Why doesn't one of the card manufacturers make...

Golfcollector

A new version of the Sport Kings Set? With many of the topps and Bowman Heritage sets being so popular, this one seems like a no brainer to me....

You could have great players from all sports included, and could still keep it to a small 48 or 96 card set. Driving back from the National Convention last summer, the guys I rode with put together our list on this idea. You could of course go back to the era when these were first produced if you wanted to...Here are a few that made sense to us as being greats in their sport since the mid 1930's:

Cycling - Lance Armstrong
Swimming - Mark Spitz
Diving - Greg Lougainis
Track and Field - Carl Lewis - FLo Jo
Bowling - Earl Anthony
Golf - Tiger- Jack - Arnie- Hogan- Snead-Annika
Speed Skating - eric heiden
Billiards _ Willie Masconi - Minnesota Fats
Dog Sledding - Susan Butcher
Soccer - Pele
Boxing - Ali- Tyson-Leonard- Hagler (you could debate this one quite a bit)

The big 3 sports of Football, basketball and Baseball would be tough. There would be much room for debate on these going back the last 75 years and looking for someone who should be added.

Football- Unitas- Butkus- Payton- Marino - Baugh- Graham - Montana
Basketball _ Mikan - Russell- Wilt- Erving- Jordan- Bird - Magic
Baseball - Mantle - Mays -Aaron - Rose -Williams - Dimaggio - Henderson -

Just a place to start. I wonder if Knuckles could mock up some of these and mass produce for a fee! From what I have seen him do , he could probably do it better than some of the card companies out there!

Look forward to hearing everyones thoughts on this idea for a set.

Dave




I would like to hear everyones opinion on if they would buy a current star version of a sport kings set, as well as any other "retro" sets that one of the companies should look at reproducing.

Knuckles

ITG (In The Game) already did this with their 'Ultimate' hockey product in 2004-05.

These are the base cards.






But yeah, someone should re-make the cards using the best of the best from all the different sports. That would be cool.

alohaet

Initially I was going to say NO. But after some thought and looking at the possibilities you listed I changed my vote to YES. Not a bad idea.

Ed

gosteelers

<< <i>A new version of the Sport Kings Set? With many of the topps and Bowman Heritage sets being so popular, this one seems like a no brainer to me....

You could have great players from all sports included, and could still keep it to a small 48 or 96 card set. Driving back from the National Convention last summer, the guys I rode with put together our list on this idea. You could of course go back to the era when these were first produced if you wanted to...Here are a few that made sense to us as being greats in their sport since the mid 1930's:

Cycling - Lance Armstrong
Swimming - Mark Spitz
Diving - Greg Lougainis
Track and Field - Carl Lewis - FLo Jo
Bowling - Earl Anthony
Golf - Tiger- Jack - Arnie- Hogan- Snead-Annika
Speed Skating - eric heiden
Billiards _ Willie Masconi - Minnesota Fats
Dog Sledding - Susan Butcher
Soccer - Pele
Boxing - Ali- Tyson-Leonard- Hagler (you could debate this one quite a bit)

The big 3 sports of Football, basketball and Baseball would be tough. There would be much room for debate on these going back the last 75 years and looking for someone who should be added.

Football- Unitas- Butkus- Payton- Marino - Baugh- Graham - Montana
Basketball _ Mikan - Russell- Wilt- Erving- Jordan- Bird - Magic
Baseball - Mantle - Mays -Aaron - Rose -Williams - Dimaggio - Henderson -

Just a place to start. I wonder if Knuckles could mock up some of these and mass produce for a fee! From what I have seen him do , he could probably do it better than some of the card companies out there!

Look forward to hearing everyones thoughts on this idea for a set.

Dave




I would like to hear everyones opinion on if they would buy a current star version of a sport kings set, as well as any other "retro" sets that one of the companies should look at reproducing. >>



First off, I would like to say that this would be extremely cool if they released a set like this.

I'd go with:
Cycling - Lance Armstrong (same)
Swimming - Mark Spitz (same)
Diving - Greg Lougainis (same)
Track and Field - Carl Lewis - FLo Jo (maybe, also Jackie Joyner Kersee)
Bowling - Earl Anthony (same)
Golf - Tiger- Jack - Arnie- Hogan- Snead-Annika (same)
Speed Skating - eric heiden (maybe Bonnie Blair)
Billiards _ Willie Masconi - Minnesota Fats (same)
Dog Sledding - Susan Butcher (???)
Soccer - Pele (same)
Boxing - Ali- Tyson-Leonard- Hagler (you could debate this one quite a bit) (Foreman, maybe, also, Holmes)
I'll include tennis-Laver, McEnroe, Borg, Graf, Agassi, Federer (this list could be rather large)

The big 3 sports of Football, basketball and Baseball would be tough. There would be much room for debate on these going back the last 75 years and looking for someone who should be added.

Football- Unitas- Butkus- Payton- Marino - Baugh- Graham - Montana (Bradshaw, Brady, Rice, E. Smith, Aikman)
Basketball _ Mikan - Russell- Wilt- Erving- Jordan- Bird - Magic
Baseball - Mantle - Mays -Aaron - Rose -Williams - Dimaggio - Henderson - (Baseball's list can be HUGE. I'm surprised you said Henderson. I don't know why, I just am. I'll also include Nolan Ryan, Clemens, Bonds?-I can't stand him, Reggie)

Golfcollector

Go Steelers,

Nice list.

