MrKnowthanx' Thanks You - "XRCs and Other Sports"

MrKnowthanx

TLDR – Stopped collecting twenty years ago. Started back up two years ago in large part due to finding this forum. Here is my progress and more to come. See pretty pictures below.

For those of you that like to be bored, start here -

First of all thank you to everyone that has made this forum one of my favorite places on the web! Without this site and the amazing history of posts on it I wouldn't have returned to the sports card world that I left many years back. The reason for this thread is two part. One is done, to say thanks. The second is to act as a running thread like so many others I subscribe to on CU. Those long threads like fergie23's wax rips, thenavarro/Dboneesq/VitoCo1972/jswieton's autograph collection, and Muggyman's epic star-pack thread that was unfortunately deleted for some unknown reason (anyone have any ideas on a way to salvage it? It was amazing). This one will be an amalgamation of all of those. I'll post new purchases, vintage pack rips, and updates of my Man Cave/House (more on that later). Now some history on my return to the hobby...

Two years ago I joined the Collector's Universe community after purchasing a “White Whale” that I first dreamed about owning after seeing one for sale at a local card show twenty years earlier. Growing up in Arizona in the 80's and 90's I was one of many who spent precious allowance and odd neighborhood job money on packs of over-produced, over-hyped crap that I was told would one day pay for my college education. I even worked for a dealer out of California at the monthly Valley West and Christown Mall card shows (my fellow Phoenicians should remember those shows) getting paid in packs and sometimes boxes of Proset Football, Skybox and Hoops Basketball. Working one of those shows one weekend I saw for the first time an Unopened 1981 Topps Football cello pack with a Joe Montana Rookie on top. The asking price was so far out of my league at the time, but I can remember sitting down and saying to my friend “When I grow up I will buy all of the cards I wish I could have now, including that pack”. Twenty years later I stop by a hardware store on the way home from work and while walking in I see a card shop that I never noticed before. It peaks my interest and after two hours of getting the skinny from the owner on all I missed in the hobby since I quit, I decided to jump back in head first. I start surfing eBay that night and as fate would have, I see a 1981 Topps Football Cello with Montana on top. Hook, line, sinker and I am back. A few nights later I find this forum while searching images of other Star Packs (from Muggyman's original thread).

So most everything that you see posted from me in this thread was purchased after May 15th, 2012 with a few exceptions that I will talk about when they come up. Around the same time I got back in to collecting I was in the process of moving into my first house. I had been thinking of decorating walls and displaying things on shelves for a while and now I have a blank canvas to realize those things. That canvas stayed blank until just recently when I decided it was time to start enjoying all the art and collectibles I have. The best part is I decided instead of limiting my Man Cave to one room I would create my Man Cave-House. I have also given up hopes of keeping it that way due to the fact that women sometimes (all the time ) change our minds when it comes to interior design.

My main focus was always to try and own all the cards that I dreamed about as a kid. From whales like a Gretzky OPC rookie down to the cheaper ones (at least in this day and age) like the 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations Frank Thomas. Also I collect guys from my favorite teams of course. I have always been a hardcore fan of the NY Giants and NY Rangers. Growing up it was LT, Phil Simms, Mark Messier, and Brian Leetch. Living in Arizona I went to a ton of games as a kid so I couldn't help rooting for guys on AZ teams too.

One of the toughest decisions had to make was figuring out if I wanted to collect just graded or raw or both. If graded then PSA, SGC, or BGS? I decided on PSA graded and 7's and above on cards in my price range and decent eye appeal on the older stuff. I like the way they display and the false sense of protection of a graded case . Eventually I would have them displayed on a wall or in a case somewhere I could see them and enjoy them. I also scan all of them and keep them on a hard drive and a picture hosting site. That way I can show them to friends when I'm not at home. Again, most ideas coming from posts here.

Enough of the boring back-story....

First Submission

Here's what started it all, my first submission. Five Topps Football cellos with star rookies on top -

d

It's kind of funny that the Payton Pack is the “Jewel” of my collection considering how awesome I thought the Montana pack was twenty years earlier. I consider Payton the greatest football player ever and one of the greatest sportsman. His character and personage should be emulated by the guys playing now.


be back soon...

