Grandmama - 90's NBA Marketing Genius?

If you were a fan of the NBA in the 90's, then you were exposed to a plethora of NBA stars and of course the products they endorsed. In a sports world seemingly dominated by the likes of Nike, Converse stepped up to the plate with their spokesman, Larry Johnson, forward of the Charlotte Hornets at the time. The Converse executives didn't just stop there however as they took it a step further. In their first commercial, Larry Johnson stated that you couldn't beat his Grandmama.

Long before Tyler Perry would unveil his Madea character, we had Larry Johnson and Grandmama. At the time there wasn't anything else like it on TV. The commercials stood out on TV and of course now in people's memories. Take a massive athlete like Larry and put him in a dress with pearls and a gray wig, playing basketball and you have the birth of a great marketing campaign. I would love to know who's idea this was and what was Larry's first reaction upon being introduced to it.

In 2024 do people still remember these Grandmama commercials? I don't follow the NBA like I used to, but I find these commericals to be just as hilarious now as I did then. I gotta say though I don't remember the last few that featured the Phoenix Sun's Kevin Johnson. None the less I loved watching Larry Johnson play, especially in those early years in Charlotte. While I have a good many 90's LJ cards in my Hornets collection, I never knew until recently that the card company Front Row manufactured a small 7 card set in 1993 that focused on the Grandmama character. I picked up a set not that long ago just out of sheer curiosity.

 

I absolutely love this set! I never cared that much for the various colligate sets that Front Row produced in the early 90's, but this set brings back so many memories. Each card shares the same overall design with the Converse logo in the upper left corner and a simple "Grandmama" in the upper left corner, while the Front Row basketball logo adorns the bottom right corner. The back of the cards give as a simple write up with the 7th card featuring a checklist on the back. For additional info you can check out the Trading Card Database listing for this set.

After I got into collecting baseball cards, it wasn't long before the NBA caught my attention with their cards. It was a great time to be a collector as all of the card manufactures of the time were releasing some great cards/sets. Discovering small sets like this 1993 Front Row Converse set makes collecting basketball cards fun again.

Trade from North of the Border - Supporting the Minnow

Trevor from Supporting the Minnow reached out to me earlier in the month after he saw that I had some old O-Pee-Chee cards in addition to a nice stack of 2009 Upper Deck OPC that he needed. We quickly worked out a trade and off our packages went...traversing a large chunk of North America.

I used to not mess with Braves prior to 1990, the year I really got interested in following the Braves and collecting cards, but over the years my eyes have been opened more and more to the glory of vintage cardboard. I was able to grab a few from '77, '79 and '85.

Somehow I didn't have this 1991 Classic Chipper Jones, a travestry, right?! Being that Trevor resides in Canada he had some cool Canadian cards such as the 1991 Post of David Justice and the 1992 OPC Brian Hunter. The Glavine card comes from a set I wasn't familiar with, Allan's Kaye's Sports Cards News & Price Guides. The card measures just a smidge larger than your traditional trading card. Love the odd ball stuff like that.

Grabbed a few cards of the Iron Man too. Another Canadian Post card and an Upper Deck Post card from 1995? I don't remember those two companies working together. To finish it off a nice Then & Now hologram from 1993 UD.

Just in time for this weekend's NCAA Men's Final Four, we have a 1991 Classic card of UNLV's Larry Johnson. LJ was a big time college player who would go on to help put the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA on the map. 

Thanks again for the trade Trevor!

A thank you package from my team's rival

While I was expecting a package from Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle a week or so ago, I wasn't expecting a package from Cards on Cards.  I thought in my hiatus from blogging here "crap, did I forget to send my part of a trade?!".  Much to my relief there was a note inside from Kerry thanking me for hosting all of my Affordable Group Breaks and a stack of cards.

I find the timing of a Cardinals fan sending a Braves fan some cards a little ironic...seeing how the red birds (who no offense shouldn't have been in the playoffs) beat my Braves.  It was hard to swallow, but I still take cards from just about any opposing team's fans!

Mixed in with the Braves cards were also some Lance Berkmans.  I don't believe I have any of these!

With the new NBA season just around the corner it seems fitting that Kerry also tossed in some basketball cards.  While I may not follow the NBA as much as I did in the 90's (for several reasons), I love getting old basketball cards.  Mark Price was a rare breed of an athlete in the NBA.  While his skills were remarkable on the court, I liked the guy just as much for who he was off the court.  Surprisingly I don't have a lot of his cards even though many of them were during the junk wax era so I loved seeing these in the stack.

While a lot of my friends were big Jordan fans, I found myself gravitating to Dominique Wilkins and his highlight reels.  Like with Mark Price I don't have a lot of his cards so I'll gladly take whatever I can get of his.

And it wouldn't be a proper post when mentioning basketball cards if I didn't share some old Charlotte Hornets.  Part of my lack of interest in the current NBA is the lack of the Hornets.  I watch and root for the Charlotte Bobcats...but it's just not the same.  

A huge thanks to Kerry from Cards on Cards for his generosity.  It's small little gestures like this that pull me back in every time I step away for a breather.

Hornets History

You won't see a lot of basketball cards on this blog...especially after the NBA screwed Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats last night in the Draft Lottery.  That said the lottery combined with the playoffs did get me strolling down memory lane.

All of Charlotte was cheering w/ Alonzo Mourning hit the shot.  This shot was just as big for Charlotte as "the slide" by the Braves' Sid Bream was for Atlanta.  I really miss that team.  Too bad Larry Johnson and 'Zo couldn't get along as they made a formidable duo in the early 90's.

Basketball Bonanza!

I guess I'm just trying to fill the sports void right now as I've started watching a little bit of the NBA.  Some nights I just flip on ESPN or load up ESPN on my Xbox 360 while I organize cards or blog about them.  Some nights however I've stopped to watch the games (at least in spurts) and I've enjoyed them.  I haven't really followed the NBA much since George Shin moved the Hornets out of Charlotte and down to New Orleans.  I watch the ACC basketball games when I can, but watching the NBA just hasn't wowed me as much.

All that said I have enjoyed the few games I've watched along with the handful of Charlotte Bobcats games I've caught on the television.  This somewhat renewed interest got me to looking for cheap cards of both Bobcats and Hornets online.  Here are just a few that I've recently added to my very small basketball card collection.

 

There really isn't much to these die-cut cards, but for whatever reason I think their pretty cool.

I like the orange jerseys so any relic card with a piece of orange jersey appeals to me.  The fact that I ended up getting this card for free was even better.  There was a big crease running down the card just below the "H" in Heroes.  I contacted the eBay seller and he promptly refunded my purchase price of $2.00.  Nice to know there are still some good sellers on eBay.

 

Ah, LJ...whatever happened to you?  Until Shinn gave you that big stupid contract everyone in Charlotte adored you.  You were Muggsy's gentle giant.  Then you went to New York and disappeared.  I still remember peering across the street from my aunt's house in amazement that you lived right there on Lake Wylie.