Sometimes going backwards has its rewards. If you're doing it just for the thrill, it can be exciting. Like when you ride a roller coaster, flying toward the unknown has exhilerating possibilities.
I have come across 1990's cards numerous occasions during my garage sale huntings. I've always opted to pass on them. But I wonder what I've been missing since I stopped collecting modern sport cards in the mid-1980's ?
Well, this weekend, I took a plunge into the card millenium - (1988-2000s) the years they produced over 100 sets per season. A dip into the sheer craziness of mass printed, overkill runs of card companies.
I've seen re-packaged cards in the stores and unopened boxes of 90's stuff at flea markets. But I've never spent a penny. But on this outing I had a vibration - a gut feeling, if you will, when I stopped at Saturday's yard sale. I spotted a cardboard box of well ... cardboard. I glanced without picking, peeking or even checking for stars. I just paid. I paid less than a department store re-pack.
What I got was the pure joy of 2 maybe 3 hours of sorting through trading cards I've not really ever seen or cared about. I sold all my grid iron football cards a few years ago. They were mostly vintage.
What I found in this box were lots of shiny cards that glittered and gleemed. A few players were past retirement and some already in the Football Hall of Fame. This collector had a handful of Barry Sanders issues.
There were a couple of Emmitt Smiths ...
and a couple of Payton Mannings.
There were a few hundred cards in total, some in a sorting long box. The majority were in excellent condition.
All the modern gimmicks were here - the inserts, the numbered cards, subsets and glossy gold and silver. There was even one jersey card of the Lions Joey Harrington. And some college issues.
The only absentees were autograph cards. There were even Canadian CFL cards in the bunch which I thought were pretty cool.
A short list of recognized names included Dion Sanders, Bo Jackson, Warren Sapp, Drew Blesdoe, Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Dante Culpepper, Tory Holt, Charles Woodson, Jerome Bettis, Thurman Thomas, Kevin Greene and Tommy Maddox.
I enjoyed sorting through them and admittedly, tried to recognize alot of the players. To my surprise there were even five 1969 Topps Pittsburgh Steeler cards in the box !
If any of my readers are interested in completing their sets from this group, by all means, email me. I am always open for a trade. Since I do not collect NFL cards, I can be quite generous on my end.