There likely won’t be a Card of the Week today–we missed last week too–I finally did win one of the old school players who became screen stars, but it hasn’t shown up quite yet. Hopefully this week, still.
In the mean time, I have one more old cello pack to open–but it’s not really just a cello pack, it’s a rack pack. From 1981 Topps Football–the year of the Joe Montana rookie. This was by far the most expensive of the packs I bought, and another year that I have no experience opening. And since it’s a rack pack, it’s gonna be a long one.
Despite the lack of experience opening 1981 cards, I do have some random cards from that set I’ve picked up over the years–and a copy of the Montana rookie (as seen in the title picture), which I bought at the local card shop/video rental store in my home town when I was a kid. I paid $80 for it back then–a huge amount for me as a kid–which was probably pretty fair. It’s by no means in mint condition.
Anyway, my hope for the pack was to snag a gradeable Montana–and before any of the regulars from a certain Uncensored web site jump down my throat for grading, let it be known that the only reason I have to grade is that I got 5 free gradings when I signed up for their online service, which I do find useful for identification purposes, checklists, and a few other things (even if it is painfully slow).
The results:
Pack 1
#29 Clarence Scott
#380 Revie Sorey
#318 Louie Giammona
#465 Johnnie Gray
#28 William Andrews Super Action
#328 Joe Danelo
#269 James Jones
#169 Buccaneers Team Leaders (love the creamsicle orange–also a note, this was the last year before Topps finally ponied up and paid the NFL Properties fee to get the right to use team logos–until 1982, only the Browns and certain Steelers were shown accurately on their cards, on the rare occasion helmets were included…)
#236 Jimmy Rogers
#246 Sherman White (because why wouldn’t I get a guy named White?)
#340 Rod Perry
#251 Jim Allen
#207 Oilers Team Leaders
#233 John Sawyer
#92 Charlie Johnson
#36 Ray Wersching
#238 Marty Lyons
Pack 2
#144 Clark Gaines
#239 Pat Tilley
#375 Terry Bradshaw (well, there’s one star QB–but that’s the airbrushed side of his helmet. I thought about using this card as a Card of the Week, but I didn’t think his appearance in ‘Failure to Launch’ warranted it–little did I know the breadth of his filmography–including ‘The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.’!)
#271 Steve Largent (back to back HOFers, Largent held several NFL receiving records when he retired–all of which have been surpassed, I believe. Largent passed on the movie star career, and served in the US House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002, and unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Oklahoma in 2002.
#148 Freddie Solomon
#227 Tony Franklin
#106 Alfred Jackson
#201 Fred Smerlas
#437 Will Lewis
#268 Bill Lenkaitis
#114 Ricky Young
#146 Vernon Perry
#449 Dave Dalby
#279 Tom DeLeone
#230 Mike Haynes
#161 Arthur Whittington
Pack 3
#99 Mike Barber
#91 Ike Harris
#107 Chris Bahr
#373 Garo Yepremian (orange jersey + sideburns + bald head + kicker = great card)
#497 Rolland Lawrence
#51 Wallace Francis
#527 Duriel Harris
#164 Luke Prestridge
#178 Tom Brahaney
#265 Dan Fouts (three HOFers–not too bad)
#293 Jimmie Giles
#220 Franco Harris (HOFer #4)
#500 Tony Dorsett (wow…three HOFers in four cards–impressive, although Dorsett is not a favorite of mine, thanks to a particular Vikings highlight…
#364 Steve DeBerg (even though I have the Montana, I saw 49ers QB, and for a split second thought I hit it–then I saw the #17)
#436 Steve Furness
#421 George Roberts
#46 Ted McKnight (I was going to throw out a Caddyshack joke here–but it turns out his name was Ted Knight, not McKnight. Still, McKnight has the honors of being one of only six University of Minnesota-Duluth alums to play in the NFL–and was the highest drafted of any of them, and had the longest career).
So, no Joe Montana, but some pretty solid cards regardless.
Hopefully you enjoyed my walk down memory lane with these old packs–I have a feeling it won’t be the last time!
[phpbay]1981 topps football, 5[/phpbay]
Thanks for the post. It was great seeing these cards again. This was the first year I collected cards and I made the mistake of gluing them to a notebook.
I had 5 Montanas at one point. But back then, who cared?
Let me know if you can what Oilers and Saints w/ card #’s are in the set. I would like to get them again.
Hey, just saw your post as I’m going through a bag of old cards I have. They are all ’78 – ’81 topps. If there’s anything in particular you want from the sets, let me know and I’ll look and see if I have them. I’m not a collector, just a guy cleaning out his closet, so…whatever fair price is works for me.
When it comes time to sell part of your collection, it pays to go about it the right way. Here are some helpful tips for selling sports cards on the internet.
http://www.Sports-Trader.Net
Re: “until 1982, only the Browns and certain Steelers were shown accurately on their cards, on the rare occasion helmets were included”
Actually, there are a number of Rams cards which show the logo. I was lways curious why they were the one team whose logo was shown.
I have 2 1981 joe montana rookie cards and I wanna sell them if the price is right