What’s NOT In The Fireproof?  An Epilogue

I made it through the fireproof and showed off some of my favorite pieces.  You got to see Hank, Hershel, Smoltz, Jordan, Bird and even Mickey Mantle.  Those are treasures that I hold near and dear to my heart.  But I mentioned before that everything I have that’s extra special couldn’t necessarily fit in the box of intense heat protection.  There remain items that are in harms way for the time being and they aren’t throw away pieces by any stretch.  In fact, one of the pieces rivals “The Mick” as it relates to sports history royalty.  For now, they are in a Rubbermaid box, stowed away from the sunlight and elements.  That is the best I can do.

But on the heels of sifting through some of my favorite items, I had to take another look, cracking the seal on the fireproof-less box.  I’ve selected the 6 best items remaining that would have certainly been included in the series had they been actually in the box.  One was obtained in person, a couple purchased from Steiner, one from the local bookstore, an eBay purchase and a silent auction win.  I obtain items when opportunities arise.  These are in no particular order other than once again saving the best for last.Ronda Rousey Autographed Book – Rowdy is a polarizing figure and people seem to either love her or hate her.  Count me in the camp that loves her.  She brought women’s UFC to the big time and was as big of a draw as most of the men.  She also had a great Hardee’s commercial that I enjoyed watching.  I like her brash confidence, even when it backfires.  This was a sweet find as the autograph book section is usually made up of Guy Fieri and Kathy Griffin items.  This one was a must get and I have it wrapped in plastic and tucked away.  I tried to grab a Tebow book when it came out but I never found one locally.  I guess you can’t win em all!Dale Murphy Autographed Steiner Baseball – While this would technically fit in the fireproof, it won’t along with the other items.  This was one of the Steiner purchases and is a must own for a Braves fan.  The Murph was all we had to cheer for during the brutal 80’s but he was a star and a great team leader.  One of my dream items would be the light saber poster autographed and I may break down and pick one up one day.  But for now, this ball will more than suffice.  Murph has a very smooth autograph and this ball is signed very well.  Every now and again Steiner will run a 2 for 1 or $49 special and I’ll go and peruse the list.  Most of it is comprised of Mets or Yankees players but there will occasionally be an 80’s star like André Dawson or Dale Murphy.  Of course, Murph was a no brainer.  There are 4 people who ARE the Braves to me: Hank Aaron, Chipper Jones, John Smoltz and Dale Murphy.  Thankfully, I have an auto of all of them so I consider myself lucky.Charley Trippi Chicago Cardinals PSA Autographed Jersey HOF Inscription – This will be the first in a run of 3 UGA legends for this post.  At UGA, Trippi led the Dawgs to a 1943 Rose Bowl victory and was the game’s MVP.  In 1946, after a stint serving in World War II, he received the Maxwell Award for being the nation’s most outstanding college football player along with being named SEC player of the year and a unanimous 1st Team All American.  He was later drafted by the Chicago Cardinals after considering professional baseball as a career.  He would retire with the most yards of total offense in NFL history at the time.  He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  So it’s safe to say that Mr. Trippi was an all around stud!  Big timer at UGA, a veteran of World War II and the most yards in The NFL as of his retirement.  This is really a cool piece to own!Todd Gurley 18X24 Autographed Poster with Inscription – TG3 is an all timer at UGA!  He is a very recent player of course but he is a legend in Red and Black and an all around solid dude from all I can tell.  We met him at a signing event just before the draft and he could not have been more pleasant and welcoming of the Bulldog Nation that came out to see him.  There are several players I have met in the past that were just there to do their jobs and go home but Gurley seemed legitimately happy to shake hands and sign autographs.  I’ve told the story before about how he remember my daughters name even though he met her and got the name 2 hours earlier.  He signed 2 helmets and this awesome poster that I bought the day of the event.  TG3 was our superman and this poster was a classic image from his time in Athens.  This will be the first thing that goes up on the wall in my eventual man cave!Hines Ward NFL Authentic Autographed Football with Inscription – This is the other Steiner piece I have and it was a birthday gift from my awesome wife.  Though I have the signed card from in the fireproof, this was my first Hines autograph.  Again, I love his autograph and this one even has the “SB XL MVP” Inscription so it’s that much sweeter.  I know people in Pittsburgh love Hines Ward but people in Georgia love him as a hometown hero.  This is a full size ball and the auto is huge which makes this an awesome sight in real life.  I won’t open it until I get that aforementioned man cave up and going and can properly display this beauty.Muhammed Ali Autographed Boxing Glove – I won this piece in a silent auction charity event about 6-7 years ago.  I was dead set on winning this the moment I laid eyes on it and it remains the only item I’ve ever won at a silent auction.  Ali was truly the greatest and trumps all of modern day athletes in cultural and athletic importance.  He’s on my Sports Mount Rushmore with Mickey, Jordan, Gretzky and Walter Payton. I don’t even remember anything else from the event that night.  It was a quail hunt that had celebrities and athletes like Ryan Klesko, Frank Stallone, John Schuerholz and Heath Shuler but I didn’t even pursue an auto from any of those guys once I had my Ali.  I took it to my truck and just stared at it for a while before driving home.  Klesko could’ve come up to me and asked if I wanted his World Series ring and I probably would’ve never rolled down the window.  I have to find the proper display and protection for this one as it should be stowed away like The Mick!

So this really does conclude the show and tell Series about my most meaningful pieces.  That’s not to say that there won’t be more adds in the future but as of now, there isn’t really much I can show you that would top the last few posts.  This series is going to be hard to top but I’ll come up with something to start on next.  Until then, best of luck to you on your quest for those awesome PC items!!

J-Dub

Cardboard and War

If you are too young to remember the trading card boom of the late 80’s, it’s hard to fully grasp just how many cards were being produced.  Everybody wanted in and they pretty much got their wish.  I’ve talked about Rite Aid, K-Mart and even Drake’s Bakery getting into the hobby with small sets of baseball cards.  Most of us already know that there are warehouses full of unopened 1988 Donruss still today.  And every 40 year old in America likely owned at least one 1989 Topps baseball card at some point in their life.  It was a wonderful time to be a teenager but also a time that ultimately crushed the hobby for a while.   But for me, as I think about Eckerd Drug Superstars and those funky sets that Jimmy Dean put out, there are a few data points in the hobby that drives home the thirst for cards that we all had at that time.One such data point that takes me back to my youth and reminds me of how many odd sets were actually floating around back then was the 1991 Pro Set Desert Storm set.   I’m going to stay away from the political angles and talk only about the nostalgic factor of this set because that is what I do here.   It’s why I still collect cards at the age of 40.   I’ve mentioned my continued love for Pro Set and still have the unopened Series I and II boxes of football that I am going to continue to tease you with.  So Pro Set is a very nostalgic card company for me and I enjoy ripping their products.   Topps also got in on the Desert Storm production and I’m not just talking about the Desert Shield cards of ‘91.  Maybe I’ll do a separate post on that set altogether but this was not a sports set at all.At the age of 14, I collected these and liked pulling the “Leader” cards most.  They also were in fact very educational with insight into artillery, geography and war tactics.   My fondest memory of this set was having my best friend’s dad autograph the M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle card because that’s what he drove and worked on during the war.  I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I think he was honored by it as well.   My friend and I used to play around the house with small artillery that he had and we would eat MRE’s like we were actually in the war.   I remember he gave me four artillery shells from the Bradley and I was speechless.  Again, at 14, war was something that most boys played with their friends. And we were much too young to appreciate the gravity of it all.The set was 250 cards and was broken up into 7 main categories; Leaders, Military Asset, Personnel, Government, Military Skill, Geography and Intelligence file.  The box was 36 packs with 10 cards each so you have a good shot at the full set with a box.  I haven’t sorted completely yet but I know I didn’t put the entire set together.  The cards used the normal Pro Set stock of 90-91 and the top and bottom border of the card was the desert camouflage that became popular during that time.  Each card was labeled at the top with the category it fell under and had the Pro Set Desert Storm Logo.  The bottom of the card had the name of the item or person pictured and then a small flag of the Nation represented.  The backs of the cards featured another small photo like the one on the front and a description of the topic or personnel.  As you can see above, while these weren’t sports cards, Jerry Jones still found a way to get the Cowboys included.Leaders

I pulled some star power with my leader cards.  The one I did not pull that I wanted was General H. Norman Schwarzkoph.  I did pull the George Herbert Walker Bush card to go along with the ultimate villain Saddam Hussein.  I’m guessing no one got him TTM.  One of the funnier leader cards is that of Dick Cheney as he had his “Mr. Burns” from the Simpson’s look in full effect.  Of course, Colin Powell was a well decorated General and would be the future Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. Bush.  Finally, included in this photo is the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.  He was more well known for his previous involvement with Ronald Reagan and the Cold War.Military Asset

The next category was another favorite as it displayed some of the assets used by the various militaries.  My favorite, aside from the Bradley, was the F-117A Stealth Fighter.   That warbird was so far ahead of its time in technology and was totally badass!  The image of that plane makes one wonder if the things seen in Roswell weren’t in fact military planes.  But that is a totally different discussion for another time.  Of course, anyone who remembers Desert Storm will remember the SCUD and the Patriot missiles.  The SCUD was Iraq’s ballistic missile that was shot from the ground.  The Patriot was the US SCUD deterrent and was constantly taking them out of the sky.  The Patriot was a tremendous asset for the US Military in Desert Storm.Personnel

