Are you ready for some football...cards!

The NFL season is off and running and as a New York Jets fan I gotta say, I was full of optimism for this year. Now we are in week 3 of the season and I have already checked out. Hopefully the Jets can turn this thing around and start racking up some Ws? But until that happens I'm going to reminisce on the good ol' days when football players were more than just marketing tools, they were tough and beat the snot out of each other without the yellow flags being thrown! These days were the late 80s & early 90s! Let's take a trip down memory lane and tear into some vintage NFL trading cards, shall we?

Action Packed 1989

Oh my gosh! These cards were amazing! They were embossed and had gold foil graphics. Action Packed was a real game changer when they came out, but they were unable to hold their appeal with collectors. I remember trading for these cards with my friends mostly for the Jets cards, but definately because of their cool factor!

Score 1990

In the 80s & 90s Score and Topps were the go to cards for me. They seemed to be the most affordable and you got a decent product. These cards from 1990 were totally a victim of their time. I say victim, but I really do like the bold colors and almost full card photos in this set. They also had some great subsets and some of the best rookie cards of the year.

Fleer Ultra 1991

Ah, Fleer Ultra. The premium card set. 1991 was early on in the Fleer Ultra brand and they really hadn't hit their stride yet. It would be another year or so until Ultra would include the UV coating and foil embossing that I loved so much. Overall this is not a bad set, just sort of plain.

Pacific Plus 1991

Pacific was always an afterthought in my collecting experience. Yeah, we had the cards but no one avidly collected them. I mostly picked up these cards so I could grab another cardboard version of my favorite player...Bo Jackson. This is a clean looking set, but it just didn't have the clout in the market as some of the bigger card producers.

Ted Williams 1994

I didn't even know this card set existed until a year or so ago when I found packs at an antique store for 75 cents each! This is a nice looking set filled with NFL greats of the past and some from the present. There were some nice subsets included and you did get a bonus POG card in each pack! As a side note, I never knew "Anti Counterfeit Ink" was needed to produce a football card set?

Comic Book Pick: 9/26/18

This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...

STRANGER THINGS #1

The nostalgia igniting hit Netflix original series comes to comic shelves. Follow Will Byers into a dimension of decay and destruction where he must use his wits and resolve to dodge the pursuit of the Demogorgon and escape the Upside Down. Written by award winning comics veteran Jody Houser (Faith, Orphan Black, Mother Panic). Based on Will's unseen journey during season 1 of hit Netflix show Stranger Things.

(W) Jody Houser (A) Stefano Martino (CA) Aleksi Briclot

SRP: $3.99

Synopsis provided by PreviewsWorld.com 

 

Throwback Jam of the Week: 9/24/18

It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your Naughty Gear cut your hair in the fresh Braided style and slip on your Adidas as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...

Artist: Naughty By Nature

Song: O.P.P.

Album: Naughty By Nature (Released 1991)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 6

Bonus Fun Fact: O.P.P. by this NJ based trio has been listed as one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time by Rolling Stone, VH1, Spin Magazine and The Source!

In Search of The Goonies Novelization

Every once in a while I like to challenge myself to find a piece of my childhood that will bring back great memories of my amazing childhood. This time around I have found myself on a quest to find and purchase the novelization of my favorite movie of all time...The Goonies! This book search didn't happen just out of the blue, but thanks to some of the guys I follow on Twitter like Shawn Robare of Branded in the 80s fame. I've read some of these adaptations of movies and sometimes they contain altered events and deleted scenes that never made it into the movie. I am hoping this is the case with The Goonies. So I searched online...

but the prices were a little out of my range. After that didn't go as planned I ran another search, this time for used bookstores in my neighborhood. I found 3 of them in the area! It looks like I am now on my own Goonie adventure, but instead of looking for rich stuff I was hoping to uncover a wealth of  fantastic fiction. I have journeyed to 2 of the bookstores so far, but no Goonies novels were to be found. Instead I picked up some other great literary works of art based on a few awesome characters that were popular back in the day. Here is what I scored for under $5!

Alf: Mission To Mars (Checkerboard Press, 1987)

Heathcliff: In Outer Space (Marvel Books, 1985)

My Pet Monster: Goes To School (Western Publishing, 1986)

Pound Puppies: Problem Puppies (Western Publishing, 1986)

Roger Rabbit: Make The World Laugh (Western Publishing, 1988)

TMNT: The Storybook Based On The Movie (Random House, 1990)

Not a bad haul overall. At least I found something to bring home and read to my kids before they head off to bed for the night. But it wasn't what I was looking for, it wasn't The Goonies. Well, I still have one more shop to check for my paperback white whale! Wish me luck and pray I don't end up like Chester Copperpot!

Comic Book Pick: 9/19/18

This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...

DICK TRACY DEAD OR ALIVE #1 (OF 4)

IDW Publishing proudly presents the rebirth of one the most iconic comic-strip heroes of all time, Dick Tracy! The All-American detective just made the biggest collar of his career, and it only cost him his job! But now the honest cop has packed his bags for "the city by the lake," and its criminals better watch out! Reimagined for the 21st century through a retro lens by the superstar team of Michael Allred, Lee Allred, Rich Tommaso and Laura Allred, Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive is a lock to be the pop-art event of 2018! Bizarre villains! Crooked cops! Gunfights galore! Cover art and co-written by Eisner Award-winning superstar Michael Allred (Madman, iZombie, Silver Surfer, Batman '66)! Illustrated by Rich Tommaso (Spy Seal, Dry County) with Michael Allred inks! Each issue features a "mug shot" alternate cover by Rich Tommaso! Ask your retailer about the "coloring book" variant cover by Michael Allred! Ask your retailer about the ultra-rare Mike Oeming variant cover!

