These Binders Were Too Cool for School

Back in the 1980s, there was a particular type of binder that schoolkids everywhere wanted. I mean, really wanted.

The Trapper Keeper.

In fact, if you were to create a list of the most popular items of the decade, the Trapper Keeper might find itself pretty high up there, alongside items like Swatch watches, Bubble Tape, Transformers, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Walkman.

Now, the particular Keeper you see above is not an original. It's a reproduction. Around the year 2021, the Mead company decided to release some new designs inspired by the originals. As of this writing, it seems like they're still at it. 

The 1980s rule!

I won that Trapper Keeper in a contest a few years ago. And for a while after that, it just sat around with nothing inside. But recently the muses fell upon me:

Why not fill the Trapper Keeper with cards from the era?

It's only fitting, right?

I gave it a little more thought, and narrowed down the options. A complete set of 1980s sports cards wouldn't work, because the rings of a Trapper Keeper have a very small diameter. They just wouldn't be able to hold so many 9-pocket pages.

And actually, sports trading cards in general didn't seem like a very novel idea, because I had so many of those in binders anyway.

But what about non-sport cards?

Yeah, that put me on the right track. The 1980s boasted quite a lot of iconic non-sport and oddball sets, along with some multi-sport sets and food-issue sets. And I already had a bunch of examples in my collection, just sitting in boxes, in the closet, in the dark. How much better would it be to keep them in pages—in this binder—so I could rip open that trademark Velcro flap and enjoy them every once in a while?

So, I started looking through my collection on TCDB. Soon enough, I found some excellent candidates for the binder. Want to see the results so far?

Let's roll.

 

 

  

I'm going to start off by sharing a reproduction of one of those classic Trapper Keeper–branded folders. So far, the only thing I have slotted into this one is my Project P.R.I.D.E. police workbook from 6th grade. (Complete with "hockey guy" illustrations by young Gregory Ninepockets.) 

I'm wondering if I have any other schoolwork saved somewhere in a box in the attic. If I do, that's the sort of thing that I'd also slot into this folder.

Next up, we have the cards. And there was no doubt about which ones I'd display in the first few pages.

I'm not sure if there's a brand of non-sport trading cards more synonymous with the 1980s than Garbage Pail Kids. I've got such good memories of opening packs with my sister and my mom, and laughing at all the zany—if not mildly rude—illustrations and names. You just never knew what you'd uncover in those packs. 

All the cards in my collection are from Series 2 (1985) through Series 7 (1987), and I enjoy them so much that I've got six full pages in the Trapper Keeper. All the card brands that follow are limited to one page each.

How many of you '80s kids were psyched when Sports Illustrated for Kids magazine debuted in 1989? I'm pretty sure I had a subscription for part of that first year, and I remember wondering with excitement about which athletes would be featured on the perforated 9-card insert that was placed inside each issue. 

Unfortunately, none of the cards you see on the page above are originals from my childhood collection. On the positive side, this has allowed me to select the cards that you do see above based on personal nostalgia. For example, I remember Carl Lewis being one of America's darlings during the 1988 Summer Olympics. And if you were into skateboarding back then, Mike McGill was a hot name, right alongside guys like Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Christian Hosoi. (Note: I kind of cheated a little bit with that Boris Becker card in the bottom right corner. It's from the 1990 set, so it's technically not an '80s card.)

 

The first five stickers on this page are from the 1983 Topps Video City set, and feature classic arcade games of the era like Donkey Kong, Zaxxon, and Frogger. The last four are from the 1980 Fleer Pac-Man set. Even though my young collecting days wouldn't start until a few years after the Pac-Man wax packs were available for sale in stores, I do remember having some of them in my collection. I don't know how. Maybe I got them from an older kid in the neighborhood. Regardless, it's a good indication of how wildly popular the arcade game was back then.

 

I didn't have any of these 1985 Hasbro Transformers cards when I was a kid. In fact, I didn't even know they existed back then. But a few years ago, I discovered them and added a handful to my collection. I'm not sure an '80s binder would be complete without a page of these. As for the little guy in the bottom right pocket? That's an example of a sticker that was issued one per hanger pack.

