Another Random 8

Since the point of starting this blog was to showcase what was in this giant collection, I figured I better get on the stick.  So with that, I bring you another episode of The Random 8.  These are 8 cards pulled, at random, from a box that I may be currently going through.  Why 8?  Because that is how many fit comfortably on my scanning bed.  These can be anything, all sports, even non-sport.  I'll even attempt to comment.  Also, if I ever show anything you might want, let me know before it goes back to the garage or gets put up for sale.

 (From left to right, Top to bottom)


1.  1993 Skybox Ultraverse II Origins Mantra Promo Card - Another non-sport promo card from a random box.  This one is from the Ultraverse II set produced by Skybox in 1993-1994.  These cards feature artwork created by some of the biggest comic artists of the time.  This particular card features Mantra, a man trapped in a women's body.  The background story, and I'm not a comic guy so bare with me, is that a warrior who was immortal for some reason or another has to become a mortal woman and a sorceress.  How's that for a story line.  The character was created by the comic artist Matt Barr.  There are also autographed versions of these floating around the universe too.

2.  1999 Topps Gold Label Class 1 Todd Hundley - I was always a fan of the Topps Gold Label series.  Any sport, any year.  I like the card stock, the reflective/glossy surface, and the design with multiple cut out shots of the player.  The backs, on the other hand, need some work.  They only show career totals with average stats and career best.  Although, this years set has a short write up on the player.

3.  1992 Wild Card Decision '92 Ross Perot (and George Bush) - This is still sealed in the promo pack it came from originally back in 1992.  Apparently a ton of these were given out during the various campaigns as "special cards" or promos.  They also put out parallels just like the football versions with numbers stripes that could be redeemed and traded through their Trading Card Center.  These were manufactured by AAA Cards.

4.  1992 Topps Stadium Club Batman Returns Promo - These were put out right before the movie was released and featured 100 cards.  The cards show movie photos, behind-the-scenes shots, and also included some production artwork.  I think it would have been cool if they inserted these at random into the baseball and football sets back then.  Could you imagine pulling one of these out of those poorly packaged cellophane wrappers?


5.  1996 Upper Deck A Cut Above Ken Griffey Jr. #CA3 - Another die-cut card by Upper Deck.  The subtitle on this one is "Fun Loving".  "Once in spring training, when he lost a bet for a steak dinner to manager Lou Piniella, he paid up by bringing a live cow into Piniella's office."  That's no bull.  Get it?  Bull.


6.  1980 Topps Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Series II Star Pilot Luke Skywalker - This was from the second series of ESB cards.  It features 132 cards with 33 stickers.  On the back is a trivia question.  "What is the first spaceship ever to be seen in a STAR WARS movie?"  The answer is on card 148.

7.  1993 Gil Elvgren's Ladies of Naughty Nostalgia Promo Pin up Girl - These were produced by Comic Images through Gil Elvgren's publishing company Brown & Bigelow back in 1993.  The cards all feature pin-up girls from the 40s and 50s and were contained in a 90 card set.  There were also three bonus Super Spectra-Scope and three Opti-Prism cards randomly inserted in packs.  I'm surprised I haven't seen more of these around considering the popularity of pin-up art.


8.  2004 Topps Opening Day Gary Sheffield #105 - Nothing special.  Just a base card.  It was just weird that it was sandwiched between some of the ones above.  By this point, Sheff had been in the league for 18 years.  Here we see him contributing to his 2003 Braves season RBI record (which was held by Hank Aaron).

What (if anything) Is The Effect Of Serial Jersey Numbers

I have come across some stuff in a football box that has intrigued me.  Apparently at some point or another, the person that owned this collection at one time felt that it was fun/important/profitable/etc. to accumulate serial numbered cards.  This box has a ton of them.  But something I took note of was the small stack that was separated out in the back of the box.  These cards had notations made on the penny sleeves indicating that the serial number was the player's jersey number.  So I guess my question to all the blog readers/collectors out there is, does serial numbering that shares the same jersey number as the player bring a premium value to the card?

Here are a few examples:

Here is a 1999 Fleer  Trophy Collection Brian Griese of the Denver Broncos.  The card is number 139TC from the set and is serial numbered, (if you click on the picture you can zoom in on the bottom right corner) 14/20.  As we can all see by Brian's wonderful demonstration of how to receive a snap for a field goal/extra point, he dons number 14.  I'm not aware of the current BV on the card and I was unsuccessful at finding any auctions on Ebay or listings on COMC for this one.  I did find a few dealers with the card offered anywhere from $40-60.  Does the fact that his number is the serial number increase the desirability and value of this one?