The personnel cards highlighted various branches of the military and foreign armed forces.  My two favorites were the Navy Seals and the U.S. Marine Warrior, pictured above.  These cards showed some of those groups in action and the foggy green Marine card is exactly how I pictured war being at 14.Government

These cards were pretty boring as they depicted some government building and outlined their involvement in the operational aspect of the war.  Nothing to see here.Military Skill

I enjoyed these cards as they made me feel like a man of international intrigue.  I learned all of the lingo on the cards and even tried some of the hand signals from the aircraft carrier card.  I’m A Dork, remember?Geography

Geography has never been a real interesting subject to me but I did learn a lot about where the countries were that were involved in Desert Storm.  That information has paid off because we are still in conflict in several areas from that time and I have a good understanding of where it is in the world.  Pictured are the U.S. and Baghdad.  Baghdad was bombed daily and was a focal point of attacks as it was the capital of Iraq.  I still remember coming home from church on a Wednesday night to see George HW Bush tell America that we had begun air strikes on Baghdad.   It was a surreal moment for a young teenager that had never seen a real war going on.  Of course, that was followed but Wolf Blitzer and Bernard Shaw reporting from under desks in a facility that was near the bombing.  They should have made a card commemorating that TV Gold.Intelligence File

These cards depicted some of the finer details of the war operations but of course, not real military intelligence.  The one pictured above is interesting.  It is about chemical/biological warfare and on the back, Pro Set calls it a scary but “overrated” concern for US troops.  First, I don’t know that I would call any military concern overrated but secondly, the threat of this type of attack has grown by leaps and bounds since 1991 and is at the forefront today.

Some additional cards of note…..Women in Combat

Speaking of growing by leaps and bounds, this is one that has changed as well.  In 1991, women were banned from direct combat roles.  While they were in the military, they were not allowed to be on the front lines of combat.  However, in 2013, the ban was removed and women have begun integrating into roles of combat.Peace

The final card in the set was a white dove and was only labeled “Peace”.  The back of the card held a quote from Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, “….let us strive on to finish the work we are in: to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”  This was a very symbolic quote in 1865 and remains so today.  We should care for all of those that have put their lives on the line for our freedom.  We should look after the families left behind.  We should always remember that men and women who grew up just like you and me are fighting everyday to keep our country safe.   Do what you can, when you can, to thank these men and women.  If you want to know what you can do as a collector, follow @Sigs4Soldiers.These cards really take me back to a particular time in my life when life was good for me but was not well across the nation.  There were many American’s fighting for us back home and these cards commemorate those efforts in some small way.  Would they be frowned upon by many in today’s society?  We all know that it is very likely.  But I look back on these cards 26 years later and remember a time when America stood as one in a battle against a tyrant.  The divide in this nation grows everyday but it sure feels like that wasn’t a problem in 1991.  Maybe it was and I was too naïve to see it.  But these cards are something I will hold on to and show my daughter and explain what Desert Storm was.  My thought is that the cards are great as a historical reference but I think they are best served as such.  I don’t want any “Enduring Freedom” cards right now but I would probably collect those in the future when the events aren’t so fresh in everyone’s minds.  What say you about this set and military cards in general?

J-Dub

Thank You ’89 Donruss!

I’ve written a lot about sports card collecting but I don’t know if I’ve ever just taken the time to explain what this hobby really means to me.  I hope my love for it shines through in my other posts but I think it deserves its own designated article as well.  Sports cards are the most important “material” object in my life and have been for a great part of it.  And while it started out as a potential money maker just like most collections did, it is so much more than that now.  The money is no longer even a factor except for the occasional replenishing of funds to buy more cards.  I will flip some non-pc items to buy more boxes or pc cards or to load up my PayPal with shipping for future randoms.  I’ve found that there is generally a collector out there for everything; you just have to find them.

I started collecting full time in 1989.  There are only a handful of things I really remember from 1989 in general but I definitely remember Jose Canseco’s 40/40 Club Donruss, Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards, Sandy Alomar Jr., Gregg Jefferies and my first big pull, Gary Sheffield.   I guess you could say that the hobby is a time machine for me and ’89 Donruss is my DeLorean.   I am very fond of my childhood and was very fortunate to experience happy times.  I enjoy revisiting those times when I can.  And no matter how advanced we get with our technology and card designs, I can go to some old wax and instantly be taken back to a memory from my youth.  I can visualize myself scouring Beckett for the prices of the ’89 Score cards I just ripped.   I remember what my comforter looked like as I was getting that .50 value for the Luis De Los Santos RC.  I remember some of the specific cards on the hot list from time to time such as the aforementioned Gregg Jefferies.  I can see that nerf hoop hanging up on my closet door waiting for me to get done with the cardboard.  I can hear the Super Mario theme song while my Nintendo is idle.I remember pulling all-nighters at my cousin’s house with cards spread out all over the bedroom floor as we both re-sorted our binders, removing busts and adding new prospects.  We would pull off trades all night as we compared duplicates from each others collection.  I remember Canseco was the first player in my binder, followed by Ken Griffey Jr and then Nolan Ryan.   I remember the 1990 Topps set my parents bought me for Christmas when I was 13.  Not knowing what to do with complete sets, I went through and took out the stars and put them in the binder.  My binder was my show piece so I didn’t want them sitting in a box in the closet.   In that closet, I had a copy paper box stacked to the top with baseball cards that didn’t make the cut for the binder.  I would rummage through the box periodically to make sure somebody hadn’t resurrected their career, thus needing to be placed back in the binder.

I remember taking those non-star cards and playing baseball games in my bedroom.  I would take the cards and draft two teams using each position and then place them on an imaginary field at those positions.  I would then go through the cards and formulate a lineup based off of the stats on the back.  I put the speed at the top, power in the middle and utility at the end, just like a regular lineup.  I would then use a notebook to keep stats of a make believe game happening in my mind’s eye.   I specifically remember Jerry Browne, Ron Washington and Mel Hall being in that stack of floor game cards.  I didn’t use my stars because I knew not to damage them.  How else would someone remember Jerry Browne from 1989?  Even more nostalgic, that card game was played on nice blue shag carpeting!I remember my neighbor and I creating grab bags with 50 cards (mostly base) and a star or two and selling them at a yard sale his mom was having.  Our other neighbor wound up buying all 10 bags and was not thrilled that there were so many base cards.   The catch was that one of the bags contained an ’89 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr. so I would say he got his $10 worth but he also took a lot of junk cards off of our hands.  He said we would have been better off just asking him to buy the Jr. for $10 but what fun would that have been?  Then he wouldn’t have had all those Dion James and Mike Gallego cards!  That same friend got me back a couple of years later with the now infamous Ken Griffey Jr. autograph he traded me. I wrote about that one here.
I remember getting baseball cards for every occasion.  I even got them for Halloween one year instead of candy from my grandmother.  It was ’90 Fleer and the one card I remember pulling was the Mark McGwire.  I still love that card because of the sentimental value it has to me.  Who else remembers what they got for Halloween 27 years ago?  Sports cards are better for the mind than Ginkgo Biloba.  I got them for my birthday, Christmas, in my Easter Basket, you name it.  I think the only person that ever dropped the ball on getting me cards was the Tooth Fairy.One of my best friends in high school, David, pulled an Andre Dawson Elite one year and that was the first time I remember getting really jealous about someone else’s pull.  Now I get jealous all the time because he sends me photos of Carson Wentz and Marcus Mariota autographs.  For the past month, he has sent me a solid autograph pull every 3-4 days!  He travels with his job so has more access to card shops than I do in my 90 mile radius.  He was also a big Twins fan because he was originally from Minnesota and he had the 1987 Wheaties box in a plexi-glass case.   I remember wanting to burn that box in 1991 but David was 6’8 and could have squashed me like a bug.My parents had a weekend getaway camper at Fort Gaines and I even have card memories from those trips.  The classic Orel Hershiser grounding happened on the way to the lake.  But also, we would have to travel over to Eufaula to get groceries from Wal-Mart from time to time and I always picked up some cards there.  I remember getting my first look at ’89 Bowman on one of those trips.   I remember when you could pick up packs in Wal-Mart and they weren’t “retail”.  Those were the days when you could get packs almost anywhere.  I got them at Suwannee Swifty, Big B Drugs, Piggly Wiggly and Eckerd.  Even small little curb stores in the middle of nowhere likely had some Donruss gathering dust on a shelf.  I specifically remember that ’89 Donruss wax pack being everywhere I went.You see, I’m a very nostalgic person.   I think we all are to a large degree but I live in the neon lights of the late 80’s and early 90’s.  The movies, the music and pop culture in general just take me back to a time when I thought I had life all figured out but was too naïve to know that I didn’t.  Now, I know I don’t have it figured out, imagine I won’t ever figure it out and wonder if it’s even worth figuring out sometimes.  Life has a way of being overbearing sometimes.  Work is a constant stress, I spend every waking moment concerned for the well being of my kids and wife and making sure that they always have what they need and the bills never seem to stop.  So when I want to clear my mind, I don’t buy National Treasures or Flawless.  I go buy a $10 box of 1990 Pro Set and I’m immediately back in my old bedroom, scanning the Beckett Price Guide and looking for Emmitt Smith and Percy Snow rookies.  I actually have a box of Pro Set that came in last week so you’ll be getting a retro review in the next few days!

