Heisman Highlight: Les Horvath

Name: Les Horvath
Position: Quarterback
College: Ohio State Buckeyes
Class: Senior
Winning Year: 1944 – 10th Award
Official Heisman Profile: Click Here

Interesting Notes: Horvath won the Heisman in a very close competition and edged out two Army sophomore standouts…led OSU to an undefeated season by superior skills in passing, rushing, blocking, kicking, and tackling…graduated with degree in dentistry…served in Navy as dental officer and assistant football coach…played for a few years in the pro ranks…established a successful dental office while coaching when his playing years ended…was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1969.

Featured Card: 1948 Bowman #41. Despite never being a professional standout, Horvath was included in the 1948 set from Bowman, several years before many of his Heisman winning peers who had to wait until the 1955 Topps All American set. There are not many copies currently available on eBay, but all of them fall right into the $20 ballpark.

NOTE: You can find all of my Heisman Highlight Features by clicking the post banner above.

Heisman Highlight: Bruce Smith

Name: Bruce Smith
Position: Halfback
College: Minnesota Golden Gophers
Class: Senior
Winning Year: 1941 – 7th Award
Official Heisman Profile: Click Here

Interesting Notes: Smith helped lead the way for two straight undefeated national championships at Minnesota…was one of the fastest backs in the Big 10 Conference despite his large frame…was voted the best college player in the 1941 All-Star game…received his award two days after Pearl Harbor bombing and had an air raid signaled during his speech…was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1972.

Featured Card: 1948 Bowman #104. As one of the first Heisman winners to play in the NFL, Smith was included in the 1948 Bowman set. Not to be mistaken for the HOF defensive lineman, this vintage card runs in the $35 range on eBay.

NOTE: You can find all of my Heisman Highlight Features by clicking the post banner above.

HOF Spotlight: Otto Graham

Name: Otto Graham
Position: Quarterback
Pro Career: 1946 – 1955
Team Affiliation(s): Cleveland Browns
College: Northwestern
Induction Class: 1965

Brief Bio: Every great team needs a great leader. For the post-WWII Cleveland Browns, a team that won league or division titles in 10 straight years, Otto Graham was that great leader. A strong tailback in college, Graham was transformed into a T-formation field general when he became the very first player signed by the legendary Paul Brown as he formed his new team. After 4 hugely successful years in the AAFC, the Browns quieted all critics when the achieved the same success in the NFL starting in 1950. In Graham’s ten-year career, the Browns played in 10 straight championship games, winning 7 of those titles, and he was named first-team all-league quarterback 9 times.

Career Stats: 126 games played; 23,584 passing yards; 174 passing TDs; 882 rushing yards; 44 rushing TDs; 7 interceptions returned for 102 yards; 1 interception TD; 1 fumble recovery TD

Featured Card: 1950 Bowman #45. As the quarterback for one of the era’s most successful teams, it is no wonder Graham was included in this early NFL set. He had already been playing professional pigskin for a few years, but 1950 was his rookie season in a sense as it was his (and Browns organization’s) first year in the NFL after much success in the AAFC. Trivial Beckett value of this card is $450. While most eBay prices are below $300, there is one listed at a ridiculous $1,999.99. Even for a BVG 8.5, that is far too high in my book. If you are looking to add this card to your collection, you will need to spend a pretty penny, but do so wisely. Always look out for counterfeits and disreputable sellers.

NOTE: You can find all of my Hall Of Fame Spotlight Features by clicking the HOF Spotlight banner above.

Bon Voyage, Topps

I tell you what, fall asleep at the wheel (or take a night off to spend quiet time with the wife), and you miss out on some big news. By now, I’m sure you’ve already heard about the tragic news from other, more reliable sources (even a shady one).

After all of the drama that unfolded early in 2009 with the NBA awarding Panini an exclusive license and then MLB following suit over the summer with Topps, I tried to convince myself that the NFL and Players, Inc., the official licensing body for the NFL Players Association, would not be dumb enough to do the same thing. Yesterday, it was announced that while they were not quite as dumb, they are trying awfully hard. Players, Inc. has announced that Topps will not receive a renewed license for football cards when its current contract expires in February.

We are not just losing amazing Chrome and Refractor technology (unless someone else figures out a way to step up to the plate). We are losing the longest running base set in the football Hobby. We are losing the most sought after rookie cards (Bowman). We are losing quality products at reasonable prices. We are losing choice. We are losing variety. We are losing Topps.

Topps.

The single most recognizable brand in sports cards.

Gone from football.

WTF.

Live Today: 2009 Bowman Sterling

Promising to provide some of the year’s best rookie cards, 2009 Bowman Sterling is hitting hobby shop shelves today. The much anticipated hobby exclusive release is available in boxes of 6 packs of 5 cards each. The base set consists of a variety of base, autograph, relic, and autographed relic cards, as well as parallels and variations.

