2013 Topps – Packs 3 and 4

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 16, 2013

The pack a day thing wasn’t working for me, so i’m doing two packs every other day. Same thing, just a slightly bigger effect on pack days! Plus organizing 100 cards is a larger, but still simple task.

The first card i want to look at is Will Middlebrooks #64. This is a pretty fantastic shot and an awesome card in general. Topps did a great job of not cropping any of Will in the photo. It’s too bad the ump is in the background, but i guess he is in position and just doing his job. Will is from north Texas and played high school football with the one and only LaMichael James. James is still kind of a big deal for the University of Oregon fans up here and did a nice job for the 49ers at the end of the season and their playoff run. Not sure what kind of football player Will was, but it sounds like he has made a good career choice in playing baseball. As my co-worker and huge Red Sox fan tells me, Middlebrooks is a big stud. Ok, that’s cool, i guess. I’ve never been a Red Sox fan…mostly a Yankees fan (i will get in to that later, briefly…) so i’ve never been too partial to any Red Sox players…ever. I guess the only Red Sox that i’m drawn too would be Ted Williams. That’s all i can think of, I do like Carl Crawford, but he never really played for them…so let’s say 1 1/2 players.

The next card is Rajai Davis #311. This card is fantastic. Quickly, how many hands in the air can you count? if you guessed 1,000 you are wrong, but there is still a lot. This picture is great in so many way. First and foremost, the celebration with the team after a walk off win and the ecstatic joy on Davis’ face. Just priceless. This is why people who like sports, love sports. Pure enjoyment and a sensation that you’ve accomplished or achieved something with other guys that share your same passion. I have tried for years to convince my wife that sports is the best reality TV she could ever watch. The other thing i love about this card is the way the editor blurred out his teammates and focused the photo on Davis. If they didn’t do this than it would look like a team checklist card or team stats card rather than a card for Rajai Davis.

Next up, Ryan Zimmerman card #80. As i stated earlier, i am mostly a Yankees fan and have been since 1985. And, as you know I am a Redskins fan…from Texas. Not sure how these two teams mesh together eh? in one sentence, i’m a Redskins fan because i hated Dallas so much and I’m a Yankees fan because Rickey Henderson played for them when i really became a baseball fan. So they don’t really mesh together, i picked them “just because”. That said over the last 5 or 6 years, my attention has been drawn to the Washington Nationals. I tend to listen to a lot of sports talk radio from DC, thanks to the internet and podcasts and have by default become a DC sports fan. I even care about the Capitals and Wizards, but not that much. The Nats have become a team that has finally got something special and it all started with this Ryan Zimmerman guy. He has been the cornerstone of the franchise for years and is just now hitting his statistical prime. Most fans are expecting greater things from the Nats this year after the heartbreaking loss to the Cardinals last year. Zimm should be in the center of the teams dominance for years to come. Kinda like what Chipper Jones to the Braves.

Now for a non base card. Ryan Braun Cut to the Chase. Most of you have been following the whole PED thing and it’s not looking too good for this guy. I have no idea whether or not he did anything illegal and personally, I really don’t care. These guys are professional athletes and their job is to perform at a physical and mental level that most men cannot, each and every single day for 6+ months. I understand the negative long term affects of the users and the physical health, but these guys careers are so short so they tend to think in short terms rather than 30 years from now. It’s a difficult dilemma for MLB and they always seem to be picked on rather than the NFL. It will be interesting to see what happens with all of the fallout in the next few weeks. Either way, Ryan Braun is a fantastic player and has had a great start to his career. Let’s hope he can keep it up and not go down with the PED ship. By the way, i would love to hear some opinions on the whole PED thing.

Now for the first hit from the jumbo box. Yovani Gallardo Chasing History White Jersey card. YoGa is a pretty good pitcher. I had him on my fantasy team a few years ago when he first came up and he did me well down the stretch. I don’t really follow the Brewers, so I don’t know that much about the guy. But i do know that he has a FANTASTIC head of hear, or at least what’s busting through the boundaries of his hat. The chasing history card is for his third 200+K season, surpassing Teddy Higuera’s record of two 200+K seasons. Good job to you Mr. Gallardo, here’s hoping you make if four seasons.

That’s all for now kids. I have some other boxes i’m attempting to open, but just can’t seem to do it. I like the idea of saving them for when i feel the need to open something, rather than buying another pack or box. Plus i picked up $7 of Redskins cards today that i want to discuss, that was the intention of this blog anyways, right?

RGIII is in my HOUSE!

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 16, 2013

This just happened, I bought a doll…or rather, an action figure. I’m a 37 year old man and I just bought an action figure of a 23 year old football player. Can you sense any shame? I have a little, but the child in me is quite giddy. I’ve been staring at this thing all morning, through the packaging of course, hasn’t been opened, nor will it ever! I’ve never been one of those guys that purchases action figures, nothing against it, just never really interested me in the past. I think this is due mostly to the fact that McFarlane Toys doesn’t have a great Redskin inventory. I do have one other action figure (is that what we are calling these things? action figures…i have no idea). A Rickey Henderson, from the Cooperstown Collection a couple of years ago. Rickey and Robert can now hang out together on a wall somewhere in my house where my wife won’t be embarrassed. Probably in my closet with the rest of my collection.

Since this thing came out around Christmas, I’ve made multiple trips to Target only to be dejected and come home empty handed. The collector vultures have always swooped in before me and picked through the limited amount of McFarlane figures. Thus leaving DeMarco Murray and LeSean McCoy hanging by themselves. There is also a Josh Hamilton and Cliff Lee that no one seems to want to purchase. The Lee has seriously been hanging there for over 9 months. I think they should just put it on clearance and get rid of it. Are there no Cliff Lee fans in Portland?

Getting back on track.

I came to realize two things. One, that I would not be able to purchase this guy at retail price ($14). The second is that I would definitely not be over spending or out bid at the last minute for it on ebay ($35+). So that left me with two options. Wait for it to come to the Sports Room and see if I can get a good deal on it or just pass and chalk it up to another RGIII item I will not be able to afford. I was beginning to accept the latter since my LCS didn’t have one in stock…until today.

With all the hours I’ve been working this year on my deadline, I was able to take today off and have some ‘ken’ time. So I stopped in to the Sports Room to pick up supplies for the 2013 Topps set and whattayaknow! They have the RGIII…and the price is $24! Not bad. I asked Rick if I could take a look at it as I hadn’t seen one in person yet. I just kept staring at it like a 12 year old boy. I was thinking of ways to justify the purchase since I’ve been trying to be better about my spending on the hobby when suddenly Rick says…”I tell you what…” my eyes slowly raise up and I wait the for the “what” he is going to “tell me”. He responds, “you can have it for $20”.

BOOM!

This thing just got bought!

$20 Bucks!

Yes!

That’s only six dollars over retail. Still ridiculous that I had to pay an upcharge, but that’s how these things work sometimes I guess. You really can’t beat trading an Andrew Jackson for an RGIII can you? Well, I can’t…

I’ve been doing some looking at the figure and am quite impressed with the amount of detail they have. From the air holes in the helmet, the shield on the face mask and the pony tail on the back…these guys didn’t let any detail go to waste. Luckily my model doesn’t have a knee brace…yet…we don’t need to talk about that right now. Here’s hoping that RGIII can have an Adrian Peterson type recovery and I don’t have to sell this one next year in order to purchase the Kirk Cousins version. I know you are reading this Kirk and I mean no offense to you, It’s just RGIII is so much fun to watch.