 Fleer Headliners

I love inserts.  Always have and always will.  Okay... maybe I'm exaggerating.  But I've enjoyed collecting them for a long, long time.

But upon personal reflection, I figured something out about myself.  I tend to associate inserts with the 90's.  It probably has to do with the "insert" craze that swept the hobby during that decade.  Nonetheless inserts have been around way before the 90's.

One of the first insert sets I attempted to build was the 1988 Fleer Headliners.  They were only found inside of 1988 Fleer rack packs and highlighted some of the game's biggest names at the time.  You would assume that this set would be super easy to complete, since it only contains six cards.  However... if I remember correctly, collation was terrible and I had a hard time finding certain cards.  I think Mattingly and Morris were the two guys that kept me from completing the set.

And since I didn't have access to COMC or eBay in the 80's... the set was never completed.

Recently, I've noticed them popping up in dime boxes and quarter bins at card shows.  I'm pretty sure the Mattingly and McGwire were 25¢ each, while the rest were 10¢ each.  I was pretty excited to relive my past and finally build this set.  Sort of cardboard closure.

I'm a big fan of the simple card design that utilizes a newspaper background.  On the back, Fleer wrote brief summaries of the player's current and career achievements.  My only complaint is their choice of photo selection.  I like the action shot on the Mattingly card.  And the posed shot of McGwire is cool too.  But I'm not a huge fan of the "in between" action shots of Morris and Gooden.  Plus I'm not sure why they used non-action shots of Strawberry and Raines where they weren't looking at the camera.  Oh well... for under a buck it's hard to complain.

Oh and did anyone else notice the checklist includes six candidates for the Hall of Very Good?  I guess technically Morris can break the pattern and get into Cooperstown this year.  And who knows... maybe McGwire or Raines eventually make it in too.  Only time will tell.

What do you guys think?  Any chance any of these guys make it into the Hall of Fame?

Happy Friday and sayonara!

What Goes Around...

Comes around.

It's that age old concept of "karma"... and my experience at the post office this morning definitely confirms that it's legit.

Now before I get into my story telling session, let me preface things by stating that I 100% support the United States Postal Service and their employees.  I truly appreciate the hard work and organization that goes into the process of shipping a package from one end of our country to the other.

With that being said, I thought I'd share my recent trek through the post office line.

The story begins over twenty-five years ago when I was working as an ice cream scooper at Thrifty's.  It was one of the worst jobs I've ever had and I absolutely dreaded putting on my brown vest and driving into work.  It wasn't my co-workers or my boss.  It wasn't the hours or even the job itself.

Nope.  The thing I hated the most were the ridiculously long lines of customers waiting to get their 35¢ scoops of chocolate malted crunch.

I'm not sure if you have ever experienced the wait in one of those lines, but let me tell you something.  It's nothing compared to standing behind the counter and dealing with customers who had to wait in that line.  It was not one of my favorite memories.

Outside of my parents, it was probably the main source of motivation to earn good grades and graduate with a degree.

Anyways... back to the story.  Some days the lines were so long that they went out into the parking lot. Today's line at the post office took me on a trip down memory lane and back to Thrifty's.

Sometimes the lines at Thrifty's were so long that I literally stopped trying to be the best ice cream scooper on the West Coast and actually gave up in trying to please everyone.  Instead of letting the lines stress me out, I'd get into a relaxing pace and drown out the customers by listening to the Muzak the manager played in the store.  I'm embarrassed to say this... but a part of me actually hoped people would get tired of waiting and leave.

Now, I know what you're thinking... that seems awfully immature and you should have been fired.  I'm not going to argue with you.  As an adult, I realize I didn't handle the situation in a professional manner.  I was raised to always try my best and I should have given Thrifty's and their customers my best effort.

These days... I'm in the exact opposite position.  I love my job and I'm proud to say I give my students and my administrators nothing short of 100%.  

Unfortunately... that's not good enough for "karma".  She made sure to teach me a lesson this morning at the post office.