The set contains 50 base rookie cards serial numbered in several parallels (Refractor #/199, White #/89, Black #/50, Gold #/25, and Red 1/1). There are also 50 autographed rookie base cards with several parallels (Refractor #/75, Black #/25, Gold #/10, White #/5, and Red 1/1). Additionally, there are 85 relic base cards, consisting of 34 rookies and 51 veterans and legends, also available in several parallels (Refractor #/199, Black #/50, Gold #/25, White #/5, and Red 1/1). And if that wasn’t enough, there are 25 rookie and 20 veteran autographed relic base cards with several parallels (Refractor #/75, Black #/25, Gold #/10, White #/5, and Red 1/1). Also inserted into 2009 Bowman Sterling are all 4 printing plates used to print the 85 rookie and veteran relic cards, the 50 non-autograph rookie base cards, and the 50 autographed rookie base cards. Finally, there are dual autographed cards seeded one per 4-box case that include autographs from 40 current and retired NFL players on numbered gold Refractor cards.

 

Each tiny thumbnail leads to a full sized scan

Per Box Breakdown: 6 packs of 5 cards each (30 cards total), including 12 rookie cards (2 per pack), 6 autographed cards (1 per pack), 12 relic cards (2 per pack), and 2 autographed relic cards. Each 4-box inner display case will also contain 1 dual autographed card. This adds up to more than 30 cards per box, so an autographed relic or dual autograph will obviously replace a single autographed card in that respective pack.

My first thought is, wow, that is one confusing product checklist. Obviously this is a product specifically designed for the higher-end collector who chases valuable cards or is a player collector who is not afraid to lay down top dollar for his/her favorite player(s). If you are strictly a set collector, stay as far away from this product as possible! If the pre-release mock ups you see above are accurate to the actual release, I think the cards are actually pretty good looking. They may be a tad too shiny though as the images above almost have a shine to them on the computer screen, without being printed on foil board. I am interested to see how all the parallel colors are worked into the design. Is there a border like Topps Chrome, or is the entire design the specific parallel color? Whatever the case, these cards do promise to be highly sought after and able to fetch some nice money on the secondary market, especially from prospectors who have their rookie targets all picked out. Boxes can be purchased for about $230. At almost $8 per card, that is way too rich for my blood, but I’m sure there are plenty of collectors who are pumped up and plan to buy cases of this stuff. I would love to see some singles in person, but that is probably as close as I’ll get.

What do you guys think? Is this right up your alley, or are you passing on this mid-to-high end product?

When Players Switch Teams

The recent signings of Michael Vick and Brett Favre, and the subsequent card announcements from Upper Deck, Topps, and Panini have got me to thinking about the whole first-card-for-new-team scenario. It seems that card makers have several options when it comes to players switching teams. Obviously the very late signings of Vick and Favre created a whole new host of problems when it came to including them in sets, so I am talking mostly about a basic trade or free agent situation. Just like almost any football card related topic, I am going to fall back to my Emmitt Smith collection for examples.

 

Click each image for a full sized scan

1. The Old Jersey with New Logo Card This is probably the most typical trade/free agent card. For almost every product released, except high end cards released well after the season begins, companies use game action shots from the year before. When a player switches teams during the off-season, obviously there are no game photos to be used. Often a photo featuring the player in his old uniform will be used, but the card will show the new team’s name and logo. This is probably the cleanest way to take care of the new team issue, but it can get messy for team collectors. Do you obtain a card because the player is still in your favorite team’s jersey, or stay away because it has an enemy logo on the front?

2. The Press Conference Card This concept was used a lot for draft picks just a few years ago, especially in basketball for some reason. Personally, I hate these cards. I applaud the care companies trying to use the most recent photograph possibly, showing the player “happily” displaying his new jersey or team hat. However, these guys are paid to play the game. I do not care that Emmitt Smith can afford a fine Italian suit. I want to see him in pads and helmet about to cross the goal line or lay a devastating stiff arm. Forunately, these cards seem to be losing popularity amongst the card manufacturers.

3. The Practice Jersey Card This is another, better attempt at the companies trying to get the most recent photography possible to show the player as a part of his new team. Obviously for products released before the season begins, it is impossible to get a real game action shot, so a practice shot is the next best thing. Quarterback cards are probably the worst in this category because of the blinding red protection jerseys they often wear in practice, as seen in the recently released images of the new Vick and Favre Upper Deck cards. Some collectors seem to prefer these over other pre-season options, while others hate them.

4. The Air Brushed Card Now before I get too much criticism, I realize the Emmitt card above was probably not air brushed by a graphic design employee of Donruss. This just happens to be the only Emmitt card I have that shows him in a true Cardinals jersey before he actually played for the Cardinals. One recent example of a true air brushed card is the upcoming 2009 Topps Finest card of Brett Favre. Topps did not wait until Favre played a game (pre-season or real) to get this shot. They simply pulled an older photo and changed the jersey colors and logos. This was very common practice in vintage card sets when team jerseys and helmets were much simpler and card companies often used the same player photo year after year
(h/t Gellman and Nearmint).

What do you guys think? If it’s too early to get a true action shot of a player in his new jersey, which option would you rather see used?