Bailey Howell Swatch Card

Regular readers know I'm not a fan of basketball, and outside of the legends of the 1980s and 1990s (say, the 1992 Dream Team and LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony) and a couple of present-day players, my knowledge of those who have played it is pretty much non-existent.

Bailey Howell certainly falls into that category, despite his inclusion in the Naismith Hall Of Fame. Apparently, he was a power forward and two-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics; standing at 6'7" in the 1960s, his name is now synonymous with an award given to the best basketball player in Mississippi. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and held 12 records at Mississippi State University.

I only learned of him because I pulled this card of his back in 2010:

It's card #29 from Panini's Century Collection, from Donruss' 2010 Americana set and Sports sub-set, featuring a U.S. "Naismith" postage stamp and a red swatch from an item worn by Howell.

Grayson Boucher Autograph Card

Grayson "The Professor" Boucher is a "streetball" (street basketball, i.e. looser rules, more spectacular, less attention to defensive positioning) athlete who played conventional basketball in community college but wasn't even a standout star there, explaining why he never got a call from the NBA. That, plus the fact that he's 5'10".

Here he is pissing off a 6'8" Chinese player with tactics that don't go over in "regular" basketball:

He was an extra playing on two separate teams in the 2008 Will Ferrell vehicle Semi-Pro; I'll have to watch it again to see if I recognize him in there. Honestly, any excuse to watch Ferrell as Jackie Moon perform Love Me Sexy is good enough for me...

Here he is on card #27 from Panini's 2011 Americana set and Private Signings sub-set:

It shows him wearing normal street clothes and features a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph. It's numbered 205/799.

Pat Lafontaine Stamp And Swatch Card

I mentioned a Tony Gwynn card from the same 2010 Donruss Americana Century Collection and Souvenir Stamps sub-set by Panini a few years back, and my opinion hasn't changed. This one (#42 in the set, numbered 227/250, featuring a dark blue swatch that could have come from a shirt, a sock or a game-worn jersey from any number of teams or occasions) may well feature Pat Lafontaine - which is why I traded for it - it is still too vague in its description of what you're getting:

Unless you're clear that you're getting a stamp card, first and foremost, and one that has nothing to do with the former member of the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, except for the fact that he's an American:

The stamp takes up more room than he does! Also, the Hall Of Famer deserves more than a four-cent flag stamp.

Andre Dawson Swatch Card

Officially, seven former members of the Montréal Expos are in Cooperstown, in the baseball Hall of Fame. Two of them, Gary Carter and Andre Dawson, are there as representatives of the defunct franchise. The others are manager Dick Williams, first baseman Tony Pérez, pitchers Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, and manager Frank Robinson (inducted as a player). Outfielder Pete Rose used to be in the Hall wearing the Cincinnati Reds' cap, but he was banned for gambling.

As an Expo, Dawson was the star center fielder, a three-time All-Star who won six straight Gold Gloves, three Silver Slugger awards in four seasons, was named Rookie Of The Year in 1977, a one-time hits leader (189, in 1983) and two-time MVP runner-up.

He signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs during the 1987 training camp, aiming to play for a team that had natural grass in their home stadium to spare his aging knees in what then-general manager Dallas Green was forced to call a dog-and-pony show, as collusion in MLB prevented the Cubs from making him a decent offer.

The Hawk ended up the second-lowest paid member of the team, on the way to earning NL MVL honours on the strength of a league-leading 49 home runs and 137 RBIs. He also won the Golden Glove that year and the next and was just the second hitter ever to hit 400 career home runs with 300 career steals, a feat equalled by three more players since. He remains one of just eight in the 300/300 club. He was an eight-time All-Star in total.

In his own inductment speech in 2005, former Cubs teammate Ryne Sandberg lobbied to get Dawson in the Hall:

No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He's the best I've ever seen. I watched him win an MVP for a last-place team in 1987 [with the Cubs], and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball. He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday.

 This card is a tribute to him, #11 from Donruss' 2010 Americana set and Century Collection sub-set, manufactured by Panini:

It features a white game-worn swatch from a Major League baseball team - seemingly the Cubs.

Dave Parker Bat Card

It's summer, and once in a while, someone reminds me that baseball still exists. I no longer care for the ball or its teams, but the larger-than-life heroes it created at the turn of the last century, into the 1950s, then into the 80s and 90s for my time - that's different; you knew watching the never-ending games that someone, somewhere would find magic in what just happened, and would enter it in one of the sport's numerous history books.

70 games without making an error. 51 home runs in a single season. 40 homers and 40 stolen bases. Perfect games. A home run from each side of the plate. Batting for .400. The World Series, which barely qualifies as such because only one team isn't from the U.S., and the first Canadian team appeared in 1968. The Chicago Cubs never winning.

One such character was Dave Parker, the brash, outspoken man who seemed like an egomaniac and always talked about how good he looked, who played balls-out and ran into every catcher he ever played against, and whose turning baseball into a contact sport may have ended up causing his Parkinson's - the incurable disease that has him with a permanently shaking right hand, and causes the man who used to be a loud mouth to now speak slowly and more softly.