I’m now the old man that asks kids to stay off my lawn when it comes to newfangled products.  I’m the “back in my day guy”.  I find myself being more like Hank Hill than Boomhauer these days with my rigid, by the book personality.  That all melts away when I have a chance to sit down at the kitchen table and start looking through my cards.   I like the new stuff but it’s more about value than I prefer.  The value is higher but so is the cost.   I enjoy opening boxes that have potential autos or printing plates but it doesn’t help the rigors of adulting melt away like a couple of packs of 1989 Bowman.  When I’m done with a box of classic wax, I know that I got my money’s worth.  When I’m done with a new product, there is a good chance that I didn’t come close.  And that really boils down to the value I place on cards now.  I like a flashy auto but if I can buy 540 cards that will send me down memory lane to a day when my biggest concern was whether I was going to play baseball in the yard or Tecmo in the bedroom, that is priceless.This is why I love this hobby.  This is why I am so passionate about the cards and the community.  I want others to experience cards the way I do.  I know that isn’t entirely possible but I want to try and relay those feelings in my writing.  I may never be a famous writer or anything like that but I never have to worry about not having a passion for what I’m writing about.  I love cards and I love this community.   I random cards because I want my blog shared with like minded collectors.  I also random cards because I want to share some of those meaningful cards with my readers.  Some people may not think that four packs of ’89 Bowman is a very valuable.  Some people scoff at the thought of having to rip a pack of ’90 Hoops.  But realize this, when I send someone those unopened packs, it’s like I’m sending a little piece of my childhood to share with you.  Even if you open them and throw them in the trash, take a minute to soak in the players and the sets that I grew up with.  Most likely, you grew up with them too.

If people are going to use Twitter and Facebook to argue about politics and social issues, then I am going to try and spread as much positive vibes as I can.  Thank you sincerely for following me and reading this blog.  I really appreciate every comment, every RT, every like.  It is an awesome feeling to write something that engages even the slightest bit of discussion.  This is my extension to the hobby world from small town Georgia.  It has connected me to so many great people around North America.  I don’t own a shop or have a podcast or own a big time break company.   But I do have a passion for the industry and a thirst for wanting to get to know more people like me.  Sports Cards are a natural unifier of people regardless of your background or religious preference or political party.  From time to time, we all should stop and think about how we got here and why we are still in this hobby.   Odds are we all owe it a tremendous debt of gratitude.

J-Dub

 

 

What’s In The Fireproof?  Part 3

This series has quickly become the most read and commented series I’ve put together.  I’ve found it easier to share my collection through blogging and Twitter and this particular series has covered all of my favorite pieces that I keep locked in my fireproof safe.  If you missed Parts 1 and 2, I will link them for you here.

Part 1

Part 2

While I say that these are my favorite pieces, I should mention that I have a few others that I treasure that don’t fit in the fireproof.  Maybe that will be the finale to this series but I’ll have to re-title it in some unique way.  I’ve got 7 more items in this part and will have 7 for part 4 before we can get to a finale so I won’t get too far ahead of myself.  Let’s dive back in!2013 Panini Prizm Draft Picks Kris Bryant Auto – This is currently the only Bryant auto I have.  I ripped through 4-5 boxes of this stuff to pull one too.  The box comes with 4 autographs and I pulled a lot of guys who will never see a Major League Baseball field.  I pulled some other decent names as well though with Gregory Polanco and DJ Peterson.  I have a Eugenio Suarez auto from the set and didn’t know anything about him until this year and he’s on fire for my fantasy team so I guess you just never know.  I would love to have a Bryant in a Cubs uniform but for now, this one will suffice.  I’m not going to complain about having a Kris Bryant auto, no matter what uniform he’s wearing.  He has a very good signature, even if this particular picture doesn’t show it well.  It’s also on card which is great!  You can still pick up these boxes for less than $50 and there are some solid autos to be had!2011-12 Upper Deck Exquisite Magic Johnson Championship Bling Auto – I love this piece!  The auto is gold and it’s #’d to 50!  I’ve been a Magic Johnson fan since I was a wee lad.  He always has a smile on his face and made some of the most amazing passes I ever saw.  I still vividly remember when Magic announced his retirement due to contracting HIV.  I was in 9th grade and HIV was a very real and scary issue during that time, not that it isn’t still in 2017.  But in 1991, we didn’t know very much about the virus and it was nothing more than a death sentence in a 14 year olds mind.  I remember Magic coming back for an all-star appearance and winning MVP.  And then he came back to play on the 92 Dream Team.  Magic has always been superhuman to me so having an auto was a goal of mine.  One of my favorite documentaries (and I love a good doc) was “Magic & Bird – A Courtship of Rivals.”  I could watch it everyday and never get tired of it.  I really love this card and it will always have a special place in my collection.Panini Dirk Nowitzki Auto – This is the most recent addition to my fireproof collection.  This one came courtesy of a great friend, Nate Gunderson (@GundersonNathan) this past week.  Nate and I pulled off a really sweet deal as I sent him a short stack of Texas Longhorn Autos and he returned the favor with this, a Chris Conley 1/1 Auto, Herschel Auto, Knowshon Moreno patch and other great Atlanta players.  I’ve wanted a Dirk auto for a very long time and I’ve always heard he was great TTM but I’ve just never sent him anything.  When I got this, it immediately went into the fireproof and that’s where it will stay for life.  I was in the prime of my basketball life when I started hearing about Dirk playing in Germany so it was a very intriguing story to me.  He was a 7 footer that could shoot like Bird!  I was skeptical like others but all he did was come over to the NBA and amass 30,000 career points with his unstoppable fadeaway.  That’s good enough to place him 6th all time in NBA scoring!  He cemented his legacy with me when he took down Lebron and the Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.  I love Dirk and love this card!  Nate came through in a huge way on this one!2013 Topps Museum Andrew Luck Patch/Auto #’d to 55 – I haven’t mentioned Luck much on my Twitter feed but that’s because we haven’t made it to football season yet.  I love my Falcons and my Dawgs in the NFL but Andrew Luck is my favorite QB in the league.  He might be my favorite player behind Gurley and AJ Green.  I have had Luck on 4 of my fantasy football teams since the first year he started.  Thankfully, those are keeper leagues so I don’t see myself letting him go anytime soon either.  My daughter and I have matching Luck jerseys that we wear from time to time as well.  I was thrilled to see the Colts take a player from my high school in little ole Camilla Ga, Grover Stewart, in this week’s NFL draft.  Grover is a DT and Luck needs some help on the defensive side of the ball!  Those 400 yard passing games need some defensive support!  This piece is my only Luck auto but I do have a ton of his cards.  I suppose he might be my NFL PC but I haven’t really been keeping track of the numbers.  I have this one though and it’s my favorite of him!2015 Topps 60th Anniversary Y.A. Tittle Auto – I don’t necessarily have a strong connection to Y.A. Tittle but I’ve been a football fan all my life and I know his body of work and also know he’s in the Hall of Fame.  I knew he was a legend at LSU and the MVP of the Ice Bowl (1947 Cotton Bowl).  He played for the Colts, 49er’s and Giants during his career and won 3 MVP awards in 4 years in NY.  What I didn’t expect to find out about him until some recent research was that he created the phrase “alley-oop” in sports.  That’s quite a claim to fame regardless of his on the field accomplishments.  I pulled this card in a pack of the 60th Anniversary Topps Football set and was excited to have a legendary Hall of Famer from the 50’s to add to my collection.1990 Score Baseball Bo Jackson (with football pads) Graded 10 – This may be the most iconic card I own, along with the ’89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.  My buddy Kin (@beansbcardblog) even uses it as his Twitter avatar.  This card has always been one of the most appealing cards of all time for me.  The black and white was unique in a modern day card set but having a two sport player wearing shoulder pads while holding a baseball bat was awesome.  There’s another version in the ’89 Football set with Bo in a batting stance and I own that one in a Gem Mint 10 as well but it isn’t as widely recognized as this one.  Bo was known as one of the greatest athletes of our era.  He’s also known for a few iconic images; breaking a bat over his knee, scaling a major league fence and this one.  If I could only keep one card from my entire collection, this might be it.  But I don’t even want to think about that scenario so let’s move on.1955 Bowman Mickey Mantle – This card is obviously in very poor condition.  It even has some tape across the front of the card but it wasn’t ripped because the back is not taped.  It’s creased but I wish the front looked like the back.  It has seen its better days but it is an authentic 1955 Mickey Mantle and the only Mantle card I own that isn’t a reproduction.  The best part is that I picked it up for $20 from Smiley’s Antique and Thrift Shop around Lake City, Florida on my way home from Disney one year.  We had always seen the big Yellow Smiley Face sign but we had never stopped.  We finally did and I wound up making one of the proudest card purchases I’ve ever made!  The only negative from that trip is that there was a handful of other 1955 cards that I didn’t really pay attention to because I saw this Mantle.  There weren’t any other big stars but there were some in much better condition that were very cheap.  I should have splurged that day and bought several of those ’55 beauties.  Even with that regret, this Mantle stands as the oldest card I own and is the one player that is on most collector’s bucket list from that era.  I really don’t care about the condition.  It’s an original Mick and that’s enough for me!We made it through 7 more and there’s one more post coming your way from the fireproof.  I think I have saved the best for last but it’s really hard for me to pick favorites in this batch because they are all very special to me.  I will promise you there are some great ones in the next post.  Thanks for checking out another edition of “What’s In The Fireproof?”

