JBF Week: Always turn your cards over!

 

The relic card above of former Bengals WR TJ Houshmandzadeh came with a bunch of other cards, but I'm going to focus on this one first. It's a nice card in its own right. A very shiny, orange refractor with a jersey swatch from TJ's Pro Bowl jersey. I like that the photo shows him at the Pro Bowl as well, complete with a Hawaiian lei around his neck. Nice touch.

When I turned the card over for more info, I saw something I didn't expect to see. In fact, I didn't notice it the first few times I looked at the card, but once I re-examined the entire package, this jumped out at me:

In my defense, it's hard to see! Here's a closer look:

Um, yeah. This card is a 1/1 jersey! I felt awful for not noticing at first, but it just goes to show what a valuable lesson it is to check your cards! I know we've all overlooked a Topps sparkle or photo variation. It's fun to discover elements of a card that make it rarer than you first thought, and well, it doesn't get much rarer than this. 

The lesson: turn your cards over!