Nothing reflects change like a football card

[Waltzing Woof Biscuit]

Does anyone out there pine, like I do, for the old Scanlans football cards? Remember the old staged action shots of players at training, handballing at the camera or roosting a ball into the stands? Players usually wore odd coloured shorts, or trackky daks. Cripes, Mal Brown was even wearing brown cords in the 1974 series.

I am of the opinion that football needs such an infusion of outright dagginess! Less of the glitzy pretensions I say. Oh, for the sight of Chris Grant, wearing Bulldogs guernsey, green shorts and brown sneakers, baulking around nobody and glaring earnestly into the lense.

 

[Darky]

My first cards were the 1981 set, a bit after the faux-action shots. They were waist-up mug-shots, and with some of the heads on players those days you could be forgiven for thinking they were prison photos.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Football needs more dagginess.

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Olmy knows best

 

[Waltzing Woof Biscuit]

Yes, I'm showing my vintage here. The prison shots came into being in 1978. I was in Grade Four, and devastated - the closest thing to a tragedy that I had hitherto suffered.

 

[Darky]

At least they were nowhere near as bad as the modern day *GASP* REAL action shots!

 

[Waltzing Woof Biscuit]

Yes - real 'action' shots where the player being portrayed is having the ball fisted away from them by someone who takes up 70 per cent of the shot!

 

[Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk]

yes awww they were wicked i still got heaps ahhh I still remember opening them up and sniffing the chewing gum on them still lol remember the free chewy with them hehe! I remember all the girls in primary school played with their stupid Barbies while i swapped footy cards with the boyz hehe!

sPiDeR eVeRiTt and RiCkY oLaReNsHaW
~kewlest players round!!!

 

[Peter]

I really liked the picture of the previous year's grand final on the back of the old Scanlen's cards.

 

[Anton Grbac]

Remember the 'footy card flicking contest' at school?

Opponents would stand together and test eachothers 'flicking' skills.
The furtherset 'flick' won and the winner got to choose the card he needed to make up the 'set' from the beaten opponents deck of footy cards. Two cards stuck together was an old Reservoir East Primary 'trick' to make your card heavier and thus it would carry further than the other guy's. Ronnie Andrews circa 1978 never let me down.

Never got the set thanks to Ian bloody Nankervis of Geelong...could never get that one. Aah memories of the old school yard....

where's wally?

 

[eagleskickass]

unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to collect scanlens, although I am sure they would have been the best cards. What happened, why did they stop being made and have select take over. One day I am sure I will collect them, although nowadays they'll probably set me back a bit but who cares.

 

[Waltzing Woof Biscuit]

Aaah reminiscences.

Scanlans ceased to produce footy cards in about, methinks, 1988. I can recall that Stimorol took over for a couple of years - then Select emerged with its glitzy sets that seemed to be modelled on US sports cards - limited edition glossy insert cards being the rage.

As per my previous post, Scanlans went to chest-up mug shots in 1978, which lasted 5 years. In 1983, they produced a series of stickers only, in which many of the players were portrayed in real game action. They carried this idea over into the 1984 card series, and this type of card has been the norm ever since.

Actually, the 1984 set did contain a few action training shots - most of the Geelong team, some of the Richmond team and a couple of Bulldogs and Magpies. I remember being fairly excited, and salivating at the prospect that Scanlans were coming to their senses, but alas such optimism was misguided. The most recent examples of this type of card come from Select's 1995 and 1997 series, where Fremantle and Port Adelaide players respectively were snapped at training in full club uniform - feigning kicks and handpasses etc. This owes to the fact that, having been new sides to the competition, neither side could offer any action from actual games!

We never actually played 'flicks' at my school, although most of my friends did at theirs. God knows why it didn't kick on at Waverley Meadows Primary.

From the 1978 set, I remember Barry Cable almost bloody impossible to get. One day, some kid who wasn't really into footy came to school with Barry in his small collection. He didn't have a clue that it was a prized gem, and I made very strong overtures with regards to a trade. Unfortunately, a few of my friends conveyed to him that he was being dudded - I ended up getting Barry, but had to part with four of my own more important cards. I think I'm with you, Wally. I can recall Nankervis being a bit of a 'hardy', but not quite the rarity of Cable, or indeed Peter Knights in 1977 - who I think I saw but once: bit like a UFO sighting - did it really happen???

Also collected Abba cards in the off season in 1977 - the blue and the pink sets!

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Crumbs!