I was at the Dollar Store last night and I came across a small section of cards and amongst the packs of various Disney movie cards and 2008 Topps Update packs I came across some of those re-pack packs containing “Historic Star Cards” so I figured for a buck it didn’t really matter what I ended up pulling. Am I wrong, does the cartoon batter on the wrapper bear a striking cartoonish resemblance to McGwire?I assumed two things, I was not going to pull that pristine copy of Nolan Ryan’s 1968 Topps rookie card and second, I was going to pull a lot of junk wax. Needless to say I was correct on both assumptions.
A couple of HOF players (Greenberg and Murray), a hand full of mediocre players, a Two-time World Series winning manager and plenty of lost opportunities not to mention a couple of cards that I have no idea of origination (Greenberg and Carbo). I figure that the green Hank Greenberg card is probably the “Historic Star Card” that the wrapper promised me.
I got what I paid for in the end and it took me down a journey of over-produced junk wax where every player drafted was considered a “Future Star” by the card designers.
My 6 pack of Topps
The rest- 4 upper Deck, 2 Fleer, An O-Pee-Chee and 2 "others
I'll shed some light on the two others. The Greenberg card is a 1987 HyGrade card. It was a set of Hall of Fame players that came in baseball starter kits. I had a set that I purchased through my elementary school.
ReplyDeleteThe Carbo card is a 1976 SSPC. They took a shot at competing with Topps in the 70s, before the lawyers stepped in. The Carbo card is probably the best card that I've ever seen come out of those dollar store packs.
At first glance, the Greenberg looks like it's from a TCMA set from the late 70s or early 80s. I used to have similar cards when I was a kid. Back then, names like TCMA, Kit Young, and Renata Galasso were the big mail order outfits that sold Topps cards and independent sets before licensing became a big deal.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty certain that the Carbo is from the 1975 SSPC set. That pretty much was the only shot at competition with Topps back in the 70s, unless you count Hostess or Kellogg's.
It's actually very cool to pull a couple of relatively old oddballs out of a junk repack like that. It at least beats getting something like a 2003 Mark Sweeney.
If I got that SSPC card of Bernie Carbo, I would have been quite happy. Worth the buck.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't even realized it but the Bernardo Carbo card is marked on the back as a 1975 SSPC Card #411. Thanks for the quick replies, I had never seen the set before.
ReplyDeleteLooks more like Canseco to me.
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