There are many sports cards sets out there from the past that aren’t valuable in the financial way at all but they can carry some intrinsic quality that should just resonate with some collectors anyway.
Maybe it’s just because Buzz ripped these packs in the past — or maybe because they are just so much more different than anything made in the years since — but one set that feels that way for me is 1992 Pro Line Portraits. It’s a football card set that’s simple — portraits on the front — and oddly non-statistical with thoughts from the person on the back. Most are football players, but some are players’ wives and others are celebrities who have a fondness for the game. One of those people, for example, is Muhammad Ali and you can see his Team NFL insert card (No. 1 in the set) above. The biggest draw of these back then? There was an autographed card guaranteed in every box.
For a simple Sunday item — call it a Sunday Six — here’s a look at six fun cards from the product.
1992 Pro Line Profiles #391 Howie Long
Each of the players profiled in the Profiles part of the product had their lives examined on nine consecutive cards — an album page — with their early years, play and life off the field all among the possibilities. What makes this ultimately worthless card of this Hall of Famer interesting? It shows two of his sons who eventually became NFL players themselves, Chris and Kyle.
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1992 Pro Line Portraits Team NFL #2 Milton Berle
Why is this comedy legend found here? Who knows. He compares comedy to playing the field on the card back. The interesting thing? Like Ali, he signed autographs for inclusion in packs.
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1992 Pro Line Portraits #432 Tim Krumrie
Believe it or not, there have been many, many canine appearances on cardboard through the years. Seriously. But very few of them come with an autographed option like this one does. The former Cincinnati Bengal perhaps famously known for breaking his leg in the Super Bowl. On the card back he compares himself (and offensive linemen) to his bulldog.
1992 Pro Line Portraits #329 Joe Montana
We all know who Montana is and this portrait shows his NFL legacy in four ways and at the time his four Super Bowl rings was the most ever won by a single player.
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1992 Pro Line Portraits #427 Brian Jordan
Everybody knows Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders and their MLB-NFL dreams, but this card helps us all remember another Atlanta Falcon who also played for the Atlanta Braves. Creative images like this one are quite common throughout all of the earlier years of Pro Line though many aren’t as creative and many showcase enough Zubaz to make Hawk and Animal proud.
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