I said Henderson mainly because of steals, hits, power for a leadoff guy etc. I do not like the A's and really did not like him as a player, but there is no arguing the guys numbers are unreal for our era, especially in terms of what type of offense he generated.

I also reallized I left off Hockey!. ARRRGGHHHHH and tennis, for a golfcollector I should be ashamed

Anyone know someone important at Topps or UD that could get their attention with something like this???

studentT206

Would be a great set. How about a poker player card or two? Am I off base or are there any Rounders fans here? Cool idea with or without the poker players.

Damian

gosteelers

For Hockey-Howe, Orr, The Great One, Lemieux
Poker?-I'm not sure...Johnny Chan, Phil Helmuth...

gosteelers

<< <i>Go Steelers,

Nice list.

I said Henderson mainly because of steals, hits, power for a leadoff guy etc. I do not like the A's and really did not like him as a player, but there is no arguing the guys numbers are unreal for our era, especially in terms of what type of offense he generated.

I also reallized I left off Hockey!. ARRRGGHHHHH and tennis, for a golfcollector I should be ashamed

Anyone know someone important at Topps or UD that could get their attention with something like this??? >>



You're right Golfcollector, I never seem to give Rickey his deserved props. He was absolutely the man for awhile there, wasn't he?

ArnyVee

I'd like to see something like this....but, I'd also add some wrestling...errr...sports entertainment guys.

Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock....you know, a couple of these guys might be cool to include as well.

kennylow

if they can put in Billiards stars in the 33 SK set, then modern day poker players should be fine too!

Golfcollector

Any other off shoot sports you would add???

tkd7

The original had three cyclists. I'd suggest Greg Lemond and Eddy Merckx as well.

I'd also add NASCAR as well, although I'm not as versed in the sport to know whom to add.

PlayBall

Here are a few other to possibly add.....(bear with the spelling).

Jockey - Willie Shoemaker
Boxing - Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson,
Nascar - Dale Earnhardt Sr. , "The King" Richard Petty
Tennis - Sampras, Connors, Evert-Lloyd, Navratilova, Arthur Ashe
Track & Field - Michael Johnson, Jesse Owens
Soccer - David Beckham (for his crazy cult status - this could be the most coveted card in the set)
Arm Wrestling - Ron Bath (31 National titles, 7 World Titles)
Strongman - Magnus Ver Magnussen

Definite "YES" on the idea!

tkd7

I think there should be some more female representation as well.....

Soccer: Mia Hamm, etc.
Softball: Jennie Finch (she gets in every set anyway), etc.
Figure Skating: Dorothy Hammill, Kristi Yamaguchi, etc.
Beach Volleyball: Misty May, etc.

If someone would build a set with autograph chase cards, I think it would do really well. I would be much more interested in an auto of some of these atheletes than the same selection of retired baseball players. Furthermore, it could reach the girl market with the right mix of female stars.

Southsider

The rights licensing could be a nightmare! So many individuals involved. At least with MLB and NFL there are collective licenses that would make those easy. But, then you'd have all the individuals in the other sports. Then, for players who are on a team, like Beckham, I'd imagine you'd have to deal with their league and team rights, provided you wanted to use uniform colors or logos. Then, there could be sponsorship or endorsement issues that conflict with existing agreements. Plus, many people may not agree or will holdout, so you may have to settle for lesser known people. I would also wonder about the Copyright issues surrounding the Sport Kings design. That may have to be cleared as well. Whew. And, that's just what popped out of my head in a quick 2 minute brainstorm.

tkd7

Well, it looks like the design has been used from Knuckles post.

Additionally, Donruss seems to have a bunch of these folks already under some contract through their fans of the game series. I've already seen guys in there like Freedy Adu, Tony Hawk, Jennie Finch, Bonnie Blair, Bode Miller, etc.

I'm sure they could get it together for the rest, especially the women athletes.

I can see it now, Lance Armstrong event used cycling jersey swatch or Misty May game used swimsuit swatch (very limited).

Golfcollector

I also know UD made a couple of the superstars sets that had a cross section of athletes.

The voting appears to be greatly in favor. I just mainly wondered if any of the big companies had ever bounced this one around. I think it would be a can't miss sell for them

A761506

Personally, I don't understand the purpose of creating any new set that mimics the design of an original. What is the point? Is there a shortage of creative designers to the point that making new cards that are refreshing and attractive is such a difficult task?

It's sort of like the BS that the film industry is doing... remaking older movies where the original version could never be improved upon (The Producers, Willie Wonka, etc.), but because they can't come up with compelling plots for new movies, it's a pathetic way for them to pad their wallets.

fsjeter

<<Personally, I don't understand the purpose of creating any new set that mimics the design of an original. What is the point?>>

Some people like the way the originals look but can't afford them. Rather than buy reprints of the original cards and players, they would like to see the players of today on those designs.

Scott

RedHeart54

<< <i>Personally, I don't understand the purpose of creating any new set that mimics the design of an original. What is the point? >>



Gimmicky? Sure. But one of the reasons we collect is we're a bunch of sentimental fogeys (even if most of us- ok, make that ALL of us- aren't OLD). We collect to recapture a bit of the past and and new cards with the design style of the old classics are made in tribute to the 120 or so years baseball cards have been around.

Just my opinion.