Skins from Kim

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 2, 2015

… careful…

Now that football season is finally over, we can all start to focus on the upcoming baseball season. Spring is my favorite season and we are getting a small taste of some phenomenal weather up here in the great northwest. That light jacket and slight drizzle in the morning kinda weather that makes me happy that i live here and not some place that is buried in snow or is simply 80degrees year round. There is something to be said about seasons and the changing of the weather and surrounding foliage (what other blogger uses foliage in a post?) I love it all to pieces. It’s wonderful. You know what else is wonderful, football cards…i know, i know…i was leading you down the path to baseball cards and then dropped a steel hammer and made a lane change. I LOVE baseball cards, i really do and i LOVE baseball, i really do, but my love for the Redskins far exceeds any sport…so please bear with me and another post football post. Baseball will be on its way soon enough.

Kim’s table. He’s my favorite dealer at the Portland shows. Great guy with tons of great pieces of cardboard like this lovely Orakpo auto card. ‘Rak has been a bit of a disappointment to most Redskin fans…but I still love him, as long as he’s wearing the Burgundy and Gold of course. I don’t think he will be on the team next year, but i’ve enjoyed watching him play and i’ve been a fan of his autograph. It’s super simple but with a nice variation of pen strokes that are appealing to the eye.

His pending replacement at LB is this kid, who as luck would have it is also a Longhorn. Keenan Robinson. This auto is what mine would look like if i was signing cards that you wanted to purchase. 3 Letters. Boom. Robinson is a minimalist. De Stijl. What’s up with the fleur-de-lis anyways? Is Leaf a French Canadian company? Do non French, French people like the fleur-de-lis?

Hey, does your football franchise need a solid QB? The Redskins have a couple. Cousins and RGIII will be duking it out next preseason, well, i assume they will. The loser may end up finding a new franchise to sling it for on Sundays. My bet is that Cousins makes his way to Cleveland or Buffalo next season…no reason other than pure guessing.

Refractor, shiny Prizm, wavy Griffin! If this card were issued in 2012 it would have it’s own blog post but life comes at you fast when your knees explode. I still believe in RGIII but am losing faith…i gotta have faith!

$14 PP Robert Griffin III Refractor 99:99$

This card is sexy. Plus it’s a little intense. Why is the ‘L’ so skinny? That’s a mighty big gap between the ‘F’ and the ‘L’.

Do you like Pizza? Do you live in the DMV? Well then, lemme tell you about Spinfire…actually I can’t really do that since i don’t live in the DMV. I do love me some pizza though. My wife has taken it upon herself to master the art of the homemade pizza from our oven and is killing it! Seriously, there isn’t another pizza in town i would want over the ones the wifey makes for us. I gotta give Topps some credit on this card. The on-sticker auto is placed so precisely and over the integrated box in the card design that makes the sticker nearly disappear. WOW!

This is the part of the blog where most bloggers post their biggest, baddest cards. Me? I’m going with some run of the mill running backs. Jawan (not Japan, Jawan autocorrect!) Jamison and Silas Redd Jr. Now, I had high hopes for JJ and thought he would have a nice impact on the team once he was healthy, but that day did not come for him and he’s seem to have bounced around the league a bit and i think he was on the Steelers practice squad at the end of the year, but could be wrong.

Silas Redd can be a nice little free agent find for next season. Maybe even replacing Roy Helu as the 3rd down guy or someone that can be blended in with Morris on Sundays.

Crazy Card Show success!

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 9, 2014

This past Saturday, Mall 205 had their monthly show (although there wasn’t one in February). I hadn’t been to a show since the end of last year (although I stopped at the Cedar Hills show for about 20 minutes) and was really excited to see some new product and pick up a few cards for my various personal collections (way too many of those things for me right now). As usual, I stopped by Tom’s table.

Tom is always my first stop. He’s extremely personable, easy to talk to and is more than happy to pull cards for the regulars…like me. He also works at Check Out my Cards (COMC.com for the cool kids)…which is cool…really cool. They seem to be one of the few companies that are working to strengthen the hobby rather than dictate it’s direction. Their new plan for databasing cards seems like a wonderful idea and one that the hobby is in desperate need of. I’m not really sure how the details work for the database creation, but that’s not my job to figure out…only to contribute in some way.