 

These 1987-88 New York Islanders Police cards certainly don't fall into the non-sport category, but they were the cards that came along with that Project P.R.I.D.E. police workbook I mentioned earlier. I was a young kid who was just getting into the sport of hockey back then, so these cards bring back enough fun memories to grant them a spot in the Trapper Keeper.

And what would an '80s binder be without some wrestling cards? I mean, sheesh, that era had so many larger-than-life characters. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Jake the Snake Roberts, Jimmy Superfly Snooka, King Kong Bundy, The Honky Tonk Man, Ric Flair. The list goes on and on. The first few cards you see on the page are from the 1987 Topps WWF set. The bottom three are from 1989 and 1990 Classic WWF. And that Ric Flair card? 1988 Wonderama NWA. Woooo!

I know, I know. This is not a 1980s set. But I had to include these 1977 Topps Three's Company cards and stickers in the binder anyway. I have some pretty special memories of sitting on the living room floor, watching reruns of this show with my mom and sister back in the mid-80s. John Ritter was so brilliant with his physical comedy. 

How popular was the mascot featured on the first three cards of this page? Well, Donruss decided to include him in their flagship set for three years running! The San Diego Chicken was (and still is) baseball mascot royalty.

Speaking of royalty, the next three cards feature some guys who briefly fit that description in the late-80s. They're from the 1988 Zoot The California Raisins World Tour set. If you like dad jokes and corny puns, this set is for you.

As for the three 1990 Confex Fun Stuff and Nasty Tricks cards on the bottom row, I know they're not from the 1980s, but they FEEL like they are. If I did have some of these cards in my collection back then, they would have definitely been in the Trapper Keeper. Young Gregory appreciated that brand of humor. 

 

 

  

 

Years ago on the blog, I mentioned how some of the light cycle cards from this 1982 Donruss Tron set are more like little pieces of futurist art. I still feel that way, and I think the original film maintains enough cachet to earn some representation in this '80s binder.

 

 

Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out were all made legendary by the Nintendo Entertainment System, so these cards from the 1989 Topps Nintendo set were absolute must-haves for the binder. I can still hear the soundtracks to all three of these games in my mind, and it's not just because I spent quite a number of hours playing them. The music itself holds more than enough merit. I mean, various professional orchestras have covered the soundtracks to Mario Brothers and Zelda over the years. That should tell you everything you need to know.

Speaking of memorable music, can you hear the theme song from this franchise? The 1989 Topps Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cards you see on this 9-pocket page are taken from a set that's fun, action packed, and actually tells a story as you progress through it. I was a touch too old to be consumed by Turtle-mania when this set of cards was released. My stepbrother, on the other hand, was a few years younger than me, and he had some of the action figures and was really into it. Apparently, so was my dad. It's all given me a solid appreciation for how Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo captivated so many people at the time.

 

And that's my 1980s binder so far. There's still room for a few more pages, and there are plenty of other iconic 1980s sets out there, so we'll see where I go next. 

Until then, I've got a couple of questions for you readers and collectors:

(1) If you were to put together a Trapper Keeper full of non-sport cards from the era, which sets would you include?

(2) If you went to school during the '80s, did you have a Trapper Keeper? If so, what design did you have? (I had the one with the red Lamborghini on the front.)

Let me know in the comment section. I'm looking forward to your answers!

A Smorgasbord! Gardner's Bakery Milwaukee Brewers

From the 1970s through the 1990s, it seemed like you could find your favorite baseball stars on food product packaging everywhere you looked: supermarkets, corner stores, restaurants, and beyond. This past year, in an effort to capture a little more nostalgia, I set a goal to expand my own collection of these "food-issue" cards. In this series I'll show the specific examples I've acquired, and share a little bit of history about the food or beverage sponsor as well. 

Previous entries can be found here.

It's the beginning of May, 1985. Spring has officially arrived here in Milwaukee, and your Brewers are about a month into the season.

They're a few games below .500, but it's fine. You started collecting baseball cards a couple of years ago, and you're not slowing down now. The new 1985 Topps cards are pretty cool-looking. And that was the only thing on your mind as you went to bed last night after a good, hard week of school. 

