Basement Treasures: 1994 Upper Deck World Cup Edition

While doing a little cleaning and reorganizing over the holidays, I came across a small box of cards labelled "Other Sports." It's not a slight on the sports that reside within, but rather odds and ends of cards I'd accumulated outside of baseball, basketball, hockey, football, golf and tennis (I loved 2003 NetPro Tennis and my doubles had a box of their own). Three-quarters of the "Other Sports" box was comprised of 1994 Upper Deck World Cup Soccer (or is it football?). I started thumbing through them and remembered what a great-looking set this was.

Honestly, I recognized very few names but there was some great action shots...

...dramatic portraits...

...celebrations

...crazy hair...

...hippies...

...and some head butt and blinking dual awesomeness.

And if all else fails, the set even flashes a little boob.

As I reached the end of the stack, I came across this card and thought, "Hey, I've heard of her."

It turns out Mia Hamm has a rookie card in this set and folks are actually willing to pay for it. I checked some old completed auctions and saw one had sold for $6. Sure, it's not much, but for a soccer card that was otherwise sitting in a box marked "Other Sports," it's not too shabby.

There's currently a few complete 330-card sets listed on eBay for under $20.

Basement Treasures: Topps Company 2001 Annual Report

Digging in a box in the basement, I came across some forgotten treasures. Here is one of them.

It wasn't long ago that Topps was a publicly traded company that anybody with a few bucks could've owned a piece of. As such, each year they'd have to ready a financial report for stock holders and potential stock holders.

For whatever reason, I requested such a report sometime ago. A few weeks later, presumably after an online survey because I wouldn't have wasted a stamp on one, a glossy magazine with lots of numbers and jargon that didn't make a lot of sense to me showed up in the mailbox. So why keep it? Where else are you going to find Shaquille O'Neal clutching onto a Bottle Pop? Yes, it's the goofy cover that made me hold onto this wacky little piece of oddball hobby history.

2001 had Topps was celebrating its 50th anniversary in the baseball end of the hobby. The back of the report showcases the 50th Anniversary logo that was plastered everywhere that year. Lurking in the shadows is a gallery showcasing each of the main Topps designs over the years. The card choices seem a little random at times. The spotlight is put on some of the more memorable rookie cards from some sets (1974 Winfield, 1955 Clemente, 1975 Brett) and some picks featuring local favorites in the middle of their careers (1983 Joe Rudi, 1997 Denny Martinez, 1988 Bill Buckner).

Seeing as how I've got a few magazines kicking around, this little treasure will likely survive at least one more move. If I ever decide to crack out a ceipher, I might be able to see some genuine hobby numbers and track some historical business data just for kicks.

Basement Treasures: Mad Breaks the Pete Rose Scandal in 1987

Digging in a box in the basement, I came across some forgotten treasures. Here is one of them.

 

I was never a huge Mad Magazine fan, although I picked up the occasional copy if I was waiting for a ferry or if the cover gave me a laugh. I was and still am a big fan of Pee Wee's Playhouse. Sure, the guy's a perv but there's lots of them out there. It still doesn't take away from the fact it was one of the weirdest shows of my childhood.

I'm guessing by the price tag that I picked up this issue at a used book store. It's from 1987 and promises a look at baseball inside. There's no sporting feature, but there are several diamond-themed comic strips throughout. Here's one that caught my attention:

What are the chances the Mad crew knew about Pete Rose?

Basement Treasures: Face/Off Widescreen Premium Card

Digging in a box in the basement, I came across some forgotten treasures. Here is one of them.

When it was first released in 1997 I loved John Woo's Face/Off. He showed me that two guns were always better than one, that slow motion can hide bad acting and that gun fights in churches don't have to be sacreligious (especially if there's doves). Nicholas Cage was deliciously over-the-top and John Travolta was still on his honeymoon free pass from Pulp Fiction.

A couple of years after its theatrical run and well after its video release, Paramount launched its widescreen line of VHS tapes. Aimed at film fans who didn't mean the two black bars at the top of their screens if it meant the whole picture was shown, the line was a warm-up for what was to come as DVDs went mainstream. I quickly bought the tape and found the following inside:

Yes! Travolta and Cage in their widescreen glory on a card. Well, at least a postcard. You see, with the full screen you'd only see a cropped picture of the two faces. But with widescreen, you get the guns too. Without the guns you've got no tension, just Travolta yammering on.

Here's the back, which is accompanied by a promotional blurb:

In recent years I've come to realize Face/Off really isn't that good of a film. Rather it's a greatest hits package of Woo's older Hong Kong action pictures like Hard Boiled, The Killer, A Better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow II (all of which truly rule if you like action movies and don't mind subtitles).

I'm Pumped! Basement Treasures Uncovered

Over the holidays I've been doing some digging around in boxes in the basement, looking to get things a little more organized. Whilst digging I came across a box of oddball treasures that I'd sort of forgotten about (I recognized them as soon as I saw them but had they gone the way of the leg lamp I wouldn't have remembered).

Now don't let me lead you on. I didn't find grandpa's stash of tobacco cards or someones hoarde of dirty magazines. Think more along the lines of the Land of Misfit Toys from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Most everything I found is a little bit strange, not standard-card sized and some aren't even cards. The picture above came from one of them.

I'll be sharing some of these treasures here over an indefinite period of time. I'll probably be sharing other parts with people I think may want to add them to their collections.

So be on the lookout and I hope I can convey some of their neatitude.