Now that i’ve completely lost track of what I was talking about…I should get back to the card show.

Tom’s table.

So a few weeks ago, I sent Tom a list of cards to fill my Redskins Topps team sets and didn’t think much of it. Apparently Tom took the list very seriously and hit me off with a huge stack of cards from the 70’s and 80’s nearly obliterating my checklist.

Redskins Lot 1

So freakin’ wonderful. Plus! He put them all in penny sleeves and top loaders. Double Plus! He told me he pulled most of them off the COMC.com inventory, which saved me a few dollars in shipping and more than likely a few dollars in the asking price.

Needless to say, I was blown away. The only bad thing was the stack of cards was going to cost me my card show budget for the day. I sifted through what Tom had and saw he had a few other cards I didn’t need. Pulled the ones I wanted and needed and we made a deal that allowed me to troll around the show for a few other bargains. I was more than happy to part with a chunk of my cash for this chunk of cards.

I need to get my checklists updated for the 90’s and 2000’s now. Gotta keep Tom busy, you know. Once again, Tom, if you are reading this…thank you very much. You saved me some money and no telling how much time.

Here is a peek of some of the other Redskins cards I got from Tom. New stuff and some rando’s that will soon be crossed off a list thas has yet to be generated. Yes, those are mini cards, not some weird proportion bending photo.

There were also these kids. Some new rookies, some Cooleys and some 2000’s thingys.

I did pick up a few other Harper’s, Hanley’s and Strasburg’s at the show which I hope to scan and post in the coming days (months depending on the lil boys needs…)

Bonus Redskins and a gift package

Posted by cardboard hogs on June 11, 2013

As I mentioned in the previous post Colbey from Cardboard Collections hooked me up with a few extra Redskin cards, which was very cool. As I was flipping through the team bag of cards, I noticed most of the cards I do not have for my team sets, so they will be great additions. Thank, Colbey!

Here is a peek at the cards that stood out for me.

The Orakpo is really nice. One of my favorite players on the team and a Rookie card to boot. This one of those cards that i’ve never seen before either…so a really nice piece of cardboard.

Next is a couple of blasts from the not so far past. SP Threads of Portis and Campbell…wish I had done a better job of aligning the card banding.

Colbey also sent the two Griffin’s from this years Upper Deck set that I noticed on his blog…and really wanted for my RG3 personal collection. Love the Baylor jerseys.

Next is a three card filmstrip of sorts of Moss, Orakpo and Hankerson. I absolutely love the Orakpo photo…although it was used on the Topps issue as well…or at least the same pose…not really sure right now and too lazy to look it up. The Hankerson card is a little disconcerting as it is cropped really poorly and he is chopped off at the ankles…not to mention the gigantic offensive lineman ass poking out from the right. Ass.

I’m ending with Captain Chaos, Chris Cooooooley because I don’t believe he will be back next year…and I hope he ends up retiring. Can’t wait to watch him in the booth calling games in the future…or maybe he will become some crazy weed smoking hippy living in the hills and making pottery.

As I said, there were a lot of great cards and these were just a small handful of my favorites from Colbey. Thanks again!

#PaniniPylon Prizm 1/1 – Brian Orakpo

Posted by cardboard hogs on May 30, 2013

I am going to break one of my rules and have multiple posts in one day in order to get a little caught up on the blogging. I’ve been away from home and have had limited access to a computer the past few days as I was helping my move from San Antonio to Portland. We had four full days of driving and managed to escape the flooding in Schertz and Cibolo to arrive safely on Tuesday evening. Needless to say I was completely exhausted last night and the previous three nights…driving 10+ hours a day can do that to you!

The last piece of the of the Panini Pylon Prizm collection is one of my all time favorite Redskins, Brian Orakpo.

‘Rak has been injured the last two seasons and missed all but two games last year with a muscle tear. Here’s hoping this doesn’t become a recurring injury that limits him in the future.