Now it's early Saturday morning. The sun hasn't even risen yet, but an enticing aroma has started to fill the air about a half-mile away. Soon it twists, turns, and swirls its way through the quiet streets of your town, until it reaches your open window and comes through the screen. It's such a delightful smell that it wakes you right up and you take a deep whiff.

Freshly baked bread.

The guys in that little bakery down the road get busy pretty early. It's almost like they're fanning the steam from the ovens straight into your bedroom.

Well, it's not long before you're walking downstairs and into the kitchen. There isn't any fresh bread straight from the bakery down there, but you do have the next best thing: A loaf of bread from Gardner's. And some butter.

You take out a butter knife and a slice of bread, and you butter that thing up without even toasting it. And just when you thought things couldn't get much better, you see a little cellophane packet tucked inside the bread wrapper. The detective work that your brain does for you provides  the memory instantaneously. Last year, the Gardner's loaves came with a similar little packet. Cramming the first bite of buttered bread in your mouth, you quietly slip back upstairs and pull a shoebox from your closet. Soon enough, you confirm what was in that cellophane packet last year.

Baseball cards!

And what about the year before?

Yep! You had a couple of those, too. I mean, how could you forget? It was your first year of collecting.

You stack those four cards neatly in one hand, take another bite of bread from the other hand, and trot back downstairs. The Brewers cards in that new cellophane pack are waiting to be freed, and you waste no time peeling open the wrapper.

Whoa.

You weren't expecting something that resembled a TV set with red borders! But looking back at the 1983 and 1984 designs, you at least appreciate the originality.

What about the backs?

You flip the cards over.

Okay, they're just like the regular 1985 Topps set—only it's blue with black text, instead of green with red text. That's within your threshold of comprehension.

Then you flip them back over to the front, and take another look at those red TV sets. It's still kind of weird. But a baseball card is a baseball card, and they'll be joining your other Gardner's Bakery cards. I mean, are you going to say no to that awesome mustache on 1985 Rollie Fingers? Not a chance.

So, overall, you're feeling pretty good. And now that the sun has risen, you hear the neighborhood lawn mowers start to hum their familiar Saturday morning tune.

Soon, the aroma of freshly baked bread is replaced by what could be the second sweetest smell for a baseball-loving kid like you.

Freshly cut grass.

Dad's been teaching you how to use the mower in the backyard, and you can't wait to be the designated lawn-cutter on a regular basis. You're going to mow those stripes into the grass so perfect, your backyard will look just like the outfield at Milwaukee County Stadium.

Saturday morning. Fresh bread. Mown outfield grass. Baseball cards.

Life is good.

Now let's talk about Gardner's Bakery.

As evidenced by this example of a company truck, Gardner's got their start quite a while ago—in 1928, to be exact. Based on the scant information I've come across, they were a well-loved institution in the Madison/Milwaukee area for decades. But as too many of these stories go, Gardner's was seemingly absorbed by the Sara Lee Corp., which was eventually acquired by Bimbo Bakeries USA. Bimbo is very large baking group that owns numerous brands you've probably heard of, such as Arnold, Thomas', Entenmann's, Stroehmann, and Freihofer's.

Then, in January 2019, after more than 90 years of business, the Gardner's facility was closed down. Bimbo noted that production was going to be moved to other locations in order to optimize something or other. You know how it goes.

Here's an image from a happier time in the company's history.

But let's get back to the cards for a moment.

I find it so interesting that Topps and the Brewers decided to team up with one bakery in the Wisconsin area for three straight years. It's not that similar things didn't occur with other food-issue sets at the time. (Think of the Coca-Cola Topps cards from 1981, for example.) But in this case, it wasn't a collaboration with a huge, national brand like Coke or Burger King. It wasn't even a regional thing. It was just one team, and one local bakery. 

And then you have the card design. Topps didn't just stamp a Gardner's logo on the front of their flagship cards and re-number the backs, like those Coca-Cola cards. They created an entirely different design for the front. All for Gardner's Bakery!

Maybe some of the head honchos at Topps really loved bread.

Whatever forces combined to create these Gardner's cards, I'm happy they did. And if this is the first time you're seeing them, I hope you got a kick out of them.

