Once upon a time, he spoke to me through music and said, "don't believe the hype". Yet I chose to ignore him and carelessly dropped a lot of hard earn money on pieces of cardboard that were nothing but "hype".
If you collected cards back in the late 80's, then you're probably familiar with this card:
1989 Pro Set #47
At the time of its release, I wasn't really collecting football cards. I'd buy a pack every now and then, but most of the money I earned working at Thrifty's was spent on baseball cards.
However 1989 Pro Set and their error cards and variations lured me like a moth to a flame... and symbolically burned me too.
There's no way of knowing how much money I spent in search of the famous William "Refrigerator" Perry Pro Set card. But it's safe to say, I wasted a nice percentage of at least two or three pay checks.
What made it so famous? Well... Pro Set produced and released a Perry card in their first series product. Unfortunately, Mr. Perry hadn't signed a contract with the NFL Players Association, so they were forced to pull his card from production and replace him with Perry's teammate Ron Morris.
What made it so famous? Well... Pro Set produced and released a Perry card in their first series product. Unfortunately, Mr. Perry hadn't signed a contract with the NFL Players Association, so they were forced to pull his card from production and replace him with Perry's teammate Ron Morris.
The outcome? Collectors started buying up Series 1 packs of 1989 Pro Set in search of the short printed variation.
It's actually nice to see that it has somewhat retained its value. At least it's not a 5¢ common. But I just can't help but remember the effect this card had on my wallet when I was younger. The good thing is I'll typically stay away from "hyped" up cards or products these days until things die down and prices become more reasonable.
What are some of your favorite cards that were at one point or another overly promoted for one reason or another?
Happy Sunday and sayonara!
10 comments:
One that always sticks out to me are the 1997 Bowman Travis Lee RC's.
1999 Joe McEwing cards. I believe he might have even made a Beckett cover.
I recently pulled a 1988 Donruss Gregg Jefferies rookie out of a Fairfield Repack. All I could do was laugh.
...but I did need it.
The first one to come to mind is Dodger rookie Mike Marshall (the outfielder circa '82, not the pitcher), He was supposed to be the 'next big thing'. I still have a small stash of his rookie cards someplace.
For me, it's the 1990 Score "BO" Bo Jackson football/baseball Nike photo card.. when I first got into collecting, that card was huge. It was selling for more than the complete '90 Score set which made no sense since it's a base card. lol.
There are far too many to list, but when I look through an old box of cards it amazes me the cards I put in top loaders. 1990 Hoops Jordans and Robinsons by the boatload. 1989 Pro Set Joe Montanas by the dozens. It was a crazy time.
Well in more recent years we had all that Topps hype about Stephen Strasburg then Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. The only Beckett magazine I have shows prices for their cards that I find simply funny. You have to laugh to not cry no? But I tend to like players that don't have that hype around them so I'm ok ;)
I chased that card like crazy back then. I bought boxes of Pro Set trying to pull it (and that stupid Santa card). Too bad I wasn't buying boxes of Score instead.
Anything Upper Deck. What was once considered the premium trading cards have become the laughing stock. Only ProSet sank faster than UD's Led Zepplin.
I have to go with the 2001 eTopps Emmitt Smith. eTopps was still a new program and Emmitt was closing in on Walter Payton's all-time rushing record so people were going insane trying to get the card, there were around 2,000 released.
Post a Comment