Searching for Cardboard Department: pop culture in trading cards.

"Where's Timmy, Lassie? What? He twisted his ankle near the caves!?"

We were visiting eBay to see what new cards might be out there and happened upon this, from a seller who otherwise mainly deals in baseball cards. But there was Timmy amidst the players! This soon led to finding a BuzzFeed post that appeared in July about "17 Awesome Vintage Pop Culture Cards" that included such gems (not) as "Hook," "21 Jump Street," "Rocketeer," "Alf" and so on. None of these did much for us...so we began devising our own list, and Timmy and his pal made the toppermost.

The following references may seem to reflect an older or more distant sensibility, but much of this stuff I saw in reruns when I was a kid, because New York City ran great Saturday morning reruns, that's why. But I still claim them ALL as my own pop culture. Maybe that's why there's so much retro and vintage out there in so many realms...including baseball cards...because it was better. It was the good stuff! Just a thought?

Cry UNCLE. We begin with the gents from the United Network Command for Law Enforcement:



Who could be cooler than Napoleon Solo or Illya Kuryakin? Who? The Dark Knight? Bwahahaha. We think not.

There's not a whole lot that can be said to prove the greatness of this show other than that the secret entrance to spy command was through a dry cleaning shop in the middle of Manhattan! Wow. Truth be told, I recently watched an episode on my iPod and must admit that in retrospect, the character of Napoleon Solo was more of an egomaniac than I remember from my initial viewings. Still.

Chuck. Are there any trading cards of Chuck Connors' television shows? Branded? Rifleman? Cowboy in Africa? If not, why not? He also played baseball and basketball, so does anyone own a Chuck Connors sports card?

If so, you are  indeed a very lucky human.

Back to the Future...that movie portrayed time travel in a way that made you realize, hey, you really dig the whole concept of time travel! Other sources portrayed time travel...we are as big a fan of H.G. Wells and Star Trek as anyone...but something about the BTTF movies made it all very engaging.

Emergency! As a park ranger I know many people who were inspired by this show to become paramedics, EMTs, and rangers. My own cousin became a paramedic 100 percent because of Randolph Mantooth's passion for saving people, no joke. Are there any current shows that inspire this kind of interest?

Small confession: we have BOTH original Emergency! lunchboxes (the square and the dome). However, if there are trading cards, we are not aware of them.

A black. A white. And a blonde. That politically incorrect catch phrase must have suceeded in catching my imagination because I loved this goofy show. Somebody else must have liked the show too, as this unopened pack is priced at $60 on Hake's auction site. And here's a bit of news I only figured out recently because I'm slow on the uptake: actress Rashida Jones is the daughter of Peggy Lipton. I thought she looked familiar!

Would you believe...Don Adams was brilliant as Maxwell Smart, and Barbara Feldon couldn't have been sexy-funnier as Agent 99. Don't you think Adams was a kind of precursor to many not-self-aware modern characters, such as Michael in The Office? These cars look differently-sized than the average Topps trading card, but according to trading-cards.org, they are indeed Topps cards, released in 1966 in a set of 66 regular cards and 16 'Secret Agent Kits,' with the Kits being the size of two regular-size cards placed side to side. From the site: "What sets this card set apart from most other Topps issues is the fact that the regular-size cards were issued in their 5-cent pack in such a way that each pair of cards was attached one side, with perforation between them, making them basically a panel card set."

So we'll continue looking for compelling 2012 baseball cards and try to stop being distracted. Look! There's something shiny!