This card went up for auction on the same day the Ryan Kerrigan card went up, so I had to double down and do some quick jumping from screen to screen in order to be the winner! I had seen the upcoming auctions and knew this day was coming so I passed on the Fred Davis and Pierre Garcon cards in order to afford these two defensive linemen. I would love to have gotten in on the Garçon card, but it went significantly higher than I thought it would and I just watched from the sidelines. I also watched from the sidelines on the RG3 card as it went for an astounding $1200! I guess that’s about right for a 1/1 parallel rookie card. Wonder how much it would have gone for if it had an on card autograph penned to it?

Overall, I am really happy with the cards I won and would love to have pulled in the whole Redskin collection…but I am more than excited with what I did win. If Panini does something similar to this again next year, I will no doubt be in line for the bidding.

-HTTR!

Box Break: 2012 Panini Prizm

Posted by cardboard hogs on May 16, 2013

Prizm has had a huge impact on the hobby this year starting with the basketball version, to football and now to baseball. I picked up the football box a while ago and am just now getting around to reviewing it. Spoiler alert, i really liked what i saw.

My favorite part of the box is that the cover image of RG3 was removable and created a nice box topper, top box-er of sorts.

Card Design – 5 of 5

The cards for this set are awesome. Panini did a great job of bringing in the shininess that we like and adding in some texture as well. The cards have a feel of something from the future and the future is really cool…and shiny. Everything pops in the card and has a great thickness with the card stock used.

Photography – 5 of 5

Each image appears to jump out of the card. The players blend in and out of the border of the card and each picture has a bit of a 3D affect to them. Again, there is minimal processing and a very high image quality. The best part for me is the slight recess that traces the border of the player putting the focus on their intensity and emotion.

Hits – 3 of 5

The hits for me were terrible, but hey, the base cards are great and I don’t think you buy this brand for the hits. You buy them for the quality of card along with the strong visual and textural quality of each card. There were a couple of nice inserts in the box that offered a wide variety of players from Page to Peyton.

The Luke Kuechly auto is really cool and he seems to be one of the next great linebackers in the NFL.

There was a redemption

and there was a parallel die cut

Review

This is a great product and something i will be picking up next year. I’m not a fan of the baseball version since i can’t get over the lack of logos or photoshopped hats and jerseys. The quantity and quality of cards was great and i was able to get some of the base Redskins cards in my box.

Check out my Cards…no seriously…

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 5, 2013

Hey, check out my cards!

I’m just getting around to posting my recent purchases from COMC and am pretty happy about all the new shiny-ness and extra thick card stock i received from the state up north.

One of the many things I love about COMC is that i can add items to my cart and sit on it for a couple of days or weeks and come back to add or subtract anything, then place the order when i am damn good and ready. This process keeps my compulsiveness with cards under control. It also allows me a chance to double check on whether or not i already have the card…i’ve actually bought the same card a couple of times from these guys…IKNOWRIGHT! Card collector problems…

As you would expect, my entire purchase was Redskin players. When i start loading up the cart i tend to focus on 2 or 3 guys, this time it was 4. Clinton Portis, Chris Cooley, Brian Orakpo and RGIII. I was looking for cards that spoke to me in a visual way, and they had to have a serial number on it somewhere. Any jersey or autos were targets of my visual affection, but only the ones i could afford…still couldn’t pull the trigger on an RGIII auto. The Mall 205 show is this weekend and assuming my wifey lets me go, i may get lucky and find something in my range that meets my on card auto goal. I’ve been selling a lot of old CD’s and records, so i have some extra $20’s burning holes in my denim.

Now on to the loot

Initially i was going to do separate posts for each player, but then realized that i didn’t want to do 5 posts this evening…plus we have a screaming baby that doesn’t understand how to go to sleep without screaming.

So here goes.

Clinton Portis or C-Po

This is a beast of a card, if i ever get to a point where i hate Portis, this can easily act as a coaster or be cut in to one of those cool ninja stars.

Chris Cooley or Captain Chaos

Brian Orakpo or Rak

…why yes, it is quite Mammoth.

Love the Prime Sig cards, nice stock and good vignetting on the photos.

One day, this card will be a part of my Ultimate Collection…as soon as i pick up other Orakpo cards.

RGIII or Bobby Three Sticks

this one is shiny and makes me smile, except for the giant Cowboy star in the background surrounded by other little Cowboy stars…who designed this crap!

and of course the Rookie Stallion…with the flying locks from under the helmet

and a nice die-cut with pink sleeves

Top 12 All Time Redskins: Brian Orakpo

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 26, 2013

The second installment of my all time favorite Redskins is Brian Orakpo, or ‘Rak!