J-Dub

1989 Bowman – Don’t Call It A Comeback

I have waxed poetically about 1989 on many occasions here on the blog.  And “waxed” is an appropriate term for that time period.  Aside from the foil of Upper Deck and the plastic of Score, wax was still the packaging of choice in 1989.  That year was my first full year of collecting sports cards.  I vaguely remember ‘88 Score packs for some reason but ’89 was when I hit the ground running.  I remember tons of ’89 Donruss that year.  I remember the ’89 Orel Hershiser that got me grounded.  Billy Ripken introduced a nation of 12 year old’s to a term that has stood the test of time in card errors.  I remember Score having the rookies of Sheffield and Randy Johnson but not Ken Griffey Jr.  I remember a lot about 1989.That was the year that I had my collection confiscated by Mrs. Merritt in Science class because I was trying to swing a trade while she was talking about hydrogen.  That was also the year I dressed up as Jose Canseco for English class to perform a talking autobiography.  I had the baseball pants and the A’s cap but no Jose jersey.  My mother, being resourceful, took a plain white t-shirt and used paint pens to create a Canseco jersey.  With it being ’89, I guess I’m just lucky she didn’t use puff paint.  Me and my boys were wearing fanny packs with Nintendo games in them on the playground and we were in fact the cool kids!  We traded Nintendo games as much as we traded cards.  Contra for Double Dribble is one I remember.I lost my girlfriend on Valentine’s Day that year because I slipped another girl a note and she found out.  Before you bash me on this one, remember I was 12.  Plus, it was just a feeler.  If the “other girl” had shown interest, I would have broken up with my girlfriend before I asked the new one to go steady, like any gentleman would do.  It all backfired though.  And I vividly remember sitting on the monkey bars when my current girlfriend walked up with the teddy bear I got her, put it in a mud puddle and then threw it on my shirt.  For years after that my friends would ask if I was giving anyone a teddy bear on Valentine’s Day.  I learned about karma at an early age my friends.Another thing I remember from 1989 was Bowman.  This was their first year back in the hobby since 1955.  Topps bought Bowman out after 5 years of fighting over contracts with players.  I suppose exclusivity isn’t just a problem in today’s world after all.  Bowman was the only card manufacturer to begin the 50’s but Topps joined the hobby in 1951.  When Topps bought Bowman in 1956, the name went quiet for 33 years.  Then, in 1989, Topps brought back the old name and introduced a vintage looking set with cards that were 2 ½” x 3 ¾”, slightly larger than the standard card size.  I remember having a ton of ’89 Bowman that were bent at the top because no one made toploaders or pages that were the right size to keep them in good condition.  They still don’t make a perfect toploader for that size.The set was only 484 cards, which was a downsize from other sets in the 80’s and the cards had a basic white border with small red trim on the inset of the border.  The Bowman logo was prominently placed in the top corner of the card.  No name or position was printed on the front of the card unlike other sets of the era.  This was a true throwback look and only included a facsimile autograph of the player on the front.  If you didn’t know the player and couldn’t read the auto, you were stuck looking at the back of the card.  Speaking of the back, they were quite a bit different from other sets that year as well.  While all of the vital statistics were still available, the actual player stats were broken down by teams played against and then totaled.  The totals included were the 1988 season and the player’s career.  If the player was a rookie, the back of the card was stamped with text along the lines of “Ken made his Professional Baseball Debut at Bellingham in 1987.  He played at San Bernandino and Vermont in 1988.”  Of course, that was Ken Griffey Jr.The box holds 36 packs with 12 cards each.  And like Topps of the day, there is gum to be had!  Unfortunately, there are no box bottom cards like other Topps sets.  The box did showcase 3 of the best talents in 1989 with Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr. and the great Gregg Jefferies.  As with other sets, they ran a contest but their’s would have been unbelievable to win.  The grand prize was a Complete Set of 1953 Color Bowman with an approximate value of $10,000.  I’d love to know if anyone ever won that!  The wax packs had an old school feel with a baseball diamond, an old looking pitcher or catcher and “ComeBack Edition” prominently displayed in the top left corner.  The key rookies in the set were Jr., Jefferies, Gary Sheffield, Chris Sabo, Robin Ventura and Sandy Alomar Jr.

Enough yapping, let’s take a look at these beauties!

Vintage ReprintsI know these are reprints.  I know this!  But the card stock and size make these look and feel so legit.  I always loved these when I got them in packs.  It was like owning an actual 1951 Mickey Mantle, without all the dollar signs that come with it.  It also included Jackie Robinson, Willie Mayes, Satchel Paige and others!  Reprints or not, I loved these!

The RookiesWell, no Jr.  That was a letdown but I did haul in several other big name rookies from ’89 starting with none other than Gregg Jefferies.  I believe this was also the only ’89 set Robin Ventura was in.  I pulled the Rookie of the Year, Jerome Walton and a Braves phenom, Steve Avery.  Despite the absence of Jr., I’m pleased with the rookie haul.

The AcesThere were more aces than these 4 but these were my favorites.  Orel is here for obvious nostalgic reasons.  The Rocket was a stud even before the cloak of PED’s.  Doc Gooden was a lot of fun to watch, even when he was hurling against my Bravos.  And speaking of my Bravos, how about John Smoltz?

The InfieldersThese are just a hand selected few of the stellar infielders the set has to offer.  William Nuschler Clark was a star in the late 80’s and is often overlooked when harkening back to the days of yore.  Ryno, Mattingly and Larkin are seldom overlooked and are recognized for their stardom.  Then we have the man, Ronnie Gant.  He is with the infielders in this set but he would soon move to the outfield.  Pulling a Gant is always a worthy moment!

The OutfieldersThis Tony Gwynn card was not my favorite of his but I there aren’t any that I flat out don’t like.  He was such a pure hitter!  Ruben Sierra and Mike Greenwell are also often overlooked 80’s stars.  They put up big numbers during those days.  Numbers didn’t get any bigger than what Jose, Straw, Bonds and Bo could do.  Some were pharmaceutically enhanced and some were natural talent.  Either way, they were crushers!

The LegendsWhat is an 80’s set without some legends?  This set has its fair share of them too.  Ozzie, Rock, The Hawk, Rickey, Ryan, Schmidt, Brett, Fisk and Yount all had superb careers and are always welcome additions to the collection.  You really can’t ever have enough of these cards!

The InsertsThese cool father/son cards were right in the middle of the set.  I pulled the Griffey’s and Stottlemyre’s but the set also included the Alomar’s and Ripken’s.  This was before sets were loaded with tons and tons of parallels and inserts so these were the standalones in that category.

This set has one drawback and it’s major.  The size of the card is a complete disaster that really effects the collectability of even the stars in the set.  The design was very simple and worked for the set but these would’ve held up much better if the cards had been standard size.  Some of the pictures are odd and a majority of the set is staged photos like the vintage days.  The checklist is top notch for ’89 as it included all of the major rookies, even The Kid.  The reprints were a nice touch for the throwback set and the size of the set was more manageable than the 700+ behemoth’s of ’89.  The price point is extremely low and the overall rip was really fun.  I just can’t get past the size of the cards.  Because of that, I’m going to have to give this box a 3 on the Dub-O-Meter.  If not for the card size, these would have been a 4.  I still won’t stop you from enjoying a box of ’89 Bowman because it’s enjoyable.  Just don’t expect to be able to store these easily.

J-Dub

Scoring Scale

1. Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards.  Just read the post and thank me later.

2. There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.

3. Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.

4. You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did!  It has some downside but worth the ride.

5. Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking!  What are you waiting on?

What’s In The Fireproof? Part 2

I met a young lady in the summer of 1993 when I was umpiring on nights that I wasn’t playing city league baseball.  My uncle was the recreation director and he landed me a little side gig to make a few extra bucks.  The young lady in question was playing softball that night and I called her out on a bang-bang play at 1st base.  She was none too pleased with the call and voiced her displeasure.  That was the first time I came close to tossing a player out for arguing.  I can still hear her muttering something about me being an idiot as she headed over to the dugout.  A year later, she was flirting with me at the Video Superstore, either having forgotten about our first encounter, or falling victim to my boyish good looks.  We would go on to date (off and on) for the next 7 years, eventually becoming husband and wife in April 2001.She came along at just the right time as I was shifting my focus away from my childhood hobby of collecting cards, thanks in part to the baseball strike of ’94.  I left cards in the dust that summer and began a relationship that has lasted now 23 years, give or take a break up here and there.  This weekend, I celebrated my 16 year wedding anniversary with Mrs. Dub and once again, I left cards in the dust.  We went out to eat Friday night and spent all day Saturday fishing the Chickasawhatchee Creek in the backwoods of Baker County, Ga.  It was a throwback to the summers of our youth fishing and swimming in those beautiful spring fed waters.  Today was a total recuperation day before our two kids made their way back from Grandma’s and our hectic life jumped back into high gear.

