Monday, May 31, 2010

1993 Topps Flintstones Movie Cards

The Topps Flintstones movie cards feature 8 cards per pack plus a sticker.  In every 36 packs, one could find 2 etched foil cards as a bonus.  This was not one of those.

The cards are laid out with a stone-style border and the movie's logo.  Centered on each card is a scene or character from the movie.  At the bottom of each card, a caption appears giving the collector a glimpse of what's happening.

The backs of the cards feature a split solid color/rock-themed background.  The text on the back is black, making it very difficult to read much of the reverse-side copy.  The backs also sport a close-up of an alternate photo from the same scene or character.  It's like looking at a Bedrock version of Upper Deck cards.
Each pack has a sticker with the obligatory "PEEL" (because we think you are an idiot and don't know know to work a sticker) on the front.  The sticker backs can be used to make a puzzle. 

I have to say, I do remmber going to see the movie in college with friends. That's all I remember.

Ironically, "Switcheroo" is the title of a short story I wrote. It has nothing to do with Fred or Barney.

1992 ProSport Peanuts Classics Series 2

As we've seen numerous times already (just check the side bar with packs we've already opened!), the 90's were a time for anyone and everyone to produce card sets.  To that end, ProSport Specialties Inc created a set in collaboration with Charles Shulz featuring "Peanuts Classics."

Each card shows a single comic frame on the front, surrounded by either a gold or silver border and the "Peanuts" logo.  On the back, the entire comic strip appears which contains the frame on the front!  It is a VERY cool concept in my book!

Not every card's front image is the first frame of the strip itself.  I think that is also a very clever way to have developed this set of cards.

Rather than bore you to tears with my own witty banter, I will step aside and let the master do the talking:


This is a cross-blog post. Related articles appear on the following blogs:
A Pack To Be Named Later
A Pack A Day
Things Done To Cards

1991 Topps American Gladiators

As it turns out, Jhongy posted a pack of these just over a year ago (HERE).  I hadn't done my research before scanning these in, so here is a follow-up. Not surpisingly, there are several cards that we both had in our respective packs.  Also not surprisingly, I did not follow the show much.

I ended up with the sam esticker that Jhongy got in his pack.

The cards feature stills from the show and weird borders on the cards.  Many also sport stupid puns. It was the 90's. Everyone was doing it.


My brother-in-law (who is a 20-something) loves the show - the original version and the remake. In fact, today (Memorial Day), we watched the championship tournament from the second series.  That is what prompted me to open this pack in the first place.

1991 Leaf Series 2 Baseball

I have been ripping junk wax like its going out of style. Wait, it is? Okay. This rip is of 1991 Leaf Series 2. The foil pack promises 15 baseball cards and 3 puzzle pieces. I was a little bit psyched when I saw no one had ripped any of this for this great blog. I was honored to be the first. I couldn’t wait to tear into this as I remembered it being a really cool set. I was wrong. I had it confused with another 90s Leaf issue. I think this photo-corners idea gone wrong set is one of the ugliest sets of the junk wax era. Anyway, here is what I got:
Card #526 of Braves pitcher Juan Berenguer. Card #519 of former AL ROY Greg Olson. Card #512 of Padres catcher Tom Lampkin. This guy has a 13-year long big league career. Card #397 of his teammate in San Diego, third baseman Scott Coolbaugh. Coolbaugh's career was a little shorter, lasting only 4 seasons, but he did hit 2 homers in each of those 4 seasons. Card #445 of Giants right fielder Mike Felder. Card #437 of Mets closer John Franco. The 4-time All Star had a 21-year long career and saved 424 games, good for 4th of All Time. Card #467 of Carmelo Martinez. Card #474 of Padres second baseman Marty Barrett. This pack is full of Padres! Barrett only spent one year in San Diego. He spent the first 9 with the Red Sox who grabbed Barrett with the first pick in the 1979 draft. Card #409 of Jaime Navarro. Son of Julio “Whiplash” Navarro. If anyone knows where the elder Navarro got that nickname, please enlighten me. Card #430 of Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken. The Iron Man, now we’re talking! As much as I hate this set, I don’t mind the back of the card. I like the black and silver coloring with the small color photo and I like that they have everyone’s COMPLETE stats on the back. You can see that Cal hit .180 for Charlotte in 1979. I wonder if prospectors were ready to write him off after that. Card #411 of Dodgers centerfielder Brett Butler. I liked Butler as a player. Gritty tough and always playing hard. He did think he was a lot faster than he was though. He led the league in caught stealing 3 times and ranks third All Time in that dubious category. He was successful some of the time and it is only fair to point that his 558 steals is 24th All Time. Card #416 of Expos pitcher Chris Nabholz. The back of the card calls him a pleasant surprise after he won 6 games for Montreal in 1990. Not bad for a rookie, but he was a second round pick; I would imagine that was the expectation. Card #418 of Cardinals catcher Rich Gedman, another former Boston player who ended his career in the NL. Gedman had the tough role of taking over as the Red Sox backstop after Carlton Fisk split. He was twice an All Star for the Bo Sox. Card #423 of Texas Rangers Ace Nolan Ryan. I had mentioned after posting the back of Cal Ripken’s card that these were really neat because they showed off the complete statistics both Minor and Major League. Leaf did include all of Ryan’s big league stats, but didn’t include his minor league stats. At 44 years old Ryan struck out over 200 batters for the Rangers in 1991. Over his 27 year career Ryan led the league in strikeouts 11 times, the last time at 43 in ’90. Ryan is of course the career leader in Ks with over 5700. The active strikeout leader is Jamie Moyer who is over 3400 strikeouts behind Ryan, so I think his record is safe for now. The last card out of the pack is card #404 of Cardinals pitcher Juan Agosto. The back of the card lists Agosto’s home town as Sarasota, Florida, the town next to mine. Agosto broke into baseball with the White Sox whose spring training home is Sarasota. A lot of us moved to this area to play ball and just stayed here. The final “card” in the pack was my three Harmon Killebrew puzzle pieces. I have been becoming more of a fan of the Killer of late and was psyched to put together a puzzle of him, but you can’t really tell who it is from these 3 pieces. Well, that is it. Another pack down for the 200 pack plus group break. 15 more cards including 2 Hall of Famers. Not too shabby I guess. Does anyone like the design of this set? I’d love to hear from someone who digs it. Maybe I am just being petty. Thanks for reading. I love this hobby! Pack ripping forever! Troll out.