It’s Friday night and I must admit that after a very long week of work my writers block is in full effect mode. So, for the next chapter of old ass cards I decided to pick a footballer with slightly less exciting credentials. Mr. George Thomas from the University of Oklahoma
This George guy didn’t have the greatest of careers in the NFL accumulating two more touchdowns than i ever had. He also rushed for a buck eighty-nine and dropped 208 yards receiving in his 3 year career. He is what some may call a draft bust as he was the sixth overall pick in the 1950 draft. Now, he’s no Jamarcus Russell or Greg Oden but i’m sure he expected to have a better career when he joined the NFL. Especially when you see the success he had as a Sooner. But hey, he has two first names!
This guy also has a cool yellow helmet and a red stripe and grips the ball like a man on a mission. One leather chin strap and eyes to the future…with his Business Administration degree. If there is one thing i have to fault the kid for, it’s that he decided to end his career with the New York Football Giants. On the bright side, he only played 7 games for them.
I couldn’t find too much information on ol’ Spike, but I’d like to imagine he did well for himself. With that drive and determination, along with a degree and sharp mind. Nothing could stop George Thomas from achieving his professional and life goals. Here’s to you George Thomas and both of your names…that’s one touchdown per first name!
The back of this card isn’t big enough to note all of the amazing things Mr. Dudley was able to accomplish in his 9 year NFL career. Three of which were spent as a Washington Redskin. In his impressive NFL stint, he was quite the scoring machine and was able to put points on the board from defense, offense and special teams. Nobody does that. According to wikipedia, he is the only player to score a touchdown by rushing, receiving, throwing as well as a punt return, kickoff return, interception return, fumble return, a lateral pass AND kicked field goals and the soon to be obsolete PAT’s.
Holy crap!
If only he could have gotten that elusive safety!
Mr. Dudley also served in the military for three years defending our freedom from evil doers. After his playing career he ventured in to politics, because being a great football player, joining the military and being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame just wasn’t enough. This isn’t a politics blog, so i’m not going to get in to all of that stuff. I really just want to show off this beautiful card.
Look at those clouds! Look at the bold border around his shoulders and head. Just look at it!
I love shiny new football and baseball cards as much as the next kid, but nothing compares to a classic piece of cardboard that’s older than your parents…nothing. The flimsiness of the cardboard with the faded images and slightly rounded corners accompanied by the occasional crease or ding cannot be matched by any fill in the blank-fractor of any kind. That said, I still love me some shiny cards. But this post isn’t about shiny new things. It’s about well taken care of old things.
As i’ve been attempting to get my ducks in a row i’ve been craving some older, vintage Redskin cards. Every time I hit up the local card shows and shops I gravitate towards the newer stuff because that’s what most people deal in. Who doesn’t like the hits??!!?! Typically when they have vintage cards, it’s baseball…which i adore, but at this point in my hobby life I do not collect. Right now, for me, vintage football is where it’s at. This led to me trolling the electronic bay for some great deals on 1950’s and 1960’s cards and I was lucky enough to stumble across a seller that was breaking old sets and selling the singles. The items he had appeared to be in excellent condition. At least what i could tell from his scans. Another bonus was that he started everything at the ebay standard of 99cents. This is the point where my attention was grabbed by the short hairs…and now i am going to share.
Initially I thought I should do one post showing everything but decided it would be more funner-er to do multiple posts and I could get more value out of the posts. PLUS! It would allow me to do a little research on these guys that i’ve never heard of.
Let the good times roll.
First up, Harry Gilmer. Card number 66 of the 1950 Bowman Football set. Beautiful, eh? Check out the cedar fence in the background and that old school burgundy and gold sweater. AND THAT FREAKIN’ HELMET. HOLY CRAP! You are staring at the eyes of a man. A man that is tougher than any sports card collector i’ve ever met. These cards are unbelievably beautiful with the same look and feel as the baseball version…it’s almost a shame that they are not larger as they measure approximately 2″ x 2 1/2″. They just don’t make ’em like they used to.
Needless to say, Harry is a very stoic man from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and just may be a little too intense…or focused? The back of his card tells me that he was the number one bonus choice. Which is the equivalent of today’s modern draft, but different I guess, because he was a bonus selection. I’m sure a lot of work went in to scouting and researching the players although I don’t think Bert Bell was mightily booed when he came to the podium to announce; “With the first pick in the NFL draft, the Washington Redskins select Harry Gilmer from the University of Alabama!” Harry would then kiss his mom and baby mama before heading out of the green room with a meticulously tailored suit, crazy striped socks and a timeless, yet modern fedora. OK, maybe not.
The last thing i want to mention and that i’m loving about these old ass cards is the write up on the backs. I can’t help but read it in that old sports guy voice. My favorite note is the part about the leg injury that “kept him in hospitals and on crutches the whole season.” Hospitals, as in multiple. Could Mr. George Preston Marshall not get Harry in a good DC area hospital? Maybe they were dealing with war veterans at the moment.
Finally…Harry was 100% on passing attempts for the 1945 Sugar Bowl against the Duke-ies going 8 for 8. Man, the game has really changed…Peyton does that on one 80 yard drive, and I hope he does it this Sunday multiple times.
Got this gem off of the electronic bay for about $3 shipped. I think Panini has one photo of Chris Thompson and it’s of him stretching in sweats. This one is cropped so you think you’re getting something different…but you’re not…
When I broke down a few weeks ago and picked up a few retail packs of Prizm from my local friendly Target store i pulled a couple of cards for Adam over at My Cardboard Mistress and sent them along. Adam was nice enough to return the favor with the Redskins he pulled from his recent hobby box of Topps Strata.