My second example is this 1999 Donruss Zoning Commission card of Curtis Martin.  As we can see here, Curtis sports his #28 as he puts on the brakes in the endzone.  The card is die-cut on the sides as you can see by the scan.  If we flip the card over...

we see it's number ZC16 and the set is serial numbered out of 1000.  It just so happens that this one is #28, the same number as his jersey.  By checking with COMC, I can see that many of the cards minor stars are listed between $1.50-2.50 while the superstar players are about $8.  Regardless of what I think, Mr. Martin is probably going to be part of the bottom tier when considering the hierarchy of popularity.  The Bay has these selling from $.99-$10 depending on where you look but there was only 1 completed auction for poor Curtis here at $2.99 with no bids.  So I'm definitely going with the $1.50 price tag on this one.  Does the fact that it is numbered the same as his jersey kick this one up a notch?

But what about for superstars?  My final example (and believe me I could keep going with this) is this fine specimen.  It's a 1998 Pacific Dynagon Turf Titanium Turf John Elway #'D/99.  I found this weird case in a box with nothing in it so I thought the Elway would look nice...it does.  Pacific was always good for putting out a billion insert sets into their product and this was no exception.  This comes from a 20 card set with a print run of only 99 cards.  If we flip Mr. Elway over, we find...

that the card is numbered 7/99.  Again, his jersey number is the serial number.  One thing about this set that I found is that despite the player selection, the print run seems to inflate the price.  If we go by BV alone, many of the mid to lower tier players are listed at $20.  Heck, even Ryan Leaf has a $15 tag on him and we know that is ludicrous.  I haven't seen any completed auctions from this set.  There are a few from the 1999 set though with much lower pricing including the Curtis Martin for a buck (man, that guy get's no hobby love).  The current ones for sale are ranging from $10 for guys like Terrell Davis, Napoleon Kaufman, or Corey Dillon; up to $140 for the likes of Peyton Manning.  Sportsbuy has the Marino for $91.  So between the Manning and the Marino, I would probably put Elway at about $100-120.  Does that #7 stamped on the back push this one higher?

I'm curious to hear the hobby communities take on this one. 

Random 8

I haven't been spending much time going through the garage haul lately.  With the weather, work, and other things, there just hasn't been the time. 

Since the point of starting this blog was to showcase what was in this giant collection, I figured I better get on the stick.  So with that, I bring you the Random 8.  These are 8 cards pulled, at random, from a box that I may be currently going through.  Why 8?  Because that is how many fit comfortably on my scanning bed.  These can be anything, all sports, even non-sport.  I'll even attempt to comment.  Also, if I ever show anything you might want, let me know before it goes back to the garage or gets put up for sale.

(left to right; top to bottom)

1.  1991 Impel Marketing, Inc., Marvel National Safe Kids Campaign Trading Card Treats; She-Hulk - Did you know that while driving her flying chartreuse convertible, She-Hulk must yield the right of way to passing pigeons as well as pedestrians?  No really, it says that on the back.  Seriously.

2.  1991 Pepsi Griffey's Set; Ken Griffey Jr. "Throwing from the outfield" #2 -   I remember seeing dealers selling these by the dozens back in the early 90s.  That was back when anyone with a camera and some funds for printing could make a card set.

3.  1993-94 Upper Deck Shawn Bradley #163 Rookie Card - Bradley was the 2nd pick overall by the 76ers in 1993.  I remember the big deal with Bradley, other than his shot blocking, was the fact that he only played his freshman year at BYU.  This is before the rash of post high school draft declarations that are rampant in the NBA today.  Bradley spent two years as a missionary before declaring for the draft.  He was a hair short of being elected to the Utah House of Representatives last fall.

4.  1993 Magic The Gathering "Castle" - Ooooohh! Look.  A Castle.  I never understood these things.  I didn't get the game, the cards, the lifestyle (yes, there was a lifestyle).  I guess it was just too complicated for me.

5.  1997 Lucasfilms Inc. Star Wars "Cloud City Engineer" - I have no problem with Star Wars on any scale but like the Magic card above, these are part of some kind of game that involves dice and cards and cloaks of invisibility and...I just don't get it.

6.  1992 Topps Stadium Club Troy Aikman #695 - This set was always one of my favorites.  I always liked the Skills Rating on the back that show how the player rates on a variety of stats.  Aikman has a 4.7 arm strength, 4.2 mobility rating, 4.6 leadership score, and 4.5 defensive read skill.  I can only assume the scale is out of 5.

7.  1991 Pro Set Walt Disney's Little Mermaid "Sebastien" Stand Up card #9 - You know if the Little Mermaid ever did become a real human, you know she would have cooked up this crab with some butter.  That's what I would have done.

8.  1995 Topps Vampirella Gallery Tall Format Dealer Promo card #P1 - According to the Vampirella Revealed website, this card is the same as card #19 in the set.  It has artwork by Jose Gonzalez and was included in the Vampirella Strikes #1 comic.  There were 6 of these in all.  As you can see by the card, it is a "tall-boy".  As you can also see, wherever she is, it's a little chilly.

A Handful For Sale

I've been pulling random cards from boxes over the last few days and throwing them up on Ebay.  There is a pretty varied mix of stuff from baseball, golf, and basketball.  I will have some football up too in the next few days I think.  No hockey yet, though.  I guess I haven't found it in my heart to part with any of those that I have found yet. 

If you are interested in browsing, the link is on the side bar.