I'll be honest, I have been out of the card collecting scene for more than 15 years. The defining moment for me came when I saw a Ryan Klesko rookie card selling for $5.00 before he had played his first major league game. Since then, I moved away from cards and went to autographs, publications, phantom World Series tickets, anything but cards, really.
That's not to say I haven't gone to card shows as I have. In fact, I enjoy them. But they are not what they used to be. I typically bring my son as he gets a pack or two and there is a guy that sells the 2009 cards for a dime a piece and he loads up on all the current guys.
Imagine my surprise when I walk by a vendor today and see this card looking back at me:
Five bucks later and I have the whole set. All 33 cards of them. I had no idea these even existed. I certainly don't remember them. Then again, our family was more McDonald's than Burger King. Maybe it was that there were no Tigers in the set. Whatever the reason, this was a major, yet pleasant, surprise.
Burger King and Topps had been a sponsor of the Pitch, Hit and Run competition for kids, a baseball version of the popular Pass, Punt and Kick NFL version. Fred Lynn is one of several of the cards with a different picture than their regular 1980 issue.
These were printed later than the 1980 base set and I assume these were given over the counter at BK or at the competition. The backs are red instead of blue (see below)
As we go forward, I will include the Burger King version of a player card as we get there. I'll also post more about the day's card show finds soon.
Man, you got the whole set for $5?!? That is awesome. I think I have the Rice from this set somewhere, and had no idea it was tied to that kind of promotion.
ReplyDeleteI love those Burger King cards. They were so cool when we were kids because a lot of times the BK cards showed players with their new teams, but with the same Topps design.
ReplyDeleteI've got a couple '79s. Five bucks for the whole 1980 set is great.
Nice find. This is the kind of stuff I look for (instead of the new chase cards). The rookie card thing was one of the things that caused me to lose interest in the hobby in the early 90s.
ReplyDeletegreat find. very cool grab.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually $10 but I asked him if he would take $5. We were both happy, I guess.
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