It’s a lazy, rainy Sunday night in South Georgia and I’ve been looking at a couple of unopened boxes I have sitting on the shelf wondering if tonight would be the night to crack one.  I got a box of 1985 Donruss in the mail during the week and plan to do a rip and post of that sweet nostalgia.  I still have 2017 Donruss Baseball, 2016 Donruss Football, 2016 Optic Football and 1992 Studio Baseball sitting there staring back at me.  None of it seemed to have the right allure for the evening so I thought I would take another dip into the fireproof.  This is Part 2 in the series and I picked out 5 really nice personal favorites to finish out this solid weekend.  If you want to catch up on Part 1, you can check that out Here.1985 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. Autograph PSA/DNA – This beauty came in the 2014 Leaf Cal Ripken Jr. Iron Man Signature Collection.  This was a two card box that came with one Cal Ripken Jr. autographed Iron Man card and one buyback Cal signed on card and slabbed authentic.  These buybacks included anything from his rookie Topps to 1990 Donruss so it was a real chance when I bought it.  The risk was mitigated somewhat by the guarantee of receiving two autographs from Cal Ripken Jr.  I really hit the jackpot with the 1985 Topps as it is still a valuable set and was a very nice design.  When considering the possibilities, other than the rookie or maybe the ’87 Topps, I don’t know if I would’ve picked another choice.2010 Topps Chicle Babe Ruth Atlanta Braves 1/1 – I have no idea if this card has any value whatsoever but it’s an SP in and of itself without the designation of being a 1/1 so I definitely jumped on it when it went on sale on DA Cardworld.  The base card sells anywhere from $5-$10 on eBay but value isn’t really the reason I bought it.  I bought it because he’s sporting the deep red Atlanta uniform and current (2010) Braves cap.  The picture drew me in and the 1/1 sold me.  It was less than $20 during that sale so I couldn’t pass it up.  When I got it, I slipped it right into the fireproof and will hang on to that one until I’m old and feeble as it’s the best reprint Babe I have.2012-13 Momentum Basketball Larry Bird Auto #4/10 – I went through a stretch where I bought a ton of these boxes because they were super cheap and had some great autographs in them.  I pulled 2 Jimmy Butlers, a Kevin Durant and another that’s in the fireproof that we may discuss in the next installment.  Of course there were a lot of busts in the set too with Nando De Cola and Jeremy Pargo but every box had a veteran.  I bought those boxes on the off chance I could pull an Anthony Davis or the aforementioned Butler but also knew that I could add to my veteran collection every time.  I have Vernon Maxwell, Buck Williams, Luc Longley, Cedric Maxwell and Isaiah Rider just to name a few.  This one was the best legend I pulled because Larry is just that, a Legend!  I grew up watching and emulating Bird and his beautiful jump shot.  I loved the dunk and 3-point contest in my youth and I will never forget him raising that finger before the ball ever went in the goal during one of his 3-point titles.  I already had the Jordan/Bird from the first post but it was sweet to add a standalone Bird.1990 Pro Set Herschel Walker Autograph – Mrs. Dub and I like to frequent antique malls and thrift shops when we travel out of town.  We like them for different reasons of course.  I look for cards and sports items and she looks for old clothes, décor and records.  Some of those stores are busts but when you find something, it’s usually a great story.  I picked up my one and only vintage Mickey Mantle at one of these stores, even though it is in horrendous condition.  One holiday season, we took a trip to the North Georgia Mountains, which is home to a ton of these type stores.  I stumbled across this Herschel Walker Pro Set card with a $5 price tag.  Of course, I was skeptical because it had no COA but I knew Herschel’s signature pretty well and I had a friend in a FaceBook group who PC’d him so I reached out to him as well.  Plus, for $5 it was a no brainer.  The card passed all of the eye tests and I have what I consider to be an authentic Herschel Pro Set auto.  I will get it authenticated the next time one of the companies is at a nearby card show.  We just had some great banter on Twitter this week about Pro Set so that one was perfect timing to show.Hank Aaron Autographed Baseball – This installment included Babe Ruth in a Braves uni and also home grown legend Herschel Walker so let’s round it out with this beauty!  This was an amazing find in a 2014 Historic Autographs Five Boroughs autographed baseball box.  The box itself was on sale for around $40 and was a nice value buy for the names that were included.  I bought 5 of the boxes and got two Chili Davis cards but also got a Reggie Jackson and Don Mattingly.  Rounding out the purchase was this Hank Aaron.  At first, I was shocked because the box promises an autograph from a star or HOFer that played on one of the (4) New York City based teams.  I did not recall Hammerin Hank playing in NY.  I started reviewing the checklist and discovered that NLB Stars were honored in this set and included in 1 in 24 boxes.  Aaron was included as a member of the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952.  Aaron is a legend in the game with his 755 home runs standing for years as the MLB record before the steroid era came along.  To add to that, he is a local legend as a member of the Atlanta Braves and now as a still active member of the Braves community.  I don’t know how else I would ever get a Hank Aaron autographed baseball for this price to add to my collection.

Five more items are revealed in the fireproof and I have enough for possibly two more posts.  Again, I’m not going to cover the Cuyler Smith cards that got their own post but they are there as well.  I also just placed the sweet Gypsy Oak cards I got last week in the safe.  These five items are very special to me and will always be a part of my collection.  I am on the verge of having to upgrade the size of the box or either getting a second as two baseballs have taken up 1/3 of the area.  Hopefully you’ll find these items interesting and keep you on the edge of your seat until my next fireproof post.  If not, there’s always that ’85 Donruss box that is on the horizon.

