CARDS: ProSet 1991, Classic 1991, Wild Card 1991, Star Pics 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home
SENT: 4/12 RECEIVED: 5/10 (27 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
NOTES:
I hadn’t gotten Pat since the 90s and since he had a very inspirational looking Classic 1991 card, I thought I’d reload and send a few out. A solid signer TTM he, took care of all four cards in under 30 days.
CARDS: Classic 1991, Star Pics 1991, Pro Set 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Work
SENT: 4/25 RECEIVED: 5/8 (13 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
NOTES:
I had never even seen the Pro Set 1991 of Jerome Henderson before, so I was really eager to order it and ship it out to him for an autograph for some reason. It made it easier since the Star Pics card was a set need. When Classic and Star Pics arrived on the scene in ’91 as exclusively college products, we initially laughed at them. The competing designs were busy in the margins, with the Star Pics going with the footballs, and Classic laughably going with the leopard print. Still- they all are great looking photos, and Jerome was kind enough to add his autograph to all 3 of them for me.
Cards: Fleer 1996, All World Promo 1991, Classic 1991, Atomic 2001
Acquired: TTM, 2018
Sent: 1/2 Received: 1/8 (6 days)
See Also: Rocket Ismail
Shortly after attending one of the Dallas Cowboys Rally Days where I met Rocket and got his autograph on a handful of cards, he started signing TTM again. I thought initially, “Oh well,” but knew I needed to double back to him to get a few more cards signed. So rolling over to 2018, what better way to kick it off by getting Rocket again as my first autograph of the year?
These cards really offer a cross section of his career starting at Notre Dame on this Classic 1991 promo card. Hand it to Classic trying to be edgy out of the gate, but the name line feels right aligned because the weight is tied to WR. I also wasn’t too big a fan of the brushed granite look, but it beats the cheetah pattern they later used. Overall, it’s a great photo of Rocket and there were quite a few of them to choose from.
From there we move on to the terrible All World CFL series, which tries to emulate the ProSet 1989 design by just angling the lines. There’s also the terrible color choices as the red and blue just feel like they clash a bit too much. It does not help that the Argonaut helmet just sort of -sits there arbitrarily on the canvas. As a promo however it sells what it is: The first set to have Ismail in his professional debut threads.
After his time in the CFL, Rocket jumped back to the NFL courtesy of the Los Angeles Raiders. It seemed to make sense. I mean the only other place with as bright stars and marketing would be Dallas, right? I liked this card. Fleer 1995 was all.. over.. the.. place.. design wise from team to team. It embodied everything I liked and hated in the 1990s sets as the companies started really embracing Photoshop. This one for example has a very unnecessary grain. I like the fearlessness of the design on the front, but it is a bit too much.
After his time with the Raiders, a stop in Dallas was next. It took me a while to come around to the sets of the early 2000s as I didn’t collect any while I was on my football hiatus. Among them I liked the die cut Atomic. I have a soft spot for gimmicky cards, and these certainly look better once you see one.