That's where I shipped out packages to Comatoad, Zippy Zappy, Jacobmrley, Spiegel, and Schwood (CCW Member).  It's also where I stood in line for nearly an hour as two tellers tried to help thirty to forty customers.

As soon as I got towards the front of the line, that's when I knew this was payback for the years at Thrifty's.  Both employees were in no hurry to help us, because they knew it didn't matter how fast they worked.  That line wasn't going anywhere.  If anything, it got shorter because five to ten customers eventually walked out.

How do I know that they weren't in a hurry?  I could tell by the way they taped packages and applied the postage stickers.  It was as if they were going out of their way to be slow.  And while customer were making rude comments and exasperated sighs, I just stood there with a grin on my face.  Payback is a female dog.

Who knows... maybe they were my customers from twenty-five years ago who recognized me and decided to even the score.

That's why I'm not taking anymore chances.  I'm making sure to pay off all of my cardboard debt to fellow bloggers.  I'd hate to have "karma" come back to haunt me again.

If you feel that I owe you some cardboard and your name wasn't mentioned above, please email me or leave me a message below.  It's a brand new year and I want to start things off on a positive note.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Forgive Me... For I Have Failed

It's hard for me to admit failure... but in terms of my 2013 hobby goals... I failed miserably.  

Let's go back and reflect on the goals I set for myself a year ago:

A.  I will resist temptation and keep my pack and box purchases to a minimum.  Fail.

I came so close... then I couldn't resist the Black Friday temptation and ended up going on a shopping spree.


B.  I will continue the tradition of running my annual summer contest.  Fail.

In March I made the decision to switch to a monthly contest in order to reduce some of my summer workload.  By November I scrapped the monthly contests too.  I'm a huge fan of the interaction, but 2013 proved to be overwhelming inside and outside of my cardboard world.  I'll still have contests every so often... and who knows... maybe one day I'll bring back my summer contest.


C.  I will build five new sports card trifectas in 2013.  Fail.

I built one... Ray Lewis.  I'm surprised at myself.  I really enjoy these, but that wasn't enough motivation to keep me on top of this goal.


D.  I will start and complete a full run of Topps base cards (during their active playing careers) for Tony Gwynn and Kirby Puckett.  Fail.

I didn't start either of these.  It's such an easy goal too.  I probably only need one or two Gwynns and maybe five or six Pucketts.  Truly embarrassing.


E.  I will complete my 1972 Topps Oakland A's team set.  Fail.

Not even close.  A year ago, I needed seven cards.  Twelve months later, I need six cards.  At least I'm one step closer.


F.  I will finally organize and update my trade bait lists and Photo Bucket.  Fail.

Every now and then, I'll work on this goal.  But I never actually finished the job.  I'm starting to wonder if I ever will.


G.  I will add a 1909-11 T206 card to my collection.  Fail.

For over six months, I targeted certain Athletics from this set.  Unfortunately, they never fell into the price range I set for myself.  I eventually stopped looking.


H.  Start trading again on the forums.  Fail.

I made a few trades on CCW, but not nearly enough to raise my feedback rating to 40.  Current rating = 26.

Thankfully these fails are only based on cardboard.  It's not like I'm going to die from them.  And on a positive note, at least I accomplished two out of the ten goals I set for myself:


A.  I will continue to post 3 to 4 times a week on this blog and periodically on A Pack To Be Named Later and Blog of Trade Bait.

This year I wrote 250 posts for this blog and four more for A Pack To Be Named Later.  Unfortunately I never posted anything on Blog of Trade Bait, but that's because I never organized my own trade bait in the first place.


B.  I will complete at least 12 blog trades.

Based on my blog posts, I made 10 official trades with bloggers over the past 12 months.  However, there were several blind trades completed as well.  Throw these into the mix and I'm confident I met this goal.

So what's in store for me in 2014?  Well... I'm not going to make any new cardboard resolutions. Hopefully I'll be able to build on a few of these failed goals.  But even if I don't... the only hobby goal that matters to me is embracing and enjoying the hobby.

As long as I reach that goal, I'll be content.

Thank you to all of you who took the time to read any of my 2013 blog posts.  Happy New Year and sayonara!