Players with only one card in my collection - 5

Continuing a series showing cards of five players with only one card in my collection, and using images from The Trading Card Database. I'm also using their sorting tools to look through my collection listed on their site to see who only has one card, and then finding the first five names that I haven't posted yet.

Here we go!

1999 Giant Eagle #6

I love this expansion team Giant Eagles set.

John Jurkovic played the final year of his nine-year NFL career with the expansion Browns in 1999. His career started with five years with the Packers before playing three years with the Jaguars.

This card, along with a gold parallel, are his only Browns cards.

1982 Topps #59

As you can see on the back of the card above, Steve Cox was drafted by the Browns in the fifth round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He played eight years in the NFL, four with the Browns and then four with the Redskins.

Along with being the punter and kickoff specialist for the Browns, Cox also was used on long field goal attempts. In 1984, he succeeded on what was then the second longest made field goal, a 60 yarder.

This is his only Browns card, although the Trading Card Database also shows that there is a 1991 Arkansas collegiate card that would also fit into my collection.

1951 Bowman #1

This card back is very interesting, as it shows that Weldon Humble was with the Marine Corps in 1951. He originally enlisted in the Marines in 1943, and served until 1946, earning a Bronze Star during his service.

After the trade mentioned on the card, Humble played with the Browns from 1947-50, making a Pro Bowl, and helping the Browns win the NFL Championship in their first season in the NFL in 1950.

Humble had remained in the Marine Reserves, and ended up re-enlisting in the Marines after the 1950 season before he could be called up from the reserves. He was discharged in 1952, but was then traded by the Browns to the Dallas Texans for the 1952 season.

This is Humble's only football card, to go along with a 1949 photocard.

Weldon Humble died in 1998, at the age of 76.

2005 Topps Total #373

This Topps Total card is the only card I own for Corey Jackson. (Looking at my collection records, I own three cards each for Kenard Lang and Alvin McKinley.)

The one game mentioned on the back of the card was the only game that Jackson played in the NFL. He was an undrafted free agent that was a basketball player in college, only playing twelve plays of college football. Those plays, however, included a blocked field goal, a pass break up, and a tackle. His athleticism caught the attention of the Browns.

Corey Jackson only had this one football card, along with some parallels that I don't own.

1967 Philadelphia #47

John Wooten was drafted by the Browns in the fifth round of the 1959 NFL Draft, and played nine seasons with the Browns before finishing his NFL career with one season with the Redskins.

Wooten was a starting guard for the Browns for much of Jim Brown's career, and like Walter Beach in a previous post, he attended the Muhammed Ali athlete summit in 1967.

Wooten was part of the Browns 1964 NFL Championship team, and made the Pro Bowl in 1965 and 1966. In 1979, he was named to the Browns All-Time All-Star Team, and in 2010 he was inducted into the Browns Ring of Honor and the Browns Legends program.

Along with this card, Wooten also appears on three Kahn's Weiners, and one National City Bank cards from the early 1960s that I don't own.

Another Sportlots order - Part 2: Post-expansion years

I'm not in the United States, and celebrated my Thanksgiving last month, but I hope that all my American friends are having a great Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all the great blogs that I get to read, and for all the friends that I've traded with. I have met a few of you in person, and there are many more of you that I would love to meet some day.

Now I get to watch football and work on this post. I even get to watch an ex-Browns quarterback play today with Colt McCoy getting the start for Washington. Too bad I didn't buy any of his cards in this order.

Continuing yesterday's post on my Sportslot order, here are the Browns cards from after their return to Cleveland in 1999.

Top (l-r): 1999 Collector's Edge First Place #37; 1999 Leaf Certified #27

Bottom (l-r): 1999 Playoff Absolute EXP #39; 1999 SPx #22

Comparing to the Collector's Edge card from yesterday, by 1999 their cards have become the same cardboard as everyone else. The First Place Kirby card completed the base team set for the Browns, as did the Absolute EXP Chiaverini card for its base team set.