He now has a foundation that teaches kids how to play ball as well as about Parkinson's, and many other former Cincinnati Reds are part of it.

On the field, he won World Series titles with the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates and 1989 Oakland A's, a batting title in 1978, played in seven All-Star Games including being named the MVP of the 1979 edition after throwing out Jim Rice at third base and Brian Downing at home plate from the outfield, and contributing one RBI. Baseball's first million-dollar man is still waiting for his entry in the Hall Of Fame, partly because he admitted to cocaine use in 1985.

He attended Courter Tech High School, whee he was both a star right fielder and running back, and it's the running back in him that took over every time a catcher stood between Parker and the plate. Even if it meant breaking his cheekbone, like in a 1978 collision with New York Mets catcher John Stearns that probably also resulted in a concussion.

Speaking of which, on this Century Collection card (#69 in the set, numbered 94/100) from the 2010 Donruss Americana set by Panini, he is shown wearing his high school uniform although the piece of game-used bat is ''guaranteed'' to have been used in a ''professional'' game:

The picture is obviously a crop from a team photo.

Lou Brock Swatch Card

Why yes, that's two days in a row with baseball posts. Perhaps something is wrong with me...

Although I've been waiting for an excuse to feature this card (and a few others) for a while now; it features Hall Of Famer Lou Brock, the one-time record holder for stolen bases, on this Century Collection card (#10 in the series) from the 2010 Donruss Americana (numbered 19/250) set by Panini, with a black swatch from ''an item'' worn during a ''professional'' game:

Brock spent his entire Major League career in the National League, playing his first four seasons with the Chicago Cubs, and sixteen years with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would have the most success. He won two World Series with the Cards (1964 and 1967) and was a six-time All-Star (1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 979) as well.

He did have some power, having knocked the ball out of the park at New York's Polo Grounds, but Cards manager Johnny Keane wanted to have a speedy team, and asked him to concentrate on stealing bases rather than hit homers; he ended his career with 149 homers, but 938 stolen bases (and 900 RBIs, and over 3000 hits).

He was a first-ballot Hall Of Famer.

Upon retiring, he held various positions on the Cardinals, either as coach or advisor. He is also an accomplished businessman and ordained minister.

Lana Turner Swatch Card

Where do you begin with Lana Turner? Not only was her life pretty much an open book, her daughter Cheryl Crane even wrote an autobiography in which Turner plays a huge part without having been present for much of it - a feat she couldn't duplicate even in her films.

Discovered at 16 years old while buying a Coke after ditching school, she started off playing the part of the innocent, pure and often naive object of romantic affection in films such as They Won't Forget (1957) and Love Finds Andy Hardy (1958).

Tremendously beautiful (think Charlize Theron), she became a hugely popular pin-up model during World War II, which heightened her popularity and got her to star in four consecutive movies with the era's highest-regarded leading man, Clark Gable.

It was in 1946, with The Postman Always Rings Twice, that she switched the tables around and started playing the femme fatale - she who rather than answer to a leading man becomes the very reason for all of his actions. And, thus, meatier and better parts, and a wider recognition of her actual acting talent.

1947 was a huge year for her, as she starred in Cass Timberlane, Green Dolphin Street, and Homecoming (a Turner-Gable reunion) and was not only MGM Studios' biggest star, but also one of the highest-paid women in the United States.

But what goes up must come down, and between the tabloids having a field day of her eight marriages (and same number of divorces), her dating life in-between marriages, a two-year hiatus from filming and a few unwise film choices upon her return, the 1950s were not kind to Turner. It culminated when her daughter (who had previously repeatedly been sexually abused by one of Turner's ex-husbands, Tarzan actor Lex Barker) killed Turner's violent mobster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato in self-defense.

Hollywood loves a happy ending and redemption story, though, so that year ended with an Academy Award nomination for her leading role in Peyton Place. She slowed her pace from that point on, though, and from 1962 to 1980 only appeared in 7 films, as well as bit parts in three TV shows.

A long-time smoker, she died on June 29th, 1995, at the age of 74, from complications linked to throat cancer; she had previously won a battle against the illness in 1992, but it came back with a vengeance.

I have this card of ''The Sweater Girl'' (a term coined after her very first film and that she hated throughout her career, kind of like how Madonna despises being called ''The Material Girl'') to remember her by:

As is customary with recent Panini products, this swatch card is the same as the regular #14 card of the 2011 Americana set's Matinee Legends sub-set, but with a hole cut in the design to accommodate the piece of clothing, which Panini guarantees has been worn by Lana Turner at the bottom of the back of the card. The swatch cards are limited to 499, and just like for this Ginger Rodgers card, I have #130.

Kurt Russel Swatch Card

It seems Kurt Russell's career is intimately linked to Elvis Presley's. Indeed, Russel's first film part was in the King's It Happened At The World's Fair, and he actually played him in the eponymous 1979 film Elvis, as well as voiced him in Forrest Gump. Not just that, but he also played an Elvis impersonator with alleged ties to the King in the under-appreciated 3000 Miles To Graceland.