MrKnowthanx

From then on I started going eBay crazy, purchasing cards there mostly but also buying from the BST board. I bought whatever I felt was a good deal. Some I will be getting graded or crossed over, but most were good to go. Here are some early Graded pickups of as an example of what I was/am shooting for -




Research and Education Galore
One of the things that has helped me the most has been seeing other peoples collections and experiences finding their focus. I really enjoy finding out about hard to find XRCs and "other" sports rookies. eagles33 has been one of my favorite posters. I enjoy hearing about Diego Maradona, Kelly Slater, and Minnesota Fats cards for example. The first card that I had to do any real searching for was also one I didn't know to much about until I talked to a few forum members. This Kurt Warner Arena League card is awesome. It was sold in local fast food joints in Iowa called Taco Johns. Very thin paper stock and tough to find centered -



Living in Phoenix and watching him play for the Cardinals I really consider him the most underrated QB to play the game. He was amazing under pressure and had that same thing Sweetness had off the field. He is very much respected here in the valley for his community/charitable work and is very approachable. Some of the guys on the boards gave me some info on where to look and how often it would show up on eBay. It took a while and a bit of searching, but it was worth it. The funny thing is that as soon as I got it more and more would show up on eBay every week.


Now that is enough for the night for sure this time lol

dennis07

Thanks for sharing your story and collection.

lawnmowerman

Really great collection of cards!

WhiteTornado

Great post and great cards. That '76 cello with Payton on top is amazing! Sweetness is my all-time favorite as well. You have good taste .

dytch2220

Woohoo! My kind of guy.

I've got to admit I went down to the scans first, then came back up to read but wasn't disappointed with the story. LOL.

Dboneesq

Looking forward to seeing your other items. Happy to know you enjoy my autograph thread.

elsnorto

<< <i>Great post and great cards. That '76 cello with Payton on top is amazing! Sweetness is my all-time favorite as well. You have good taste . >>



+1. I hope to pick up a PSA graded Sweetness cello at some point. I'm trying to put together a run of cellos/racks/grocery racks from 1976 to 1988 that feature each of his cards on the front.

Oh, and no need to apologize about the back story. I, personally, never get tired of hearing about how others got into (and possibly out of and back into) the hobby or what they collect and why.

I look forward to seeing your future additions.

Snorto~

MrKnowthanx

Thanks for the replies. I'm loving writing these posts already. I get to go through my collection again and remembering the hunt and scores is a blast. I apolagize for the grammar issues and errors. I try to edit them out when I find em. Also thanks again to you guys that I have bought from on the boards. Hope you enjoy seeing you old cards being enjoyed again.


Focus Daniel San


After reading many long time posters stress that collecting focus is important I decided to make my main focus Hockey. That doesn't mean I only buy hockey cards, just the majority right now have been hockey. I am a huge fan of the game. I have never played, growing up in Arizona I didn't see many people skating, but I have always enjoyed watching and in the last five years I watch a ton of it. I consider it the best sport to watch live or on TV and playoff hockey is unmatched in excitement for me. I like the O-Pee-Chee when they mirrored the Topps sets those years. I consider anything after 1989 as modern and did not focus on it right away. That being said here is my hockey pickups so far (thanks to board members and eBay) -





The 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set is one of my all-time favorites. I love the design and the amount of great rookies is unreal. I can't say enough about it. I wish I had an unopened box stashed away somewhere. -





Another big score for me was the Lemiuex rookie. I had talked to a few guys on the forum about it and I was given some great advice. Patience is important in this hobby. I would have bought an inferior card had I not waited and got what I think is an amazing PSA 8 -





Here is the Box Bottom I bought on the board raw and sent in just wanting the Authentic grade so I could get it in a case -








When It comes to the modern sets I have some preferences. I like the 1990 O-Pee-Chee Premier over the Upper Deck, but will buy both for some guys. I also chose SP Authentic rookies over the Young Guns. I would rather have the signature which most SP Authentic rookies do, the Young Guns don't.





The 2005-06 Sp Authentic set is another one of those magical sets. First off I think the signed rookies look similar to the 1971-72 OPC/Topps set that is a regular on most all-time lists.


For comparison -




Also the NHL strike the year before gave Upper Deck the golden opportunity of releasing two years worth of rookies including two number one picks, Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Those two and Henrik Lundqvist are my favorite of the set. I purchased Sid the Kid and The Great Eight already graded, but King Henrik was the first Gem Mint 10 I had pop from a submission. -





I plan on owning all the major rookies from this set eventually. Here is what I have been able to pick-up -





More modern -





Time to watch the playoff games for the night. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MrKnowthanx

<< <i>

<< <i>Great post and great cards. That '76 cello with Payton on top is amazing! Sweetness is my all-time favorite as well. You have good taste . >>



+1. I hope to pick up a PSA graded Sweetness cello at some point. I'm trying to put together a run of cellos/racks/grocery racks from 1976 to 1988 that feature each of his cards on the front.

