Mail Day: 05.30.09

Today the mailman (not sexist, a male does deliver my mail) brought two special little items for me. One was an Emmitt Smith card I bought off eBay last week. There are a few others on the way, so I am being lazy and waiting to scan it until they all arrive so I can do it in one shot.

The other package was what you see below.  A “fresh” box of 1999 Topps Finest football, also purchased on eBay last week. This weekend is a bit busy, but hopefully I will get a chance to bust this and get my first full product review posted sometime next week.

Click image for a larger view

Underrated Set

To me, there are very few base sets better than 1997 Skybox Premium. The cards featured a very simple yet effective design. The player photos were great action shot cut-outs on top of a star-blurred out background that faded to brilliant team color. The end result is a crisp, vibrant base card that just looks nice. It does not feature a high gloss finish, but just enough to set it apart from the junk wax of the mid 80s.

The inserts included with 1997 Skybox Premium were not the greatest, save one. AUTOgraphics was probably the greatest autograph set I have ever seen. I was not lucky enough to pull any of these in the football release, although I do have a Theo Ratliff from some basketball wax I busted back in the day. The autos are all on-card and also feature a good, clean design, which is probably why they have maintained their value on the secondary market more than a decade after their release. The Emmitt Smith auto can be yours (or mine) for around $200. That’s more than I want to spend for one card at this point in my life, but I would LOVE to have that card! But for now, I’ll settle for this beautiful base card:

What do you guys think? Is this a great base set card, or have I been fishing under power lines too much?

HOF Spotlight: Sammy Baugh

Name:“Slingin’” Sammy Baugh
Position: Quarterback
Pro Career: 1937 – 1952
Team Affiliation(s): Washington Redskins
College: Texas Christian
Induction Class: 1963 – Charter Member

Brief Bio: In a time when football players were versatile athletes, Sammy Baugh was a prolific quarterback, punter, and defensive back. In 1943, Baugh led the league in passing, pass interceptions, and punting to become the first player to win a triple crown. Slingin’ Sammy changed the face of professional football from a grind-it-out ground game to one that embraced and flourished via aerial passing. To this day, Baugh is considered to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Career Stats: 165 games played, 21,886 passing yards; 187 passing TDs; 56.5% completion percentage; 31 interceptions (11 in 1943); 45.1 punting average.

Featured Card: 1948 Leaf #34. Baugh had already been playing for several years, but many consider this to be one of his rookie cards (along with the 1948 Bowman). Trivial Beckett Value is $600. You can find one on eBay for much less, but as with any vintage card, condition is a huge factor. Use caution when looking to purchase an old card like this one. Look for one that is graded by a reputable company, such as PSA.

Amazing Collection

While doing some “homework” for my upcoming HOF Spotlight series (look for the first edition tonight!), I stumbled across this website.  This is the most HOF autos I have ever seen in one place. I am simply speechless after viewing this amazing collection. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

Click image to enter collection

New Feature: HOF Spotlight

Here at First and Goal, I am pleased to announce a new feature: Hall of Fame Spotlight. This reoccurring spotlight will feature a different member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, give some basic career statistics or highlights, and showcase at least one card of the member that you should consider adding to your collection. I will start with the charter class of 1963 and work my way through the Class of 2009 (or 2012 by the time I get through the current 253 members).

For anyone who would like to stir up some controversy, rest assured that the HOF Spotlight will be different than The Definitive Collection over at Bad Wax. In fact, I already ran this idea past Mike, so any and all copycat comments are completely unwarranted.

Be sure to check back for this new feature in the near future. And I promise my next post will actually have some substance, rather than just another preview of future posts.

Preview of a Review

One of the things I am hoping to accomplish with this blog is product reviews of new and old football card releases. My wife and I are currently in house-hunt mode, so that means we are also in penny-pincher mode. So while I am not able to drop top dollar to buy and review the latest and greatest football products, I am going to focus on some older sets.

I have just bought a very cheap box of 1996 Playoff Contenders Trophy from eBay and am hoping it arrives in a few days. I do not have any Emmitt Smith cards from this set, so I’m hoping I will have some success in that department as well. I am also currently the highest bidder on two other hobby boxes from the late ’90s, so hopefully those will be headed my way soon as well (although I do not plan to increase my current max bid to ensure this happens).

So be on the lookout for the first product review here at First and Goal in the next week. Hopefully it will be only the beginning of a long list of product reviews in the future…