J-Dub

Cards From My Youth – Football Edition

I wanted to continue along the theme from a few weeks ago, Every Card Has A Story, but wanted to talk football in this post.  See, I’ve been all over the map with collecting since I started back in 88-89.  I’ve collected football, baseball and basketball at the same time for almost 30 years.  The sport seasons change and so does my collecting focus.  I even collected Hockey for a couple of years when Lindros, Lemieux and Jagr were young studs.  But if I added up all of my cards, I probably have more football than any other sport.  Football has always been my favorite sport to watch and collect but it’s always been pretty close with baseball and basketball.  Now, collecting football is a year round task with all the products that Panini puts out but I tend to focus on a few favorites and keep it under control.Back in 1989, there were only a few products, with the main manufacturers being Topps, Score and Pro Set.  Pro Set was always comparable to Donruss in baseball for me.  I really liked Pro Set as a teen but it really was way overproduced and error filled.  They were clean and crisp though back in the day.  They still are the most colorful set from my early football collecting days but they are a dime a dozen like other Junk Wax Era cardboard.  When I started this post, I had almost 30 cards on a list that were favorites from when I was 12-13 but I had to pare that down because I didn’t want this post to take 3 days to read.  So I knocked it down to 10 (in chronological order) and they are really special to me as it relates to nostalgia and forming my collecting habits as a youngster.  Most of them are pretty obvious too but I try to put my own spin on why I liked them.1987 Topps Randall Cunningham – My first favorite quarterback was QB Eagles.  Yeah, back to Tecmo Super Bowl we go but hey, it was a HUGE part of my childhood and my introduction to football.  Cunningham was deadly with his legs and his arm.  He threw for almost 30,000 yards and ran for almost 5,000 in 16 seasons.  He also added 35 rushing TD’s.  He remains the all time leading rusher among QB’s to this day.  And to add one more stat to the legendary status, he is #3 on the all time longest punt list with a 91 yarder against the Giants in 1989.  Talk about versatile!  This ’87 is his rookie card and one of my all time favorites of my football collection.1989 Pro Set Barry Sanders – Another absolute legend from the NFL and Tecmo Bowl.  I shouldn’t have to tell any of my readers who Barry Sanders is.  Barry played 10 NFL seasons and went to the Pro Bowl 10 times.  That’s a 100% all-star ratio.  He was also a 6 time 1st Team All-Pro, 4 time rushing leader and touchdown leader in 1991.  He ran for over 15,000 yards in that 10 year career and averaged 5 yards per carry behind a less than pro bowl offensive line most of his career.  Barry retired somewhat early and was still on top of his game at the time.  He retired as the 2nd leading rusher of all time behind Walter Payton and now sits 3rd behind Emmitt Smith and Payton.  This 89 Pro Set was a classic card with Barry in his OK State uniform, which matched the Pro Set border.  1989 was a huge rookie year for the NFL with Sanders, Troy Aikman, Neon Deion and this next guy.1989 Pro Set Derrick Thomas – I’ve mentioned before that I’m a sucker for cards with players in their college uni’s and this one is no exception, even though it’s Bama.  Derrick Thomas is a player that absolutely dominated his position for several years and was taken from this earth way too soon.  I like Thomas so much, I’ve considered several times making him my football PC.  I guess that can still happen but I’ve let a lot of time go by and there are probably a lot of cards out there.  Who knows, it could still happen.  I couldn’t decide between the 89 Pro Set or the 89 Score for this piece.  The Score holds more value but the Pro Set is more nostalgic and loved in my collection.1989 Score Bo Jackson – Who doesn’t remember this card?  Score did a baseball version as well and an image of that can be found on @beansbcardblog‘s avatar!  These cards are iconic for my generation.  Bo was the 1st highly touted 2 sport star and he was dang good at both of them.  His athletic career was cut way short with his hip injury in January 1991.  He only played from 1987 to 1990 but amassed 16 touchdowns, almost 3,000 yards and a Pro Bowl without ever playing more than 11 games in a season.  Sports fans around the globe were robbed of ever seeing him at full strength on the football field for 16 games!  He did play 16 games on Tecmo and averaged about 3,000 yards per season.  This 1989 Score is only one great card in one of the greatest football sets of all time.  It’s easily the best set of my generation!1989 Topps Herschel Walker/Eric Dickerson – There were several Walkers I could have included in this post.  I have his USFL cards, his NFL Rookie’s, Ground Force and an 89 Pro Set auto but this card sticks in my mind the most.  This is one image I see when I think back to my original collecting days.  Herschel, the Georgia Dawg, in his Cowboys gear and Eric Dickerson with no helmet and the goggles.  Herschel did not have the pro career that many thought he would but he more than made up for that at UGA and that’s what really mattered to me.  He was a Heisman winner and a National Champ in Athens and remains the most beloved Dawg of all time.  Dickerson was no slouch either as a member of The Pony Express in college.  Dickerson had the better career in the pros and even played for the Falcons late in his career.  In 1988, they each led their respective conferences in rushing and thus, they were commemorated on this memorable card.1989 Topps Traded Deion Sanders – There are so many things to like about this card.  First, I loved the 89 Topps design with the team color bars on either side.  Second, it showcases the old red helmets the Falcons wore, which are still my favorite.  Finally, it’s a Deion Sanders rookie card!  Prime Time was another two sport star and played for my Atlanta teams at the same time.  He had a much longer career than Bo but may not have been quite as dominant in both sports.  He was very good at baseball but his football career was clearly the better of the two.  He did manage to win a World Series and multiple Super Bowl’s in his career.  Deion has always been a flamboyant superstar and this card has always stuck out in my collection!1990 Pro Set André Rison – This is one of the wildest cards of my youth.  First off, I should have had stock in 90 Pro Set as much as I bought it over the years.  It is probably the most purchased card product in my card collecting life.  And yet, still never pulled the Santa Claus autograph.  I’ve been watching one for months on eBay but have never been able to pull the trigger.  It would really set off my early football collection.  One day, I suppose.  But back to the Rison card.  He had 4 versions in the Pro Set product that year.  The first was the Colts base card.  The second was the Colts card with the Traded banner in the bottom corner.  The third was the Colts card with the Traded banner in the corner and the redemption language on the back.  The final was the Falcons version.  I owned all of them at one point but can’t seem to place the redemption version now.  Maybe I’ll have to buy another box or two of 90 Pro Set.  “Bad Moon” Rison was a stud in Atlanta but had his issues from time to time.  He’s still a favorite of mine and so is this card.1990 Pro Set Emmitt Smith – This card was the first trade I ever made.  I don’t remember what I gave up but I got Emmitt’s rookie in return.  It was in poor condition and I still have it in a toploader but I have added several other copies that are closer to mint.  I will always keep that poor condition card though because it’s an important one in my collection.  Emmitt went on to have a stellar career and remains the all time leading rusher in the NFL.  He did have 5 more seasons than Barry but that’s not a knock on Emmitt as much as continued disappointment in not getting to see Barry play longer.  This is the gem of the 90 Pro Set collection (until I get Santa) and makes the cheap boxes still a worthwhile purchase in 2017.1990 Pro Set Super Bowl Joe Montana – As if the base set of 90 Pro Set weren’t enough, I remember investing heavily in the Super Bowl mini set they produced that year.  The set was loaded with artist sketch cards and images from Super Bowls past.  My favorite of the bunch was this Joe Montana and it sat on the first page of my football binder for many, many years.  Montana had several cards in this set but this one was always my favorite.  I would literally lose my mind if Pro Set came back in a couple years and made a retro set using these designs and sketches.  I love 90 Pro Set more than anyone should love an inanimate object.1991 Pro Line Walter Payton – I have a couple of vintage Payton cards that are in reasonable condition but this one always jumps out at me.  When you see it, it’s pretty obvious why.  The design of the 91 Pro Line set is still an odd one and was explained very well by David Wright (@LongFlyBall) on the Beckett Radio podcast in February.  This was a card produced after the legend’s retirement but is still a cool retro card of him.  It just screams 1991!  The racing jacket, the debonair pose and the gold Rolex oozes “Sweetness”.  If Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith are on this list, I had to make room for Payton.  I have a couple of the autographed Pro Line cards (Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith) but not Payton.

So here’s 10 cards from my collection that will always have value to me regardless of the production runs or availability.  These are cards I picked up in the heyday of my youthful collecting and I will always hold onto at least one copy of them.  Fortunately, I have multiples of many of them, thanks to the aforementioned production runs.  What are some of the cards that hold that special place in your collecting heart?