Now I've got two questions for you:

Have you ever lived, worked, or gone to school close enough to a bakery to smell that wonderful aroma of baked goods?

If you were to compile a "best smells" top-10 list, would freshly baked bread find its way in?

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

Rookie Card of a '90s Golf Legend

Alright, just soak in the following image of 57-year-old professional golfer John Daly during a practice round a few years ago at the British Open:

 

 

Mullet. Beard. Sunglasses. USA shorts. Smokin' a dart. Swingin' a golf club. 

 

Only John Daly.

 

You'd have to go back quite a while to find the big-hitting golfer in his first year on the PGA Tour—a little more than 30 years, in fact. But recently I picked up a small piece of that history. Check him out on his rookie card from 1991: 

 

 

Now when collectors were first opening packs of Pro Set golf cards early in the year, Mr. Daly would have still been a relative unknown. He was doing alright on the Tour, making a decent amount of cuts and posting a few top-10 finishes, but overall, he wasn't exactly taking the golf world by storm.

 

Here's an image of the card back.

 

 

There's a good write-up about his successes on the Ben Hogan Tour in 1990 (kind of like the minor leagues of golf). But overall, it's pretty tame. 

 

However, by the second week of August 1991, this rookie card would have been the most sought after in the set. 

 

Why?

 

Well, John Daly came out of nowhere to win the PGA Championship—one of golf's four majors—and did so playing a brand of golf no one had really seen before. Look at that card front and back again. You can see traces of the mullet. But what you can't see is how long his backswing was, and how hard he hit the ball. Or how he smoked cigarettes and ate M&Ms and drank Diet Cokes on the course.

 

It also doesn't mention just how unbelievable it was that Daly even made it into the field at the PGA Championship. You see, he was an "alternate".

 

If you're an alternate, it means you came pretty close in the overall PGA Tour rankings list to qualify for the tournament, but not close enough. The only way you'd make it in was if one of the approximately 150 players in the tournament had to drop out a day or two before it started. And that meant you'd have to be ready for a phone call. Because the PGA Tour would call you to let you know a spot had opened up.

 

Now if you're the first alternate on the list, there's a halfway decent chance that one of those 150 golfers will have to withdraw—most often due to a nagging injury that they were trying to play through, but couldn't. And for the 1991 PGA Championship, one of those golfers did in fact withdraw.

 

The thing is, Mr. Daly wasn't the first alternate. Or the second. Or the third. Or the fourth. Or the fifth. 

 

Want to know where he was on the list?

 

Ninth.

 

That's right. He was the ninth alternate. That means in order for him to make it into the 1991 PGA Championship, eight golfers ahead of him on the list of alternates would have had to decline the invitation.

 

Let's go over the play-by-play: 

 

• The first alternate was injured, so he couldn't play.
• The second alternate's wife was expecting a child. Out.
• The third alternate was a British golfer, and he'd gone back to England. Out.
• The fourth alternate had an ear infection. Out.
• The fifth alternate was injured. Out.

 

It was at this point that a PGA Tour representative called Daly to let him know he was now fourth on the alternate list. 

 

Well, John decided that was close enough, and set out to make the 500-mile drive to the tournament, just in case. That's where the play-by-play continues. While Daly was making that long drive, more results came in.

 

• The sixth alternate's wife was also expecting a child. Out.
• The seventh alternate was injured. Out
• The eighth alternate hadn't been playing very well, and didn't think he was up for the rigors of a major championship. So he declined. Out.

When Daly finally made it to his hotel room early Thursday morning, the message light on the phone was blinking.

 

"You're on the tee at 1:58pm on Thursday." 

 

That's right. Daly had just arrived at his hotel, and now there were only a few hours to prepare. No practice rounds. No scouting out the golf course. Nothing. He'd never even played there before.

 

So he did the only thing he knew how to do. He gripped it and ripped it, and finished the first round with a 3-under par 69. In the second round he shot 67, and found himself leading the tournament. He followed that up on Saturday with another 69, and a 3-shot lead going into Sunday. And by this time, media coverage was big. The entire city had embraced him. On Sunday morning he got to his locker and found a lot of notes from players, including Jack Nicklaus. 

 

Go get 'em.

