1976 Topps #179 Earl Thomas

One of my favorite things about writing this blog is researching players that I know little about. Today I'm looking at Earl Thomas.

Thomas played tight end for the University of Houston from 1968 to 1970, one of the most productive offensive eras in UH history. There wasn't much information on Thomas in last year's media guide, so I turned to the Dallas Morning News archives from 1970.

1970 season highlights for Earl Thomas included:
9/19/1970: Versus Syracuse, he had a 62 yard TD run
11/14/1970: Versus Wyoming, he caught a 65 yard TD pass from Gary Mullins.
11/21/1970: Versus Wake Forest, he caught a 47 yard TD pass from Joel DeSpain.
12/5/1970: Versus Miami, he threw a 47 yard end around TD pass to Elmo Wright

Thomas was the second leading receiver for the Coogs in 1970 behind Elmo Wright. He played in the North-South Shrine game and was drafted in the 6th round by the Chicago Bears.

Today's card is the 1976 Topps #179. This is a typical Topps football card of the '70s, fairly poor photography with basic statistics on the back. But I grew up with these cards so I still like them.

1984-85 Star #237 Hakeem Olajuwon

While the 1986-87 Fleer is considered Hakeem's rookie card, it is not his first card. Star Company released five cards in 1984-85 and 1985-86.

Star cards were licensed by the NBA, but Star was not considered a major manufacturer with limited release and sometimes regional releases.

Today's card is Olajuwon's first card the 1984-85 Star #237. The front consists of an action photo with Hakeem holding the ball down low looking like he's about to blow by a much slower center. The border is yellow that ties in with the old Rockets logo.

The back is very basic with University of Houston statistics as well as other information like date of birth, height weight, schools, etc.

Overall a nice, but not great card. Good photography and layout, but it's very basic and a fairly low budget looking card compared to cards of today and even some vintage cards.

1992 Houston Motion Sports #14 Linton Weatherspoon

From the Daily Cougar, Former UH football player dies.

Rest in peace, Linton.

Our prayers are with Chuck and the rest of the Weatherspoon family.

1969 Bengals Tresler Comet #13 Warren McVea

Although it has been 40 years since his career ended at the University of Houston, Warren McVea is still considered by many to be the greatest Cougar running back ever.

In 1966, he was an All American honorable mention and in 1967 he was second team All American. He ended his career with 3,009 all purpose yards including catching a 99 yard pass. He was a fourth round AFL draft pick. On top of his on the field accomplishments, he also holds the distinction of being the first African-American football player at UH.

Unfortunately no major card manufacturer printed a Warren McVea card, but four McVea cards are available. Today's card is the 1969 Bengals Tresler Comet #13. Tresler Comet was a regional oil company primarily in the Cincinnati area. This set was distributed through Tresler Comet gas stations. The distribution of this set was fairly low, but the McVea card is a short print even for the set.

The photo is a sepia posed shot. It looks like the number is airbrushed in orange. Also an orange facsimile autograph is on the card. I have no idea if this is really McVea's autograph as card companies have been known to use bogus autographs for facsimilies.

I would love to have this card or the 1968 Champion Corn Flakes #3A42. McVea was such an important player in UH history that his few collectibles should be highly desirable to the UH collector.

2002 Bowman Draft #BDP52 & 2002 Bowman Chrome Draft X-Fractors #52 Chris Snyder

Chris Snyder is the primary starting catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. At the University of Houston in 2002, he set the school record for RBI at 71 and led the Coogs in batting average at .343. He was named to the All Conference USA first team, 3rd team All American, and was a finalist for Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year Award.

Today I want to ask a question: Why do collectors like X-Fractor/SuperFractor cards? I just don't get it. I think they look horrible, but for some reason, they are very sought after. Maybe it's because they have very short print runs, but there are other style cards with short print runs that aren't as popular.

I remember when the first Refractor cards came out. People were fascinated by them. I thought they looked OK. I preferred a high quality photo stock type picture. X-fractor style cards to me just detract from the player.

For those not into collecting, X-Fractors are highly reflective hologram cards with checkerboard or other patterns on them. An example is below. The X-Fractor is shown first. Compare this with the base card afterwards. The same picture is on both cards, but I prefer the simplicity of the photo on the base card versus the complexity of the X-Fractor.

Which do you prefer?

1997 Headliners Basketball #21 Hakeem Olajuwon

We previously looked at the Starting Line Up action figure for Hakeem Olajuwon. Today let's look at another action figure, Headliners.

Headliners were three inch tall figures with a disproportionately large head. While Starting Line Up figures generally had more active poses, the faces didn't generally look a lot like the player. Headliners on the other hand much more closely resembled the player.

This is the 1997 Headliners Olajuwon. The 1996 Headliners featured dark uniforms while 1997 had white uniforms. Both years he was also included in a four pack of centers.

1990 Pro Set #19A Andre Ware

How have I had a blog related to University of Houston athletics and its history without posting about Andre Ware? The day Ware won the Heisman was one of most enjoyable days of my time at UH. Going to the Rice game, hearing the announcement, buying Andre champagne (cheap & the name seemed appropriate for celebration), and partying all night in the dorms was a great time.

Today's card is the 1990 Pro Set #19. There are two variations, one without a stripe (pictured below) and one with a red stripe stating Drafted 1st Round, Detroit.

The front of the card features Ware in action in his UH uniform. Did I mention that I prefer the old skinny logo on the helmet versus the current logo?

The back features a picture of the Heisman Trophy. While many cards feature career college statistics, this card features game by game statistics for the 1989 season. Also on the back is a list of other recent Heisman winners.

I think this is a beautiful card with a the bonus of Ware in his UH uniform and season statistics. This is also one of his many rookie cards. Unfortunately for those concerned about card value, Pro Set had one of the highest production runs in card history so even though there are 2 variations, both are cheaper than any other Ware rookie card and even most of his non-rookie cards. But since I'm more concerned about card design and featuring UH, so this is a great card for those criteria.