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Wonder Bread Cowboys of 1976
Many of the charming elements of card collecting have sadly gone away; getting a piece of gum in a pack whose flavor lasted about 15 seconds, cutting cards out of the back of a Twinkies box, trading cards with your buddies, or reaching deep into the plastic bag of a new loaf of bread to retrieve a card. Those days seem to be a distant memory so RetroCards is offering some Wonder Bread cards minus the carbs. The 1976 Football Wonder Bread set was a favorite and one of three years (1974-1976) that Wonder distributed and all-NFL set. This set...
1962 Colt .45s: Inaugural Season
As one of two expansion teams in 1962, the Houston Colt .45s took the field on April 10, 1962 beating the Chicago Cubs 11–2. This was the start of a three game sweep of the Cubs. Eventually the league caught up with them and though they finished 36½ behind the San Francisco Giants, they finished 6 games ahead of the Cubs and 24 games better than the expansion Mets. They would only keep their politically incorrect name for three seasons, trading "Colt .45s" for the "Astros" to coincide with the opening of the Houston Astrodome in 1965. Though this first team...
Rosey Grier: The Gentle Giant
The bigger than life Rosey Grier has been part of the pop culture landscape for several decades and between 1960 and 1980, Grier made his mark at a pro football player, singer, actor, minister, needle point artist, and body guard. As a star with the New York Giants and later the Los Angeles Rams, he was a part of two defensives lines that were called the Fearsome Foursome, first with the Giants along with Jim Katcavage, Andy Robustelli, and Dick Modzelewski and later with the Rams along side Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones, and Lamar Lundy. At 6’5” and nearly 300...
Baseball Card Vandals: Reinventing Worthless Cards
What will happen to the hobby of sports card collecting when the baby boomers pass on? Will Gen-Xers inherit their father's expensive baseball card collection and then sell them? Will Generation Y care about a card that doesn't have a jersey swatch in it? Is the reason there is no more gum in packs of cards due to Millennials' parents demanding all that sugar be removed? Sports card collecting is entering a new phase. After the crash of the baseball card market in the mid 1990s, where parents were investing in cards on spec hoping to put their children through...
Ernie Barnes: Official Artist Of the AFL
I always find it interesting to see how athletes touch lives beyond the playing field. RetroCards features former pro football player Ernie Barnes in this entry. Though the average sports fan may not know him for his athletic contribution, they may have seen his work in television shows, in films, or on album covers. Ernie Barnes played seven years of professional football, mainly in the old AFL, but became more known as a serious artist, dipicting African-American life in many of his paintings. The most famous of his paintings was called “Sugar Shack,” which featured prominently the 70s sitcom Good Times as well as...
1973 Steelers: One Step Closer
The 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers were still building and they stumbled slightly from the previous season where they went 11–3. Injuries to Franco Harris, French Fuqua, and quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Terry Hanratty slowed down the Pittsburgh offense as they managed only a second-place 10–4 record in 1973. The defense offered several All-Pros, making them still one stingy unit. This may have been a disappointing season in the eyes of the fans not having moved closer to a championship, but in hindsight, 1973 was merely a stepping stone bigger things to come in 1974. This 20-card set includes Warren Bankston, Rocky...
1961 Packers: Brutally Physical
The Packers showed the football world that they were the real deal in 1960, advancing to the NFL Championship game in Vince Lombardi’s second season as coach. People forget that the Packers went 1-10-1 in 1958, the worst record in franchise history. By 1961, Lombardi had tweaked the existing team, reaching the Championship in 1961 which would be the first of five Championships in seven seasons. A relentless running game and brutal defense were the result of good blocking and good tackling making the Packers the most physical team in the NFL. This set includes: Ken Beck, Tom Bettis, Lew...
Bart Starr: Leadership, Toughness, and Character
Few athletes – no matter what sport – reach the level of esteem, adoration, and honor as Bart Starr has. He captained one of the greatest teams in American sports and in his retirement, was an ambassador of sorts to the league that he help make famous. After a long series of illness and strokes, Bart Starr passed away on May 26, 2019. His rise to being one of the best NFL quarterbacks started with humble beginnings. In college, Bart Starr entered his sophomore year as Alabama's starting quarterback, safety, and punter. His punting average of 41.4 yards per kick ranked second in the nation...
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