Some Auto's Are Just Plan Classics

I know… most post titles don't get any more cheesy than that. As you can see, the three auto's are from the early 90's Classic company. I'm a big fan of many of the Classic auto's. One of my favorite Classic auto's even made it all the way to forth place on my Top 25 PC Countdown. The fact is, Classic put out some of the best on-card auto's of superstar players like Shaquille O'neal, Alex Rodriguez, Drew Bledsoe, Chris Webber, Pavel Bure, Desmond Howard and many more. The really cool thing about many of these auto's is that there were plenty made. That means that every collector can pickup a sweet college era auto of their favorite player.

Speaking of favorite players, Chris Webber and the Fab Five had me hooked from day one. I attribute my craziness for kicks directly to the fab freshmen. Looking back at hoops trading cards of old, I'm also glad C-Web and the Wolverines got the shorts lengthened a bit. The '93 Webber Classic Gold Auto is from a special set that Classic limited to 9,500 and shipped to collectors in a swanky wooden box (click here). This is a must have for any Webber or Fab Five fan.

The Mashburn card is from the same '93 Gold set as the Webber. It's definately a cool card. I like it better than the Webber card. First off, Masburn has one of the coolest nicknames ever, "Monster Mash". Yeah… that's right, I said it. Plus, checkout those Converse kicks the "Monster Mash" is rockin'. Mashburn was a beast at Kentucky and I'm glad to add this one to my collection.

Finally, there were a number of collecting crazes during the '92-'93 collecting season. We had the "Shaq Attack" and of course Michael Jordan, but Manon Rheaume cards were hot as well. Rheaume is the first woman to play in an NHL contest. She competed in games during the '92 and '93 preseasons for the Tamp Bay Lighting. At one time, her Classic auto's were selling for similar amounts as the O'neal auto's. That's really saying something, If you know how hot those O'neal cards were.

If you're looking to pick up an auto or two of your favorite 90's athletes, take a look at the Classic auto's. They're not to shabby. As always, happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

The First Lady of Hockey

There are many great women athletes that have pioneered there respective sport over the past century. Many of those women from Babe Didrikson to Billy Jean King helped to change the perception that women could not participate in sports. One of those women with equal importance to her respective sport is Manon Rheaume. She certainly has not enjoyed the same long lasting notoriety as maybe a Jackie Joyner-Kersee or Mia Hamm, but her contribution to women's sport and sport in general should not be overlooked. Rheaume was the first female athlete to ever play in an NHL preseason hockey game.

She was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Lighting and competed in an NHL exhibition game during both the '92 and '93 preseasons. After her time with the Lighting, she went on to win two gold medals for the Women's Canadian Hockey Team at the Hockey World Championships in '92 and '94. She also won a silver medal in the '98 Winter Olympics for team Canada.

Although brief, her stint with the Lightning set off a collecting frenzy in the trading card hobby. Her '92 Auto'ed RC's from the Classic company were so hot that their retail prices rivaled fellow hobby star Shaquille O'neal. Both were rookies at the time and had some great cards produced by Classic. The '92 Classic Four-Sport Rheaume card you see in this post is generally regarded as her true rookie card, even though there are a number of Rheaume cards that were produced during that time.

I'm still looking for a few of her certified auto'd cards produced by Classic. I remember when her cards came out and the frenzy they created in the hobby. I'd love to add a couple of those auto'd cards to my collection.