The Genius of Jenkins

Last week Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius sent over an unexpected package of Canadian Hall o' Famer Fergie Jenkins. And what a treasure trove they were. I've long been a fan of the weird and strange things that oddball sets bring. They're something different and out of the ordinary. Make said oddball joys of a more vintage variety and I'm all squealy with cool card goodness.

The first work of cardboard art is this 1972 Kellog's card. It measures right in between a regular card and a tobacco card so it's a little smaller, but man does this set pack a lot of info. The front shows a happy Ferg chilling in front of some empty bleachers. Wait a second. The bleachers have depth. They're in 3-D! On the backside you get the best of all worlds: headshot, full name (Ferguson Arthur Jenkins), career stats, 100-word biography, important biographical info and licensing. Now why can't a lot of modern sets offer that kind of information?

Skip ahead one year and you've got the next card in the package - 1973 Kellog's. The cereal folks have another keeper of a design, although this set is noteable for not having the 3D backdrop. It's a pity too because the sky would have worked well with it.

Matt also included another more mainstream addition from the same year. It's a 1973 Topps Fergie. Here he's in a posed wind-up position looking like he's just been told to look at the birdie the photographer's holding to the side of his shoulder.

Jumping ahead in time we arrive at the over-sized 1985 Donruss Champion set. It measure's 3 1/2" x 5" and looks a lot like a postcard size-wise. I hadn't seen this set before but I like it from first glance. Fergie's looking strong on a distinctly Donruss frame. On the back his stats are matched up with Cy Young. While I get the point of comparing then "new" guys with old timers, comparing the strong Jenkins with the legendary Young makes the Canadian look bad.

The lone "modern" card MAtt sent over was an insert from 2001 Upper Deck Decade 70s - Arms Race. I like the foil front but the American patriotic color scheme doesn't really work when the subject isn't an All-American. I didn't bust any packs of the set so I'm not overly familiar with it, but them more I see of Decade 70s the crazier I think it is - in a strangely good way.

So thanks again, Matt! All Fergies are good Fergies and these are some stellar Fergies!