Rak is entering his 5 year as a Redskin after being selected 13th overall in the 2009 draft. The fact that he slipped to the Redskins at no. 13 was a complete shock to me as he was someone i followed at the University of Texas. He was a beast of a talent at UT and dominated so many games for the Longhorns. There were quite a few mock drafts that had him going in the top 5 and being the first or second DE taken that year. I don’t believe there has ever been a real explanation for why he slipped, but i’ve always felt that many NFL scouts saw him as one of those ‘workout warrior’ guys that looked better working out than actually playing the game. Rak was drafted as a DE which is what he played in college, but was drafted to play LB for the Redskins next to London Fletcher. The transition has for him has worked well, but it has also exposed some of his limitations as a football player. When the Redskins drafted Ryan Kerrigan in 2011, they developed a nice bookend with each other that were able to get to the QB and apply pressure throughout the season. As with all football players, he does have limitations, but has proven to be well worth his high selection…in my opinion.

Brian Orakpo would be higher on my list, but with the injuries he’s suffered in the past two seasons…i’m not really sure when he will be 100% again. He has always managed to bring an extremely high level of intensity to the field and passion to the sidelines. Watching him on the sidelines most of last season without football equipment was heartbreaking, especially with the new found success the Washington Redskins experienced last year. I’m hoping he is able to get healthy and create a dominating tandem with Kerrigan and some of the other guys that stepped up in his place this year (Lorenzo Alexander, Rob Jackson and Perry Riley).

When Rak joined the Redskins i was all in on his cards and bid on his autos regularly on ebay as well as some game used jersey cards that will look great once i have a sports room to display them!

One of my best memories of Rak was being at the first game of the 2010 season in Landover, MD against the rival Dallas Cowboys. My first home Redskins game ever! I had been to a few Cowboy vs. Redskins games, but they were always in Irving. Rak was having a really good game and putting a ton of pressure on Romo all night long, but just couldn’t get to him…mainly because he was being held on nearly every play. On the final play of the game with about 13 seconds and the Cowboys in the redzone threatening to score a touchdown and win the game. Rak came around from the left side and just missed sacking Romo…as Romo completed a pass in the end zone to Roy Williams to tie the game. BUT WAIT! There was a flag! The officials finally called holding on the Cowboys offensive line. Game over. Redskins win 13-7 on Sunday night in Landover. Fantastic finish!

#12 – The Hogs

#11 – Brian Orakpo

A Redskins Post

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 18, 2013

When I re-started this blog, I wanted it to be a way of tracking my new Redskins cards and display them to the other bloggers out there. I figured it would also be a great way to fill in some of the holes in my collection, while helping others through trades. Another reason was really to show off some of the great card designs. Although the Redskins may not be one of your favorite teams, I think these pieces of cardboard can be appreciated by all sports fans and collectors.

Since the season ended with a big loud thud and the franchise QB laying face down on the dirt in Landover, i haven’t been overly excited about buying new Redskins cards. As with anything, time heals all wounds. So i’m back in the saddle and purchasing new Redskin cards.

Part of my visit to the Sports Room on Friday was to see what new Redskin cards they had for sale. In the past these guys have been great about putting together fantastic team packs for a very affordable price. Through the years, I have managed to pick up the majority of the Redskin sets as there are not too many fans here in Portland – HTTR! With this visit, they had a couple new packs for $3 and $4. That’s a pretty great deal for any collector.

Buying these things is a bit of a gamble since i can only see the front and back card but i did notice multiple thick cards as well as some shiny ones…PLUS, you just cannot beat that $4 sticker!

Each pack turned out to be a great deal for me as i didn’t have most of the cards. They were from higher end sets that i have had to avoid this year due to our new child and the fact that some of these boxes and packs are just too expensive for me right now. I’ve found that this is the best way for me to collect, just wait out all the rush to buy the new stuff and pick up the cards that i collect, rather than buying boxes and getting players i don’t really care about. ALTHOUGH, i still reserve the right to buy boxes…they are still fun to open.

