Prominent and Pretty in Pink

Although I haven't bought a pack of the stuff and don't plan to, I'm having a bit of a love-hate infatuation with Upper Deck Prominent Cuts. My mind boggles at the thought of not one, not two but three cards in a 60-card base set being occupied by three of the Kardashian sisters but there's also some amazing autographs to be found. Granted, the cut signature autographs have no pictures and have a large checklist with plenty of signers who are very much alive. But then what's the chances of a lot of these rejected stars coming out in a set that features them?

Such is the case with Molly Ringwald. Along with Punky Brewster and that unnamed girl that Rodney Dangerfield sees in the shower at the start of Back to School, she was amongst my first Hollywood crushes. Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, TV's Diff'rent Strokes - she was the cute, snooty dream girl in some of my favorite things growing up.

But before I grew up, she did and moved on.

For the past couple of decades, Ringwald went and became a wife and mom, and largely disappeared from the Hollywood scene. I spotted her in a horrendous Aussie slasher film a few years back and caught her paying tribute to John Hughes at the Academy Awards. She's also in some TV show now that I've never seen. Whatever the true Hollywood story is, Molly Ringwald simply isn't the it girl she once was. And she's done a great job of distancing herself from it.

With my serious doubts of a set based on The Secret Life of the American Teenager coming out, I went and pulled the trigger on this from Upper Deck Prominent Cuts:

Upper Deck Prominent Cuts Autograph Molly Ringwald

For most, this card is probably 20 years too late. But for me, it's a trip back to elementary school crushes. As for the fact that it's a cut signature of a living person. You're right, the card isn't the prettiest. But like Duckie on the rebound, something's better than nothing. I also find something concerting about the legitimacy of the ugly check where the signature (which is very clean, I might add) originates from. Plus it was pretty cheap too at significantly less than the pack it came from.

Overall, I've still paid less than the price of one pack and gotten 80% of the base set, a bunch of doubles and an autograph of not only someone I've heard of, but someone I really want as well. Another exa not to bust high-end wax.

Where's Fernando's Penmanship?

Biggest 'Manias' from the 1980s:

3) Wrestlemania

2) Hulk-a-mania

 1) Fernando Mania

Here's the thing, though. Wrestlemania just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Hulk-a-mania will never die, brutha. But Fernando Mania - it seems to have disappeared.

Fernando Valenzuela was one of baseball's biggest stars in the early part of the 1980s. Before he was old enough to legally buy a beer and drop a nickel in a Vegas slot machine he'd already won the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards. And that was in his first full season. For the next half-a-decade he was one of the game's brightest stars. With his excentirc windup and knack for the strike out, Valenzuela captured the imagination of the game's fans.

After setting a career-high with 21 wins in 1986, Valenzuela started his decline from superstar to falling star. Although he remained a fan favourite, he was never his dominant self for any length of time. Yet he managed to hang on, going from team to team and finding a way to stay in the Majors before being released one last time in 1997 by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Valenzuela's legacy today is one of being one of the game's ultimate fan favorites. Yet, when it comes to cardboard, he's hardly around. Despite the fact that we're in an age of nostalgia in the hobby, Fernando Mania is still something of a dot on a vast horizon. He's appeared on about 50 cards since 2000. While that might seem like a lot, when you think about all the parallels and inserts that come in modern sets, it's barely a blip. If you narrow it down further to premium "hits," the numbers dwindle further. While there's a handful of game-used bat cards, Valenzuela has a grand total of one certified autograph card. It's found in 2005 Sweet Spot Classics Baseball. With autographs in 2007 and 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum, friggin' Corey Feldman from The Goonies has more autographed cards inserted in baseball products.

 

While Joe Blanton, Andre Ethier, Noah Lowry and Tom Gorzelanny continue to have autograph after autograph released, this 80s icon remains one of the few names from the past that hasn't been milked. The reasons for the lack of Valenzuela autographs can only be specualted. Perhaps he's not a fan of signing things, maybe he charges too much, maybe he hates the picture Upper Deck used on his 2005 card, or maybe he's disappeared from the public radar. Who knows. There's currently just one of the Valenzuela autographs listed on eBay and it's got a Buy it Now price of more than $100. I think it's time Fernando Mania gets a little kick in the pants so getting an autograph can be a little more affordable.

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.