Non-Iowa Thursday: Collecting Team Games

 What wonders a collector's brain can come up with when left with boxes of commons and nothing but time.  That's what happened to me during the years of Covid home work time and boxes of commons that I went through over and over again.

I grew up rooting for the Vikings since my dad grew up in Minnesota, and my brother started collecting Buffalo Bills because Thurman Thomas was awesome when we were kids.  We still collect these teams today, maybe a little less so, but still have decent collections.  

Decent collections lead to lots of duplicates.  Decent collections lead to look at weird things like other players on cards.  Even on other team cards.  This Mike Singletary card seems to have him tackling Darrin Nelson, do I add this card to the Darrin Nelson collection?

Then one day, you look at a card and think, "I wonder what game this was?"  Then the trouble question crosses your mind.  "I wonder if I can a card with a photo from EVERY game?"

This is one of my more fun/dumb collections.  It's not been a focus, so the checklist is far from complete, but when I get a bunch of football cards, I'll start checking to see if I have that game.  Now, I only look for Vikings and Bills games....I'm not totally insane.  

So, how far along am I?  Around 25% from 1988 on for the Vikings.  Peaking at 1992 with 11/17 games, and 2008/09 having 0 for some reason.  

So here are the things I have discovered while doing this:

1. Early years photographers did not take indoor photos

1988 Topps Joey Browner

Many cards from the 1988 set have Vikings in away (white) jerseys, and while there are some in the purple, you get the sense they were still outside shots. Cowboys played in whites at home, and I think Miami did as well for strategy (white cooler than purple).  No action shots either.

1989 Topps Anthony Carter

1989 Topps was all away jerseys, and still no in -game action shots

1989 Pro Set Darrin Nelson

Pro Set adds in game photos, still all outside though (see the turf they are playing on).

1990 Score Hassan Jones

1990 Score still has outside photos, that is definitely sun shining on them.

It takes until 1993 to more commonly find some indoor Vikings cards (at least, that I've come across).  Here's one of my favorites:

1993 Pro Line Live Brian Noble

Yes, this one is at Lambeau, but on the back...

the Metrodome!

2. Photoshop sucks because it removes backgrounds and players

2020 Panini Illusions Justin Jefferson

How can I tell which game this is from?????

3. Lazy Panini Photos

Its also hard to find multiple games if the set creator reuses the same photos!

Not all is worse, there are some sets that actually tell you the game they are from!

Once I find a calm time in my Iowa collecting, I may revisit this collection with more fervor.  Buying random mixed football boxes off eBay is a great way to get started, and this is also a fun way to look through your old common boxes to find a random 1993 Pro Line Live Brian Noble back with just the photo you need.