The Gems of Junk Wax, Pt. 51: 1988 Fleer #582 Tim Flannery

Some of you might be wondering why it took me fifty-one posts to get to this particular card.

I can't say I'd blame you for thinking that, though.

It's definitely one of my top ten or fifteen favorite "junk wax" issues. And, in a perfect world, this would've been one of the first cards I "inducted" into this theme.

There was only one problem.

I simply couldn't find it.

I distinctly remember reveling in this card as a young collector. It was one of the more cherished cards of my collection.

Yet, as I gradually started to move my cards into binders, this one must've gotten lost in the shuffle. Because Mr. Flannery isn't a part of my "binder club", his '88 Fleer issue probably got mixed in with all my other extras.

The "rubble", as I like to call it.

I have mounds and mounds of extra cards I've accumulated all around my room. There'd be no hope in finding one, single card amongst all of it. A few brief "digs" for the Flannery came up empty.

With all that being said, you can imagine how ecstatic I was to see it fall out of a recent trade package.

Blogger hiflew included this one with all the other terrific "surprise" cards he sent me a couple weeks ago.

After holding it in my hands for a few seconds, I just couldn't stop smiling.

It was almost like "reclaiming" a small piece of my childhood.

As a kid, I was fascinated by the surfboard/baseball card combination. It was certainly an odd, yet terrific, idea on Fleer's part.

Even today, I still can't get over just how much of an "odd couple" it really is.

Of course, that's what makes it great.

Strictly in terms of photography, I actually like the other "surfboard" card I own a bit better. The background is much more appropriate to the whole "beach" theme.

Still, that one wouldn't have even been possible without the efforts of Tim Flannery.

In an era of unflattering close-ups and fairly bland designs, Flannery was one of the first to break the mold.

There's not a bat, ball, glove, or any other piece of baseball equipment on this card.

Just a surfboard.

It was one of the first times we got to see a ballplayer outside the white lines.

This card is definitely one of the "faces" of the overproduction era for that exact reason. It was among the first true "gems of junk wax" collectors would see.

And now, it's finally back into my collection.

I couldn't be much happier.