Oh, and no need to apologize about the back story. I, personally, never get tired of hearing about how others got into (and possibly out of and back into) the hobby or what they collect and why.

I look forward to seeing your future additions.

Snorto~ >>




Snorto, I have thought the exact same thing about the Payton packs. I would love to have a run of Sweetness cellos and get them professionally framed to put on the wall. I am always thinking of the best ways to display things.

MrKnowthanx

One of my favorite things to search for is rare pre-rookies (XRCs) and non-foursport rookies. Growing up one of the sets that blew me away when I first learned about it was the 1984 Topps USFL set. Seeing pre-rookies of greats like Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, Steve Young, and Reggie White along with how rare they were to me at the time was intriguing. Also the Minor league card craze was going on at the same time. Jump forward 20 years and I see posts by eagles33 ( Great Other Rookie Post ), Dpeck100 ( Great Pre-Rookie Find ) , MinorLeaguer and miwlvrn both have great info on semic hockey stuff in the Hockey Card thread. I instantly started searching for some of that stuff and the like. Here is what I have picked up -


Pre-Rookies -


Just by luck I saw one of these cards on eBay one day, but was unable to win it. I added it to my search list and was able to pick up this SGC 96. It pre dates his NHL rookie by four years and is part of a Swedish Upper Deck set. -



These next two are early cards released by the teams. A Brett Hull college card from his time at Minnesota-Duluth. They released a set the year before this one which is much harder to find. I have only seen it one time on eBay. If you have any tips on finding it, let me know. The one next to it is a Martin St. Louis Post Card sized card from his time with the Clevland Lumberjacks, a Flames minor league affiliate. -



The next two are two of my favorite pick-ups. They are early cards of Alexander Ovechkin from Russia. First is from the Russian Hockey league, given out in 2002-03 and the other is from Russian Ice Dynamo Moscow from 2001. I plan on buying the Pavel Datsuk, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Semin cards that are similar. -



Next are early Emmitt Smith, Kurt Warner (arena including a pocket schedule), and Tim Hardaway cards. -



This is an early Warren Moon Post Card sized card from his time with the Canadian Football League. I would love to also own a regular sized card that was released the year before. It's tough to find. -



Finally is this David Robinson Hand Cut card from Spain, I believe. They call it a Merchante and they are graded by PSA. The back as a tiny bit of glue residue on it with a picture of a converse shoe. I think it's cool having a card from his time in the Navy/USA Basketball program considering he had so much time in-between the end of his college playing days and the NBA. -




Non-Major Four Sport Rookies -

I am a huge conspiracy theorist. I grew up listening to Art Bell every night and not to long ago went to the Roswell Crash 60th Anniversary Convention in New Mexico. I also grew up watching WWF wrestling when it was at its best (IMO). My two favorite wrestlers were Jimmy Snuka and Mr. Conspiracy Theory himself, Jesse Ventura. So after reading Dpeck100's amazing posts and learning about the Wrestling Stars set I knew I had to own the Ventura. As luck would have it, thenavarro was selling his signed copy and I was lucky enough to grab it (Thanks Mike). I picked up a raw version recently.




I Picked up this John L. Sullivan card not too long after joining the forums from the BST Board (Thanks lightningboy )

wrestlingcardking

That is my old Jesse Ventura card, glad it has a nice home. Too bad I do not have an extra signed Snuka anymore.

ThoseBackPages

what a great thread!

really like what youve written

eagles33

great thread.. this stuff is right up my alley.. have you checked out the 1983 Jogo Warren Moon? i see you have the 81 Jogo.. the 83 is in color and standard size.. Im using the 83 as my Moon rookie just because i like the way it displays next to the 83 Topps Jim Mcmahon rc .. 84 USFL Young and then Marino and Elway.. i like to sneak in the oddball XRCs with the the traditional ones.. Great collection and interesting thread.

Dpeck100

Great thread and nice to see such variety in your collection.

The collecting world is so much smaller then people realize. To think that Ventura has been owned by 3 board members is pretty wild.

