30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Contractually Obligated

When I started this blog eight years ago, I wrote about whatever I was interested in.  However the blog has evolved over those years, because I realized that it wasn't just about me.  Sure it was created to document the growth of my collection and share my personal thoughts on the hobby.  But these days it's more.  It's a way to interact with other collectors, which is why I'm no longer egocentric when it comes to writing posts.

Whenever I sit down to write, I'll ask myself... "will anyone actually read this?".  And after years of looking at my blog statistics, I've noticed that unless it's a Flea Market Find, my non-baseball posts receive about 40 to 60% less views compared to my baseball posts.  That's why 95% of the posts I write involve baseball.

But not today.  Today I feel obligated to write about football, since over one hundred million people will sit down and watch Tom Brady and Nick Foles square off in Super Bowl LIII.

I decided to show off my favorite football purchases I've made since last year's Super Bowl.  To thin out the herd, I only selected cards that feature Super Bowl winners.

So without further adieu... here they are in chronological order:

Pickup #1: Bart Starr (Super Bowl I and II Champion)

1968 Topps #1 PSA 8 (OC)

As many of you know, my parents met in Wisconsin while they were in college and both of them were big Green Bay Packers fans.  They even attended the very first Super Bowl back on January 15th, 1967.  Bart Starr took home the Super Bowl MVP Award that day.

One of my favorite Bart Starr cards is his 1968 Topps card.  I grabbed this graded copy back in March for $23.06 (+ $3 shipping), but technically I didn't have to pay anything since I used my eBay Bucks certificate.


Pickup #2:  Bob Lilly (Super Bowl VI Champion)

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Autograph #NNO

Back in June of 2017, I went on a huge sports card shopping spree to help me take my mind off of my best friend moving to Oregon.  This was one of the first purchases I made.

A few months earlier, my niece had decided to commit to Texas Christian University, so I decided to track down a Bob Lilly autograph since he's a TCU alum.  I was surprised that this 11x Pro Bowler and Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor member has such an affordable autograph.  I won this card in an eBay auction for $8.25 (+ $2.49 shipping) back on June 17th, 2017.


Pickup #3: Jerry Rice (Super Bowl XXIII, XXIV, and XXIX Champion)

1986 Topps #161

I grew up watching Jerry Rice and the San Francisco 49ers dominate the NFL.  Couldn't stand the team... but truly admired the first ballot hall of famer.  This card is one of my favorite football cards sitting in my collection.

This card wasn't cheap, but it was well worth the price.  I won this card on eBay for $104.27 (+ $4 shipping) the day after I picked up the Lilly.


Pickup #4: Bart Starr (Super Bowl I and II Champion)

2001 UD Legends Autograph #BSr

As a Green Bay Packers fan, you truly can never have enough Bart Starr cards in the collection.  This time I added another on-card autograph to the PC.

Four days after I picked up the Jerry Rice, I submitted a $70 (+ $2.67 shipping) offer to an eBay vendor and he accepted.  


Pickup #5:  Larry Csonka (Super Bowl VII and VIII Champion)

2016 Panini Classics Canton Collections Swatches #7 (#'d 01/99)

I don't collect Miami Dolphins, but I do collect special serial numbered cards.  I found this "first card in the run" relic card of the hall of fame fullback at the Serramonte Mall Card, Toys, and Collectibles Show back on June 24th.


This card was part of a 3 for $10 deal.  The main card was the Mel Ott relic, but the Csonka and Bunning cards are cool too.


Pickup #6/#7:  Brett Favre (Super Bowl XXXI Champion)

1991 Fleer Ultra #283 PSA 10
1991 Pro Set Spanish #262 PSA 10

Brett Favre will always be considered one of my favorite Green Bay Packers of all-time... right up there with Aaron Rodgers and James Lofton.  

I picked up these two PSA 10 rookie cards back in July when I placed a pretty large order with 4 Sharp Corners.  The Ultra was $13.59 and the Spanish Pro Set was $16.79.  One of these days, I'll add his Stadium Club to my graded card collection.


Pickup #8: Jerry Rice (Super Bowl XXIII, XXIV, and XXIX Champion)

1986 McDonald's Green Tab #NNO

I showed off this card earlier in the week, but it's so awesome I figured it's worthy of two posts in one week.

In case you missed the post, my buddy traded it to me last weekend at the card show I was at.  It fits nicely into my hall of fame rookie card collection along with his 1986 Topps card.

Well... that's it for now.  Today is the first time in years that I won't be attending a Super Bowl party, which means that I probably won't watch the entire game.  On the other hand, I'm looking forward to watching the commercials and hopefully taking home some money in our staff Super Bowl pool.

What about you...

What's the best thing about Super Bowl Sunday?  The company?  The game?  The commercials?  The food?  The pool?  Something else?

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

11 comments:

Angus said...

I think the best thing is that I don't get that pit in my stomach trying to figure out how the Browns will blow it.

Hey, let me find some small benefit to them never being to a Super Bowl.

acrackedbat said...

I certainly appreciate vintage cardboard. My interest in FB drops considerably after 1995 or so. That said, I am watching the S-Bowl right now, rooting for the Eagles. ;)

Big Tone said...

I'm not even tuning In tonight.I don't think I can stomach another Tom Brady late game come from behind victory.That said,I will be taking a peak at the final score.I don't get out much anymore but what I used to love about super bowls was the drinking!Lots and lots of drinking.

Man said...

I would say it was a successful football collecting year, congrats!

Jon said...

Those were some big-time gets! Both of the Starr's are especially great.

Matt Prigge said...

For me, the best thing about Super Sunday is that it's a day closer to Spring Training. BUT, if you are interested, I've got a signed James Lofton paper photo from a promotional appearance during his rookie season. Shoot me an email if you want to trade for it.

sg488 said...

I always enjoy reading your blog no matter what topic you are featuring.

Tony Burbs said...

Usually, I just like to sit back and parse the commercials with my wife (we both majored in mass communication in college). However, my better half hails from the Philly area, so this year is all about the play on the field, rather than the production studio. She was pretty happy about the result!

SumoMenkoMan said...

It has to be the Super Bowl parties...those are always the most memorable to me and I hardly ever remember who was playing, but I almost always remember who we were celebrating with.

BobWalkthePlank said...

I didn't do much this Super Bowl as my wife was sick. Normally my answer would be just having an excuse to get together with friends and eat and drink.

Fuji said...

Angus - Believe it or not, I completely understand. My boss was giving me a hard time today because I'm an A's and Padres fan. He asked me if I thought my two teams would combine to win more games than the Yankees or Astros.

Julie - Congratulations! Didn't watch much of the game, but I heard it was pretty awesome.

Tony - I think I remember hearing a piece of trivia that starts off like, There's more alcohol consume on Super Bowl Sunday than....

B Man - Thanks. Shame there weren't any huge Seahawks to show off.

Jon - Yeah. Those (along with the 2 Rices) are my personal favorites.

Matt Prigge - Hallelujah! Thanks for offering to trade your Lofton, but I'll be honest... I don't really have much to trade. All of my trade bait goes out to bloggers in care packages that I owe.

sg488 - Thanks. Truly appreciate the kind words.

Tony Burbs - Congratulations to you and your wife! Happy for all of the Eagles fans out there.

SumoMenkoMan - Yeah. It wasn't the same without the Super Bowl party this year.

Matthew Scott - Hope you're wife is feeling better. I was sick this weekend too... although I did manage to sneak out on Saturday and hit up my first flea market of 2018.