This fall marks the 25th anniversary of one of the more unique and underappreciated subsets of the Starting Lineup series. After the Heisman Collection sets of 1997 and 1998, they spliced a few Heisman Trophies together with a few forgotten legends and a few of the hottest young stars in the NFL at the time to make this interesting 9-man ensemble:

CHARLIE BATCH - One of the NFL's best rags-to-riches stories of the late 90's, ascending from college obscurity at Eastern Michigan to the starting QB for the Detroit Lions as they transitioned from the Barry Sanders era to the 21st century. He came back to Earth and ended up being career backup, but he was a popular player & person throughout his career and a great story at the beginning.

MARK BRUNELL - Brunell's college career came on the heels of a Washington Huskies national title in 1991, and he was just entering his pro-bowl prime as the Jacksonville Jaguars' franchise quarterback when this set was released. He remains the face of the franchise to this day at the quarterback position. 

ERNIE DAVIS - The first black Heisman Trophy winner and subject of the 2008 movie The Express, Davis was the #1 pick in the NFL draft by the Washington Redskins but died suddenly and tragically of leukemia before ever playing a down in the NFL.

WARRICK DUNN - A 4-year starter and national champion at Florida St. before multiple pro bowls with the Buccaneers and Falcons and the NFL Man of the Year Award.

CURTIS MARTIN - The lead back for the Jets and Patriots and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

RANDY MOSS - One of the great singular talents to ever play the sport and a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer who still holds the record for touchdown receptions in a season.

JIM PLUNKETT - As unsung a hero as the game of football has, Plunkett is 1 of only 4 players to win the Heisman Trophy and a Super Bowl MVP and 1 of only 3 quarterbacks with 2 Super Bowl rings not currently in the Hall of Fame.

CHARLIE WARD - One of the underappreciated 2-sport stars of modern times, Ward won a Heisman Trophy winner and a national champion at Florida St. before switching sports and sustaining a 14-year NBA career as a 6th man shooting guard for the New York Knicks. This is one of the short-printed pieces from this set in original production, with just one other listed on Ebay (for $50!) as i'm typing this.

RICKY WILLIAMS - Williams left Austin with a Heisman Trophy and the all-time NCAA career rushing record before being the #1 pick of the Saints and having his best years in Miami. He famously stepped away to smoke a little dope, but returned to have a 1,000-yard season with the Ravens later in his career before becoming a marijuana advocate and entrepreneur after football.  

All the pieces in this set are near-mint or better, with many of them being case-fresh a quarter-century later. That doesn't guarantee they're all gem-mint 10's, of course, but the flaws & blemishes on any given piece are few & far between and faint at the very worst.