I like the SPx card with the featured inset photo on the card.

L-R: 1999 Pacific Omega #59; 1999 Donruss Elite #68

As an expansion team, there are plenty of 1999 Browns cards with the players in their old uniforms. The Shepherd card has his team identified as the Browns on the back of the card to go with the orange color border on the card.

L-R: 1999 Press Pass - Paydirt Silver #2; 1999 SP Signature #173

A couple more Tim Couch cards that I needed. I was very surprised that I needed this Press Pass parallel. I'm sure that I have passed on it a few times in the past. I guess that is why it is important to actually check the wantlists we make.

L-R: 1999 Upper Deck Encore #44; #45; and #46

I really like how these Upper Deck Encore cards scanned.

Does anyone else think it is cool when the photo of a player shows his back and his name? I mean, I don't think that I would want to see it all the time, but for a football player with a helmet on, you really don't see much of the player's face anyway, so I think this makes for a great shot.

Top (l-r): 1999 Playoff Absolute SSD #22; and #24

Bottom (l-r): 1999 Playoff Absolute SSD #161; and #137

I was so pleased to see that the seller had this many Playoff Absolute SSD cards. These are all from the base set. All the players have the blue borders, and the team checklists for each card is in the team color.

I still have to get the blue bordered Madre Hill card to complete the base Browns team set.

L-R: 1999 Playoff Absolute SSD - Purple #22; - Purple #23; - Purple #200

Yes, those are purple, not blue. The scan doesn't fully show the difference. I'm a little surprised at the size difference between how the cards are cut.

These complete the Purple team set, to go along with the Green one that I had already completed.

L-R: 1999 Playoff Absolute SSD - Red #22; - Red #23; - Red #24

These red bordered cards leave me one short of this Browns team set - Madre Hill. Again.

L-R: 2008 Donruss Classics #107 (#/999); 2008 Leaf Limited - Threads #25 (#/100)

As I've said in many posts, I never mind adding new cards of Hall of Famers, so this Marion Motley card is quite welcome.

The Derek Anderson card was the most expensive card from my purchase at $2.00. No other card, from either post was more than a dollar.

Top (l-r): 2008 Score Select #399 (#/999); 2008 SP Rookie Threads #24

Bottom: 2008 SPx #33

The scanner really added color to the Score Select Martin Rucker card.

L-R: 2008 Topps Chrome - Refractor #TC147; - Refractor #TC248; - Blue Refractor #217

So many refractors to collect.

L-R: 2008 Topps Chrome - Xfractor #TC87; - Xfractor #TC147; - Xfractor #TC217

But at least I knocked a few more off of the old wantlists.

L-R: 2009 SAGE HIT #94; #43; - Glossy #43

I wondered whether the Glossy parallel would scan differently than the base card. It looks like it came out just a touch darker.

Kaluka Maiava is the nephew of "The Rock", Dwayne Johnson. He was part of a very talented linebacker corps with USC, playing alongside Clay Matthews, Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga.

Maiava was born in Hawaii, which is funny since his cards are shown with David Veikune's card showing that Veikune played for Hawaii. Veikune was born in Alaska, but must have moved to Hawaii fairly young as he played high school football there as well.

L-R: 2010 Score - Gold Zone #317 (#/299); 2011 Upper Deck - 20th Anniversary #20A-111; 2011 Upper Deck College Legends - Bowl Game Heroes #BGH-CW 

So many Score parallels to find, and I'll keep working on them.

I really like the Upper Deck anniversary card as I remember buying so much of the 1991 set. The card design is so familiar.

I picked up a Bernie Kosar Bowl Game Heroes card recently, so I get to add this Charles White one to it. There is still a Greg Pruitt for me to find.

L-R: 2012 SAGE HIT - Red #76; 2012 Upper Deck - Rookie Exclusives #RE-BW

This order gets finished off with the two first round draft picks by the Browns in 2012. I'm sure they would have been priced more back then than I had to pay now, with neither card costing more than a quarter.

