Randy Burke Customs

My ongoing interest in obtaining a Randy Burke card for my Fantasy Football collection reached it's natural conclusion when I ordered a couple of custom cards to be made from photos I've picked up in the last year or so. I had previously made my own custom cards but while they looked OK I really had no way to produce a quality professional-looking two sided cards.

The backstory I discussed here previously. In a nutshell I finally determined that the 'card' I had been searching for was actually a team issued photo. I'm not sure if they were distributed to the public or were exclusively used as publicity stills.

In the end I found and purchased two copies of the pic, neither of which was without flaws. The photos are below, the one on the left had red ink bleeding thru from the newspaper archives stamping on the reverse. The other had crop markings.

But using my very rudimentary graphics skills I pieced together a clean copy (below) that I was able to made use of for the first card.

The final product, which is posted at the top and arrived late last week, came out really well I thought. Clean, simple design that reminds me of regional issues. The finish is shiny and the card stock, while not as thick as a '56 Topps, is better than the current Archives release. I'm very happy with it. Here is the back:

The second card was made using a photo I purchased from the Baltimore Sun archives. It shows Burke as a rookie being fitted for his helmet by the Colts' equipment manager. Here is the original pic. Below that I've posted the caption.

I cropped the shot and didn't bother to try to eliminate any of the gray 'painted over' area that the Sun photo editor applied. Turns out it doesn't detract all that much from the finished card:

The reverse is identical to the first card.

I ordered some extras and sent them along to Randy Burke as I've discovered that he didn't have any cards from his career. That's not surprising given that nothing seems to have been issued. I'm hoping he likes them and I've asked that he sign one of each for me. I'll post if he does.

So my collection 'white whale' has been reeled in. Not exactly as I had envisioned it many years ago when I first went on the hunt for a card of every player on my fantasy rosters but in many ways it's even better. Thanks to Shelley at Customcardboard for the nice work!

My White Whale

The other day Fuji stated his 2013 hobby goals and asked for ours. I replied and yammered on for a bit and then I remembered that I was in the process of a post about the one card I'd love to find, if only I could. It's a card I've never seen and if it's what I think it is, it's not even a 'real' card, at least as far as how I think of 'cards'. Anyway if I could find one thing in 2013 that would really make me feel like I accomplished a goal this would be it. So, on to my 'white whale'.

I see the expression 'White Whale' from time to time on hobby blogs. Taken from Melville's Moby Dick novel it can be loosely defined in the hobby as an elusive and probably unobtainable card that one never quits looking for. At least that's my interpretation. And I have one. First the background:

I've written several times in the past about my football card collection that encompasses every player I've ever 'owned' in my fantasy league for the past 33 seasons. I had the idea to collect those guys in the late 1980s, maybe or early 1990s. Most were easy to find. I had a list of all 'my' players and I took it to card shows and shops and pretty quickly was able to cross off the list guys like Warren Moon, Bert Jones, and Marcus Allen. I already had a lot of those players on a card anyway. Within a couple of years I had about 90% of  my list knocked off and all that was left were cards of guys who had never been in Topps sets. That slowed me down somewhat. I know I hunted through hobby publications and scoured checklists hoping to find cards of players like Kyle Mackey and Ed Luther.

Then two things happened at about the same time. Someone thought up eBay, and I found this book. It was about the size of the Omaha phone book and had just as small print. Great resource that listed an amazing amount of odd sets. It proved invaluable.

Now I was able to look up my missing players and know for sure if there was an available card. Then it was a matter of scouring eBay and the hobby publications to find that card or set. In several cases I bought a complete 'police' or regional food issue set to get one player. I was able to knock out quite a few that way. 

I was also able to find out which players had never been on a card. I made up some using my really crappy graphic skills in MS Paint and then Publisher. I tracked down some of the players and wrote nice notes or emails asking for signatures. That's how I got to know former Giant Stacy Robinson. He worked for the NFLPA and was super nice in sending me his home address and phone number(!) and returning my request with a note and assorted swag. I discovered Kyle Mackey was coaching high school football just a county or two from my home. Too bad he never responded to my note. I was tempted to attend a game but I would have felt like a stalker. 

So my hunt had narrowed until, in about 2005, only one actual listed card was left. The 1978 Colts Team Issue #9 Randy Burke. I'd never seen the set and eBay/Google searches were dead ends. I had pictured it as something akin to the standard sized sets that teams gave out or sold at concession stands. But I did see a ton of these.....

But it never occurred to me that those were the referenced 'cards'. I always thought of those things as 'picture pack' photos. The type that used to be sold in sets inside an envelope at Manny's Baseball Land across from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Or through the mail from the teams souvenir department.

