Silly Stuff

Unflattering Sideline Shots on 1978 Topps Cards

February 18th, 2013  |  Published in Funny Poses, Silly Stuff

I have been busy scanning 1978 Topps cards for the Vintage Football Card Gallery, and I have been amused by some of the images on the cards. The set contains a lot of sideline shots, so it’s no surprise that the players aren’t looking their best. Here are just a couple of beauties: Tom Banks going for the oxygen mask, and Bill Lenkaitis sporting an Ed Grimley ‘do.
Tom Banks 1978 Topps football cardBill Lenkaitis 1978 Topps football card
Both players cleaned up well. Here are Banks and Lenkaitis on their 1976 Topps cards.
Tom Banks 1976 Topps rookie football cardBill Lenkaitis 1976 Topps football card
I am only about half done with the images, but you can scroll through the rest of the 1978 Topps cards here.

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Rough Riders at Night

January 28th, 2013  |  Published in CFL Cards, Funny Poses, Silly Stuff

Last week, while adding 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, I was amused by some of the images. Many of the photos appear to have been taken at night, with a flash. The photos weren’t bad if the player filled the frame, such as on Danny Nykoluk’s card. The effect didn’t work so well with action shots, however. Check out Jerry Campbell, who looks as if he was caught by a nighttime wildlife camera. And Ron Stewart and Wayne Giardino, who appear to have tripped the camera a little early!
Jerry Campbell 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL football carddeer_nighttime_photo
(Photo of deer courtesy of Chert Hollow Farm, LLC. Thanks, Eric and Joanna!)

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Mr. Irrelevant, Revisited

January 25th, 2013  |  Published in New in the Gallery, Silly Stuff

Jacque MacKinnon 1964 Topps rookie football cardTo make them easier to find, I am converting some of my more popular blog articles into proper web pages and moving them to my Gallery site. Today I converted my article about Mr. Irrelevant and added it to Fun Pages section of the Gallery home page. I recently also converted my Cups of Coffee and Olympic Athletes articles. My experience is that the blog works best for newsy items, and static pages work better for information that doesn’t change much. If you are a site owner and happen to have linked to my blog articles, no worries, the links will be forwarded automatically.

Anyway, if you haven’t a clue who Mr. Irrelevant is, avoid embarrassment and check out the new Gallery page. Mr. Irrelevant 1961, Jacque MacKinnon, is pictured here.

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Have a Holly Jolley Christmas!

December 25th, 2012  |  Published in Silly Stuff

Augustus Holly and Gordon Jolley just about span the range of years represented in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. Next year I hope to add cards into the early 80s–but then maybe it will no longer be just a vintage gallery?

Whatever you celebrate this time of year, I hope it’s been happy for you. Thank you for your business, for visiting my gallery, and for reading my silly blog. Throughout the year, and especially on holidays, I try to remember how fortunate I am to be able to spend money on bits of cardboard. I hope you do, too. Stay in touch in 2013!
Augustus Holly 1894 Mayo Cut Plug football cardGordon Jolley 1976 Topps football card

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Ghosts!

October 31st, 2012  |  Published in Silly Stuff

Red Grange 1933 Sport Kings rookie football cardFor Halloween I thought I’d feature a couple of ghosts. First is a 1933 Sport Kings card of Red “The Galloping Ghost” Grange. This is Grange’s rookie card, one of three football cards in the multi-sport set. You can see the other 1933 Sport Kings football cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Grange also appeared in cards earlier than this: in 1926, the Shotwell Candy Company distributed two sets of cards featuring just him. I added one of the sets, 1926 Shotwell Red Grange Ad Back cards, to the Gallery earlier this year. Though the Shotwell cards were the first cards of Grange, they are not considered his rookie cards because they are a minor issue.

Dave Casper 1977 Topps rookie football cardThe second card pictured here is Dave “The Ghost” Casper’s rookie card, a 1977 Topps. Seeing Casper reminded me of the Raiders’ famous “Holy Roller” play against the Chargers in 1978. I found the play on YouTube; if you haven’t seen it recently, it’s worth a look.

For some scary football cards, check out my Halloween posts from 2009, 2010, and 2011. Happy trick-or-treating!

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Worst Rookie Card Ever?

October 3rd, 2012  |  Published in Silly Stuff

1968 Topps Frank Emanuel rookie football cardI have always thought that this 1968 Topps Frank Emanuel card was the worst rookie card ever. As you can see, the image on the front is awful: Emanuel’s helmet is askew, and you can’t even see his eyes. The back of the card doesn’t help. It happens to be a piece of a Len Dawson puzzle, so Emanuel didn’t even get the customary bio and stats. Topps atoned a bit in 1969, giving him a good looking card, complete with stats on the back.