There were a couple serial numbered cards and new pieces to add to my PC. Gotta love it when you can buy cards you need to complete a checklist rather than something to simply put in a box and store away, never to be seen again…

There were quite a few Santana Moss cards that filled the gaps in their respective binder. I loved the Momentum cards this year. Nice cards on thick pieces of card stock and a simple, clean design. I really love the font at the top of the cards too, nice and clean with no serifs.

A very nice serial numbered Art Monk card as well. One of my all time favorites…it took way too long for him to get in to the Hall of Fame by the way.

The topper of the whole visit and the reason why i love stopping at my LCS is this card.

Rick just gave it to me, had it sitting on the shelf waiting for me too, pretty awesome! A nice shiny, die cut serial numbered card of Captain Chaos! Looking a little closer, you see that it’s number 47/47 and Cooley wears 47. The 47 trifecta! Rick tried to convince me that this is a great card because it’s a 1/1! Not really buying it, but thanks for the free Captain Chaos card! As much as i love Cooley, I really hope he retires this offseason and doesn’t play for another team next year. Can’t really see him making the team next year since he only had 1 catch. A great career no less.

That’s it, my latest Redskin haul. All together, there were 36 unique cards in the two team packs and i needed exactly 25 of them. Not a bad deal.

Redskins lose 14-24

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 7, 2013

It’s a sad day in our house as the Redskins season has come to a sad ending…At the end of the day, the big difference was an unhealthy RG3. He lead the team all season and did everything he could the last 7 weeks, but it just was not enough. It’s always tough to lose a game when your leader is injured as you are filled with the what ifs…Although the season ended in a manner that I am not happy about, the 20123 season was filled with hope and a very bright future. There were lots of ups and downs and the a ton of players got some playing time due to some major injuries. I am very excited to see what 2013 has to offer. The Redskins will have all the guys back and healthy, hopefully including Robert Griffin III…pending the MRI tomorrow morning.

One of my favorite Redskins, Brian Orakpo, was injured in the game agains the Rams early on which led to plenty of playing time for Rob Jackson and Perry Riley. Here’s hoping Rak can get his shoulder back to full strength in the off season and come back strong in September. The card below was part of a blaster box I picked up at Target last week and decided to open before today’s game. It is one of my favorite cards or Rak’s…although this photo is very similar to his Topps issued card. I’ve always loved his passion for the game and this card definitely captures that.

Roy Helu Jr. is another guy that missed the year due to injury with an achilles injury. Assuming good health, he will be a great compliment to Alfred ‘the butcher’ Morris next year. You can never have enough running backs and his speed will be a nice addition to the Redskins running game.

In Pierre Garcon’s first season, he had some huge game changing plays and showed off his #1 Receiver ability. Although he had to deal with injury allyear he still managed to step up down the stretch run and play big during the 7 game winning streak. Here’s hoping he too can get healthy and come back full strength next season to dominate for 16 games. The Garcon card below is one of the reasons i don’t care for the Gridiron design by Panini. I have seen a ton of great hits online from this product, but their base cards tend to be cluttered with too much ‘stuff’ in the background. If i didn’t know any better, i would have thought this was a Redskins team card rather than a Garcon card. You can clearly see Fred Davis and Adam Gettis on the card celebrating with Petite Waiter (see Tony Kornheiser for reference) would be nice to see him isolated on his own card.

The last guy that i am curious about is Kirk Cousins. Right now, there is no telling what to expect from RGIII’s injury and if he will miss any games next year. If he needs any type of surgery, i hope he consults Adrian Peterson prior to getting cut on or rehabbing. Next season will also be his second year in the system and he appears to be a quick learner and smart QB…exactly what you need for a backup, especially if they have to start a few games. The two cards below have been sitting around my collection for a couple of weeks now. I managed to pick up his Score autograph the Saturday before the Ravens game for a nice price. His cards have since gone up in value and anticipation that he will get a chance one day.

Although i am filled with dissapointment right now, all Redskins fans should look back on this season and be proud and excited about the future…there is a lot to build on and a lot that needs to be addressed, but the foundation is definitely there. As always Hail to the Redskins!

With the season over, future posts will be directed towards cards that i purchase and my opinions on their design, content and price. Baseball cards are coming out soon too, so that should be fun to explore and review. -HTTR!