 

And that he did. Daly, the ninth alternate, won a major championship by 3 shots. He finished under par in all four rounds.

 

What a story. 

 

By the end of the season, Mr. Daly would be selected as the 1991 PGA Tour rookie of the year. 

To see his swing in action, here's a clip from the U.S. Open in 1993, where he reached the green of a 630-yard par-5 in 2 shots: 

 

 

 

630 total yards with a driver and then a 1-iron. That's outrageous, even if you're using today's golf clubs and golf balls. 

Daly would finish his career with 5 PGA Tour wins, 4 international wins, and 2 major championships. (1991 PGA Championship, 1995 British Open Championship)

 

And now I've got his rookie card in my collection. I'm pretty happy about that! 

How about you readers and collectors? Even if you're not golf fans, do you remember hearing about John Daly back in the '90s? 

 

Do you think you could have ever swung a golf club like he did?

 

Let me know in the comment section, and thanks for reading! 

 

A Custom Card Based On This Classic '80s Movie? INCONCEIVABLE!

If you were to look through the custom cards I've designed to this point, it would be no surprise that I'm a fan of '80s films. Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Karate Kid, Three Amigos, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science. They're all represented on Nine Pockets cardboard. And the list goes on.

But over the past two or three years, the omission of one particular '80s film has nagged at me. It's a classic, there's no doubt about that. And it checks quite a lot of boxes. The film has action, adventure, fantasy, intrigue, and comedy. The cast of characters is pretty good, too. Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, and Christopher Guest all have small roles. You'll even find a larger-than-life figure from the era playing a larger-than-life character named Fezzik.

Well, I'm happy to say that after some thinking and planning and designing, I've finally created a custom card for the film.

 

 

 

It's The Princess Bride!

It seemed to me that the characters above—Westley, Princess Buttercup, Inigo Montoya, and Fezzik—stood out as the four main characters in the film. If you're already quoting some of their lines, I can't blame you. There are lots of good options to choose from.

 

Speaking of which, if you figured out the subject matter of this custom card simply by reading the title of the blog post, give yourself a bonus point. It's a nod to another character in the film named Vizzini. Here's a little montage that shows him in action.

 

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

I'd really like to use that line in real life one day. Maybe I'll take advantage the next time someone uses the word "literally" in the wrong context, over and over again, like so:

Person: OMG, I literally lost my mind when I found out Starbucks was having a sale. We all drank so much coffee that we were literally bouncing off the walls. It was literally a madhouse in there. I literally burned a hole in my wallet.

Gregory: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

 

Heh. We'll see if I'm quick enough. 

In any case, I'm very happy with the way this custom card turned out, and I hope some of the many folks who still adore The Princess Bride enjoy it, too.

How about you readers? Any Princess Bride fans out there? What's your favorite scene, or favorite line?

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

The 1989-90 OPC Hockey Sticker Album Project: Packs 1–6

 

A few weeks ago here on the blog, I shared the newly acquired sticker album you see above, along with a box of 48 packs of stickers from that same season. I also mentioned that I was going to gradually open the packs and place the stickers in the album, for the sake of nostalgia and good vibes. 

 

This post is the first in a series where I'll show which stickers I pulled, and start building up the album.

 

So let's go back to the 1989-90 hockey season. Young Gregory has been learning a lot about the sport of ice hockey. Now he's ready to tear open his first six packs of stickers. He's excited, yet focused, because he wants to place the stickers in their designated spots in the album as straight as possible.

 

He grabs the fist six packs from the top-left corner of the box. Let's get to it!

Pack 1

Remember those 4-panel action scenes that always appeared in sticker albums back then? You'd have to wait until you pulled all four stickers to see everything that was happening in the larger photo. I'm glad I got a couple of those out of the way right from the start.

 

Young Gregory pulled a few Calgary Flames stickers in this first pack, which helped his hockey knowledge greatly. The Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals the previous season, and that must have provided great retribution. The same two teams met in the finals just a few seasons earlier (1985-86), with Montreal taking the championship. 

 

(NOTE: From here on, I'm not going to share images of all six stickers from each pack, because that might get tiresome on the eyes. Instead, I'll just share the best stickers, along with some interesting information about the players and teams, where applicable.)