J-Dub

Home State Heartbreak

So I’ve finally reached a point where I think I can write about this but I’m even going to veil the subject in a more global discussion about my home teams in general. I’m a sports nut and I live in Georgia. Historically, that has been the equivalent of being a snow skiing fanatic in Florida. We have a 1980 National Title in Athens and a 1995 World Series in Atlanta. Other than that, bupkis. I’m not going back to some obscure 1923 title that may or may not be claimed somewhere to find something else. I’m also not a Georgia Tech fan so I’m not including anything they may have done, though I’m not bashing either. I will do that closer to football season. All my home teams have some red in them; Bulldogs, Braves, Hawks and Falcons. They also have a long history of, in the words of the Great Lewis Grizzard, tearing out your heart and stomping that sucker flat. So, how ‘bout that Super Bowl 51?Atlanta Falcons – Well, the Falcons have zero championships in their history. We (and yes, I’m using “We” throughout this piece) have 13 playoff appearances since 1966 and 2 conference championships. The first conference championship was in 1998 when we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Minnesota with the great Gary Anderson missing his first field goal of the year and the even greater Morten Anderson connecting on his. We would finish the regular season at 14-2 that year but were still the #2 seed. Those Great Lakers deserved that defeat as payback for what happened in 1991, which we’ll get to shortly. But the Falcons giveth, and the Falcons taketh away. We went on to get drummed by future Hall of Famer John Elway and the Denver Broncos 34-19.Then we had to endure the Michael Vick era with its teases and near misses. We’d fall to the Eagles in our next bid at a trip to the Super Bowl in 2004. We followed up with 8-8 and 7-9 the following years, respectively. Then Bobby Petrino came in and made his mess. We followed the next few years with an occasional playoff appearance and even clinched the #1 seed in the 2010 playoffs. But we would go on to get lambasted by Green Bay, 48-21 in the NFC Divisional. This was the worst loss by a #1 seed in divisional playoff game history and the second worst playoff loss by a #1 seed period. 2011 brought a playoff loss at the hands of the Giants. 2012 saw us clinch the #1 seed again and we picked up our only playoff win in the Mike Smith Era (2008-2014). The playoffs looked promising at halftime of the NFC Championship vs the 49er’s with a score of 24-14 in our favor. We coughed that up and lost 28-24.Then we hit the doldrums with a 4-12 season in 2013. We did a reverse Braves and went from 1st to Worst. 2014 was much of the same. After a coaching change to Dan Quinn in 2015, we would return to a .500 season but showed promise along the way. In 2016, the Falcons lit the world on fire on offense but still showed inexperience on defense until the second half of the season. We would finish with an 11-5 record and a first round bye. Then, despite trepidation from the fan base because of all the previous misery, we went on to take down the two hottest opponents in the NFC, Seattle and Green Bay. We held a 21-3 lead at halftime over the New England Patriots. We increased that lead to 28-3 in the third quarter. Even this old hardened Falcon fans heart started to soften. And then the unthinkable happened. Conservative play calling and horrendous defense lead to a complete collapse and we lost 34-28. Many people will give Tom Brady credit for that win but not me, and I’m not anti Tom Brady. We gave that one up! We gave him the opportunity to do what he did. Without some horrible decisions in the second half, he doesn’t have that window. Just an abysmal display and one I fear has the opportunity to carryover to 2017 like a bad Goldschlager hangover.Atlanta Braves – The Falcons aren’t alone in providing misery for the fan base but the Braves did give us one of those elusive championships in 1995. Granted, the Braves gave us a magical 14 consecutive Division Championship streak which is unmatched to this point. The problem with the Braves always came in the postseason. In that streak of 14 consecutive division titles, we have 4 NL pennants to show for it. And of those 4 NL pennants, we have one World Series ring. That means that we won the NL 28.5% of the time we made the playoffs and we won the World Series 7% of the time we made the playoffs and 25% of the time we won the National League. And like the Falcons, its how we lost that drives me the craziest. I will touch on it but you can read all about Lonnie Smith by clicking here.The Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966. From 1966 to 1991, we had a total of 2 division titles. That’s 2 divisional titles in 25 years. This doesn’t even scratch the surface on how bad the teams actually were during most of that span. We’re not talking about barely missing the playoffs in the 80’s. We’re talking about a .494 winning percentage in 84, .407 in 85, .447 in 86, .429 in 87, .338 in 88 and .394 in 89. Yes, Donruss was not the worst thing you could be called in 1988. But things were about to turn around with another Atlanta coaching change. This time, Bobby Cox was brought in during the middle of 1990. 1990 still finished as an abysmal season and resulted in the trade of Dale Murphy, an icon in Atlanta.But in 1991, we started to see fresh faces John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery start to do work on the mound while Ron Gant, David Justice and Terry Pendleton carried the torch at the plate. The Worst to First season was completed on the last day of the regular season when the Braves clipped the Dodgers by one game. After defeating the Pirates in 7 games, the Great Lakers would drive a dagger in our hearts in the 91 World Series, which is still considered one of the best ever. My hatred for Kent Hrbek after his cowardly display of pulling Ron Gant off of 1st base and Dan Gladden for his grittiness shifted to Lonnie Smith at the conclusion of Game 7 that saw John Smoltz and Jack Morris duel for 9 scoreless innings. The Twins were able to muster a run in extra innings to win the series. We would’ve never been in that position had Lonnie Smith just ran the bases in the 8th inning. It’s been 26 years and I still get heartburn thinking about that!1992 saw another 7 game series with Pittsburgh in the NLCS with the defining moment in Braves history occurring in the 9th inning with a 3 run rally and Sid Bream lugging his piano around the bases to slide just ahead of Spanky LaValliere’s tag. We would lose in the World Series again, this time to the Toronto Blue Jays and Kelly Freakin Gruber! In 1995, we actually won the World Series I thought we should’ve lost. We took down the Cleveland Indians, who had won 100 games (10 more than the Braves.) The Indians were loaded too with Eddie Murray, Orel Hershiser, Dennis Martinez, Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle. Go figure, we beat the Indians but lost to Gene Larkin and Greg Gagne. The rest is history as we would go on to win 10 more consecutive division titles and zero World Series.The Atlanta Hawks – This one will actually be short. The Hawks have been in Atlanta since 1968 and have 5 division titles and zero conference titles. We’ve seen some great (some good) players in Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, Kevin Willis, Dikembe Mutombo, Pete Marivich, Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Lenny Wilkins and Moses Malone. We had some close calls like in 2015 when we had the best record in the East or in 2008 when we took down the Heat in the playoffs, only to lose to the Cavs in the next round. There really isn’t much to say about the Hawks other than we’re better than we used to be but not as good as the best in the conference. I will still sit down and take in the game every time they are on TV though because I love them!Georgia Bulldogs – I’ve talked about The Life of A Dawg at this link but to round this out, we can give a synopsis of that life here as well. The National Title in my lifetime was in 1980 when I was 3. We had a running back by the name of Herschel Walker that may still be the best college football player to ever play. Since then, we spent a lot of time up until the early 2000’s winning 8 games a season. In the early 2000’s we started finding success under Mark Richt and won two early SEC titles in his tenure (2002, 2005). We also won the East 6 times during his tenure. We came painstakingly close to the big dance though a couple of times and it has me all in the pepto still today.First there was 2007 where we finished the season ranked #3 in the coaches poll and #2 in the AP after blasting Hawaii 41-10. If there had been a playoff that year, who knows what would’ve happened. We didn’t even get to play in the SEC Championship because we lost to TN that year and finished 11-2. This was the same record as Tennessee but we lost to them head to head. We even beat the Mighty Bammers in overtime that year. We peaked at the wrong time after stumbling out of the gate.Speaking of the Bammers, our nearest miss came in 2012. This one ranks right up there with Kyle Shanahan’s mishaps and Lonnie Smith’s blunders. After an 11-1 regular season, we faced off with #1 Bama in the SEC Championship. We gave them all we had! We held the lead with 3:15 left in the game before AJ McCarron connected with Amari Cooper for a 44 yard score to take a 32-28 lead. We weren’t done though as the gutsy Aaron Murray led a last minute charge from our own 15 yard line with 1 minute left an no timeouts. A pass completion to Arthur Lynch took us to the 8 with 9 seconds to play. Instead of clocking it and getting a clean shot at the end zone, Richt (Bobo) decided to push the defense and ran a play. That play wound up being a tipped pass that was caught at the 5 in bounds by Chris Conley, allowing the clock to run out. I don’t blame Conley to this day because he was doing what football players are taught to do. This one was on the play callers shoulders much like the Falcons Super Bowl bid. Bama then got the easy task of playing Manti Teo’s girlfriend in the national title. ARRRGGGHHH!!I have spent a lot of my sports life with my face buried in my hands in the prayer position on my living room floor. It’s been exacerbating at times. It’s been mind numbing, exhausting and miserable. There have been high points no doubt. There was the Mikey Henderson catch in OT to beat Auburn. There was the Morten kick. There was Sid’s slide. There was the Hobnail Boot. But I can name many more times that it didn’t work out. And when it doesn’t work out, it’s unbelievable. The Prayer at Jordan-Hare in 2013, the Lonnie Smith bumble in 1991, the Navorro Bowman interception in 2012, Aaron Rodgers in 2010, Joe Carter in 1992, and finally, Kyle Shanahan in 2016. There are plenty of other franchises that have their share of misery but now that Cleveland has their basketball championship (plus Ohio State), I don’t know that there is a more tortured fan base than that of the state of Georgia. I could be wrong and if I am, I’m sure I’ll hear about it. But chances are, you can find a championship with one of your major professional or college teams that make the pain a little more bearable. Again, this isn’t just about championships. This is as much about opportunities not seized or games lost. There have been a lot of jokes made at my expense but I will always bleed for the State of Georgia and her sports. One day, that will all pay off. One Day.

J-Dub

1991 Stadium Club – Cardboard Beauty

I was 14 years old in 1991 and I was really hitting my stride in the card collecting hobby.  Gone were the rookie days of having my card collection seized by a teacher in class to be held until the end of the semester.  I had matured beyond letting some overzealous nut rip my Ken Griffey Jr. Diamond King in a fit of revenge.  I was growing into a serious collector.  I was toploading and binder organizing and trading like a broker on Wall Street.  Baseball fever had been revived for me with the Braves rising from worst to first that year.  Times were good.Baseball cards were maturing a bit during this stretch as well.  In 1990, Leaf and Upper Deck established themselves as premium card sets for the serious collector.  In response to the success of those companies, Topps launched a product named Topps Stadium Club that was advertised as being produced with “Kodak Imaging Technology”.  The cards also set the hobby on its ear with its first set that had a  full color, borderless front, which allowed for total use of the card for images.  And the images produced in this set were unlike any that had ever come before.  I had really forgotten just how groundbreaking the images were until I ripped through this box again for the first time in some 25 years.  This post will likely be photo heavy but I think it’s the only way to do the set justice.  But, these cards look much better in person!First, some stats on the set itself.  The set was broken up into two series’ with most of the rookie crop coming in the second series.  There are plenty of stars in Series 1 but high profile prospects like Jeff Bagwell and Phil Plantier are found in 2.  Each series is made up of 300 cards for a total 600 card set.  The wax (that’s a stretch) box had 36 packs with 12 cards in each.  There were no inserts in Series 1, just base cards with great photos.  The packs themselves were a cello type pack that were very difficult to open 26 years later.  There was an extra card in each pack of 2 variations.  One invited the collector to become a “Stadium Club Member” and the other explained the new statistical reference on the back of the card, BARS.  Becoming a Stadium Club Member was very enticing in those days but was out of my price range.  For $29.95 or $19.95 and 10 pack wrappers, you would be issued a card and member #, a members only set, a Stadium Club Medallion and periodic cards in the mail that celebrated events during the season.  That sounds a lot like “Topps Now” without the internet.At the time, the cards had a different smell than the typical card pack but I don’t remember it being just God-awful.  It is God-awful in 2017 my friends.  I can only imagine that if I had busted a Series 2 box in the same sitting, I may have been found slumped over the kitchen table passed out from the fumes.  They were that bad.  Another knock on this set is that the cards stick together.  The cards are very glossy (I mean, serious gloss) and when stored in humid temperatures, they stick together.  That gloss/UV coating may have been slick and good looking but it came with a price.  That price was a foul odor and damaged cards.  But I’m not going to knock the set too much because it really did set a pretty high bar during a time of baseball card innovation.The backs of the cards featured another interesting element that was a first.  Besides the odd BARS stats and “Evaluation” section, it provided the standard background info on the player.  The stats were limited to 1990 and career to make room for the new stuff.  But the cool part to me was that instead of featuring a profile picture of the player on the back of the card, it included a picture of the first issued Topps card for the player.  There were some really cool cards there when you looked at players like Ozzie Smith, Nolan Ryan and Dave Winfield.  Of course, some of the players had 1991 Topps as their first issue.  There was no visible markings on the card that referenced a rookie other than the back of the card reading “Insufficient Data” in the BARS section indicating that the player had not played in enough games.