(W) Lee Allred, Michael Allred (A) Rich Tommaso (A/CA) Michael Allred

SRP: $3.99

Synopsis provided by PreviewsWorld.com 

Throwback Jam of the Week: 9/17/18

It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your leather jacket, cut your hair in the fresh Caesar style and slip on your Adidas as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...

Artist: Grandmaster Flash

Song: White Lines (Don't Do It)

Album: White Lines (Don't Do It) 12-inch single (Released 1983)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: N/A

Bonus Fun Fact: The unofficial video for this song was directed by Spike Lee during his time as a student at NYU and features Laurence Fishburne! Duran Duran covered this song in 1995 on their "Thank You" album!

Centipede: The Board Game!

I have a great fondness for the video game Centipede. Back in the 80s you could find that arcade cabinet everywhere from Pizza Hut to our local dentist! Yes, our local dentist had arcade games in his waiting room. It actually gave us a reason to want to go for a cleaning. I loved playing Centipede and I still do. If an arcade has this game powered up, I'll be there flinging that track ball all over the place in the quest to put my initials in the top score listing. I am very familiar with this game, but recently while on the hunt for retro gold at the local Goodwill store, I found something that I never knew existed...

Centipede: The Board Game released by Milton Bradley in 1983. For only $2 I picked it up. I was so excited when I found the game that I didn't even bother to check and make sure the pieces were inside. I still would have grabbed it even if it was missing a majority of the pieces for the box art alone! It is pure 80s magic! Well, I got the game home and it sat around for a while until my son asked if we could play it. I obliged and we cut the tape and opened the box.

I was very happy to see that we were only missing 3 pieces from the game! A scorpion token, a mushroom token and one of the permanent board mushrooms were missing. These missing pieces were not enough to keep us from being able to play the game. The premise is pretty simple, you spin the wheel and try to make it home before your opponent does. What makes this game fun is that you get to blast the other centipede causing it to loose a segment of it's body.

That right there is the face of horror! We played the game a few times and my son beat me twice by repeatedly popping lasers into my centipede's face, which causes you to not be able to move. They only way to gain back your mobility is to blast the opposing, which then lets you return one of your centipede's body segments. Well, the luck of the game spinner was not with me and baby boy was able to scurry to a victory! It really is a fun game. I am sure we will play again soon so I can avenge my loss! 

Who knew a board game based on a video game could be so cool? When I was a kid we had the Ms. Pac-Man board game and that was not a great game. Mostly we just played with the character pieces from the game and made up our own rules. Centipede on the other hand has real re-play value and I'm glad I could enjoy this bit of nostalgia with my kids.

Comic Book Pick: 9/12/18

This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...

LEGEND OF ZELDA TWILIGHT PRINCESS VOL 04

Link and Midna head for Death Mountain to dispel the darkness that is plaguing the Gorons and hopefully obtain another shard of the Shadow Crystal. If they can recover the shard they'll only need to find one more piece of the Crystal. But their journey is far from over-shadows are gathering at Hyrule Castle and there are still many grave dangers and terrible foes to face!

(W) Akira Himekawa (A/CA) Akira Himekawa

SRP: $9.99

Synopsis provided by PreviewsWorld.com

Throwback Jam of the Week: 9/10/18

It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your Kangol, cut your hair in the fresh Caesar style and slip on your FUBU clothing as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...

Artist: Black Sheep

Song: The Choice Is Yours

Album: A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing (Released 1991)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 57

Bonus Fun Fact: This song was ranked #73 on VH1's top 100 Greatest Hip-Hop songs list. It was most recently featured in a 2016 AirHeads candy commercial campaign.!

Comic Book Pick: 9/5/18

This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...

GHOSTBUSTERS CROSSING OVER #6

The Ghostbusters need every missing ghost back to properly recalibrate their rapidly malfunctioning containment unit, and so far, they've recaptured them all! But this time, something stands in their way-and his name is Louis Tully! The Ghostbusters mega crossover event continues here!

(W) Erik Burnham (A/CA) Dan Schoening

SRP: $3.99

Synopsis provided by PreviewsWorld.com

Throwback Jam of the Week: 9/3/18

It's that time of the week again here at 20 Years Before 2000...It's time for the THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK! These are the jams currently on my trusty Creative ZEN MP3 player and they encompass everything from Motown R&B classics to hip-hop and rap from the 90s! I would like to share them with you in the hopes that they can get you on your feet and bring back some sweet nostalgic memories! So throw on your Kangol, cut your hair in the fresh Caesar style and slip on your FUBU clothing as we take you back! Without further ado, here is the 20 Years Before 2000 THROWBACK JAM OF THE WEEK...

Artist: L.L. Cool J

Song: Mamma Said Knock You Out

Album: Mamma Said Knock You Out (Released 1991)

Peak Billboard Hot 100 Position: 17

Bonus Fun Fact: This song was inspired by a conversation LL had with his grandma when she told him to, "Oh baby, just knock them out!". Won the Grammy for "Best Rap Solo Performance" in 1992!