Looks Like a Super Day for a Big Game

Well, I'm back after another unexpected posting drought. My wife and daughters returned from visiting my in-laws a week ago and they brought a nasty virus back with them so everyone in the family has been spending the majority of this past week in recovery mode. Today is the final game of the NFL season though and I couldn't miss out on an opportunity to celebrate the occasion. I'd like to think that I don't care who wins today, but I'd be lying if I said I'd be OK if the Patriots won. In fact, the only possible positive I could see coming out of a NE victory today is the chance that Brady will decide to retire afterwards. So, I can say with no reservations that I'm going to be an Atlanta Falcons fan for a day.

Since I don't collect either team, I guess I'll just have to show off some recently acquired Super Bowl themed, Broncos cardboard.

Up first is this pair of shiny Super a Bowl Heroes depicting two of the defensive anchors of last year's Championship team. The scan doesn't do these justice. In hand, they are reminiscent of some of the mid to late '90's issues from Playoff: shiny, semi dufex-y, goodness. Man, I miss some of the cards from those days! I snagged these from Listia for a combined total of 15,000 credits which roughly translates to a whopping $0.55.

Okay, this one is not technically cardboard, but I love it nonetheless. I 'pulled' this Topps Then insert from a digital pack in Huddle yesterday. It's part of their massive blitzkrieg of Super Bowl products. With 21 'cards' in the set the odds of pulling this one were long, especially for someone who doesn't spend money on the app. I can appreciate that this one highlights Mr. MVP's second strip sack of the game. It goes really well with the card that ended up being my favorite of 2016.

Speaking of my favorite card of 2016... I know I've showcased various versions of this card over the past year, but this will be the last. I found this listed on eBay shortly after Christmas and I knew that I must have it. It's the perfect choice for the first Miller auto to be added to my collection. 

Happy Super Bowl Sunday to you all. Here's hoping for some great commercials and a victory for Matty Ice! Thanks for reading.

My Favorite Piece of 2016 Cardboard

I've got to admit that until I saw the post by P-Town Tom that announced the 'Favorite Card of 2016' contest, I hadn't really taken much time to think on that topic. As I commented on his post, two cards immediately popped into my mind. I have since thought quite a bit about it and actually slowed down to look over a bunch of the cards I have in my collection at have been released this year. I shouldn't have needed an excuse to do that, but I'm glad that the contest reminded me that I should be looking at and flipping through the cards in my collection more often.

I searched through Flagship(1&2), Opening Day, Donruss, Archives, some GQ, a little A&G, Heritage(regular and High Numbers), Bunt(physical), Bowman, Stadium Club, Bowman Platinum, Topps Chrome, Optic, and Topps Holiday. I've considered completed sets like Spring Fever and Marketside Pizza. I've even looked at handfuls of NFL, NHL, WWE, UFC, and even some Star Wars. Through all of that, I've was reminded of some really great cardboard that has been released this year. However, when the searching was over, my thoughts kept returning to those two that originally came to mind. It was a truly difficult decision as both cards clearly captured the emotions that make watching sports so great. After the dust settled, I decided to go with a card that was issued as a part of Panini's Father's Day promotional set.

For me, this card perfectly captures a pivotal moment early in the 'Big Game'. It's got it all: the Super Bowl 50 patch, a view of the fumble that Miller just forced, and the fire in his eyes. It helps that this card depicts a player from my favorite football team who just so happened to become Super Bowl MVP, but I would even find this to be a great card if I weren't a Broncos fan. I'm looking forward to reading about other folks' choices. Good luck to all in the contest and thanks for reading.

A Belated But Super Father's Day Gift

No, this wasn't a late gift from my kids. I had hoped to make a trip out to my LCS last Sunday to pick up a few Panini Father's Day promo packs. However, due to family obligations(and realizing that the shop was giving out single packs for every $30 spent) the trip never materialized. I did begin to peruse the offerings on eBay though and when I saw the following listed for a great Buy It Now price, I had to make the purchase.

This is the Cracked Ice parallel of Mr. Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller. It's a bit tough to see through the cracked ice, but that is a photo of him eyeing the loose ball in the moments after one of his forced fumbles in the Big Game. I love everything about this card! The action shot brings me fond memories of watching the game live, the SB50 patch is clearly visible on his jersey, and the perspective of the shot makes me feel like I on the field fighting for the fumble recovery! Oh yeah, one more thing that's tough to see in this scan:

Yup, that's a Christmas card too!

The back is kind of a bland/typical Panini design, but just in case I ever forget the details of that game, they're right there in print!

Did I mention that I love everything about this card? I've had it in hand for only a few hours, but it's already taken its place as one of my favorite cards. Thanks for reading.

Going Out A Champion or: We Need More Subsets Like This

It's still January for a few more hours and looking back on my blogging month, I've already done a few 'this day in history'-type posts. Well, here is one more. I do rather enjoy them, but as the year progresses, I'll be sure to space them out a bit. The truth is, I couldn't pass up writing this one for two reasons.

On this day back in 1999, the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl XXXIII. Yes, there's the tie-in since they'll be playing in Super Bowl 50 next week, but that's not the reason I'm writing. Growing up, John Elway was my favorite football player. It wasn't even close. My first memory of watching the NFL was one of watching the Broncos-Browns playoff game in which 'The Drive' occurred. From then on, I couldn't help but cheer for him. As it turns out, Super Bowl XXXIII was his last game. What a way to go out! Super Bowl MVP and Back-to-Back Champions!  It was a storybook ending to an incredible career. 

Now, paying tribute to my favorite football player of all time is one of the reasons I wanted to write this post, but now that I'm about to get to the obligatory card scans, it's almost time to reveal the other reason.

This 10-card subset was included in the 1999 Fleer Ultra checklist. Each card depicting a great moment from the Big Game. It's the last time I am aware that a card company did something like this. Sure, there has been sporadic World Series Highlight subsets in a Heritage set here and there, but I think that this should be the norm. No matter the sport, there should be a multi-card highlight subset of the Championship Game/Series. Wow, I've written the word subset a bunch of times, but that's what I'm looking for here. I don't want an insert set with potentially crazy odds or base set SPs, just simple 'common' subet cards. I'm not saying it need to take up 10 spots on the checklist, but I think 4-5 would be great! I'm pretty sure I'd immediately have a mini-collection of such subsets. In fact, this one from Ultra was awesome because they were easy to obtain, but had parallels to chase if you were looking for more of a challenge. The best part of the parallels here is that there were only two...yes two parallels. The gold medallions were seeded one per pack and then there were platinum medallions that were #/40.

So, am I alone in this, or does anyone else out there think that something like this should be  a regular inclusion in all sports? How many cards do you think would be optimal? Thanks for reading! Go Broncos!!!