I must say that Sportlots can be great when you find a seller with so many cards that you need. You can really find some nice inexpensive cards, and the best part is that there are so many sellers whose inventories I haven't searched yet.

Another Sportlots order - Part 1: Some Mets and pre-move Browns

Wanting to finish off the opening day starting lineup for the 2018 Mets, I decided to go look on Sportlots and see if I could find a seller that had the five players that I was missing.

Top (l-r): 2018 Topps Heritage #591; 2018 Topps #670

Middle (l-r): 2018 Topps Update - 1983 Topps 35th #83-21; 2018 Topps Chrome #172

Bottom: 2018 Topps #575

Looking at various sellers, I eventually found one that had cards for all five of these players, and picked these up from him for eighteen cents each.

I saw the Frazier card on somebody's blog, and knew that I wanted to look for that card, and I was happy to see that there was an Adrian Gonzalez card for me to purchase since his stint with the team was so short.

After buying these Mets cards, I then looked to see what Browns cards the seller might have that I needed. I managed to find quite a few. Here are some cards that I was missing from before the Browns moved to Baltimore.

L-R: 1992 Wild Card - 5 Stripe #239; 1993 Wild Card - 10 Stripe #41

Two posts in a row with Wild Card stripes!

I can honestly say that I was shocked to find these stripe cards as cheap as they were - one for $0.35, and the other for $0.30. I remember searching for these when they came out, and any stripes that I saw were definitely not that cheap back then.

L-R: 1994 Stadium Club - Bowman's Best Members Only #2; - Bowman's Best Members Only #11

Okay, I'll admit that when these came to me it took me a while to figure out how they were Members Only. Finally, I spotted the black writing printed on the cards. I would say that they barely show up in the scan, but really they are almost as hard to see in hand. The printing is vertical, on the silver stripe on the left of the card. On the Alexander card, it is on the top left of the card. On the Langham card, it is right under his left wrist.

I wonder if I have missed any of these in the past when I've looked through boxes of cards.

L-R: 1993 Pro Set Power - Gold #101; 1995 Classic Five Sport #70; 1995 Collector's Edge - Die Cut #46

I've always liked the base version of this Pro Set Power Michael Jackson card, so I was happy to get the gold parallel. I just love the way that he seems to be watching the ball come down into his arms. I know some people like having their players centered on the card, but I think this works having the ball drop in.

Ohio State linebacker Craig Powell was the Browns final first round draft pick before the team moved to Baltimore. I was surprised that I needed this base card, as I recognized it instantly when I saw it. As it turned out, I already owned a die cut version of the card.

And speaking of die cuts, here's a Collector's Edge one of Andre Rison on a Browns card, in a Falcons uniform. I love the old Collector's Edge cards that were made out of plastic.

Top: 1995 Pacific Prisms - Gold #18

Middle: 1995 Playoff Prime - Minis #19

Bottom: 1995 Playoff Prime - Minis #33

These are parallels that I don't mind. First of all, they are easily recognizable compared to the original cards, and second they are the only parallels for each of their sets. I like how bright and shiny the Playoff Prime Minis look in the scans, and don't even mind that they replaced the card backgrounds with those blue windows, or whatever they are.

Top: 1995 Pacific Gridiron #61

Bottom (l-r): 1995 Pro Line - Printer's Proofs #300; 1995 SP Championship - Die Cuts #86

Okay, it is rare that I am surprised by cards that I order, but the Pacific Gridiron card did just that. I was familiar with the Gridiron name, as it has been re-used over time, but I had never seen one from 1995, and had no idea that they were oversized cards. They are awesome!

Here is a scan of the back of the Gridiron card:

How great is that back? Identifying the game, and giving a game summary? I've wanted to see that for a long time, and there was a set that did it from 1995, and I didn't know about it! And the card credits the photographer too! So nice to see that.

I loved this card so much that I found and bought a complete 100 card red foil set on eBay. I can't wait to receive it.

