Storytelling
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Storytelling
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In 1989, Fleer released what was supposed to be a standard baseball card set. But what happened next? A single card… one photo… nearly cost them a fortune and put a dent in their reputation. That card? The now-infamous 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken “F* Face”** error 💀 Billy Ripken who is a baseman for the Orioles and brother of Cal Ripken Jr., posed for a simple photo holding his bat over his shoulder. But written on the knob of that bat — clear as day — were the words “F*** FACE” in capital letters 😳 Now how that got there? That’s where the hobby lore kicks in. Some say Billy wrote it himself to mark a BP bat.
But the juicier rumor — and the one most hobby vets believe — is that a teammate pranked him, scribbling it on the bat without him realizing. He used it during the shoot… and Fleer didn’t notice until after thousands of cards were already printed and shipped out. The backlash was immediate. Parents of kids complained. and Collectors were stunned. Stores started pulling product.
Fleer had to move fast. They ended up making four different corrected versions:
A black box over the words
A whiteout version
A version with scribbled ink
A fully cleaned-up reprint
All that meant for Fleer is costs them massive reprint costs, a PR scramble, and some real damage control. But ironically? It also turned the card into a legend.
The uncensored version instantly became a instant classic — and to this day it’s one of the most famous (and funniest) error cards ever made. Fleer definitely took a hit… but the hobby gained one of the greatest conversation pieces ever printed.
I don’t have one (yet)… but I NEED it in the collection one day 🔥
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If you love hobby stories like this — wild errors, grail hunts, collector chaos — come vibe with us in the Tropic Collects Mantel group 🌴
We’ve got giveaways, exclusive content, fun games, early drops, and a community that gets it.
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Let’s go to the moon. TOGETHER 🚀
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FigoJam
Apr 27
Congratulations to Liverpool and Liverpool fans for winning the Premier League title today! Liverpool now match Manchester United with most English League titles at 20. Liverpool still unbeaten for best team anthem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhTxMV2olP4
Panini NFT platform does not have EPL drops, so I will have to tip my hat to Liverpool with two of my strongest collectibles of Liverpool players Luis (Lucho) Diaz and Ryan Gravenberch 1/1's in their international kit.
Good weekend for Evan as well as Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa to go on now to face Manchester City in the FA cup final. Best of luck, Evan!
In
FigoJam
Apr 23
Just received this card from a friend in Portugal of Damas, the Sporting Lisbon legend. The card is mine, the album cover and the team sheet are pictures of that May collection. Damas wore the Sporting Lisbon jersey 444 times in a 20 year plus career. He also played for Portugal 29 times. Here are the many reasons I love this card.
The colors on the card are brilliant.
Love the brown leather ball, which would turn into a cement block in the rain.
Goalkeeper wearing sweatpants.
The Cap! Keepers never wear cool caps anymore. Sun must have gone away.
The black Adidas boots. I wore black boots for 50 years of playing futbol. My friends and family will tell you my greatest achievement in futbol, was never putting on neon- colored boots. 😂
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I thought I would share some of my collectibles of players with Swagger. Two of them are the 10/12 Pink and 7/9 Peacock Panini nft's of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as well as my Neil Steven Project 22 card of Eric Cantona. Here are 11 (Ibra's number) athletes who have swagger in no particular order but biased towards my futbol.
Shane McGregor - the Billionaire Strut.
Tiger Woods - Red shirt on Friday meant game over.
Eric Cantona - Oasis and the King of France.
Florence Joyner Griffith - FloJo with the hair, the nails, the fashion - looked like the fastest woman in the world before setting in to the starting blocks.
Mohammad Ali - The GOAT of Swagger.
Maradona - It was over at the warmup. Just give him the trophy before kickoff. Diego Maradona - Live Is Life 1989 (HD) - YouTube
Bugs Bunny - What's up Doc, he is not an athlete? I beg to differ, BB, as his close friends call him, is much faster than Usain Bolt. BB has serious Swagger.
Alan Iverson - You are talking about practice man, not a game. The step over. Even his nickname "The Answer" has Swagger.
Mariano Rivera - Walking in from the bullpen to Metallica's Enter Sandman.
Caitlin Clark and Angela Reese - Swagger meets Swagger.
Ibra - My favorite athlete with Swagger is Ibra, whose Walk the Walk mirrored his Talk the Talk with his 11 League Championships. Tube his best goals for confirmation. My favorite quote from IbraCadabra happened after he had been playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy a few months before Lebron arrived at the Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ibra tweeted that Los Angeles now had a God and a King - Swagger.
Amused at the tweet, Lebron sent Ibra a signed Laker jersey. Upon receiving it, Ibra signed the same shirt with his own name and sent it back to Lebron - Big Swagger!
What is your favorite collectible of an athlete or character who has swagger?