MrKnowthanx

<< <i>great thread.. this stuff is right up my alley.. have you checked out the 1983 Jogo Warren Moon? i see you have the 81 Jogo.. the 83 is in color and standard size.. Im using the 83 as my Moon rookie just because i like the way it displays next to the 83 Topps Jim Mcmahon rc .. 84 USFL Young and then Marino and Elway.. i like to sneak in the oddball XRCs with the the traditional ones.. Great collection and interesting thread. >>



For some reason I thought the Jogo was a year earlier than the one I have and yes I have been searching for it, all the time. The problem is most of the time it is way out of my price range. It is a gorgeous card though. You have any picks of it next to the ones you named? Maybe a pic of your display? I would love to see it!!!!!

eagles33

not yet.. i'm working the displays.. my ultimate goal is to have a display for the misc sport rookie cards.. Boxing/Golf/Tennis/Wrestling ect... a display for football a display for baseball then prob hockey and basketball together since those lists are shorter. Some cards like a Ruth rookie were just not realistic for me so i had to pick something to represent it.. for example i couldnt afford a 1916 ruth.. so i'm going to use a 1921 caramel.. its still $$$ but its on the list.. I'm mostly a football fan and grew up in the late 80s early 90s so the football display will be bigger than the others.. i might break it up into QBs, RBs WRs and Def. I still need a lot of cards from the major sports.. pretty much all the key cards pre 1980. i have been meaning to scan the misc sport rookies but havent gotten too it.

wrestlingcardking

<< <i>Great thread and nice to see such variety in your collection.

The collecting world is so much smaller then people realize. To think that Ventura has been owned by 3 board members is pretty wild. >>



I have not found too many of those Ventura rookies signed so it is not all that surprising to me to see 3 board members with that card. I would have never let it go if I did not find a higher grade sample in the large lot that I bought last year. Great card!!!!!!!!!

slum22

Great thread. One of my favorite things about the board is seeing different collections. I think it's great and it definitely inspires me to look at different collecting avenues. Before the boards I was strictly a basketball card collector and pretty narrow at that as I was only collecting two sets at the time. Since seeing the different collections by other board members I have expanded my collection greatly (which has been very satisfying and unfortunately expensive). I never thought I would be stockpiling unopened or buying soccer cards (ok it's just one, but still) but here we are. Thanks for sharing. I love seeing the great variety of cards you have. Keep up the good work and keep posting updates.

PMKAY

<< <i>

<< <i>Great thread and nice to see such variety in your collection.

The collecting world is so much smaller then people realize. To think that Ventura has been owned by 3 board members is pretty wild. >>



I have not found too many of those Ventura rookies signed so it is not all that surprising to me to see 3 board members with that card. I would have never let it go if I did not find a higher grade sample in the large lot that I bought last year. Great card!!!!!!!!! >>



I've seen quite a few Ventura through the mail autograph successes logged online, are those not actually signed by him?

wrestlingcardking

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Great thread and nice to see such variety in your collection.

The collecting world is so much smaller then people realize. To think that Ventura has been owned by 3 board members is pretty wild. >>



I have not found too many of those Ventura rookies signed so it is not all that surprising to me to see 3 board members with that card. I would have never let it go if I did not find a higher grade sample in the large lot that I bought last year. Great card!!!!!!!!! >>



I've seen quite a few Ventura through the mail autograph successes logged online, are those not actually signed by him? >>



He lives outside the country for most of the year and then I think some of the TTM success could be autopenned like I got from him with his Topps RC. The issue with the Jesse Ventura All Stars RC is that it is not that plentiful for collectors to be holding on to and to send out via the mail and with issues of Jesse being out of the country etc, it is just not a card that you find signed all that often. Jesse is not one to make the autograph circuit like a lot of the other wrestlers are doing now unless you are lucky to have the all star card at a book signing......

eagles33

This is great thread. The unopened collection is awesome. I got around to scanning a few of the XRC football rookies. So far just scanned the qbs. I'm working on the major sports now. These are some of my favorites.

craig44

I like the jogo moon. I remember it was always a mystery card to me growing up in the pre internet days. Really cool

MrKnowthanx

Still wanting to get that JOGO Moon myself and that Joe Theismann card has been on my want list for years. Great cards!!!!!!! Got to love this hobby!

DanBessette

I love that Taco Warner! Never seen it before.