But then a couple of years ago I found this book thru the Google online book library and damn if they didn't have the set listed. With  full description.

Sure enough the set consists of 5x7 photos. The description fits them exactly. 

So now I know what I've been searching for. With the dozens and dozens of Colt photos I've found on eBay I know it's just a matter of time before good ol' Randy Burke shows up. And I'll harpoon my white whale.

Meanwhile, I'll make do with this homemade card. I made it using a picture I bought from the Baltimore Sun. Jeez, I ought to invest in a graphics program and a good paper cutter before I attempt this again.

One last note. I've been able to track Randy Burke to his job in sales and marketing at a Lexington, Kentucky television station (he played at UK). But at this point I am determined that nothing other than his 1978 Colts Team Issue #9 'card' will do for my collection. Wish me luck.

R.I.P. Larry DeMartini. You put together a heck of a book. Thanks!

Five For Fighting

I've read some blogs lately that revolved around a Blog Bat Around-ish theme..."Which aspects of your collecting would you keep if you were limited to five?" Or something like that. Gavin's entry was the first I read although I'm not sure his was the first posted. Robert followed up with his and I'm sure there are others.

This sort of thing is right up my alley. I like lists. I particularly like lists related to collecting. I thought this would be an easy one. Turned out not to be so. I spun my chair around in my newly re-done hobby room/office and jotted down my hobby 'interests' in broad terms. I tried not to put too fine a point on it. I mean would my Billy Pierce collection be an 'aspect' or is it part of my larger player collection? See, I was over-thinking it all. This is not the LSAT. And when I think about it this will be very similar to my post in response to Night Owl's 'Hobby Projects' theme.

So after reading and rereading those notes, I came up with the following list in (almost) no particular order (and subject to change at any moment):

1) Orioles and Baltimore Colts Publications.

This is, and always has been, my hobby priority. When I was a kid I got a program at every game I attended. My Dad always brought me to Manny's Baseball Land before games in the Bronx to check out the yearbooks. And so on. I've completed my Colts publication checklist and am nearly there with the Orioles.

2) Fantasy Sports Player Collection

This is my longest lasting and most extensive card project. In 1980 I started a fantasy football league among my college friends. We are still going strong as we get set for our 39th season. I began picking up cards of players I had on my team about a year after we began. I've kept it up ever since and now I also collect cards of guys on my fantasy baseball teams and the other FB teams I've managed. It's been fun, alternately frustrating and satisfying. Especially over on the football side. Pre-Internet days meant you had to hunt for cards at shows and through hobby publications.

I enjoyed tracking down obscure cards of obscure kickers and backup QBs. The Jose Cortez saga is the perfect example. I put out an APB for his one and only actual card one day on this blog and not four hours later I got a response and soon had the card in my binder! I was so happy I thought I'd cry! (Thanks again, Raz!!!) Sometimes I had to to make my own custom cards and with my sad graphics skills, that's an ordeal. Then there's the whole Randy Burke fiasco.

I have too much invested (in time and dedication if not money) to give this collection up.


3) Vintage Set Collecting 


The chase is the thing. As a collector there is no feeling like getting down to the last few cards needed for a vintage set. I'm inside of forty cards needed to finish off the 1962 Topps set. It's by far the most difficult of the sets I've attempted. Those woodgrain borders and terrible centering make finding acceptable yet affordable cards a challenge. The 'green tint' and photo and numbering variations throw you a curve when it comes to deciding on what a complete set consists of. But it'll be worth the effort when I can flip through the filled binder pages.

Another fun thing about set collecting has been blogging them. Yes, I'm way behind of the '58 and '60 blogs but I'll get them back on a regular schedule soon. And doing the research is a kick. Perhaps my favorite post ever on any blog I write is the one for Don Rudolph's 1959 card. Warning: That link will introduce you to Miss Patti Waggin, Don's lovely wife.

Oh, and I'm considering all my vintage sets here. I dig old basketball sets.

And non-sports sets. Is this fudging the five area limit? My post, my rules I guess.

I collect the Philly Gum sets from the mid-60s. Only have 1964 finished as of now.

More non-sports.

And chasing hockey is fun, too.

Yup, vintage sets and the collecting of same has to be one of the five areas of the hobby I'd continue with.

4) Player Collections

It would be impossible to sacrifice my player collections as I bet it would be for every hobbyist. If I really was forced to consolidate I could give up collecting some players. After all, I really don't need to chase Ed Charles cards, do I? But my Billy Pierce collection is sacred!

