Unlicensed Flashback

When I was a kid collecting sports cards, I loved Topps Baseball and Topps Football sets about equally. One of my biggest surprises upon discovering that lots of people liked to discuss sports cards on the Internet was a simple one: back in the 70s, Topps didn't have a license with the NFL to use their trademarked graphics, but they made sets of Football Cards, anyway.

How did I not ever understand this, back in my single digit years? The answer is simple, of course, and quite obvious: logos didn't matter. The player did. And unlicensed Topps Football was frequently a better look at that player than on TV even, given the naturally heavy use of helmet-less photos to easily avoid that tricky licensing issue.

Today I accidentally stumbled across a perfect brand new sports card product to relive this much simpler, and ultimately more rewarding and intuitive way to enjoy sports cards — 2024 Topps Composite.

I am so looking forward to seeing what all is in this product I will rip a pack and place each card directly on to the scanner so you can see it with me, almost live. 

That First Card up there is the perfect introduction to this concept and product. Everyone knows the team without any logo at all.

I confess that I am not familiar with Joe Thomas. I feel like I should be. Even deeper confession time: I don't even watch Football any more. I'll get back to that in a minute. Let's find out who Joe Thomas is -

Of course I knew from the uniform # that Joe Thomas was an offensive lineman. One with quite a pedigree. A Hall of Fame Outside Tackle - again, absolutely perfect First Card for a product, and now, a sport, I know almost nothing about.

Didn't I write that this is called Topps Composite? Yup. But that card says "Topps Finest." Nothing gets past my super sharp blog readers, I know. What's going on here?

That's not Topps Finest.

That's a set design I somewhat admire, but pretty much figured I would never own a card from due to the cost of the boxes and the ever always longer list of "singles" I would like to own before now suddenly owning a Troy Aikman Football Card I absolutely did not know I would so enjoy, back when I got up this morning. Topps Chrome Black, all up in my house. Cool.

And my deep bench of 1970s Football Card experience helped me instantly recognize the team here even before Aikman's name was revealed. I think there is something missing from that uniform, or multiple somethings; my brain is somehow filling them in automatically even though I am still forgetting what they are. I think there should be a star on the helmet, or something. Troy Aikman is a star. And that always makes for a good sports card. I wonder who he is looking downfield at?

Another super veteran announcer, good guess huhh.

& - Allen & Ginter Football? !!!

Lawd a Mercy

Collinsworth played for the Browns, too?

That can't be right.

Something is sideways in Denmark, me thinks.

This product is sneaking up on me every which way. I even wrote that 'downfield' bit before I knew what card was out there on the deep fly route. And, A&G isn't even mentioned on the box:

What year is this again? I mean, like, today.

Could you imagine needing a license to have a good flashback?

They usually make me a little woozy.

That "Spotless Spans" A&G card must be one of the inserts.

What will this thing cough up next?

I feel like I should know who all those QBs are, but, noob. Hit me, Topps:

Card #398

Wait. There's at least 398 cards of this stuff? Whoa.

This design I am familiar with - the final year of Gallery, a couple or three years back now. I mostly liked it at the time though was sad to see the pure illustration component of the product disappear. But a pleasing pure design; maybe slash based design is a good choice for Football Cards. I have no idea, since I haven't purchased a Football Card in 34-ish years. The mammoth-ness of the then new Pro Set Football Cards kinda wore me out back in the late 80s.

Here in the 21st Century, I have largely stopped watching Football. It's always on during one of 2 super busy periods of the year for me at work, and I would just rather be outside that time of year rather than watching Football in the daytime. The NBC Sunday Night Game occasionally still entertains me but so many hobbies, so little time. 

My biggest reason for hitting the snooze button Football though is the tragic fate of the players. You know of which I speak. And that is a big reason I put so much of my time into keeping up with the sport of Baseball instead. If I can overcome the thought of what is happening to each delicate brain inside its delicate bubble of fluid while the sport is played, it will be with Hockey players.

Lately my local NHL team has again become the "Dead Wings." That has curbed my enthusiasm for following that sport some. But here in the Mitten State, things are looking up, sports wise, as the local Football team almost made it to the Big Game in February even. I would have even seen the League Championship played for the first time in many, many years if I hadn't finally contracted Covid right then. I was looking forward to it. So I gots some catching up to do, with a couple sports. I might even buy a TV this coming winter, and watch them again, finally. I think I will be needing some more boxes of sports cards to go with.

It doesn't appear this will quite be the product for that. This product is all about warm fuzzies of past memories, sooo nice. I am a little verklempt that I have already reached the final card of 5 in each pack in the blaster I purchased at my LCS this afternoon. Let's take a look:

Announcer Hot Pack!

3 announcer cards in 5, & card #448 here...

270 announcer cards? That's like, a lot.

Howie Long was one of my favorite players on my favorite team. I still enjoy the rare moment when I do catch him on a TV screen, every third year or so. And now, I have his Football Card.

448 of these things? Lawd a Mercy. And, it comes in Pints? Yup, there are full-on Hobby Boxes of this stuff, my LCS reports though they currently were short on supply. I haven't even reached one of the designs promised on the box which I am quite looking forward to, that being Cosmic Chrome, another design I didn't expect to ever have a sports card from. 

I confess I would kinda prefer seeing the all time classic Raiders logo on there, somewhere, but, I never minded that all those decades ago when I got a real live Kenny Stabler Football Card so I probably shouldn't start now. Who knows what else is going to be in this crazy (good way) product. Surely Snake will be. There's only one way to find out...