 

 

Pack 2

 

 

We've got a Joe Sakic "rookie" sticker! (I put that word in quotes because some folks don't consider stickers to be rookie cards, and because Sakic has a base sticker in the set as well.) Regardless, Joe had an excellent freshman season with the Nordiques, totaling 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points. Brian Leetch topped him (23 G, 48 A, 71 PTS) and took home the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Patrick Roy made an appearance in this pack as well, along with his Jennings Trophy compatriot, Brian Hayward.

 

  

This pack also yielded a Jari Kurri sticker, and one of the special "future star" sticker backs. It's part of a 34-card set that includes some future stars and some all-stars. It's great to have the Sakic version in the collection so early on. I'm going to make it a separate goal to complete this sticker back set.

 

 

Pack 3

This pack didn't have much of interest by way of sticker fronts, but it gives me an opportunity to show off some of the super-awesome product offers on the sticker backs.

 

To receive your Team Puck, just send your name, address, postal code, and $3.95 plus 2 Sticker Wrappers for each Team Puck you desire.

 

Young Gregory is already trying to figure out a way to earn a couple of extra dollars around the house so he can send away for some of these products. 

Pack 4

 

 

Pack 4 didn't provide much excitement, either, but Al MacInnis would have been a fun pull for a young Flames fan. And there's another look at a rookie subset sticker, this time featuring Scott Young of the Whalers.

 

 

 

Pack 5 

 

 

Yeah! A Wayne Gretzky all-star subset sticker! Young Gregory saw clips from the press conference last year when Mr. Gretzky bid a tearful goodbye to the fans in Edmonton, and he's pretty psyched to see The Great One in his new Kings uniform. How did Wayne do in his first season with the Kings? 54 goals, 114 assists, 168 points, and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. Pat LaFontaine and Peter Stastny were also excellent pulls from this pack. 

 

 

Pack 6 

 

There wasn't a whole lot in the final pack of this round, but the Steve Duchesne all-star sticker helps fill up that page in the album a little more. We also get our first look at the all-star sticker back, featuring Geoff Courtnall in that sweet Washington Capitals jersey. The previous season, Courtnall put up a career-high 42 goals, plus 38 assists. 16 of his goals were scored on the power play, which was also a career high.

 

Here's the best page after the first six packs:

 

 

 

That's 5 Oilers out of 14 total. Not bad!

 

And because I know many of you collectors enjoy poring over collection stats as much as I do, here's the rundown so far:

 

 

Main Set (182 total panels)

 

New panels: 36

New duplicates: 0

 

Total panels: 36

Total duplicates: 0

 

Panels needed: 146

Set completion: 20%

 

 

Future Star/All-Star Card Backs (34 total)

 

New backs: 9

New duplicates: 0

 

Total backs: 9

Total duplicates: 0

 

Backs needed: 25

Set completion: 26%

Best Stickers

Wayne Gretzky all-star, Joe Sakic rookie subset.

 

What's your favorite card of this first batch? Do you have any fun memories of sticker albums, be it hockey, baseball or any other sport?

Share in the comment section, and thanks for following along! 

More Sportscaster Cards, Just In Time for The Masters

A view of the green at hole #12, Augusta National.

Masters week starts tomorrow. 

Whether you enjoy playing golf, collecting golf cards or memorabilia, or just watching the pros on television, it's a fun time. 

The Masters tournament is the first major of the year, so it's the first chance you'll have to watch your favorite players contending for a big prize. And as always, they'll do it at Augusta National, one of the most beautiful, iconic, and perfectly manicured golf courses on the planet. The sights and sounds might even motivate you to hit some golf balls yourself.

With that little push to get you out there and swinging a golf club complete, I will remind myself that this is a trading card blog, and that I should feature the cards I set out to feature.

 

 

1977-79 Sportscaster #35-10 Ben Hogan and #45-16 Gary Player

 

You're looking at two absolute legends of the game, captured on cardboard by the popular Sportscaster brand of the 1970s.

Both men were Masters champions—Hogan in 1951 and 1953, and Player in 1961, 1974, and 1978.

Mr. Hogan's swing, in particular, was rock-solid. The instructional book he published in 1957, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, contains a wealth of information that's still applicable today. (I keep a copy in my golf library.)

