Little old rectangles

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 7, 2016

I’ve been going through some of my vintage Redskins the past few months to kind of pick up the missing pieces of cardboard and do a little scanning as well. It’s a painfully slow talks that i’ve been slowly accomplishing over the last 5+ years…slow going, you know. Judson over at My Cardboard Habit has been doing the same thing with his Rangers cards. It’s an arduous task that i constantly question why in the hell i’m even attempting it…a little insight in to me though…i’m a “completionist” and i must collect sets once i get started and document everything along the way..once i get started. This was totally cool when i was younger and mostly friend-less, wife-less and more critically child-less. Now time is a highly coveted commodity, so scanning cardboard ain’t the most fun thing to do on a weekday night…but personal disorders tend to overshadow general common sense at times. It’s a task i know in my head that i will never complete, but that’s not the point…it’s the pursuit…like collecting…pursue the unattainable endlessly and with VIGOR!! or something.

One of the card sets that i’ve completed (maybe i should double check my checklist before i type so boldly?) is the 1948 Bowman set. A cute (wife’s words, not mine) little 2″ x 2 1/4″ black and white card with some cool grainy “action” photos of men from generations past. These little pieces of history are pretty cool to look at as well as read. The backs of the cards are filled with wonderful snippets of the players as well as an opportunity to order some really wonderful pieces of americana. I would definitely order the magnetic frisky scotties. One because scotties are odd looking dogs that seem to be incredibly popular and, as the card says, i can “watch them fight”! Not sure the backs of cards today would advertise fighting scotties…missed opportunity i say.

The leatherette helmet on the back of the Daniel Sandifer card is appealing as well. The Sammy above sent me back financially a little, but this card and the Harry Gilmer were actually the toughest to find in decent condition and at an appropriate price. Glad to have these three cards to close out my 1948 Bowman set.

So there you go. A little aged black and white cardboard from almost 70 years ago. Collecting this stuff really brings a smile to my face. I get so much more joy out of this kind of card than a lot of the newer stuff out today…unfortunately, these three cards cost about as much as a mid tier box of cards…but i these guys are a priceless piece of my collection.

As i’ve been doing with my last few posts, i’d like to close with a video. But in keeping with the vintage cards, i will spare you…the reader, a video of something obscene or out of line with your taste.

Heading home tonight, i was listening to our local jazz station KMHD 89.1 and they had a very quick recap of the Kamasi Washington show at the Roseland with i regrettably missed. So here’s a nice little jam from his album The Epic…as performed last August.

A Legends Auto

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 6, 2016

I’ve been a Redskins fan my entire life…well…almost, since i was 6 years old. Through the years, i’ve done my very best to learn about the history of the team and the some of the greatest athletes to wear the burgundy and gold. One of the guys that was ahead of my time as a fan, but someone that i have a ton of respect for and wish i could have watched play is Hall of Famer Charley Taylor.

One of the greatest receivers of all time and a fellow Texan!

Charley retired from the NFL in 1978 as the all time leader in receptions with 649 catches, 9,110 yards (1,488 rushing) and 79 receiving touchdowns (11 rushing). The first couple years of his career, he was sort of a dual threat as a receiver and running back. He was rookie of the year in 1964 after posting over 1,560 yards rushing and receiving…pretty impressive!S

Seeing theses numbers over a 13 year career really reflects how the game has changed through the years. With top receivers picking up 90+ catches a year and over 1,000 yards each season you tend to forget about some of these all time greats of the game that helped define what we now watch on sundays…some rule changes and cultural shifts have helped as well.

Shifting gears a little bit, but staying with Redskins having the sir name of Taylor…i missed posting something on Sean Taylor during the 9 year anniversary of his untimely passing. I have one un-posted card in the queue…and here it is. He would have continued to be an amazing player…very sad for all of us Redskins fans and a player that will always be loved.

$05 TF Sean Taylor Green Refractor 178:199$

Just found a fantastic new hip hop documentary on netflix last night and it kept me up all night, “Hip-Hop Evolution”…i thought it was done incredibly well with tons of great back stories and interviews. This is what i was hoping The Get Down would be…glad the story was told one way or another. Check it out if you are interested in this sort of thing…

A sweet tight end, a good Reed and Rhythm Roulette

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 5, 2016

I’m obsessed with tight ends that have great hands.

Amazing ball skills.

Guys that aren’t afraid to go up the middle and take a pounding.

…what the f*%k…?

That is no way to attract the kinda readers i’m looking for with this blog. What i’m really trying to say is that Jordan Reed is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite Redskins. He’s an incredible talent that is quite possibly the best receiving tight end in the NFL…if you ask me and many other Redskin fans, they would tell you he’s the best…and we never lie. Don’t get me wrong, Gronk is great…all-time great really, not to mention an extremely wild and crazy guy, but I love my teams TE, Jordan Reed. Born in July of 1990…damn…

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His career started out a little patchy with several small nagging injuries and unfortunately concussions…lots of them. He’s had one or two this season and i believe 6 during his NFL career. You have to wonder about the length of his career and more importantly his long term health after the game. Concussions as we are all sadly just now understanding have horrific long term impacts on these guys careers. That’s one of the reasons why i’m never upset about most of these guys getting the money they can while they can. Often playing through short careers with a short window of earning opportunity, they are often faced with long term health impacts not to mention addictions associated with those injury treatments…one of the reasons why i tell my son “football is for watching, baseball is for playing” i’m such a downer right now.

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Reed is amazing. I’ve been building quite a nice stack of his cards for my Redskins collection over the past couple of years. These nice little additions were from my latest stop at the Sports Room.

