Ramblings of a Dallas cowboy football card dealer

Just last month I noted that the 1996 Edge Cowboybilia Emmitt Smith Auto card only showed up on ebay a handful of times each year. The one I pointed out last month sold for $214.00 which was a bit cheaper than I expected but not much.   Since that card sold, I have seen no less than 7 up for bid on eBay. Each one sold for way under $200.00 as most sold for $135.00.   That's almost $100 less than just a month ago and half of what this card was selling for just 1 year ago. I think that the number of these cards appearing on eBay is keeping the cost down, that whole supply and demand thing, but why all of the sudden are these cards showing up on eBay. The poor economy could be forcing some collectors into selling some of their cards but that many seems out of whack to me. Whenever I see this much activity on a low numbered, high dollar card I start to think fake card.  Because this card exists in the market place without the Autograph, all a forger would have to do to pull off the scam is forge Emmitt's Auto.  No easy task but they don't have to create a card, just an autograph.  If your thinking of picking up this card for around $130 just use common sense. Look at the sellers ebay feedback. I wouldn't bid on this card unless the seller had close to 1000 positive feedbacks and was at least 98% or close to 99% positive.  A good detective would check to see if the seller recently purchased a 1996 Cowboybilia Emmitt Smith non Auto card. It may sound stupid but I have seen dumber moves by forgers in the past.  Make note of the buyers and sellers of these cards, you might see a pattern develope. Also make note of the serial numbers. Remember, Emmitt hand serial numbered each Autographed card to 500 right on the front of the card. One other thing, before I purchased this card on eBay from a buyer that I was unfamiliar with, I would request a front and back scan of the card.   I would request a bigger scan to check condtion but your really looking at the back of the card. The non Auto cards have a maching stamped serial number on the back, top/left edge border. The Autographed version does not have this serial number on the back. Also look for any blemish marks in that area because a smart forger will know how to remove that machine serial number.

James Jones was a decent backup player in the early 80s for the Cowboys. He was the backup RB to Tony Dorsett and he also returned kicks.  He played only a few years and is nothing more than a footnote in Dallas Cowboy's history. That's not a knock on Jones, it just the truth. James Jones can always always boast that he played in the NFL and for the Dallas Cowboys. I remember Jones well.  He was a fairly good return guy but nothing spectacular, he never returned a kick for a touchdown. He did a nice job backing up Tony Dorsett but he seldom saw more than 2 or 3 carries a game. He scored only 2 touchdowns during his career, one on the ground and one through the air.  If not for the Cowboys Star on his helmet, I would venture to say, James Jones would never have gotten his face on a Topps Football card.  Topps produced close to 30 cards for the Cowboys in 1981 and again in 1982. James Jones has 2 cards from the 1981 Topps set, his rookie and a Super Action card. He appeared on 1 card in the 1982 Topps set and he also showed up in the 1981 Local Police set and the super rare 1985 Frito Lay set. None of James Jones cards carry much value and the Topps cards can be had for a dime a dozen unless of course one of these cards gets graded by PSA as a 10.  Here is an auction that clearly shows the demand for high graded PSA cards.  A 1982 Topps James Jones card graded PSA 10 sold on ebay for $99.99. Not only did it sell, it had 2 bidders. So 2 PSA registry collectors were willing to pay $100 for a PSA 10 1982 Topps James Jones. A card that is likely to book for a nickel ($0.05 cents) in the most recent Beckett.  For $100 you could have bought a 2 Emmit Smith Score Rookies, 5 Troy Aikman Score Rookies, 2 nice conditioned Roger Staubach 1972 Topps Rookies, A 1963 Topps Bob Lilly Rookie in NICE condition or a gazillion more 1982 Topps James Jones cards.  I like the dollars that are currently being realized by PSA graded cards but its hard to imagine this card EVER being worth more than a nickel regardless of condition.  I can see collecting and paying top dollar for a high end PSA Hall of Famer rookie card I just don't get the common cards from the common sets garnering so much money.  I guess the old story 'A fool and his money are soon parted' is still true today.

It's not often that I am taken back by a football card. I typical prefer the vintage look and feel of football cards from 30 or 40 years ago with bland colors, dumb looking player poses, grey or orange colored backs and silly cartoons. I don't think it gets much better than 1962 Topps when it comes to football cards.  All that changed when this card arrived in my mail box the other day. Forget for a moment that this is Isiah Stanback and look at this card.  This card has it all.  3 Jersey Patches using 2 different colors and then an autographed sticker that is inlaid between the cardboard vs simply stuck on top and its s/n to 25!  What is hard to see is the auto sticker is a COWBOYS logo hologram. This card comes from the 2007 Topps Triple Threads brand. I bang on Topps a lot for quality control but this card is a prime example of what Topps can do when they hit it right.  If they had placed an America's Team designation somewhere on the front to go along with the red, white and blue colors this card would really take your breath away. As it is, it is simply the finest looking card I have seen in a long long time.  Imagine if this were a super star like Tony Romo or Marion Barber.  If it were, it likely would not have found its way to me because it would have sold on eBay for a few hundred dollars.  I got this card as a throw in with a lot I bought from a dealer. I am basically giving it away on my home page for $10.  If, and this is a BIG IF, Isiah becomes the next Terrell Owens this card will explode to 3 or 400 dollars.  It's a LONG shot for sure but so was Tony Romo and his Auto Rookie cards are several hundred dollars now and I was selling them for $10 back in 2003!

Topps produces some very nice cards and I especially enjoy the cards of retired stars like Staubach, Lilly and Dorsett. I recently ran across a very nice 2007 Topps Triple jersey Tony Dorsett card which noted on the back that Tony Dorsett won the NFL Rushing title in 1982!  Boy, news travels fast.  I was always under the impression that Freeman McNeil won the NFL rushing title and Tony Dorsett came in second and led the NFC.  No, the NFL did not recently adjust McNeil's stats to put him behind Tony Dorsett, Topps just doesn't do a good enough job researching.  Heck, they could have looked in their own archives and seen that they got it right in 1983 when they produced a League Leader card of McNeil and Dorsett and on the back they had McNeil with 780 yards and Dorsett with 740 yards (strike shortened season).   I had to double check the back of this card and yes, it clearly says Dorsett won the NFL rushing title, maybe they meant to say NFC rushing title, not sure but regardless, this is a very nice card.

I specifically remember when Emmitt Smith won his first rushing title in '92, I think it was, that he was the first Cowboy RB to win a rushing title. Of course he went on to win 4 titles including 3 in a row. Dorsett was a different type of back than Emmitt. A lot less physical and much quicker/faster. Dorsett could hit the corner and be gone in a blink.  Emmitt got most of his yards right up the middle behind one of the most prolific Offensive lines in NFL history. Dorsett simply did not get the carries that Emmitt got over a season. Dorsett eclipsed 300 carries 3 times in his career. He had 342 carries in 1981 for a career high and he had 302 and 305 respectfully in 1984 and 1985.  Emmitt averaged almost 300 carries a year throughout his career (293) and had over 300 carries 7 times including a whopping 377 carries in 1995.  Both Emmitt and Dorsett were very durable which is a requirement for a back seeking immortality and HOF induction.