I’m Back with a Break!

Posted by cardboard hogs on June 10, 2013

It’s funny how quickly you can get used to something and it become part of your routine. I was on quite a nice little streak of doing a post a night, or at the very least one every other night for a few weeks…but it’s been 5 whole days since i’ve created a new post.

The reality is that i haven’t picked up many new things and i’ve been a little exhausted and wanted a break from work and collecting. The drive from Texas took a lot out of me plus i’ve been riding my bike to work in hopes of losing a few pounds and getting in better shape. Not to mention, the wife and I decided to take a couple days together and spend some time in Seattle with our son. I have been jonesing to take him to his first baseball game and with the Yankees in town for a weekend series and a couple of day games, it was the perfect weekend…plus the weather has been fantastic! So, now i’m back and will hopefully get a few posts up and running in the next few days. I’ve missed the past two card shows, so i’m really excited about the one in a couple of weeks and am hoping to pick up some more of the new Redskins Draft Picks. I always manage to walk away happy and pick up a handful of great new Redskin cards.

I received the Redskins (and Dolphins) cards from Colbey at Cardboard Collections for his 2013 Score Box Break prior to heading out for the weekend, but wanted to post what I received.. He was kind enough to send a whole bunch of other great cards that I will get to in my next post, but for this one, I wanted to show all of the Redskin cars and the rookie cards from the Dolphins. This was my first online box break and it was cool to partake in the break. It’s a great way to get the cards that I want without investing in a box for myself and being stuck with a bunch of cards that don’t excite me as much as the Redskin cards do…I hope to get involved in more for the future.

First up, the base cards of the two great Rookies that got the team moving in a whole new direction. RG3 and The Butcher.

My Redskins can’t catch a break in My Cardboard Mistress Football Contest, especially against those pesky Giants, but it’s really nice to see RG3 break away on a card against the New York Football Giants.

Love the landscape cards Score put out this year, really nice job…and i believe this is a photo of Alfred Morris’ first NFL Touchdown.

I love both of the jumping receiver photos. Santana was one of the few receivers that was able to catch a ball in that Steelers game where the recievers had 11 drops and did nothing to win a game that was very win-able. The Garcon card is beautiful against the Cowboys in the Thanksgiving Day game. I haven’t screamed at a TV in so long as I did this game…it started with screams of joy and excitement and moved to screams of panic and concern as the Cowboys inched back in to it. Luckily the good guys won.

No idea what games these cards are from, but I’m glad Fletcher will be running out of the fog filled helmet for at least one more year. Also can’t wait to see how Kerrigan does this year with another successful season under his belt. He could become an elite LB in the league if he can get some help from a healthy Orakpo.

Sure hope Fred Davis can come back from the achilles tear and pick up where he left off…he can be a beast!

Here is a couple of nice cards from ol’ Bobby Three Sticks.

I kind of think the future is now with this guy…although, running backs tend to have short careers. Here’s hoping he has a great one that lasts a few years.

A nice parallel of London Fletcher.

David Amerson was taken in the second round and should become a nice player and hopefully can start before the year is out. The weakest area for the Redskins in the past few seasons has definitely been their secondary. The team did a good job of addressing that issue in the draft, now the players have to perform.

Here are the Dolphins rookies. I’m kind of excited to see Dion Jordan play. He was really solid at Oregon and can be a supremely talented Defensive End in the league. One thing about these Score retro cards that i wished they would have done was make them a studio portrait like the originals…I think that was what made them classics. A bunch of young guys with hopes of NFL stardom looking in to the camera lens…rather than some sideline photo. They are still well done though.

Road Trip Packs III – The end of the Trilogy.

Posted by cardboard hogs on June 4, 2013

The second day of driving was great, we finally got out of Texas. Anyone that has had to drive from one end of Texas to another knows that this takes a total commitment in patience and perserverance…long stretches of nothingness and not a whole lot of beauty along the way unless you like the color brown.

Our second stop was Montrose, Colorado which didn’t have a Wal Mart or Target close by and frankly I was really exhausted from the day of driving…so I didn’t pick anything up that night. Our third day of driving took us through the remainder of Colorado, Utah and we stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho. I’ve never been to Utah or Idaho and would definitely love to go back for a visit sometime and see all the beautiful rock formations and landscapes…that will be a road trip for the future and a great way to have some family time during the summer. By the way, if anyone has stayed in Twin Falls, Idaho I would love to know more about the town. It seemed like a really great place as we sort of passed through. The gorge with the waterfalls was quite amazing…and the golf courses looked like they would be great to play.

Enough about non card things. After we checked in I located the nearest Wal Mart and strolled in around 11:30 and picked up a couple more packs of Topps Archives Football and some Archives Baseball.

Archives is doing some tall boys for the baseball version and this guy is becoming a very very special player. Not the best photo ever of him, but the card design is cool and classic. Glad to see Miggy get his career and hopefully his life straight after the DUI a couple of years ago…always room for redemption.