He has other themes throughout his career, like playing in Disney movies, from 1969's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes to 1972's Now You See Him, Now You Don't to 1975's The Strongest Man In the World to the really good hockey-themed Miracle, the 2004 film about Team USA's so-called Miracle On Ice.

Another recurrent theme is his frequent collaborations with director John Carpenter, notably in 1981's Escape From New York, 1982's The Thing, 1986's Big Trouble In Little China and 1996's Escape From L.A.

Other notable films of his include Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007), Ron Howard's Backdraft (1991), and Mike Nichols' Silkwood (1983).

I got this swatch card of his in a pack of Donruss' 2008 Ameriana (card #106 in the set, the swatch card variant is numbered 73/500 and is considered to be of the Stars Materials sub-set).

Henry Fonda Swatch Card

Sometimes a story and an actor are a perfect match, and for terrific actors, it can happen more than once. In Henry Fonda's case, there may have been more than a half dozen such cases, the most renowned possibly being The Grapes Of Wrath, 12 Angry Men and Once Upon A Time In The West.

The Grapes Of Wrath is probably the one that struck me the most, seeing as John Steinbeck's book is a classic in itself, with a ton of amazing quotes that still ring true today:

Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one.

That's why when I saw this card on Ebay going for just about the same amount as the stamp that's on it (ok, fine, a dollar), I just had to take it. It's from Panini's 2010 Century Collection (card #6, Hollywood Materials sub-set, numbered 57/250) in Donruss Americana packs. It contains a swatch of what could be a jacket, pants, or maybe a couch, I'm really not sure - but it's thick, hard, and rough.

In addition to acting up a storm on the screen and on Broadway, he also upped the gene pool by fathering Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda, also film legends.

Ginger Rodgers Swatch Card

Ginger Rodgers (born Virginia Katherine McMath) was a superstar like few others. Mostly remembered for her film/dance performances in numerous films alongside Fred Astaire, she also ruled the radio, theater and television.

She won an Academy Award for her performance in the 1940 film Kitty Foyle.

As is customary with recent Panini products, this swatch card is the same as the regular #7 card of the 2011 Americana set's Matinee Legends sub-set, but with a hole cut in the design to accommodate the piece of clothing, which Panini guarantees has been worn by Mrs. Rodgers, as is mentioned at the bottom of the back of the card. The swatch cards are limited to 499 (I have #130).

Tony Gwynn Jersey And Stamp Card

I'm typically not a fan of the Americana-series cards, because I can do without getting a bunch of dinosaur cards. And the ''celebrities'' you can possibly get are either deceased, are shown in an awful picture, or are just plain nobodies.

And when you get an athlete, he is never shown wearing his major league team's colours, because the card company didn't purchase the rights to show it. Such is the case with this still-fine Tony Gwynn card from Panini's 2010 Donruss Americana Century Collection (card #45, numbered 69/250, part of the Souvenir Stamps sub-set).It contains a piece of jersey ''worn by Gwynn in an official game'', so probably as a member of the San Diego Padres - the only team he played for in his Hall Of Fame 20-year career; it also contains an official U.S. stamp commemorating the sport of baseball. But the picture shows him wearing his hometown Long Beach Polytechnic High School uniform...

As a Montréal Expos fan, I can say Gwynn was one of the few players from opposing teams I truly respected: he never hit below .309 (!!), won 8 batting titles (almost every other year!), struck out only 434 times in his career (!!!) and had an inside-the-park grand slam (!!!!).

His mother was born on August 6th, a day on which he hit his 2000th hit (1993) and - one I saw on TV - his 3000th, in 1999, against the Expos' Dan Smith. He also hit his 1500th against Montréal, off pitcher Steve Frey.

Erik Estrada Material Swatch Card

I heard the cries: ''someone call the cops because Martin Brodeur just stole himself another Vezina nomination!''

Well, here he is, and not just any cop - a member of TV's CHiPs (which was the acronym for ''California Highway Patrol'', by the way), Officer Francis ("Frank") "Ponch" Poncherello, or as he is known in real life, Erik Estrada.

CHiPs was really Estrada's biggest role, and he played in all six seasons of the show's run, although a contractual dispute kept him off the first seven episodes of the fifth season. His regular partner, Larry Wilcox (Officer Jonathan A. Baker) played in the first five seasons. Estrada didn't know how to ride motorcycles before getting the gig, so he had to enter an extensive eight-week program to learn before shooting started; most of the time, Wilcox and Estrada actually rode the bikes themselves and performed the smaller stunts. And throughout the course of the series, they never took their handguns out.

After CHiPs, Estrada worked mainly in Spanish telenovelas (those cheap Spanish-language soap operas) and appeared in many a Reality TV show; he also does voice work in cartoons, namely Sealab 2021. He can also be seen in videos for Bad Religion, Eminem and Butthole Surfers.

In addition to all that, he is always involved in charitable work, as can attest this segment of his Wikipedia page.


This card (#TS-EE), from the 2008 Donruss Americana II set, by the company now known as Donruss Playoff LP (TV Stars materials sub-set) features a square swatch of material guaranteed to have been worn by Mr. Estrada. Look at it, look at its colour: it's pretty obvious it's from a CHiPs uniform, too. It is numbered 467/500.