Top: 1995 Ultra - Second Year Standouts - Gold Medallion #1

Bottom: 1996 SPx - Gold #9

The Gold Medallion cards for the base cards from 1995 Ultra have complete gold backgrounds. The inserts just have the gold stamp. I understand why given the multiple photos, and the background of this card, but I think the base card parallels are more distinct.

I really like the 1996 SPx cards, and their holograms. The gold sides are what makes it the gold parallel.

I'm very happy adding this many 1990s Browns cards to my collection with one order. I'll show the cards from 1999 on in that were also part of this order in a future post.

Browns on Cards - stripes, gold and a monster

A while back, Kerry of the Cards on Cards blog posted that he had picked up some football cards at a Goodwill store. Luckily he thought of me for a bunch of really cool Browns cards that were in there.

Top (l-r): 1992 Wild Card - 10 Stripe #172; - 10 Stripe #168

Bottom (l-r): 1992 Wild Card - Stat Smashers #SS-22; - Running Wild #22

Who doesn't like Wild Card stripe cards? I was thrilled to see these, and to add them to my collection, especially a new Clay Matthews card.

When I was buying Wild Cards packs, I never managed to pull any of the Browns inserts, and there are two in the Stat Smashers insert set, and three in the Running Wild one. I always smile when I get them now as I think back to my frustration back then.

Ah, Metcalf and Mack, the Browns Tecmo Super Bowl running backs. More happy memories.

Top (l-r): 1992 Topps - Gold #38; - Gold #301

Bottom (l-r): 1992 Topps - Gold #271; 1992 Pro Set #471

I love these gold inserts. How can you beat that Matt Stover kicking card? Well, you can add Eric Metcalf and Touchdown Tommy gold cards to it. And while you're at it, toss in another Tommy Vardell rookie card.

Top (l-r): 1992 Upper Deck - Gold #G31; - Gold #G43

Bottom (l-r): 1993 Pro Set #114; 1993 Score - Pinnacle Men of Autumn #33

I guess that I could have turned the two Upper Deck cards over to show the gold holograms, and that these are the gold inserts. These cards both have different photos than the base versions of the Kosar and Perry cards.

Seeing the Vinny Testaverde Pro Set card makes me realize that I really haven't looked at my 1993 cards in a while. The photo on it makes me laugh as it looks like he is holding hands with the defender coming in to tackle him.

As a Canadian, I really like these Men of Autumn insert cards with the maple leaf logo on them. And, again, it always makes it better that it is a Clay Matthews card.

Top: 1994 Topps Archives 1957 - Gold #76

Bottom: 1994 Topps Archives 1957 #28

More gold for my collection.

I appreciate these Archives reprint sets a lot more now than I did when they came out. Although I own copies of most of the vintage 1957 cards, and love them, it is also nice to have these cleaner reprints to go with them.

The Renfro gold parallel brings me up to owning six of the thirteen Browns cards from the set.

Top (l-r): 1994 Ultra - First Rounders #11; 1999 Upper Deck Retro #38

Bottom (l-r): 1994 Upper Deck - Electric Silver #156; 1995 King B Discs #20

I'm never going to complain about receiving Jim Brown cards, or rookie insert cards like the one of Antonio Langham. (Ah, who am I kidding, I don't complain about receiving any Browns cards!)

Eric Turner was another of my favorites, and I was so happy when he left the Ravens to join the Raiders. He was a safety that just seemed to fit the Raiders - if he couldn't be a Brown. It is so sad that he died of cancer at the age of 31.

1994 Coca-Cola Monsters of the Gridiron #7

The title of this post said there would be a monster. Here you go, one of my favorite oddballs!

Thank you very much, Kerry, I really appreciate the cards! (Ummm, small 'c'. I'm still annoyed by the 1985 and 1987 Cards that kept the Mets out of the playoffs, so I don't appreciate them.)

A minute a card: five random cards from my collection 6

Another weekly installment showing five random cards from my collection from the collection randomizer at The Trading Card Database, with one minute of commentary on each card.

