Five random cards, part three

I generally don't collect football or basketball. But I do have a handful of cards -- enough to make up a five random cards post, at least!

Card #1: 1989-90 Hoops #138 -- David Robinson (RC)
Acquired: COMC
Price: $1

This is the only basketball card I've ever actively sought out because it was such a huge deal when I was a kid. Seriously, it was the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie of basketball. Collectors were going nuts trying to find it and individual copies were selling at crazy prices (I want to say $100 or more). I even busted a few backs of 1989-90 Hoops myself, even though I really wasn't that in to basketball. I just wanted a retirement plan. The other thing that makes me like this card so much is that it evokes the 1988-89 Topps card of Wayne Gretzky holding his LA Kings jersey. Same uniform colors and everything. These two cards are the reason I enjoy press conference cards, I think.

Card #2: 1992-93 Fleer Ultra #337 -- Charles Barkley
Acquired: Found it in my old collection
Price: Free!

The Phoenix Suns were sort of the "it" team around the height of my card collecting, because they'd just traded for Charles Barkley and adopted sleek new purple-and-orange uniforms. I was on the bandwagon enough to have bought a Suns hat at some point. I assume that's how I else ended up picking this card. Add in the fact that it's in the early 1990's Fleer Ultra design that I've always loved and it remains a keeper for me 25 years later.

Card #3: 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces #35 Blue Framed -- Frank Reich (121/150)
Acquired: COMC
Price: $1.75

First, I've been a Buffalo Bills fan since I was about nine years old and saw them beat the Miami Dolphins in the first football game I can remember watching. Second, I love the canvas-painting-look of Upper Deck's Masterpieces cards. Third, I'm a sucker for framed parallels, especially when the color of the frame matches the colors on the card. And fourth, I'm an extra sucker for cards that commemorate moments I remember watching live -- like the 32-point comeback win that Frank Reich lead the Bills to in a 1993 playoff game against the Houston Oilers. Add all of those things together, and this was a card I had to have.

Card #4: 1998 Stadium Club #149 -- Bruce Smith
Acquired: Local card shop
Price: 10 cents

A beautiful Stadium Club photo of the greatest Buffalo Bill of all time for a dime? Don't mind if I do.

Card #5: 1991 Pro Set, World League of American Football Helmets insert #7 -- Orlando Thunder
Acquired: Found it in my old collection
Price: Free!

When I was digging through my old cards, I found a bunch of 1991 Pro Set football, which I assume I bought because they were relatively cheap and because they looked just like the first Pro Set hockey cards, which were still relatively cool. I decided to take this one home with me because, in one of those quirks of fate that I never would have imaged when I was a kid, I ended up moving to and settling down in Orlando. I've lasted a lot longer here than the Thunder did.