#2 - Hardrock, Coco and Joe

My Top 5 Christmas Cartoons

Over the Christmas holiday I thought I would post my favorite Christmas Cartoons and/or Animated Specials.  In keeping with the theme of this blog, I made cards of them from their "rookie" season.  

For my number 2 pick I went local.  If you grew up in Chicago, you know this animated short very well. It was shown on Ray Rayner and Garfield Goose during the holiday season on WGN TV. If you are not from Chicago it is quite possible that you have never heard of Ray Rayner or Garfield Goose, let alone Hardrock, Coco and Joe.  I will just let you google them.

Although this short was shown in Chicago starting in 1956 it was actually made in 1951 so I made 3 1951 Topps cards of the trio. Sorry about the quality, I was forced to use video stills. Below is the full video. It's only 3 minutes long but it brings back great childhood memories.

#3 - A Charlie Brown Christmas

My Top 5 Christmas Cartoons

Over the Christmas holiday I thought I would post my favorite Christmas Cartoons and/or Animated Specials.  In keeping with the theme of this blog, I made cards of them from their "rookie" season.  

For number 3 I returned to the more traditional. Who doesn't love "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?  It debuted in 1965 so I used a 1965-66 Topps Hockey card format. Below is the clip I stole this picture from.

#4 - The Spirit of Christmas

My Top 5 Christmas Cartoons

Over the Christmas holiday I thought I would post my favorite Christmas Cartoons and/or Animated Specials.  In keeping with the theme of this blog, I made cards of them from their "rookie" season.  

At number 4 we already have a kinda strange one. This was a "Christmas Card"  Trey Stone and Matt Parker were contracted to create for a friend in 1995. It led to the long-running Comedy Central series "South Park".

Above is my 1995 Topps card version and below is the whole cartoon. It's only about 5 minutes long and if you haven't seen it, it is totally worth watching. Warning: not safe for work.

#5 - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

My Top 5 Christmas Cartoons

Over the Christmas holiday I thought I would post my favorite Christmas Cartoons and/or Animated Specials.  In keeping with the theme of this blog, I made cards of them from their "rookie" season.  

Number 5 starts out with a fairly common favorite. Rudolph was first aired in 1964 and here he is on a 1964 Topps baseball card. 

1964 Topps NL Stolen Base Leaders: Wills, Aaron, Pinson

After setting the modern-day stolen base record in 1962, Maury Wills' league leading 40 stolen bases in 1963 was somewhat a let down. It was still nine more than his nearest NL competitor.  

In 1963 Hank Aaron joined what was once the very exclusive 30/30 club. Up until 1963 it had only 2 members, Willie Mays (1956 and 1957) and Ken Williams of the 1922 St. Louis Browns. Hank Aaron stole a career high 31 bases in 1963. Aaron also led the league in Homers, RBIs and Runs scored in 1963.

In 1963, the speedy Vada Pinson led the league in triple and in base hits but was 3rd in stolen bases with 27.