Pablo is way too big, like scary big. When his career winds down, he’s going to have some serious health issues with his ballooning weight. Look at that guy busting the bottom button loose…and that face! Obesity in America is a serious thing and seriously needs to be addressed. I hope the Giants are hooking this kid up with a nutritionist and a 24 hour personal trainer. That much weight is bad for the joints and not to mention his heart. Let’s get fit America!

The Griff card is pretty amazing. Look into those youthful eyes. So much hope and promise in that young face. Griffey was never one of my favorite players, but I always loved the way he played. Now living in the Northwest, his importance to the game and the way he played is magnified, especially with the constant PED issues the MLB has had the past several years. I LOVE THIS CARD.

I also LOVE THIS CARD. I would have been happy with the die cut…but now i get a transparent “stained glass” card! I guess these cards were issued at a time when I wasn’t collecting so therefore I have no recollection of them…but they are awesome. Love that Topps has included them in the set this year.

Now for the Football version of Archives. The first card out of the pack was this Adrian Peterson in the 1985 Topps version. I’ve said many times here that this is one of my all time favorite sets, along with the 1986 Topps baseball…it’s probably the black border thing and the superfonts. AP came back nicely from his ACL tear, here’s hoping RG3 can do the same…or better! – HTTR!

I also pulled this Arian Foster. Loved that two of the prominent running backs were in the ’85 Topps version.

There was also this nice looking Gronk mini card. Wonder if he still hangs out with BiBi?

Last up. This little gem. A Cornelius Bennett auto. The autograph is pretty sweet and you can never go wrong with an autograph from a great NFL Linebacker that played in 4 Super Bowls.

Road Trip Packs II

Posted by cardboard hogs on June 3, 2013

The next pack along the road was actually a blaster of 2013 Leaf Draft from Wal-Mart. Purchased at 12:30am. This was actually the first group of cards I purchased on the trip and were picked up on a midnight run for ‘snacks’…plus I was really curious what type of Wal-Martians I could find around 1am on a Friday night…and just like the box of cards, the Wal-Martians were just ok.

This is a product I buy a few packs of each year in hopes of getting the Redskins draft picks…the value of these cards is minimal and the quality of them is about the same, but if you like a specific college or NFL team, it’s nice to get the players first (or last) card depending on your perspective. I’ve never picked up a blaster box of these guys before, so I’m not sure if this is typical, but the package came with 2 autographs in top loaders and placed in a team bag. I thought that was pretty cool. No need to open any packs to see what your hits were. They were just there! I also thought it was pretty cool that Leaf managed to package them so nicely to keep them in as close to mint condition as possible.

The first auto was Markus Wheaton. A receiver from Oregon State who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round. Not a bad auto considering what else I could have pulled.

The second auto was of Sean Porter, whom quite ironically is from Schertz, Texas and went to Samuel Clemens. The box of cards was purchased in little ol’ Schertz, Texas. Porter is an A&M product and played Linebacker during his four year career. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Next up are the Redskins players.

Jordan Reed TE – 3rd round from Florida. Early reports from the couple of practices he participated in were really high on this kid. It sounds like he can become a big time playmaker at Tight End and hopefully compliment Fred Davis for years to come.

Brandon Jenkins DE – 5th round from Florida State. When healthy, he was pretty much a beast at FSU and could have gone much earlier had he indeed been healthy. If Jenkins is able to rebound, he should be a nice compliment to Orakpo and Kerrigan next year and hopefully the next 5 years.

Jawan Jamison RB – 7th round from Rutgers. Mike Shanahan has a way of hitting on running backs. Here’s hoping Jamison can be another one. He too was injured but has a huge upside…but injuries tend to derail the greatest of athletes, especially if they limit opportunities in practice and games.

Although the cards were not that impressive, I was pretty happy with what i pulled. If anyone out there has a desire to trade for the autos, please let me know…could be nice for a Bengals or Steelers collector!

Road Trip Packs I

Posted by cardboard hogs on June 2, 2013

Since I was going to be on a road trip from 4 days, I thought it would be cool to pick up a couple of packs along the way from a local Target or Wal Mart. Living in Portland, we don’t have too many local Wal Marts and Target is my only real retail option, which isn’t bad at all…I’m just saying.

Our first stop along the way was in Amarillo, Texas. Yes, I know. EPIC by all possible definitions. I picked up a couple retail packs of the Football version of Topps Archives. I already had a couple of Hobby pack versions and was curious what would come out of a Wal Mart.

And here we go!

Love the Wilson Card, great action photo and love the look in his eyes. Wilson should be one of the next great QB’s in the league for the next few years…just hope his team stops knocking mine out of the playoffs.

Next up was a mini Calvin Johnson Jr. card with some sweet color gradation from top to bottom.

and finally, the last card i’d like to present from a retail wal mart pack is a Darrelle Revis gold parallel from the ~~New York Jets~~ Tampa Bay Buccaneers!