As are my Johnny U.....

....Charles Bender....

...Connie Hawkins....

...Dennis Martinez...

....Sandy Koufax...

....Brooks Robinson....

..and Elston Howard Collections.

5) Non-Sports Sketch Cards

I'd keep collecting sketch cards because I find them so much fun. Seeing all the different versions of  Batman, etc is a kick. And to be honest some have been fairly pricey and that's a consideration.

Luckily I'm not going to have to face this type of decision. Because if I did I'd be giving up a bunch of stuff. Out the door would go my postcards, presidential pins, bobbleheads, Starbucks mugs, Baltimore-related glassware, pennant collection, commemorative coins (state and park quarters, mostly), Orioles stars binders, Orioles and Colts oddball items, signed 8x10s, etc, etc. That would be a sad day indeed.



Oh, the title of the post? I was vaguely aware of a music act with that name and I thought it was appropriate. I had to look up the group and I'm still unsure if it's one guy or several. No matter, he/they sound like the Dave Matthews Band to me (and that's not a compliment). I did recognise this tune though. For whatever that's worth.

I have this card!!!!

This is one crazy hobby. In the middle of January I posted a card I was in need of for my fantasy football player collection. I'm very, very anal about that collection. I've been known to pass up on a waiver claim because the guy didn't have a readily available card. Yes, I'm that dumb. But whatever.

While researching something else I discovered that I lacked a card for kicker Jose Cortez, a guy I'd had for a few weeks in 2001 and had slipped under my (once thought to be impenetrable) card radar. Googling found me this NFL Showdown card from 2002 (or 2003, there is some debate there). It also showed me that the card was ridiculously difficult to find. I'm still not sure why. I figured I'd spent a ton of time in search of it. Probably even longer than my continuing search for the elusive Randy Burke Colts "card". In the meantime I printed out a internet shot of the card and stuck it in my binder as a placeholder.

Soooo...just four hours after my whining post is published Raz, from the Raz Card Blog lets me know that he JUST BOUGHT THAT VERY CARD! Are you serious? And if it showed up (he said it was a 'sketchy website') he would ship it my way.

To fully appreciate how great that made me feel you'd have to understand my obsession with my fantasy player collection. I usually snag a card of anyone I pick up on our Wednesday waivers before I go to bed or else risk the chance of losing sleep by thinking about picking up a card of that player.

But our long national nightmare is over*. Raz' package arrived Saturday and I've got my NFL Showdown Cortez card. I still am not really sure what they were all about other than the fact that they were part of a game.

The front of the card is about what you'd expect from a card that is part of a dice roll game. If you removed that part you would have a fairly nice looking card. The backs of all the NFL Showdown cards are generic.

But the Cortez card wasn't all Raz included in the envelope. He included some modern Japanese cards including some of current MLB guys. I didn't realize that those existed. I'm fascinated by all the Japanese baseball culture and I like puzzling over the backs of these things.  One of my Japanese card guides has a translation section that helps me figure out the player info and stat categories on older cards. The new ones are easier.

These are the two MLB players of some sort of Topps/Japanese/Sega cards. Like a lot of the modern Japanese cards these have very 'busy' backs.

Last but not least Raz included A&G minis of Manny Machado, Adam Jones and Crush Davis. The Machados are different colors. Never seen that before.

And what's this? A Bob Dylan A&G mini which I've blown up. I only began to appreciate Dylan in the last ten years but in that time I think I've acquired about 75% of his non-bootleg discography.

Now that I've got a Jose Cortez card I'm no longer a worried man with a worried mind. Thanks again, Raz. I'm very very grateful for your generosity.

*=tip of the cap to former President Gerald R. Ford

Baltimore Colts' Card History Pt. 9...1980 & 1981

This was originally to be a post covering the final four years of cards for the Colts franchise in Baltimore. But given the amount of scans that would cram into one entry I'm going to break it in half.

1980 Topps

Topps gave the '80 set a sort of pop art-ish look. The name/team/position element reminds me of the Yellow Submarine. I dunno, maybe it's just me.

In any case the photos are heavily weighted towards sideline game shots. They were vertical and the Colts got the green/yellow combo. The border around the name, etc. matched the border around the front picture.

I'm not a fan of the deep red of the backs. I think it makes the text difficult to read. The cartoon relates to the team, not necessarily the particular player on the card. Stats for the skills guys, block text for the grunts. No surprises or innovations as to what the backs contained.

The team leader card had the team checklist on the reverse. I'll give Topps credit for using two different Joe Washington pics on this one.

