Card of the Day: Geno Petralli 1991 Fleer Ultra #351

Product Highlight: 1991 Star Pics Football

For the short time that Star Pics was around they made quite an impact.  Star Pics, Inc. produced card sets for football, basketball, hockey, and various entertainment properties from 1990 to about 1992.  During this time in the hobby overproduction was in full swing, and cards limited into the thousands were considered rare.  Many of the key Star Pics signed cards continue to sell well today.  This is something that many flash in the pan card manufacturers would have killed for.

One of the most memorable Star Pics release has to be their football set from 1991.  Their 1991 football set consists of (112) cards.  Boxes and card borders are covered in footballs.  There are so many footballs in one area it reminds me of those magic eye pictures.  If you stare long enough at the footballs, you’ll probably start to see some hidden image.  The card that gets the most attention from the base set is Brett Favre #65.

Star Pics issued their 1991 football product in factory sets.  Randomly inserted within their factory sets were autographed cards.  The autographs look just like the base, except they have a signature on the front or back, and contain a gold authenticity sticker.  Stars such as Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Brett Favre, and Troy Aikman all have autographs.  It should be noted that the Star Pics autographs have been victims of counterfeits.  Since the autographs look exactly like the base cards, it wouldn’t be that difficult to take a base card of Brett Favre, forge his signature, and place an authenticity sticker on it which has been removed from a legit autograph of a less valuable player.

Card of the Day: Jesse Owens 1991 Impel U.S. Olympic Hall Of Fame #1

Card of the Day: Bryan Hinkle 1991 Upper Deck #113

Card of the Day: Mickey Morandini 1991 Score #376

Card of the Day: Michael Jordan 1991 Upper Deck Baseball #SP1

Card of the Day: Bert Blyleven 1991 Upper Deck #571

Card of the Day: Lennox Lewis 1991 Kayo #68

Product Highlight: 1991 Pennsylvania High School Big 33

Due to a decline in donations and an increasing amount of debt, the Big 33 Scholarship Foundation closed it’s doors after sixty years in 2017.  The annual football game it once sponsored is now under the supervision of the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association.

The Big 33 Football Classic began in 1957.  Its often been referred to as the Super Bowl of High School Football.  Some of the best high school players from Pennsylvania have taken on Ohio, Maryland, and Texas.  In the early years Pennsylvania would just play itself splitting up between east and west or blue and gray.  Between 1957 and 1960 Pennsylvania played against collected talent from around the nation.  Lots of famous football stars have played in the Big 33 game – Herb Adderley, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly.

Starting in 1991, they began to make team sets.  The Pennsylvania set contains (36) black and white cards.  Key cards include Ray Zellars, Curtis Martin, and Marvin Harrison.  All of these predate their NFL rookies.  It’s 1991 Maryland counterpart doesn’t really have any major cards worth talking about.  Any Big 33 card can make an interesting addition to your collection.  Later on, some sets included autographs.

During my senior year in high school, I received a Big 33 Academic Scholarship.  That included a trip to the 2004 Big 33 game in Hershey, PA.  A couple of players from that game made it to the NFL – Chad Henne, Brian Hoyer, Darrelle Revis, and Ted Ginn Jr.

Card of the Day: Jim Covert 1991 Pacific #45