Sunday, February 25, 2024

Grandmama - 90's NBA Marketing Genius?

If you were a fan of the NBA in the 90's, then you were exposed to a plethora of NBA stars and of course the products they endorsed. In a sports world seemingly dominated by the likes of Nike, Converse stepped up to the plate with their spokesman, Larry Johnson, forward of the Charlotte Hornets at the time. The Converse executives didn't just stop there however as they took it a step further. In their first commercial, Larry Johnson stated that you couldn't beat his Grandmama.

Long before Tyler Perry would unveil his Madea character, we had Larry Johnson and Grandmama. At the time there wasn't anything else like it on TV. The commercials stood out on TV and of course now in people's memories. Take a massive athlete like Larry and put him in a dress with pearls and a gray wig, playing basketball and you have the birth of a great marketing campaign. I would love to know who's idea this was and what was Larry's first reaction upon being introduced to it.


In 2024 do people still remember these Grandmama commercials? I don't follow the NBA like I used to, but I find these commericals to be just as hilarious now as I did then. I gotta say though I don't remember the last few that featured the Phoenix Sun's Kevin Johnson. None the less I loved watching Larry Johnson play, especially in those early years in Charlotte. While I have a good many 90's LJ cards in my Hornets collection, I never knew until recently that the card company Front Row manufactured a small 7 card set in 1993 that focused on the Grandmama character. I picked up a set not that long ago just out of sheer curiosity.

 

I absolutely love this set! I never cared that much for the various colligate sets that Front Row produced in the early 90's, but this set brings back so many memories. Each card shares the same overall design with the Converse logo in the upper left corner and a simple "Grandmama" in the upper left corner, while the Front Row basketball logo adorns the bottom right corner. The back of the cards give as a simple write up with the 7th card featuring a checklist on the back. For additional info you can check out the Trading Card Database listing for this set.

After I got into collecting baseball cards, it wasn't long before the NBA caught my attention with their cards. It was a great time to be a collector as all of the card manufactures of the time were releasing some great cards/sets. Discovering small sets like this 1993 Front Row Converse set makes collecting basketball cards fun again.

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Filling Those Want Lists Courtesy of Cardbarrel.com


The other day I ran across a thread in a Facebook card group where guys were talking about different methods they used to fill holes in their sets. Of course the usual suspects were mentioned, COMC and Sportslots, but then someone mentioned Cardbarrel.com, which was a first for me. Well the other day I checked out the site and started looking around and was pleasantly surprised to find so many cards listed that I needed for some of my early 90's sets. On 12/23/23 I put together a small order to give their services a try and on the 27th my order was on my doorstep...talk about great service/fast turn around time!


My order consisted of 133 total cards. 1991 Topps, 1994 Fleer Extra Bases, 1994 Pacific, 1994 Sportflics, 1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection and 1995 UC3, With shipping my total came to roughly $40.00. Most of the commons were priced around $.16 each with the Museum Collection parallels priced at $.50 each.

Now that I've had time to unpack the order and catalog these cards to my collection in TCDB.com, I have to say I'm very satisfied overall. Their listings aren't as detailed as what you'll find on TCDB, so some of the 1991 Topps cards were exactly what I ordered.


Cards #048 and #608 that I needed for the set, I ended up w/ the glow back variant! This was a difference in the order that I was more than happy with.


There are a plethora of errors in 1991 Topps so unfortunately the card of Jose Gonzalez (#279) I was sent was the error that depicted Billy Ashley on the card front. Needless to say this card is still on my want list. #526 that I was sent was also an error, listing 37 runs scored for the Pirates in 1990. This one too is still on the want list. 

Again, I'm very happy w/ the service/cards I've received and I will be back to place more orders. I'm trying to give my early 90's sets a little more attention, finishing them off and fill up those binders I've made and I found this site to be a great help. Eventually I'll re-open myself to trading on TCDB, but for now it's nice to put some huge dents in some of these sets.

Want List totals after purchase:

1991 Topps: 9 cards (048, 097, 279, 526, 552, 570, 608, 661, 706)
1994 Fleer Extra Bases: 12 cards (160, 177, 178, 180, 187, 193, 199, 229, 232, 258, 261, 345)
1994 Pacific: 136 cards (I only grabbed a small amount of what I needed)
1994 Sportflics: base set completed!
1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection: 238 (I only picked up cards from Series 1 in this order)
1995 UC3: 3 cards (035, 115, 125)

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Box Score Debut

In one of my recent Affordable Group Breaks we came across an image of a player holding an old camera on the card and one of the participants commented how they liked seeing a card featuring old tech. In 2002 Fleer released a set called Box Score which contained an insert set called Debut. Embedded in the card was a box score as it would have appeared in the newspaper US Today from that player's debut game. I happen to have this card of the Blue Jays' Eric Hinske. While I don't know if this clipping is manufactured for the set or an actual newspaper clipping, I find it cool none the less...bit it got me to thinking. Would collectors of this generation even be able to relate to a card like this? I guess if you were to "modernize" this set you'd have to insert a small phone screen! Hey, what can I say, I'm getting old.

Now, get off my lawn.

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Catching Up...

I've done a much better job in 2023 at keeping my toy blog going, but this trading card blog has kinda fell to the side. After starting up a Facebook group to host my group breaks, I just haven't really thought much about utilizing this blog...which is a shame on many levels. I still like to read other card blogs so it's not like I left the hobby, but I guess at times it's easier to throw up a quick post on Facebook or Twitter/X than it is to try and craft a blog post.

