Greatest Show on Turf
We are coming up on the 25th !?! anniversary of my favorite football team ever, the Greatest Show on Turf St. Louis Rams. I’m not a Rams fan at all, but this team was the most fun one I’ve ever followed and I still think I’ve never had as much fun watching football as I did watching Warner lead them to the Super Bowl.
One of my ongoing collecting goals is collecting with more deliberateness. I want to spend less time and money picking up cards of random players and instead want to focus on creating a list of cards to actively target. In that spirit, I figured the upcoming anniversary was a great time to start a new mini-collection of cards from my favorite NFL team ever. So, here’s a quick guide to 1999 Rams’ cards.
Marshall Faulk
Marshall Faulk and LaDainian Tomlinson might be the scariest players ever to appear in your opponent’s roster for fantasy football. Faulk is also a testament to how far running backs have fallen in the hobby. He's a HOF member and a clear top 10 back of all time, but his cards barely move the needle. Much of that is due to his debuting smack dab in the middle of the junk wax era, but that alone does not explain his low prices. Instead, they can only be explained by collectors abandoning non-quarterbacks en masse.
High End: PSA 10 1994 Upper Deck SP Die Cut (Last sold $1025)- Faulk’s high-end card carries an impressive price tag cracking four digits. The SP Die Cuts are tough enough to find in 10 grade that I can see an argument for this card being underpriced.
Midrange: PSA 10 1994 Upper Deck SP (Last sold $215)- This is a much more palatable price on a card that is still incredibly hard to find in gem mint grade. It’s also Fauk’s most sought-after rookie.
Affordable: PSA 9 1994 Upper Deck SP (Last sold $6)- This card normally goes closer to $20, but there are deals to be had on a card that is already a steal. Alternatively, most of Faulk’s other rookies can be had in PSA 10 grade for under $100.
Kurt Warner
High End: 1999 Playoff Contenders Auto PSA 9 (Last sold $540)- Warner was an afterthought and doesn’t have a rookie in most products. The Contenders auto is Warner’s clear top card. It’s been a while since a PSA 10 has sold, but one is currently available for $4000 on PWCC so that at least provides a ceiling.
Midrange: 1999 Bowman’s Best PSA 10 (Last sold $139) One could just jump down a grade with the Contenders auto and get the price down to about $200 but I like the Bowman’s Best card. It’s worth noting this card is volatile in pricing and has sold for under $75 recently.
Affordable: 2000 Autos (Last sold under $50)- Warner has very few rookie autos, but he’s got a slew of autos from his second year in 2000 keeping the prices down. He’s got a plethora of attractive auto cards from 2000 giving collectors a wide variety of choices. As a bonus, these are on-card autos resulting in some pretty cards available for under $50.
Tory Holt
High End: 1999 Playoff Contenders Auto (Last sold $35)- Holt is a semifinalist for the HOF for a record eighth time. The same lack of respect that keeps him out of the HOF also keeps his card prices way down. His top-end auto rookies can be found for under $50 which seems criminal. Holt gets overshadowed by Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald and he does belong a rung below them, but his productivity and longevity should have been awarded with a bust in Canton by now. As he hasn’t gotten his due yet, even his high-end cards are super affordable.
Midrange: 1999 Bowman’s Best PSA 10 (Last sold $38)- I prefer just ponying up for an auto really, but Holt’s Bowman’s Best is a very nice card from a surprisingly strong set. The key to finding one for an affordable price is patiently waiting for an auction. It’s also a set that you can pair a Warner RC with a Holt RC which gives it an edge over many sets that omitted Warner.
Affordable: 1999 Topps Finest PSA 10 (Last sold $26)- You can find 9s for under $10 of this sharp looking card. Most Holt cards fit in this category and one can probably do well just waiting for a discounted auction.
Others
Isaac Bruce, Az-Zahir Hakim, and London Fletcher all are worth collecting. That said, even their best cards can be had for a pittance. Fletcher might see a bump if/when he eventually makes the HOF. The task in locating cards of these three is finding copies in good condition. Very few cards of any of these three players have been graded and finding cards in mint or gem mint shape can be quite the hunt.
Wrap Up
I’m off to start my new collection. If you’ve got a favorite team you collect from a specific year, let me know in the comments. Also, if you’ve got thoughts on being more deliberate in collecting let me know those as well.