As he mentioned in his blog posting, the Jordan Reed autograph numbered to /99 was on it’s way…and it’s a beauty. The colors of the card are great and i love the thicker card stock on the hobby cards. I have been able to pick up quite a few Reed autos and he isn’t exactly winning me over with his ‘less is more’ autograph approach. Just a simple JR is all we’re getting right now. Still a pretty nice card though.
Adam also sent along the base version of Reed’s card.
The last card sent over was the Topaz/orangy/goldish parallel for Pierre Garcon, or boy waiter if you are prone to speak the language of love, French. Maybe, you’re Canadian, eh?
Thanks Adam! Love the cards.
I should be receiving my box of Topps Magic this week and doing a break review of the exciting cards i pull from the box. If i come across any Hokies, they will be headed your way.
Also, Dave…if you are reading, your Heritage stuff is on it’s way in the morning. Hope it helps.
As i was going through some of my random hit cards, I noticed I had a Barry Larkin card that didn’t have a great place in my collection. I knew someone who would appreciate it though, Chris over at Nachos Grande! I sent him the card and he was able to put together a trifecta of cardboard that I can definitely use for my team and player sets.
Hanley Ramirez – 2008 Allen and Ginter
LaRon Landry – 2008 Absolute Memorabilia Gridiron Force 19/250
Joe Theismann – 1989 Pro Set
At this point in my blogging days, I am a very difficult trade partner as my lists are incomplete…and I have a good amount of cards for the teams and players I collect. Chris was able to find three cards that I do not have…I used to have the Theismann, but it’s gone awol, as has the single bar face mask.
Thanks for the cards Nachos Grande! They will find a home in their respective binder soon.
I came home to a few PWE’s with my name on them and a rigid piece of something in them. It’s card delivery day! YAY! I’m sure those cards were just waiting to get delivered to my mailbox after the holiday yesterday. Ironically all three cards were die cut cards of young DC sports stars…and here they are!
The Jordan Reed card is probably my favorite as it appears to have the least amount of surface area and was a little tricky to get the 2.5″x3.5″ box around the card when I scanned it. It’s a pretty simple card. No flash, no serial number, but the perimeter of the card is quite nice.
The Stephen Strasburg card is also pretty cool. This one is a little more flashy since it’s from the Topps Chrome collection. This one seems like it should have a stand in the back so you can display it somewhere nice.
The man-child Bryce Harper with the mountain main beard was the last card I received. Only minor die cut action going on here, but Bowman Platinum is always a nice card. Plus with Topps pledging to bring me closer to the game from the past, present and future, I feel good about these three going in to my player collections. I should add these to the page, eh?
Here are the last notable scans from last weeks show. These Chrome gems were picked up from my first table stop, Tom. Tom always has some great new Redskin stuff for me…makes my collecting easier plus I can save some time by not sorting through a ton of cards I won’t ever purchase.
Tom has been my mainline for Jawan Jamison short print and serial numbered cards…and he continued with this beauty.
Next up is the start of a beautiful chromey Amerson Rainbow.
Amerson Refractor!
Amerson X-Fractor!
That’s all for now…here is some Chromeo to ride out to…
Here is the next gem of a card to add to my ever growing Jordan Reed collection. This one is a booklet. My first Reed booklet and my 3rd overall (2 Leonard Hankerson’s).
This was a pickup from the Mall 205 card show I attended last Saturday…which was lightly attended. I guess most of the dealers come down from Seattle and wanted to watch the Seahawks put a hurtin’ on the poor Saints…so they decided to stay home rather than make the three hour drive.
I was pulling for the Saints to knock off the heavily favored Seahawks and so was the VERY talented Australian actress Margo Robbie. I have no idea why an Australian lady actress would be a Saints fan, but whatever…
…we were both heartbroken…If you haven’t seen The Wolf of Wall Street and are ok with gratuitous everything and anything, then you should kill 3 hours as soon as they can be killed by you. Beats driving to Seattle (I LOVE Seattle, just not the drive…LOVE IT!!!)
Getting back to the card since this is card blog. The guy that i picked the Reed from had purchased it from e-bay specifically for me. Pretty cool huh? That’s what i love about these shows. You attend them enough and chat up the guys, they will go out of their way to find things for you…and not mark up the price! This is a great example of the hobby and what it can be. Very cool…too bad I can’t remember the kids name!!??!?!!
Big day for all you Redskins out there. The organization has a new head coach and I am really excited about it…until it bombs and I cycle back through my football depression. I think Jay Gruden will be a lot of fun. He has a pretty good sense of humor and a wonderful accent…sounds just like his brother minus the television schtick. Hail to the Redskins!
Ok, enough about football teams. The real reason I want you to read this blog of mine is to let you kids know, I am putting my sorting and collating skills to work over here at the Hog household. I’ve started work with the Redskins Topps cards of the 1970’s. There are some unbelievably wonderful cards and some very exceptional hair stylings like Mr. Hanburger. This guy.
What about the good ol’ days when the Cowboys and Redskins played in NFC Championship games…and the Redskins won!
If you have some extra cards you are dying to get rid of or care to make a trade, take a look at my checklists for the 1970’s Redskins. I’ve managed to pick up a few little gems like this shiny and bright Sonny card!
I also have some gems like this…
…and this…
But I still have quite a few holes left to fill, so if you can help a brother out. You just let me know and send me an electronic mail my way to see if we can work something out.