These two cards add some serious clout to my Sportscaster golf card collection. They'll join Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. Quite the sextet.

And cards like these prove to be a great reminder of how much the game has changed, especially when it comes to equipment. Golf clubs back in Mr. Hogan and Mr. Player's time were so much less forgiving than today's clubs. The drivers were small, and made of wood. Their sweet spots were tiny—maybe just a nickel-sized circle, right in the middle of the clubface. The irons were even smaller and thinner, and boy, oh boy, did you ever have to catch the middle of the face. Otherwise, clang! Those nasty vibrations would rattle your hands. 

Ultimately, you just had to nail it every time. And the pros back then managed to do it just fine. 

 

It's reminded me that when I was much younger, I had a few old irons and a wooden driver that I'd try to hit every once in a while. And from what I remember, as unforgiving as they were, when you did hit the sweet spot . . .  man, what a sensation.

The whole thing made me want to see how I'd fare with a wooden driver now that I've gotten back into golf. So that's what I did. Just check this beauty out: 

 

It's a Sam Snead "Blue Ridge" driver, made by the Wilson company in the early 1960s. Today's price? Less than that of a blaster box. Can't beat it.

I had so much fun hitting some balls with it that I took things a step further: How exactly would it compare to my modern driver?

There it is, on the right: The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini (2024). You're looking at 60 years of technology, research, and development in that photo!

 

The size difference is more noticeable when viewed from the top.

 

 

Yep. Those are both drivers. And this might be hard to believe, but the one on the left is what's known as a mini driver. Yeah, that's right. Normal-sized drivers these days are even bigger than that.

Anyhow, there's a golf retail store about 30 minutes away from my home that has a few simulators in the back. These simulators allow you to hit golf balls into a screen, and then they churn out a bunch of data points for your benefit and analysis. You can book an hour in these simulators in advance, which comes in handy when the weather is poor, or when you're trying to chart some yardages with each of your clubs. Or in this case, if you want to compare two clubs: The Sam Snead Blue Ridge and the Callaway Paradym AI Smoke Mini.

For my purposes, I didn't really feel the need to go too far into the data. I only focused on carry distance, total distance, and a couple of other numbers.

I hit 10 balls with each driver, and averaged out the results. Here they are:

Driver Model	Ball Speed (mph)	Launch Angle (°)	Carry Distance (yds)	Total Distance (yds)
Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridge	132.0	11.2	203.1	229.2
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini	141.1	10.3	225.9	251.5

Interesting. After 60 years of golf club design, plus all I've read and heard about modern golf technology, I really thought there would be more of a statistical difference between the two clubs. And don't get me wrong, I'll take that 22-yard average increase in distance that the modern driver provides all day, every day. But the wooden driver isn't really so archaic, is it?

Now, I did make some bad swings with each club during the test, and I removed those from the data. That does add to the story. The results of the bad swings with the wooden driver were worse than the results of the bad swings with the modern driver. (Total distance suffered more.) So that's important to note.

But overall, I enjoyed swinging the Blue Ridge driver. The steel shaft and solid wooden head made for a noticeably heavier feel, and changed the balance quite a bit. All of this suits my swing type, which has more of a smooth and classic tempo, as opposed to the super-torqued, "explosive" swings you see some players making these days.

But let's be honest. I'm not about to put the wooden driver in my bag. Just look at my best drive with each club:

Driver Model	Ball Speed (mph)	Launch Angle (°)	Carry Distance (yds)	Total Distance (yds)
Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridge	133	11.7	211	239
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini	145	8.3	230	255

I would have loved to see the difference in clubhead speed between the two drivers as well, but unfortunately that feature wasn’t working on the simulator I was using. Neither was spin rate, which would have been another informative data point.

Ultimately, this was a great little exercise. And it's intrigued me enough to go back to the simulator with my modern driver, because the numbers indicate that I can coax more distance out of it. (My launch angle is a little on the low side, for example.)

For now, I'm going to enjoy all the golf action from Augusta National.

How about you readers and collectors? Any golf fans out there? Are you going to watch The Masters at all? Going to hit some golf balls this year?

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!