Joy of a completed set: 2001 Archives Reserve Football

The "joy" is somewhat muted when you just buy the complete set in one shot on eBay, but it still counts. Right? Kinda? I had a saved search for this for a while, and after a few tries, landed one in the price range I had in mind.

I'm a nut for all things Archives Reserve. Just something about refractor reprints of vintage cards that clicks with me and triggers the "Aw yeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!" sensors of my brain.

This latest pickup completes the AR trilogy for me, with 2001 Archives Reserve Football joining the pair of baseball sets from 2001 and 2002 (which I've previously featured here and here).
Here's the football set in its 94-card entirety:

The set is somewhat in order by first name. Not all of them (Warren Moon at #1?), but the bulk of the set is in alphabetical order. Just something weird I noticed while going through the cards.

I'm no aficionado when it comes to vintage football, but I'm familiar with some of the bigger cards, such as the Jim Brown and Joe Montana.

The John Elway RC is the only card in the set that I own a real copy of, I believe. My copy unfortunately has one of those "fish eye" bubble printing flaws right between his eyes.. sort of takes away a bit of the eye appeal, but still cool to have one.

Would love an original Walter Payton RC someday.. classic card.

That wraps it up.

As an appendix, here's the Fridge auto I got a few months ago.

Now that I've completed the trilogy of base sets, my Archives Reserve Master Set is pretty much just lacking autos and relics. I'm in no hurry on those, but it would be nice to eventually get 'em all.
For fun, let's check out the checklist for 2001 Archives Reserve Football inserts:

-Jersey relics-
ARRAT Al Toon
ARRBE Boomer Esiason
ARRBS Barry Sanders
ARRDM Dan Marino
ARRDT Derrick Thomas
ARRJE John Elway
ARRJK Jim Kelly
ARRJM Joe Montana
ARRLT Lawrence Taylor
ARRMA Marcus Allen
ARRPS Phil Simms
ARRSY Steve Young

-Autographs-
ARABK Billy Kilmer
ARABS Barry Sanders
ARACB Cliff Branch
ARACF Chuck Foreman
ARACJ Charlie Joiner
ARADB Dick Butkus
ARADC Dave Casper
ARADJ Deacon Jones
ARADM Don Maynard
ARADW Doug Williams
ARAED Eric Dickerson
ARAEJ Ed Too Tall Jones
ARAFG Frank Gifford
ARAHE Henry Ellard
ARAJH John Hannah
ARAJM Joe Montana
ARAJN Joe Namath
ARAJR John Riggins
ARAJU Johnny Unitas
ARALD Len Dawson
ARALH Lester Hayes
ARALT Lawrence Taylor
ARAMA Marcus Allen
ARAMC Mark Clayton
ARAON Ozzie Newsome
ARARB Raymond Berry
ARARH Rodney Hampton
ARATD Tom Dempsey
ARATH Ted Hendricks
ARATM Terry Metcalf
ARAWP William Perry (got it!)

Some big names there! That'll cost me a pretty penny should I seriously try to complete it someday. Again, no rush.

There are apparently also 21 "Mini Helmet Autographs" but I'm not counting those as I only care about cards. Though I suppose it wouldn't be a truly complete "Master Set" without them. Grr. Cross that bridge if I come to it.

If I had to prioritize my Archive Reserve wants now, the football insert stuff would be last, with the baseball relics and autos being above that. And probably next up to focus on is the 20-card 2001 Topps Archives Reserve Future Rookie Reprints.. that stepchild of Archives Reserve which aren't even refractors. Still, though, if it says "Archives Reserve" on it, I want it!

I recently got a couple more of them in a Sportlots order.. or so I thought.

A good look at the Archives logo tells you these are not the rarer Archives Reserve versions, just the regular Archives versions. Nuts! They weren't too expensive so I probably won't hassle with a refund/return. But man, frustrating! (Especially after the fake Mike Schmidt RC that arrived the other day.) Serves me right for going after a dumb and confusing insert set like this. Anybody want to trade for either of these two cards?

Here's where I'm at with the checklist now:

o 1 Barry Bonds 87
o 2 Chipper Jones 91
o 3 Cal Ripken, Jr. 82
o 4 Shawn Green 92
o 5 Frank Thomas 90
o 6 Derek Jeter 93
o 7 Geoff Jenkins 96
o 8 Jim Edmonds 93
o 9 Bernie Williams 90
o 10 Sammy Sosa 90
o 11 Rickey Henderson 80
x 12 Tony Gwynn 83
o 13 Randy Johnson 89
o 14 Juan Gonzalez 90
o 15 Gary Sheffield 89
x 16 Manny Ramirez 92
o 17 Pokey Reese 92
o 18 Preston Wilson 93
x 19 Jay Payton 95
x 20 Rafael Palmeiro 87

Thanks for stopping by.