Oddball Cards are Sometimes the Best
I'm a huge fan of professionally licensed cards with logos, and as a result, I don't really care for the new Panini baseball stuff or the college Upper Deck football stuff. I guess the UD stuff is licensed, but it doesn't have the same feel as the NFL Professional products that Panini is putting out and that Topps was releasing. If the players aren't in college, I don't really care to see them in their college uniforms. Especially not when they've been retired from the NFL for 30+ years.
But unlicensed cards are sometimes really cool. They can break the mold on the standard card design and size, and present unique collecting challenges for player super-collectors. Some cards that come to mind are the Aces playing cards Cal Ripken Jr. autograph and the Orange police issue Cal Ripken Jr. card. He does happen to have a lot of player collectors, by the way.
They can also provide really, really good memories. Just like eating a delicious chocolate chip cookie. And getting a card of Junior Griffey. Or Mother's Cookies realizing that hey, this Junior Griffey guy is really good, maybe we should release a card set of just him. In 1989, Mother's Cookies, an individually wrapped cookie brand synonymous with my youth, released a Mariners team set that featured Griffey Jr. are card #3 of 28. They also released a four card set of just the Kid himself. This wasn't unique, as they had released team sets from years before and for several other (predominantly) west coast teams, but this one had Griffey.
And the cards are just gorgeous. The pictures still resonate with me. I remember getting some as stadium giveaways. Those were the days. I wish we still had something like this.
But unlicensed cards are sometimes really cool. They can break the mold on the standard card design and size, and present unique collecting challenges for player super-collectors. Some cards that come to mind are the Aces playing cards Cal Ripken Jr. autograph and the Orange police issue Cal Ripken Jr. card. He does happen to have a lot of player collectors, by the way.
They can also provide really, really good memories. Just like eating a delicious chocolate chip cookie. And getting a card of Junior Griffey. Or Mother's Cookies realizing that hey, this Junior Griffey guy is really good, maybe we should release a card set of just him. In 1989, Mother's Cookies, an individually wrapped cookie brand synonymous with my youth, released a Mariners team set that featured Griffey Jr. are card #3 of 28. They also released a four card set of just the Kid himself. This wasn't unique, as they had released team sets from years before and for several other (predominantly) west coast teams, but this one had Griffey.
And the cards are just gorgeous. The pictures still resonate with me. I remember getting some as stadium giveaways. Those were the days. I wish we still had something like this.
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