Joe Washington's photo is the same on the Receiving Leaders card as it is on the Colts leaders card. And the same as it was on the 1978 team leaders card...and his base card. Never let it be said that Topps didn't ring every last possible use out of a photo.

1980 Fleer

Fleer again has the same four cards for the Colts, two showing 'Team Action' and one for each of the Colts' two Super Bowl appearances. Nothing new here except the idea that the 1981 Topps cards bear a passable resemblance to these '80 Fleer cards. 

I like this one because you get that Memorial Stadium infield dirt and the  wooden temporary stands of stadium in the background. 

Topps issued some over-sized cards they called Topps Super in '80 but there were no Colts included. A company called Marketcom had poster-like cards that began in 1980 and whose lifespan carried over several seasons. I don't have any but they are easy to find and generally pretty cheap. I'll grab the Bert Jones versions soon enough. He's the only Colt that I'm aware of in the sets.

1981 Topps

With the flag/banner waving thing on the front along with the red/yellow/blue color combo on the Colts cards the 1981 set has become one of my favorites of the era. 

Most of the Colts appear in sideline shots. And for the final time Topps airbrushes team logos out of them.

A sort of orange-brown made the backs not all that easy to read. But a lot of that depended on the text size.

Man, those stats on the back of Greg Landry's card are tiny!

The Team Leader card once again had the team checklist on the reverse.

This was the first year for 'Super Action cards. As the name implies they were game action shots.

Curtis Dickey rep'd the Colts and got the write-up on the back. 

1981 Fleer 

Fleer was back as always with the Team Action and Super Bowl cards. They mixed things up a bit in '81. The Super Bowl cards had stat dominated backs.

The Team action cards were issued for each team's offense and defense. The backs had that units numbers from the prior season.

They threw a curve, though. They extended the set from 70 to 88 cards with the last being game shots without a team mentioned or having either team's helmet there either.

The backs had a rather generic sentence pertaining to the picture on the front as well as a rules quiz. Note the card has a Colts helmet on the back yet they point of the picture is the Steelers' qb getting the ball off to avoid a sack.

1981 Coke and Coke Premiums

Produced by Topps these Coke cards came in team specific packs, three to a cello pack along with a header card. Seven teams were involved with the promotion. The 11 Colts were all cards also found in the Topps regular issue for '81. A Coca-Cola logo was added to the fronts and it also replaced the Topps logo on the back. The numbering of the cards was different and the shade of red used on the backs was as well.  

The back of the header card had an ad for purchasing an uncut sheet of 132 cards.

The Curtis Dickey card is below.

Side by side it's easy to see the logos on the two Bert Jones cards.

Coke also issued a group of 'Premium' photos. They are 5x7 and have nice posed player portraits. I haven't been able to dig up much on these although they may have been some sort of mail-in promo. Any help on this is appreciated. The checklist includes 24 different cards. I've been looking for these for years and have only seen evidence of a half dozen or so. I have four different ones so my quest continues. I especially want the Randy Burke photo as it's the only known 'card' of him and it would fill a slot in my fantasy football binder that's been open for years and years.

1981 TCMA Football Greats

TCMA put out a Football Greats set in 1981 that included 50's and 60's era players. There were seven Colts among the 78 card set including these three. The others included guys like Gino Marchetti and L.G. Dupre. They are typical TCMA cards, clean fronts and text filled backs. 

1981 Topps Stickers

The little sticker era was starting for Topps. This is the first football edition they produced. Pretty standard stuff, about the same as the baseball sets. But there is one or two interesting things going on here. Check out these three of the eight stickers:

Did you notice anything? Yup, the second one shows Ed Simonini wearing his helmet adorned with the Colts' horseshoe! That's the first time since 1969 that the Colts iconic logo has appeared. For a dozen years Topps has either used pictures of helmet-less players or airbrushed out the logos on helmets, jackets, etc. Since no other Topps product shows a team logo in 1981 I wonder if the Simonini shot slipped past the production crew. Or possibly word leaked that the licensing agreement between Topps and the NFL which took effect in 1982 had been signed. So suddenly, in the middle of the sticker set planning, someone said "OK, we're good with the league...fire the airbrush guy!!"

Topps also produced what I've seen called a 'test' issue, red bordered stickers distributed in vending machines in those familiar plastic containers. I'm dubious of the supposed rarity of these because I got this Bert Jones sticker, the only Colt in the 28 piece set, for about a buck.

The regular and red bordered stickers had similar backs. The regular one had a 'complete your collection' ad while the red border one urged you to "Collect All 28!"

The final installment of the Colts' card history will include cards from the '82 and '83 seasons.