Some of my Favorite Non-Sports Trading Cards

You know I collect toys, video games and comics.  And you may have noticed I collect trading cards as well.  Like comic books, I get a few trading cards here and there.  Growing up, and up until 8 or 9 years ago, like comics, I used to regularly purchase trading cards.  My first taste of collecting cards, was like most young boys, with baseball cards.  My older brother and my step brother gave my younger brother and I a couple of binders full of baseball cards.  If I would’ve kept those, I’d have around 10 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards.

Over the years, cards I collected ranged from basketball to hockey to non-sports cards.  Back in the day, not only did Topps have all of the major sports licenses, but they also had all of the popular movie licenses, as well as the licenses for all the properties us kids were into.  Which means, there was quite a selection.  Through the years, technology has advanced, and there are always some type of new “chase” cards out there.  I remember when holograms were all the rage.  Now we have game-worn jersey cards, sketch cards, hell, back in the early nineties, there were Punisher insert(chase), cards that smelled like gun powder!  But enough with the history, let me show you some of my favorite non-sports trading cards!

I bought this for $5 at a sports card store in Westchester Square, in the Bronx.  I know Wizard routinely had trading cards sealed in a bag with the magazine during their early days.  But I don’t remember if these were for incentives for store owners if they ordered a certain amount of the magazine every month, or what.  It came straight from wizard sealed in a serial numbered case.  There was a Maxx promo card that did come with the magazine, but the artwork was different, and even though the information and card number were the same on both card backs, the paragraphs written on the back were different as well.  Here’s the regular card to compare with the one above(sorry, I didn’t scan the card backs).  And this card is also one of my favorites, even though I’m using it as a reference.

 We all remember Garbage Pail Kids, right?  Well in recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the series.  I say this because over the last 8-9 years, I have noticed newer series in Wal-Mart and Target.  Back in the eighties, GPK were your standard sticker/trading cards.  Now-a-days, there are all sorts of chase cards with varying gimmicks.  I got a few foil cards, and one of them is my second favorite GPK of all time.  And being that this card is foil, it just makes it that much cooler.  And for those of you wondering, Split Kit is my favorite(if you’re reading this and have an extra Split Kit, let me know if we can work out a deal).

Next, we have a card, whose subject matter is a staple of MAD magazine(which I’ve been reading since I was 8 years old).  Spy vs. Spy is one of my favorite features of MAD.  Remember when holograms were all the rage in the trading card and comic book communities?  Well, this card is from that era.  This is hologram #3 of 3.

Next up, is one of my most favorite Wacky Packages cards.  For those of you who don’t know, Wacky Packages is a trading card series that the Topps Company started in the 1970s.  Wacky Packages are parody cards of everyday brand name products. For example instead of Cherry Coke, they have Cherry Croak, and instead of Sweet n’ Low, they have Snot n’ Blow.  This one is a parody of McDonald’s Big Mac, and it’s a magnet insert card(#7 of 9), and it really works(it’s basically a cheap thin refrigerator magnet).

Last up for tonight, we have another foil card.  I remember where I acquired this one, but I have no idea where it originated from.  Was it inserted with a magazine?  Is it promotional?  It’s The Savage Dragon punching some guy’s head right of of his shoulders!  I think it’s a really cool card and the art work is bad-ass, but, I would really like to know it’s origins.  Of course, if you know, drop me a line.

This is just a small sample of cards from my collection.  If you liked this, let me know.  Maybe it’ll be another regular feature!

Random Quickie #2 – The Official Nintendo Video Game Stick-Ons

As you may or may not know, I am a huge Nintendo fan.  Let me rephrase that.  I am a huge fan of Nintendo during the days of the NES.  Which is to say that I will buy pretty much anything from the 80’s that is related to Nintendo.  Back when the Nintendo Entertainment System was king of the mountain, there was very little that you could find without Nintendo branding.  Which is where today’s piece comes into the picture.  These stickers were one of the first things I purchased off of Ebay(2007).  If memory serves me correctly, these came from Hawaii and ran me less than $5.00, shipping included.  The one pictured below is one of a few different assortments that were released.

The games depicted on the stickers are classics.  The only one I believe that is missing from this assortment, that I’ve seen in others, is Rad Racer.  I’ll end this here, but I will give you another scan of the reverse side of the package.  Look at all of their suggestions for “Fun things to do with stickers”.  Only in the 80’s.

New Additions

I’m still hanging in there with Chunky B.’s 28 Day Challenge, but have managed to have some toys donated to me.  My nephew Jo-Jo, sent me a package containing four figures.  As far as I knew, I thought he was sending me one figure.  We’ll start with the one I knew was coming.

  He’s stamped 2003, but I thought he was older, as I only saw him in his alternate state.

Aside from the different head mold and the sash, this is the same “Mutatin'” Donatello that came out in 1992!  No matter though.  Any Donatello is a welcome addition.  Here’s what the originals(I do not own the one in the picture below) looked like, to give you something to compare it to. 

Continuing on with the Donatello theme…here’s another one stamped 2003. 

