2016 Black Gold HOF Symbols Reggie White

Panini Black Gold is one of my favorite current products, and I knew when I saw these cards in the initial teases for this year’s edition that I would have to grab any Packers cards like this. Sure enough, Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Reggie White are all part of the HOF Symbols set.  White is the only one I’ve tracked down so far, and it’s a beaut!  That gold colored HOF Symbol medallion really shines against the black background of this card.  Great display piece, for sure, and it will look awesome next to Starr and Favre when I pick them up!

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The Unlikely LCS

Traveling to Ohio for Brett Favre’s NFL Hall of Fame induction this weekend (Go Pack Go!), my wife and I found ourselves in a small Ohio town in Amish Country.  Horse and buggies, Amish beards, bonnets… the whole nine yards.  There were also plenty of places selling all sorts of art-and-craftsy homemade wares.  Being good tourists, we stopped into just such a place, finding painted wall-hangings, handmade clothing, old-fashioned toys and the like.  (We even found crocheted Pikachu and Jigglypuff!)  

The place was huge, with three stories winding through several connected buildings.  We found a few passing sports references, mostly the local teams, and I talked myself out of buying a Packers cornhole set.  I thought we’d seen everything, but there was something urging me to keep looking. A subtle force pulling me further into the labyrinth of quilts and woodcarvings.  Out of the corner of my eye, a quick flash of sports memorabilia through a doorway that lead to a backroom.  Stepping cautiously into this uncharted chamber, I looked to my left and found this:

It was a veritable mini hobby shop! This one display case was packed with unopened wax packs and boxes, hundreds of binder pages of singles, a few dozen bigger name rookies and hits, and more stacked on top.  The small, pink note on the side heralded discounts and great deals on all of it, too!  Recognizing that I was irretrievably drawn in by its siren song, my wife graciously left me to this little slice of collecting serendipity I had stumbled across.  After just a few minutes (OK, an hour), here’s what I decided I couldn’t leave without:

A great mix of older and newer unopened cards, with a stack of singles to round it out.  I love the silver, refractive sheen of those 1996 SPX packs.  More on the specifics of the haul later, but for now I’ll say this was an added bonus to a great trip!

HOF 2016: Brett Favre!!!

Brett Favre, legendary Packers (NOT Jets or, well, THEM) QB, my childhood hero, and Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2016.  GO PACK GO!!!

1997 Press Pass Combine Die-Cuts Orlando Pace

Representing another of the great 2016 NFL Hall of Fame class, this card has just about all of my favorite attributes for an awesome 90’s card: it’s shiny, die-cut, embossed, and even uses a pun on the player’s name in the write up on the back.  This really might be my new favorite card (at least from 1997), especially since it features that rarest breed of football player, the superstar offensive lineman!   
In fact, I’d say he sets the “pace” for the career of every future legendary o-lineman!  After finishing fourth in the voting for the 1996 Heisman Trophy (the Heisman!!!), he was the top pick in the ’97 draft and would be a vital part of one of the most prolific offenses of the time.  Warner, Faulk, Bruce, Holt – these guys owe more than a little of their success to a darn good offensive line anchored by this HOF tackle! 

1996 Metal Marvin Harrison Rookie

A quick rookie card shout-out to 2016 NFL Hall of Fame inductee Marvin Harrison!  Always love to see a 90’s rookie make the Hall!