1991 Enor Pro Football Hall of Fame

Guys, there are more than 50 contributors to this blog, but it seems like if I don't post for awhile the whole thing goes dark. Don't let this happen! In fact, just to be a jerk, I'm going to post really terrible football packs until we see some life from a few of the other APTBNL writers. Do you really want this? Do you?

118 - Hugh "Shorty" Ray (Yes, I've resorted to posting ref cards! Actually, this guy isn't even a ref. He's a suit!)

103 - Ernie Stautner

89 - Sid Luckman (Pioneer of the "T" formation. Three running backs! What the hell?)

29 - George Connor

151 - (Willis didn't play in the NFL for his first 4 professional seasons because it was racist.)

138 - Y.A. Tittle

37 - Bill Dudley (Halfback / Defensive Back / Punter / Kicker)

80 - Tom Landry (It's hard not to put "laundry" when typing his name.)

86 - Bobby Layne (All of the card backs look like this.)

15 - Mel Blount (No relation to LeGarrette as far as I know.)

1999 Pacific Prism

I'm not sure what to say about this other than that it appears to be the 1999 version of Bowman Platinum. It's super shiny, but utterly pointless and not that satisfying. At least I can say that I didn't pay full price. Enjoy?

148 - Jose Cruz Jr. (Cruz had a rather strange career that landed him in many uniforms.)

3 - Darin Erstad (These were some of my least favorite MLB uniforms of all-time.)

59 - Brian Hunter (Hunter is a native of my home town - Portland, Oregon. I don't really have any memories of him, though.)

1982 Topps Football Stickers

One of the crown jewels of the contest box of junk wax was this apparently already opened 1982 Topps Football sticker packet. Someone either opened it or the wrapper peeled apart, so it was placed in a team bag and sealed back up for someone like me to reveal. I've actually never heard of any of these players (didn't really start following football until the early '90s) but I'm sure they are awesome.

59 - Pat Thomas (Thomas was a cornerback for the L.A. Rams for 7 seasons, intercepting a career total of 26 passes including one for a TD. He coached in the USFL, NFL and college ranks for some 20+ years.)

89 - Johnny Perkins (The late Johnny Perkins was a wide receiver who spent his entire 7 year career with the Giants.)

94 - Mark Haynes (Haynes was a cornerback who was selected to three Pro Bowls with the Giants and made it to three Super Bowls with the Broncos.)

180 - Pete Johnson (Johnson spent most of his 8 year NFL career with the Bengals, playing running back. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 1981.)

262 - Lester Hayes ("The Judge" was apparently a big Star Wars fan. He played corner for 10 seasons with the Raiders, appearing in 5 Pro Bowls. I lied. I have heard of this guy.)

43 - Tom Skladany (Nothing is sadder than a lonely miscut punter.)

2005 Merrick Mint Baseball Quarters

Tucked away on the shelf where I normally get my bargain priced mid-'90s baseball junk packs were a curious lot of "Baseball Quarter" packs with the same familiar 50 cent price. Dare I try one? Of course I dare. Just one, though, because I have no idea what this product is. Each pack apparently providers a "colorized statehood" quarter with a baseball player on it. Let's check it out.

And hey... what do y'know? I couldn't have picked a better pack. My quarter turned out to be THE Albert Pujols. Speaking of currency, hopefully the Cardinals have the ability to print their own money because they're going to need to lock up Mr. Pujols here soon before my head explodes. This is an actual quarter that is painted on as you can see some of the etchings peeking through.

The back of the quarter didn't scan so well, so if you can't tell by the image it's an old Missouri quarter that was released in 2003.

But wait... there's more! Here's the special bonus offer! Look at all of the fun players you can get!

#1 Collectible in U.S. History. Chew on that for awhile.

This is almost trying to be an actual baseball card here. Hey, it's something I can put in my Cardinals binder at least.

Some true facts about the great state of Missouri. Hopefully they are true, anyway. I have my suspicions considering the "#1 Collectible in U.S. History" card seen previously.

1995 Score Series 2

I've heard a great deal of negative things about 1995 Score. If you want to judge it by its wrapper, then... sure... that's fair. I happen to think the design, or at least the base design, is one of the best base level Score efforts. The photography also happens to be pretty good (or at least interesting) which is par for the course for Score. I picked this pack up for 50 cents recently.

393 - Cal Eldred (I share something with this former Cardinals reliever that my girlfriend always lets me hear about.)

437 - Ken Griffey Jr. (Great looking card of one of the most iconic players of the '90s.)

422 - Kenny Lofton (Another winner.)

394 - Jason Bere

589 - Darren Bragg Gold Rush (Unfortunately, these "gold rush" parallels are kind of hideous.)

561 - Tony Gwynn Hitters Inc. (Okay, I guess this is where my love affair with 1995 Score ends. Great player... great pack so far, even. But this subset is an absolute eyesore.)

582 - Chan Ho Park

604 - Checklist

455 - Bret Boone (Making the turn...)

497 - Armando Reynoso

528 - Salomon Torres

473 - Bill Taylor (Well, you can't win 'em all. At least this picture is better than the creepy Hitters Inc. eyes.)

2010-11 Panini Threads Basketball

It's a new year, so we may as well do it up right and start things off with some new product. I do wish there was a brand new baseball set to write about, but it seems like there isn't much baseball on the shelves right now during the offseason besides the flashy chromey stuff and Topps Update which has already been well covered by now.

111 - Al Harrington (Harrington had the requisite amount of tattoos to become a member of the Nuggets this past offseason. His numbers have declined steadily since his career year a couple of seasons ago with the Knicks.)

68 - LaMarcus Aldridge (Before the Blazers got Greg Oden, Aldridge had become an instant fave of mine. Since Oden is more of an idea than an actual NBA player at this point, and Aldridge is still undervalued by the league, I should seriously consider collecting the hell out of his stuff.)

125 - Tyler Hansbrough (Someone give this guy some playing time so there might be some takers for his jersey auto that I pulled a year ago.)

83 - Al Jefferson (I always get Al Harrington and Al Jefferson mixed up. Luckily, this one also switched teams in the offseason.)

170 - Brandon Jennings

119 - Shane Battier

76 - Tony Parker (If you were to say that Tony Parker was on the wrong side of 30, you would be wrong. He just happens to get hurt every season. Watch... now it will happen!)

133 - Rudy Gay (Another underappreciated player whose career could likely benefit from a change of scenery.)

91 - Jamal Crawford

49 - David West (This franchise is on life support. They never should have been allowed to leave Charlotte.)