I’m pretty sure this is from the TMNT Fast Forward line.  His head and bandana have some paint wear, but that’s okay. I like it just the same!

This next figure has got me stumped.

I think this is a bootleg…for 2 reasons.  First, I can’t find any date or any kind of copyright marks anywhere.  And secondly, the head doesn’t look like your typical Transformer mold.

He looks like he’s missing some pieces, so I’ll just chalk it up as “battle damage”.  There is something that I thought was pretty neat about him though.  Look a little more closely.

He keeps a tally of all of the Autobots he has defeated!  This is the Transformer equivalent to teardrops below your eye.  This Decepticon, whoever he is, is gangsta’!

And lastly, we have this little guy(who happens to be my favorite of this lot).

Leonardo here is just a little bigger than he is in this photo.  I already have the Donatello from this series, so now he has a buddy!  Here’s a picture of the two of them with the previous Donatello, to give you an idea of scale.

I’d like to thank my nephew for these figures.  They definitely helped make this 28 Day Challenge just a little bit easier.  And if anyone has any information on the “Transformer” above, drop me a line(I’m too lazy to really research it).

Playing with my G.I. Joes

Before all of the ice and snow melts, I decided to use the scenery for a few shots of my G.I. Joe figures.  If my neighbors saw me, they probably think I’m crazy!  But I had fun, so I don’t care.  I got a package from my nephew Joe last weekend, I’ll share what he sent me in a couple of days.  But for now, enjoy a few photos of G.I. Joe playtime!

Random Quickie #1 – Bowen Designs Mini-Bust : Apocalypse

I wanted to have this post up on Friday, but I have been fighting a bad cold for the past couple of days.  For the first post in this ongoing series, I decided to go with something that is not a toy, but a work of art.

I bought this mini-bust at Midtown Comics sometime in 2000 or 2001.  I used to visit Midtown Comics every week to get my comic fix.  Well, one day I went in and checked out all the mini-busts and statues that they had in a glass case.  Apocalypse, being my all time favorite villain, caught my eye quite quickly.  Not being one to spend a large amount of money on a single item, I perused the rest of the store, to give me some time to think it over.  A short time later, I approached the counter with a few comics, and was asked, “Can I help you with anything else?”.  I replied with something like, “Yes.  I would like one of those mini-busts in the case over here.”.  Ten or so years later, I still think the $55.00 I spent on it was well worth it.

And for those wondering, this is numbered 1993 of 5000.

New announcement!

Some time, possibly tomorrow, more likely on Friday, I would like to start a new series of posts.  They will be titled “Random Quickies”.  These posts will be about one item(sometimes more) that I have in my posession, that has not been on my blog.  I will feature things that I deem cool.  Sometimes I just don’t feel like writing, so this will be a great way to have regular updates without wearing me out.  I will write a quick blurb about the item(s) in the photo with my thoughts.  It seems as though my mind has been cranking it’s gears lately, as this is the second regular post idea I have come up with this year(the other being My Favorite Comic Book Covers).  If you guys have any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them.

In the meantime, here are some wintry photos from where I live.

Tranformers Universe Backstop

Since a few of us are testing ourselves to see if we can last the month of February without buying any toys, I had to open “The Vault”, and see what I had at my disposal.  I found that I had some carded toys that I would be willing to open.  When collecting toys, the first thought should be that you are buying it as a collector.  If you are buying toys only to keep them in their original packaging, you are an investor.  While I do have a small number of toys that I don’t plan on opening, 98% of the toys I buy I plan on opening and displaying.  But, I’d say I buy 40% of my toys loose anyway.  That being said, let’s open up a Transformer!

I bought this guy for around 5 dollars a few years back.  The main reason I picked him up was because he is very reminiscent of Slag from the G1 Dinobots.  He looks like a cross between a rhino and a triceratops.  While he doesn’t have the 2 upper horns, he still resembles a triceratops(to me anyway).

His transformation is classified as level 2, and that was appropriate, because I had absolutely no trouble during the transformation process.  The gimmick with this line is “Cyber Planet Key”.  The Cyber Planet Key is a piece of plastic you insert into a specific spot on the figure to activate a special feature.  With Backstop here, it activates the “Ramming Robo-Horn”.

While in robot mode, he is short and stocky, but looks pretty sweet.  My only qualm is, that most of the alternate mode is not hidden when he’s in robot mode.  But that’s okay, because I don’t have any Beast Wars figures, and my collection can always use a little variation.

All in all, a pretty nice figure.  One day I will have a real Dinobot, but for now, Backstop is my Dinobot.

Monday, Monday…

New content tomorrow.  I promise.  As a some of you know, I have joined a few others, and will try to not purchase any toys for the month of February.  I do have some other stuff I will post.  I am also expecting a package from my nephew Joe.  He has some stuff he’s going to send me.  Thanks to Chunky B over at Eclectorama for this challenge!  Let’s see how long I will last.

I will leave you with these photos.  G1 Transformers in HD.  Thank you HUB!!