If there is one team that rivals the Yankees for my affections, it's the New York Jets. While most of the people I know are Giants fans, I have loved Gang Green since I first watched them play at Shea Stadium back in 1980. I have gone through my ups and downs with this team (mostly down), but I have never rooted for any other football team save the 2 years when I followed my then best friend and rooted for the Steelers.
When I restarted collecting cards, I knew I wanted to have a Jets collection as well and started to hunt down different cards to fill my binder with. My Jets collection is not as large as my Yankees one is, but I am very pleased with the collection have amassed thus far. I grabbed cards through trades, eBay, card shows and from the kindness of strangers.
My collection is not just cards. I have figures, bobbleheads, autographs, books, pins and a vintage pennant in my Jets collection. As long as it has the Jets logo on it, I will always try to find a way to add it to my collection. There are things I would love to add to my Jets collection like vintage yearbooks, programs and cards, but I know I will have the opportunity to add them to my collection at some point.
Thanks to Mark over at Mark's Ephemera, I was able to add two pieces to my Jets collection, and they were two pieces I have been wanting to pick up for quite some time.
Mark's Ephemera has quickly become one of my favorite blogs to read and I never miss a post of his. One particular blog post was about the old Sunoco football stamps. I mentioned in the comments section that I have been wanting to pick up the Jets stamps from those sets. Mark reached out to me via email and offered me a packet of Jets stamps and another vintage item I have been wanting for a while. After a few emails, I got a package from him in the mail. When I opened the package, I saw this first:
A packet of the 1972 Sunoco NFL Stamps. I just love, love the lithography on the envelope. As tempted as I am to tear it open and check out the stamps, I made a decision to keep it as is. I do not want to ruin the packet, thus ruin the lithography. It will stay as is for me to admire whenever I want.
Then I saw this tucked in behind it:
A 1971 Topps Pin Up of Joe Willie Namath! I knew Mark was sending this over, but I was still floored when I saw it. Namath is one of my all time favorites, despite my never seeing him actually play. But I have seen enough video to know that the man had an absolute cannon for an arm. I love this mini pin up. It just screams 1970's with the color scheme to the fact that Topps couldn't show the players in their helmets. It's a thing of beauty.
After watching that awesome Namath HBO special I have started a Namath PC (like I need another player to collect). It's pretty small at this point, mostly recent product. Namath's cards can get pretty pricey, so for now I will add what I can here and there and anything helps. I also have the new Namath McFarlane and a couple Namath books, even a vintage Namath picture book that I assume a 5 year old read back in the day. I will look to add more Namath to my PC and show off what I do add right here.
I want to thank Mark for the awesome mailday. I have to return the favor and I hope to soon. In the meantime, if you haven't had the chance to read Mark's Ephemera, do so right here: http://marksephemera.blogspot.com/. Check it out, it's a great read.