1990 Pro Set #70

What can I say? An absolutely great football name! A nice photo for a defender.

I miss Pro Set. They always had such large team sets that you got players that you wouldn't normally get. So they were overprinted...

2003 Topps Total - Silver #40

Speaking of sets giving you players you don't normally get, I miss Topps Total for the same reason. Although White, as a running back, would get cards made of him in most sets.

I didn't mind having a parallel or two to get, especially since border colors are so easy to figure out.

2004 Leaf Limited - Bronze Spotlight #136 (#/100)

I'm happy when I get cards of Browns that are in the Hall of Fame. Love the old helmet.

This parallel picked up the color from the scanner. I actually like the refracted colors that show up.

1998 Ron Mix HOF Autographs - Platinum (#/2500)

Well, a randomizer is a randomizer. I showed this card recently when I updated my all-autograph team. I still love it though, and am happy to show it again.

I'm really happy to have "The Toe" inscription with the autograph.

2000 Impact #49

Nice action shot on this card. I like how there is a border to the card but that it just fades the photo into it.

Impact was a nice low-end set to pick up. I actually bought some of it when it came out. The return of the Browns to the NFL brought my collecting back for a short period.

Players with only one card in my collection - 4

Continuing a series showing cards of five players with only one card in my collection, and using images from The Trading Card Database. I'm also using their sorting tools to look through my collection listed on their site to see who only has one card, and then finding the first five names that I haven't posted yet.

1991 Topps #513

Roy Green played 14 seasons in the NFL, twelve with the Cardinals (nine in St. Louis, and three in Phoenix), and his final two with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cardinals traded Green to the Browns after the 1990 season, but he was released by the Browns before the 1991 season started, and was then signed by the Eagles.

He was the 16th member to be inducted into the Arizona Cardinals Ring of Honor.

Although he has plenty of NFL cards, this is the only one associated with the Browns.

1952 Bowman Small #67

Dick Logan is another player that never played for the Browns.

The listings at Pro Football Reference contradict the text on the back of his card. It says that he was drafted by the Browns in the eleventh round of the 1952 NFL Draft, and that he then played in 19 games with the Green Bay Packers in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. He passed away at the age of 86 in 2016.

This, along with a 1952 Bowman Large card, are his only football cards. The team association on the back of the card makes the two Bowman cards Browns cards for my collection. I'm sure I'll eventually pick up the missing Large card.

1954 Bowman #74

I really had no idea of Warren Lahr's history with the Browns until I looked up his information to write this.

Warren Lahr was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1947, but instead signed with the Cleveland Browns of the AAFC. After missing the 1948 season with injury, he played eleven seasons with the Browns from 1949-59.

Lahr was part of four championship teams, one in the AAFC and three in the NFL. He still has the second-most interceptions in Browns history, with 44.

After his playing career, Lahr did color commentary on Browns' broadcasts between 1963-67. He was honored with induction into the Browns Legends Program in 2008.

Warren Lahr died at the age of 45, after a sudden heart attack in 1969.

This is his only NFL football card. Other than this, I'm aware that he has a 1950 Picture Pack photo, and also cards in two different decks of Hero Deck playing cards.

2001 Pacific Invincible - Retail #57

I remember Curtis Enis being the fifth overall pick of the Chicago Bears in the 1998 NFL Draft. I don't think that I was ever aware that he had signed with the Cleveland Browns until I go this card many years after the fact.

After three years with the Bears, Enis signed a contract with the Browns in March 2001, but was forced to retire about six weeks later with a degenerative knee injury.

Even with that short stint that he was signed with the Browns, he has 13 Browns cards listed in the Trading Card Database. I believe that all of them show him in a Bears uniform, with the Browns being listed on the card.

1993 Pacific #296

Today's final player is Shawn Collins, who played his 1992 season with the Browns, sandwiched between three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, and one with the Green Bay Packers.

I have no memory of his stint with the Browns, and this is his only Browns card.