This thread has now become the most-viewed thread I have ever posted in my 18 years of posting in this forum. Time for another oddball post and today I am posting nine "Superhero" cards. As a kid my brother and I used to watch
Batman and
Superman on TV and dream of saving the world ourselves if Mom would just let us stay up a little later past our bedtime.
1988 Pacific Trading Cards #NNO Bo Jackson (Most people would call this a "Broder" but that has become a generic term for many unlicensed cards throughout the 80s and 90s. This was produced by Pacific Trading Cards (not the better known Pacific of Pacific Crown fame) and features Bo Jackson when he was just getting started sporting the Auburn University emblem on his chest and a cape so long it would get caught in his bicycle spokes. Bo really was a Superman of sorts doing things on the diamond that many of us had never seen before.)
1991 Texas Ranger #NNO Nolan Ryan (Westerns were big back when I was a kid in the 60s and
Zorro and
The Lone Ranger were a couple of my heroes. I don't know who produced this card of Nolan Ryan in his gunslinger gear, but you have to admit he looks rather heroic. I've seen a horizontal version of this card on eBay listed at $400 but I'm pretty sure I paid a buck or less for this one.)
1993 Cardtoons #4 Don Battingly (It's not Batman but Don Battingly minus his sidekick, Batboy. He plays for the Crankies, lives in a bat cage and drives pitchers batty. This card lives in my Don Mattingly collection.)
1993 Classic Superheroes #SS3 Ken Griffey Jr. (This Superhero was randomly inserted into Classic's Deathwatch 2,000 110-card set.)
1993 Fun Pack #32 Cal Ripken HERO (Like the Ozzie Smith wizard card I showed you a few posts ago, this too is from Upper Deck's 1993 Fun Pack set and features "The Ripper", known for his titanic blasts from his powerful wooden spear and his heroic work with his glove in his neverending quest to catch and conquer the elusive Iron Hourse in the battle for eternity. A cool card pulled from a 25 cent pack.)
1996 Stadium Club Megaheroes #MH8 Roger Clemens (This Stadium Club insert set featured super-heroic players matched with a comic book-style illustration depicting their nicknames. Roger of course was "The Rocket".)
1998 Metal Universe Diamond Heroes #4 Alex Rodriguez (This is from a Fleer/Skybox Metal Universe insert set and features ARod about to battle some sort of giant alien sandworm.)
1998 SkyBox Dugout Axcess SuperHeroes #SH1 Barry Bonds (This insert from Skybox Dugout Axcess features Barry Bonds and his Marvel Comics counterpart, Thor. The back of the card states that Bonds wields thunder much like the Asgardian hero, Thor, striking like lightning and launching baseballs into the stratosphere. Both were famous for swinging a mighty hammer but unlike Thor who battles the Frost Giants, Bonds fought along side the San Francisco Giants.)
1999 Sports Illustrated for Kids II #840 Ivan Rodriguez BB (Cut from the pages of Sports Illustrated for Kids, this card depicts IRod as Darth Vader, not a super hero but rather a super villain.)