1999 Hillshire Farms Home Run Heroes

The food related issued cards keep coming.  I'm not sure why, but some of these sets are really unique and very affordable.  For this post, I pulled out another small but incomplete set.  The Hillshire Farms Home Run Heroes set consists of 4 cards, all Hall of Fame players.  Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson and Willie Stargell round out the set.  The set was available via mail-order and according to TCDB would have set a collector back a whole $2.95, plus $1 shipping and a proof of purchase.  Wow, if only we could go back in time!

I'll start out by highlighting Frank Robinson.  The photo used looks like it may have been taken in the 60's and is somewhat reminiscent of his 1962 Topps card.  I found this card sitting on a shelf at my LCS.  For a mere $10 this was a no brainer. 

Ernie Banks seems to be popular with food issued sets.  I found this card online for under $20.  Most of these cards are signed in black sharpie, but I have seen the occasional card signed in blue.

I caved in when I saw this Killebrew card and spent a whopping $22 on it.  That includes shipping and tax.  Unfortunately this did not come with the COA.  Sadly I also saw this card at a recent card show.  The sad part?  It had been cut and reframed as a card by another company calling it a "cut signature".  What a waste!  I couldn't believe someone thought that was a good idea!

The back side of the cards are just as attractive as the front.  You get full career stats that are readable! The gold edging really shows on this scan, unfortunately the gold foil edging and lettering on the front didn't scan very well.

I am missing the last piece to complete this set, Willie Stargell.  I've been scanning the internet for one within a price range that is acceptable.  In my experience collecting this set, the Stargell seems be a bit more difficult to come by, and a little more expensive than the other cards.  One other item I've noticed is that the Killebrew card is difficult to find with a COA.  In fact, I've yet to see the COA paired with the card, which the completist side of me finds very annoying.

Overall this is a very attractive set and the card sized COA is a nice touch.  Even the COA is attractive and matches the style of the card.  I also find it interesting that the COA states the month/year when the card was signed, which is uncommon when it comes to COA's.  

Some collectors my find the full black borders disconcerting because as you can see in the scans, the edges chip very easily.  I'm willing overlook that in favor of a very affordable autograph of some great Hall of Fame players.