Any other nominations for worst rookie card ever?

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A Cup of Coffee–Then On to the CFL

August 30th, 2012  |  Published in CFL Cards, Silly Stuff

Last week, when I added 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, I discovered that three of the players in the set had played in exactly one NFL game before going to the CFL. So I added the three players–Greg Barton, Don Jonas, and Benjy Dial–to my Cups of Coffee page. If you haven’t seen it, have a look!
Greg Barton 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL football cardDon Jonas 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL football cardBenjy Dial 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL football card

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Happy Friday the 13th!

April 13th, 2012  |  Published in Football Card Trivia, Silly Stuff

Don Maynard 1962 Fleer football cardWhen I realized that today was Friday the 13th, I tried to think of players on vintage football cards who wore number 13. Don Maynard is the most famous player I came up with; he is pictured here on his 1962 Fleer card. Do any others come to mind? Dan Marino wore number 13, but his rookie card is a 1984 Topps, and I wouldn’t call it a vintage card.

Don Maynard had a long career with the New York Titans/Jets, but did you know that he spent his rookie year with the New York Giants? You can see him, wearing number 13, on the 1959 Topps Giants team card. Maynard played for the Giants just one season, 1958, but Topps used the Giants’ 1958 team photo on cards from 1959 to 1963. So, from 1961 to 1963, Maynard appeared on cards from both New York teams!

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I Hart You

February 13th, 2012  |  Published in Silly Stuff

Happy Valentine’s Day! Last year I gave you Flowers, this year it’s Harts. Here we go:

First is Leon Hart, a Heisman Trophy winner and College Hall of Famer. Hart played eight seasons for the Detroit Lions, and he appeared on at least twelve football cards. His rookie card, the 1948 Leaf pictured here, was issued while he was still at Notre Dame. It is a high number and one of the key cards in the set.
Leon Hart 1948 Leaf rookie football card
Next is Pete Hart, who played for the New York Titans in the AFL’s inaugural season, 1960. (The Titans were renamed the Jets in 1963.) Hart appeared on a 1961 Fleer card and the 1961 Fleer Wallet Picture shown here.
Pete Hart 1961 Fleer Wallet Picture
Jim Hart was a quarterback for nineteen seasons in the NFL, all but one of them for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a Pro Bowler for four straight seasons, 1974 to 1977. Hart appeared on a lot of football cards; the one pictured here is a 1968 Topps Stand-Up insert card.
Jim Hart 1968 Topps Stand Up football card
Doug Hart played from 1964 to 1971 for the Green Bay Packers. He had the NFL’s longest interception return in 1969, an 85-yarder. The Packers had a lot of great players in the 1960s, of course, so Hart didn’t appear on a card until 1970. His 1970 Topps card is pictured here. He also made it onto a 1972 Sunoco Stamp, but he did not play in 1972.
Doug Hart 1970 Topps football card
Tommy Hart played thirteen seasons for the 49ers, Bears, and Saints. He appeared on several cards during his career; you can see most of them in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. His rookie card, a 1973 Topps, is pictured here.
Tommy Hart 1973 Topps rookie football card
Finally, Harold Hart played four seasons, 1974-1975 and 1977-1978, with the Raiders and Giants. Ironically, his only card is a 1976 Topps that shows him with Tampa Bay, but he didn’t play in 1976, and he never played a regular season game for Tampa Bay. According to his page at bucpower.com, the expansion Buccaneers acquired Hart in the 1976 Veteran Allocation Draft, but he hurt his knee in the pre-season and spent the year on injured reserve.
Harold Hart 1976 Topps football card
That’s all the Harts! Next year, Roseys?

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Scary Ed Hauser

October 30th, 2011  |  Published in Silly Stuff, Team Issue Photos

Art Hauser 1955 Los Angeles Rams team issue photoHappy Halloween! Here is this year’s scary card, a 1955 Rams Team Issue photo of Art Hauser. It’s not quite as scary as last year’s Ed Cooke card, but I would definitely have gotten out of Art’s way. (Click on the image–if you dare!–for a life-size, scarier version.)

There are a lot of great poses in the 1955 Rams photo set. Perhaps the Rams’ proximity to Hollywood induced the players to ham it up a bit. You can read more about the set in an earlier blog article.

Enjoy trick-or-treating!

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