My card collecting has really slowed down in 2023. My limited hobby funds have been allocated to other areas and I feel I've before a little jaded by the current collecting landscape. With what seems like everything shifting over to Fanatics soon, I'm just not sure what to think of current card releases. I try to be optimistic about things, but it's hard to at times. For now however I'm just enjoying casually working on putting together some early to mid-90's baseball sets and picking up cards here and there of some PC guys like Dansby Swanson, Hoy Park, Otis Nixon and some wrasslers too like R-Truth, Candice LaRae and Akira Tozawa.


    

Say what you will about Panini, but I'm going to miss them. While chasing rainbows can be frustrating and expensive, it can also be a lot of fun and Panini has a knack of producing some nice shiny colored parallels.

My boy R-Truth hasn't been on WWE television in quite some time since being injured so I'm a little surprised to see him on the checklist for both 2023 Prizm (above) and Select...but I'm glad I have new cards to search for.


Hoy Park is a newer PC of mine. While his RCs were featured in most 2022 products as a Pittsburg Pirates, he's currently playing on the Braves' AAA team. With Atlanta's loaded infield and with the acquisition of Nicky Lopez, I doubt he'll have much of an opportunity to play in Atlanta. Hasn't stopped me from picking up some of his autos and numbered parallels.

My desire to set build has also diminished, at least for current product. The discounted blasters that have been showing up at Walmart stores has helped me have some desire to finish off the 2022 Archives set. I'm also looking forward to 2023 Allen & Ginter that is slated for release later this month. That's one set that I always look forward to no matter what.

Oh well, thanks for reading my ramblings...that is assuming you made it this far. While I'd love to say that this particular blog will have more activity in the later part of 2023, I don't like to make promises I can't keep. I'm still around...collecting and talking about cards...just not here as much. Take care!

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Pack Break: 2022 Topps Garbage Pail Kids x MLB Series 1


One of the casualties of 2022's on demand products was this crossover of Garbage Pail Kids and MLB. I forget which month I ordered this, but the pack/box finally came at the end of February 2023. This set features exclusive art by Keith Shore, however I wasn't sure what to think as I didn't care for his take on previous on demand products like Project 2020. I'm glad I didn't try to cancel the order because once the pack/box came I was fairly happy with the cards in hand. Let's take a look.






All of these cards are based off original GPK designs, just "touched" up by Keith. My favorite of this lot by far is the card of Albert Pujols. This is based off the card Roy Bot...


I don't recall what the odds were on pulling a numbered parallel, but this Braves fan got lucky!


Bronze "Rinsed Off Ronald" 01/50!

I am a fan of most of the Garbage Pail Kids releases and this one is no different. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the price. Packs I believe were $20 when they first went on sale, which was already expensive, but now they go for about x2 to x3 times that...if you can find them. Series 2 I believe is coming, but I'm not sure I'm going to bother. While these are cool, my money can go further with other GPK sets like the current Vacation series.

Sunday, February 26, 2023

1999 Starting Lineup Extended Series: Greg Maddux

 

Being both a toy collector and a trading card collector with blogs for both hobbies, I wasn't sure which blog to share this figure...however since its sports oriented it landed here. 

I'm not a Starting Lineup collector, however I remember these figures vividly from card shows of the past. I don't want to knock them or anyone who collects these, they just never appealed to me. The only reason I have this one is because I got it for a $1 from a card shop that obviously wanted it gone. The blister bubble is heavily yellowed (my guess is from sunlight or old age), but didn't care as if I was going to buy it I was going to open it...at least for the included baseball card.


I find it mildly fascinating that they would make a figure of Greg Maddux in mid-swing of all poses. Now that MLB has done away with pitchers hitting for themselves in the NL it makes this figure that much more unique. While some NL pitchers did make a name for themselves at the plate (from time to time), I don't recall Maddux doing much with a bat in his hands. None the less at the cheap intro price I couldn't pass it up. He now resides on display behind my baseball card bar in my mancave along with the only other Starting Lineup figure I own of Tim Salmon.

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Fright Rags: My Bloody Valentine (1981)

 

In 1981 Paramount Pictures released a great, often overlooked slasher horror movie, My Bloody Valentine. It's since been re-made, but like a lot of movies from the horror genre that have seen a new version the original is still the best. 

Flash forward to 2023, the movie is receiving a set of trading cards from Fright Rags. I've been on their mailing list for awhile now, more specifically after I discovered they released horror movie trading card sets. I've purchased a few sets from them so when they put up pre-orders for My Bloody Valentine I jumped at the opportunity to buy a box set. Fright Rags sells the cards by the wax pack, complete set or wax box.

If you're not familiar with these offerings, they are done up in an old school style. Fright Rags even does their logo on the packaging to mimic the old style Topps logo. Reminiscent of old Topps movie trading cards like Star Wars or Indiana Jones, these cards feel right at home with grown up collectors. Each card features a still from the movie along with a caption. The back of the card features a small description of the scene pictured on the front. The box set comes with the base set, a few parallels and two stickers. The rear of the stickers features a puzzle image of the movie poster...which look awesome once put (backwards) in a 9 pocket page. Wax Box features two sets, all the stickers and an autograph. They can be pricey ($120) so I opted for the box set.

This images can be a spoiler if you've not seen the movie, so with Valentine's Day coming up I urge you to watch the movie first! If you've seen the movie, then enjoy the card scans. Beware, some of them can be a little graphic.