Sportslots Football

Do you know what football collectors need?  A Just Commons website.  As far as I have been able to find, we are limited to COMC and Sportlots, and while I use both, neither provides the extreme cheapness for base cards that's available at Just Commons.  I tend to use Sportlots more, because it's usually a hair cheaper.  I recently, or maybe not so recently, placed an order to help fill out my collection.

Let's begin in the 80s.  Since it's hard to see the names on those Upper Deck cards and you may not be familiar with these players in their college unis, I'll clue you in: Roger Craig, Steve Largent, and Kellen Winslow.  I love that picture of Roger Craig, launching through the line.

Here's a trio of Mike Singletarys.  I was unaware that he had worn #63 at Baylor, and it caught me by surprise.  Largely thanks to that '85 team, there are far too many Bears on the 1980s All-Decade team.  These All-Decade players are the only time that I specifically seek out Bears cards for my collection, but there are four on the 80s team: Singletary, Dan Hampton (as shown above), Jimbo Covert, and Walter Payton.

I love these two shots of college-aged Jerry Rice.  I'd imagine that usable photos from Rice's college career are harder to come by because he went to such a small school, so I'm glad to add these to my collection.  All of these cards are from players who spanned the 80s and 90s teams.

My first reaction upon seeing the 1989 Score Tim Brown was, "There is no way that is Tim Brown."  Well, unbeknownst to me, this is the error card featuring a photo of James Lofton.  There is a corrected version, as well.  I don't mind error cards, but it was confusing when I didn't know it existed.

By now, you've quite a few of the 1990 Fleer Stars 'n' Stripes.  I never even knew that this set existed before I bought a bunch of it in this lot.  At first I thought it was an insert set, but it is actually set.  Beyond that, I don't know anything about it.  The 1989 Topps is Atwater's rookie, and my favorite of this set.

Now we get into the more recent players.  I've noticed as I've tried to put together these All-Decade teams that it is getting harder and harder to find cards of offensive linemen.  As a former offensive linemen, that's disappointing.  But even if I had never played along the line, the men in the trenches deserve much more cardboard credit than they receive.  Nowadays, even the best linemen are featured as rookies and then never again.  Take Alex Mack, for example.  He has a slew of 2009 RCs, but only 16 total cards after that; 2011 National Treasure and 2014 National Treasure are the only two sets with Alex Mack cards, and he is one of the premier centers in the league.  Some of these players, like Jonathan Ogden, I would really like to collect more of, but can't find them.  It's a shame.

Here are some of the premier pass-catchers of the 2000s.  I've never cared much for T.O., and the trajectory of his career, as shown in the top three cards here, tells you about all you need to know about him.  A few years ago, I opened a pack of 2008 SP Authentic and pulled one of the Pro Bowl Performers inserts.  Hines Ward, I believe.  I loved the look of it, and every time I've had a chance to pick up one of this set that fits in my collection, I go for it.  Maybe after I pick up all the guys I specifically need, I'll shoot for the full set.  Maybe I'll even put up a wantlist for it.  Maybe.

Here are some fearsome defenders.  I love this Strahan.  This to me is everything a good football card should be: great action shot, beautiful photography, a simple, yet attractive, design, easy to read, etc.

We'll finish up the All-Decade players with some all-time great DBs.  Here is another Pro Bowl Performers insert of Ed Reed.  Unsurprisingly, he has the ball in his hands.  Reed was one of the biggest ballhawks I've ever seen.

We'll finish this post with a couple of Lambeau Legends, including Mr. Lambeau himself.  This is only my second card of Curly Lambeau, and the other is part of a box set I have, so this is his first representation in my Packers binder.  In hindsight, the binder felt incomplete without it.  Now I'm trying to think if there is any other iconic figure missing, and immediately I realize I need Don Hutson and Ray Nitschke in the binder.  But Lambeau was definitely a must-have.

In all, this purchase was under $15.  It's not a bad price, but if I were buying similar cards from Just Commons, I estimate that I would have saved $5 or $6.  Sportlots kills me with the cost of shipping, and it's hard to find what each individual seller has on the site so you can make your purchase from one person at a time.  However, this drawback is not keeping me from buying off of Sportlots, and you'll see some more of my purchases coming soon.