Enough about the set, let’s take a look at some of these beauties, hand selected by yours truly.  Shawon Dunston – This card made the step up in photography evident.Dwight Smith – Stadium Club featured several horizontal action shots that made you feel like you were really close to the action.  This is a great example of that.Al Newman – This card was a precursor to the Ken Griffey Jr. bubble gum card that would come later.Omar Vizquel – A classic pose from the vintage card days.  Big smile and up close.Alan Trammell – A beautiful post-swing horizontal action shot.Chris Sabo – Another cool horizontal action shot of a celebration at home plate with Eric Davis and Todd Benzinger.Harold Reynolds – An action shot of Reynolds caught in a rundown with Carlos Baerga.  Reynolds lost his helmet and Baerga is losing his hat.Shane Mack – I don’t know how to explain this one other than maybe he was providing the pitcher a target during warm ups ?Wade Boggs – Boggs is zeroed in on this batting practice pitch.  This is not a welcome sight for a pitcher.Ken Griffey Jr – One of the big cards in the set features Jr in the dugout in front of a bat rack.  Great photo!Frank Thomas – This was a pretty standard looking photo for this set but it was another of the major hits in 1991.Barry Bonds – What is this?  Part 1Orel Hershiser – What in the hell is this?  Part 2Eric Show – Dear God, make it stop!!  Part 3Dave Stewart/Nolan Ryan – This pair of cards were highly sought after in 1991 as they featured both aces in tuxedos in front of a backdrop.Sammy Sosa – Odd looking Sosa photo for sure!  Is that a pinky ring?Ozzie Guillen – As was standard with the White Sox cards, he’s featured in the Nice Sox throwback and is in a pose reminiscent of vintage cards.Gary Sheffield – This was one of my favorite cards in 1991 and it showcases Sheffield’s rarely used bunting skills.Bo Jackson – This action shot looks eerily similar to that of his famous 1987 Topps Future Star.

You don’t have to take it from me as you can see the pictures here.  This was a very cool set for photography and innovative card design.  The set has its flaws too, which will drag down the overall score for this review.  The box was affordable and I put together 289 cards of the 300 card set from one box.  Would you believe that one of the 11 I’m missing is Gregg Jefferies??  What does it take to pull a Jefferies?  Despite the affordability, the chances of pulling many Gem Mint grades from the box are slim with the UV coating issues.  And the noxious fumes were quite distracting at times.  Still, I think a 4 is a fair score for the box.  The positives outweighed the negatives and I did enjoy putting the partial set together.  I will probably buy another box but will likely buy a face mask as well.  That may bring it down to a 3.5, but look at that Ozzie Guillen and tell me it isn’t a 4!

Dub-Score – 4

Scoring Scale

1. Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards.  Just read the post and thank me later.
2. There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.

3. Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.

4. You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did!  It has some downside but worth the ride.

5. Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking!  What are you waiting on?



1992 Dairy Queen Team USA

My little town in Southwest Georgia had some shortcomings when it came to eateries.  There were a couple of local joints that were pretty good but they had weird hours.  Then there was a Krispy Chik, Pizza Hut and Hardee’s.  The McDonald’s and Subway came in my early teens.  But my favorite place to eat in town was always Dairy Queen.  I knew the owner and his family, the food was great and their ice cream was a kid’s dream come true.  One of my fondest memories of Dairy Queen was the nights after city league softball or baseball when we would stop by and get a vanilla scoop in a mini batting helmet.  Companies try to replicate that from time to time but nobody does it like DQ did in the late ’80’s!In addition to their mini batting helmet promotional, DQ also partnered with Topps to release a baseball card set for the upcoming 1992 Team USA.  In the set, they commemorated the 1984 and 1988 teams as well.  The 1984 team produced one of the most sought after and memorable cards from my youth while providing a couple more star power cards.  The team also won a Bronze Medal.  The 1988 team had several hot rookies that would show up in 1989 Donruss and be hot commodities for a while.  They went on to win a Gold Medal.  The ’92 squad did not provide the same level of stars as the previous two teams but had some names that were very collectible at that time.  Unfortunately, they didn’t Medal, finishing 4th with a 5-2 record.The cards came in a 33 card set and had a very classic Topps look with a white border and red trim.  At the top of the card, a Stars and Stripes banner read “Team USA”.  The bottom of the card had the age old Dairy Queen logo and then a name box in the bottom corner with the players name, position and the year he was on Team USA.  I really like the back of the cards.  They continue the red, white and blue theme and provide all of the vital personal info at the top of the card.  The bottom of the card includes a highlight from their time on the team.  But the best part is how the stats are broken down.  There are actually three separate stat boxes; (1) the complete MLB stats up until 1991, (2) the complete stats for the Team USA tour and finally (3) the complete stats for the Olympic Games.  Topps did a great job with the breakdown.  Let’s take a look at some of the big names.Mark McGwire 1984 – This is the card mentioned in the opening that was so iconic when I started collecting in the late 80’s.  The original McGwire Team USA card was right there with the Canseco ’86 Donruss on most collector’s want list.  McGwire started his MLB career on a tear with 175 home runs in his first 5 seasons.  But he was only getting started and was a key part of the great homerun race in 1998 with Sammy Sosa.  Despite all of his faults when it came to his association with PED’s, I think baseball owes a lot to McGwire for bringing a level of excitement to the sport that had been missing since the ’94 strike.  The homerun chase was one of the most exciting events I can remember in sports.  He probably won’t ever get into the Hall of Fame unless the writers opinions of that era change but he was a tremendous boost to the game when it really needed it.  And while I still don’t own the ’85 Olympic card, I at least own the ’92 reprint.Will Clark 1984 – One of McGwire’s teammates was another 1B that would go on to have a very good MLB career.  While McGwire had a good Tour in 1984 with a .391 average and 6 home runs, “The Thrill” bested him by .001 in the average (.392) and more than doubled his home runs with 13.  McGwire really struggled in the Olympic Games with only a .190 average and no home runs.  But Clark actually improved from the tour and hit .429 with 3 home runs in 5 games.  These two stars would go on to face each other in the famous 1989 World Series that was delayed by an earthquake in California.  Oakland would sweep the Giants to take the series 4-0.  Barry Larkin 1984 – Another star from the ’84 team was Barry Larkin.  However, Larkin did not have an original Olympic card in any previous sets.  Like McGwire, Larkin played extremely well on the Tour with a .328 average and 3 home runs but really struggled in the Olympics with a paltry .143 average.  However, Larkin is the only one of the three who has made it into the Hall of Fame at this point.  Larkin is a 3x Gold Glover and 9x Silver Slugger to go along with his 12 all-star appearances.  He was also the NL MVP in 1995 and won a World Championship in 1990 with the Cincinnati Reds, the only team he would ever suit up for in the majors.  Larkin is one of the greatest middle infielders to ever play the game!Jim Abbott 1988 – Abbott was well known for his rise to major league fame despite only having one hand.  His pitching style was analyzed by many and displayed a quickness that was often missed with the naked eye.  He got his start with Team USA in 1992 and was stellar in that run with a 7-1 tour record with a 2.59 ERA and then pitched a complete game win with a 2.25 ERA in the Olympics to finish 1-0.  Abbott would go on to have a good, but not great, MLB career that included a no-hitter in 1993.Ben McDonald 1988 – Big Ben (6’8) was one a hot 1990 rookie that everybody wanted a piece of.  Part of that was because of his dominance in the Olympics with a 2-0 record and 1.00 ERA.  He gave up 5 runs in 18 innings and pitched 2 complete games.  His prospects never translated to the big leagues where he would finish his career with a 78-70 record and a 3.91 ERA, which was cut short by a rotator cuff injury.Robin Ventura 1988 – Mr. Ventura was a highly touted ’89 rookie and actually turned in a solid career, which is sort of rare for the ’89 highly touted.  A few had stellar careers but more than a few totally bombed.  Ventura would go on to play in 2 All-Star games and win 6 gold gloves at 3b.  He hit nearly 300 home runs (294) and hit .267 over a 16 year career.  My favorite card of Ventura is his ’89 Topps where he is pictured in his college jersey.  Unfortunately, he may be most known for the poor judgment he showed on the night of August 4, 1993 when he decided to physically challenge The Ryan Express after being walloped with a fast ball.  He was then walloped by a few overhand rights and the video will live forever.  Still, I always liked Ventura.Charles Johnson 1992 – Johnson was another one of those prospects who had very hot cards when he was brought up to the big leagues.  He was a terrific defensive catcher with a rifle for an arm but could also hit for power, as evidenced by his 26 homers as a freshman and sophomore at Miami.  He would go on to play 12 major league seasons and average 23 home runs over his career.  But his .245 career average was a killer.  Still, he won a World Series ring in 1997, played in 2 all-star games and won a gold glove 4 times.  Solid career but not what may have been expected in 1992.Jason Giambi 1992 – The final player I’ll profile here was no stranger to the long ball.  The Giambino, as he was frustratingly called in NY, hit 440 home runs over a 20 year career, including 3 seasons of 40+.  Unfortunately, he was unable to do it without the allegations of steroids dragging him down.  He went from a scrawny 6’2, 195 as an Olympian to a 6’3, 250 pound major leaguer that was mashing balls out of stadiums.  But even as an Olympian, he hit .323 with 2 home runs in 8 games.  He even had a triple in there.  Makes you wonder what he could’ve done if he had stayed clean.  

Team USA has produced a large amount major leaguers over time, and even several superstars.  There are also many memorable cards that show players donning the red, white and blue.  This set by Dairy Queen commemorates the teams from my youth and was filled with nostalgia.  It was also very cheap as I purchased it for $2.75 plus shipping on eBay.  It’s probably over produced much like the rest of the products from 1992 but I think it’s a fine add to the PC at that price.  Overall, I’ll give it a 3 on the Dub-O-Meter for value and some star power.  If the set came with a helmet sundae, it would have easily been given a 5.  Speaking of, I’m going to get a blizzard!

Dub Score – 3

Scoring Scale

1. Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards.  Just read the post and thank me later.
2. There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.

3. Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.

4. You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did!  It has some downside but worth the ride.

5. Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking!  What are you waiting on?