My last card purchase in the Alamo City

Posted by cardboard hogs on June 2, 2013

As i’ve mentioned in previous posts, I spent last week and a part of this week moving my mom from San Antonio to her new home in Portland. She is making this move to be closer to her only son and first grandson…and it’s a pretty big move for her. We moved to San Antonio in 1979 and remained there for most of our lives. Both of my parents worked for the Air Force and if you are a military person, you are aware that San Antonio is a large hub for military families to work and retire. But my mom has decided to retire in Portland and we are very happy to have her here.

So when I was in San Antonio, one of my goals in a short window of time, was to find Sports Cards Plus and pick up some cardboard for the road. When I left town, I had not visited this shop but had heard great things about it from random postings on line as well as Panini’s blog. Finding this shop for me was tough as San Antonio has grown 1,000x larger than when I left 10 years ago…so getting around was quite a task. I felt like a lost tourist looking Pee-Wee’s bike in the Alamo basement. After 45 minutes of driving and sitting in traffic i find my destination and walk in…My first impressions about the store were pretty high. It was everything I believe a card shop should be. Lots of cards laying around and boxes filled with commons organized for set builders. Opened and unopened boxes of high end cards for those that want to buy an expensive pack or a really expensive box. Lots of great stuff on display…and I loved everything about the shop. I wish i could have gone here when I lived in San Antonio.

My time was limited in the shop, so i just poked around for a few minutes and was able to find some Redskins cards to fill my PC…and boy were they gems!

and this one…

and this guy…

I was able to find a nice Stephen Davis card…wish they had a second one so I could add it to the Redskins PC and my Stephen Davis PC.

I also picked up a couple packs of the new Archives football just for fun and pulled a sweet base card of RG3.

Box Break: 2013 Bowman

Posted by cardboard hogs on June 1, 2013

Bowman is one of those in between sets for me. Do I buy packs? A box and build the set? Pull my favorites out and part ways with the rest of them?

I’m not a prospector, but I love to pull some of the great rookies that I read about.

I don’t put together too many sets, but I love to buy packs and sometimes a box of cards that I enjoy openings packs of.

I like inserts, but too many of them become overwhelming.

Bowman has a way of providing a response to each of these contradictions in my collecting habits. When Topps brought back the Bowman cards in 1989, my friend Alex and I were all in. The cards were weird and big and didn’t fit well anywhere, but they were cool and had a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. Griff was the man in 1989 and his rookie cards were something every kid in America that collected cards wanted. I had them all, and loved the oversized Bowman version (after the Upper Deck version of course…) Although the cards weren’t that great. The photography was a little grainy at times and the overall design was weak…plus the stat on the back were quite confusing and took some getting used to. Either way I was going to collect this set…and all other versions that would come out in the future. That was, until 1992 rolled around. The card quality became significantly better and the rookie class was pretty stellar at the time (I still have my Raul Mondesi in a screw down holder, iknowright!). 1992 was also the time I began to realize I can’t collect everything…because I couldn’t afford it. So I never completed the set and ended up getting rid of my other sets from the previous years.

Fast forward to the future that is today. The card quality has improved exponentially and in relation to the other stuff that’s being issued, Bowman is quite affordable. I’ve purchased a box of these the past three years and took a bigger step this year and bought the jumbo pack box from Dave and Adam’s card world. Here is my review.

Card Design – 3 of 5

The overall design of the cards is quite simple, which I love.

No extra weird things going on here, just some simple graphics and all the basic information you need on a baseball card. I do like the subtle variation on the front of the card that differentiates the Bowman Prospects from the Major Leaguers. Bowman also carried this through as they do on the back of the card with the numbering and color of the card stock.

Photography – 3 of 5

The photographs are your typical action photos mixed in with awkwardly posed for photos of young men in uniforms. There are a lot of beards and facial hair in general around the world these days and the major league baseball franchise is no different. I’m thinking Panini needs to do a facial hair card set. Maybe Josh Reddick get the coveted #1 card?

Hits – 4 of 5

Like I said before, I’m no prospector. I simply don’t have the patience or wherewithal to invest in people I don’t know and Bowman counts on people doing this. That’s what makes this set so wonderful though. If you do pull a great auto of a young talented player or a refractor you have a nice piece of cardboard. If you don’t, well, you have something shiny to look at i guess. Another thing with the hits is that you have to wait a couple of years for these guys to pan out and get a year or two under their belts. Just because you are a top 100 prospect doesn’t mean you are going to be a star in the bigs. All that said, It’s nice to get the ‘First Bowman card’ of a potential star.

Another thing that i really enjoy about the Bowman cards and the young stars is the names of these kids. Damn.

Review

Bowman is always fun to open and the cards are always a very solid quality. I’m not sure if I will buy a jumbo box next year unless i plan to start building the sets again…but getting 32 cards in a pack is pretty cool.