Side note, i’v updated my 1960’s Baseball checklist needs…so if you are interested in making a trade or two take a peek at the link above the banner and see if you can help a brother out! I’m sure i can arrange for a sweet card package in return.

Also, i’ve been posting a few items on eBay in hopes of reloading my PayPal account for future card “investments”. Most of whats posted on the bay is football cards…hoping to sell off my non Redskins, but if you see something you like, again let me know and i’d be happy to pull the cards and send them your way for a trade.

Thanks again for reading…hoping to get some older stuff scanned soon and get them posted here soon.

Keep reading if you’d like to see how hiphop producers put together music! Well, sort of. I’m a huge fan of the Mass Appeal’s YouTube series of Rhythm Roulette. Basically, what they do is take a producer to a record shop, blindfold him and have them pick out three random selection of vinyl. Then, the producers take the records back to the “lab” as the cool kids call it and put together various loops along with drum beats…now, some of you may be thinking this is shit…it’s not even music! I can kinda understand where that’s coming from, but what these guys can do with a tiny snippet of a shitty record is quite amazing to me. If you have some time, check out the series. Here is one of my favorites from one of my all time favorite emcee’s/producter…El-P!!!

Sundays with J-Dox

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 4, 2016

Sundays around here can be a little chaotic. Lots of chores to be done before the day is done, spending quality time with the family, and getting ready for the upcoming work/school week. Not to mention finding a way to watch every second of every Redskins game. The swings of my emotions would often swing directly with the results of the game and how each play played itself out. I’ve grown up a little bit though. I’ve been able to manage my expectations a little better and control my emotions and temperment…being a fan of a team that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 1991 will do that do you i guess.

The 23-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals today though was quite frustrating. Arizona has a solid defense and a few fantastic players on both sides of the ball…but i think the Redskins had many chances to win the game today…the defense just didn’t get the job done today. Here’s hoping they can regroup for the Philadelphia Eagles next week in Philly and that DeSean Jackson has a big game.

Speaking of D-Jax, there seems to be a lot of build up about him returning to the Eagles next season. Although i wouldn’t be overly happy about that, i don’t think i would lose much sleep over it either. One of the reasons is this guy…Josh Doctson.

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Josh is a completely different type of receiver than Jackson.

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He’s also a very different kind of receiver than the Redskins have had in a long time. Tall, fast guy that can make some plays on the edges and in the middle of the field…i just hope he can get healthy. He’s been dealing with some odd achilles/foot injury all year and hasn’t been on the field too much this season…two games i believe.

Here are a few of the nicer cards i picked up from Brian the other day. Brian is an Eagles fan.

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I’m always a sucker for jumbo patch cards like this…but i’m always a little curious about the crop of the player on these cards. Jumbo patch or player photo…i’ll take the jumbo patch, especially with the burgundy and gold stitched together.

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The tri-colored patch is pretty cool, but the autograph is just aiight.

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So whether or not D-Jax leaves and Josh Doctson can fulfill his large shoes…or not is to be seen. If J-Dox turns out to be a gem, i’ve got a nice start to his rookie card collection.

Thanks for reading…on to the Eagles! HTTR!!

…the card life…

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 3, 2016

Life moves really fast at times, sometimes a little slow…but mostly fast.

Things that you love and wish you had time for get pushed to the side…like blogging.

I miss writing about the cards i collect and telling stories about the players or how i acquired the cards, a back story always adds a little extra dynamic to the whole collecting process. I’ve been buying cards, going to shows and even actually updating my checklists. I just haven’t been writing about that entire process and i’ve come to realize that this is a major piece of my collecting life that i really need to “make time” for…it’s a bit of a release for me after a busy day at work, or a long night attempting to get our 4 year old boy to eat his dinner or go to sleep at night. Life…you know…

Speaking of work, i’ve changed jobs. This is my first new job in nearly 10 years. Pretty exciting stuff. Still doing architecture but instead of public education work, it’s more of multi-family housing infill projects…but with a greater level of attention paid to design. My previous place of employment was great, loved it and loved the people there…kinda just needed a change of scenery and pace. So, i’m at a new place and for the past two months, i love it! I realize i’m still in the honeymoon phase, but it’s been awesome. The people are great, a lot younger which makes me feel younger as well, plus they are incredibly talented. There are lots of the so-called “millennials”, but these aren’t those whiny, lazy millennials that the media tells stories about. They are people that work hard, do great work and play incredibly harder than my last office. We just had our holiday office party Thursday night…Friday was an incredible struggle for me. Free whiskey and coke all night will rack a 41 year olds brain to pieces. In my never ending attempt to be likable, i did my best to keep up with a couple 28 year olds…they won…but i was one of the last men standing, for better or worse…

This blog isn’t about drinking with people born in the 80’s though. It’s about collecting cards of people that were born in the 80’s, or 90’s…jesus! Professional athletes doing amazing things were born in the 90’s. Life moves really fast…

Cutting work short this past Friday, i stopped by the LCS in Beaverton on my way home to visit with Brian at the Sports Room. He’s a great guy that is super easy to talk to and he knows me as a regular so he’s been pulling some great Redskin cards for me. Love being a “regular” at a card shop, much better than at a bar i guess…

Here are a couple of gems that he pulled aside for me.

Now, coming in to the season, Matt Jones was supposed to be the big guy in the Redskins backfield this year. I had my doubts and suspicions…and to this point, i’ve been proven somewhat correct. Jones seems to have the skills to be a top notch back in the NFL…but he just doesn’t have the Fire…maybe? Hate to say that about a guy, but he just doesn’t seem to run with the intensity that other backs his size do. Especially since he was compared to Marshawn Lynch when drafted before last season. Talented and fiery or not, this card is gorgeous. I cannot get enough booklet cards like this for Redskin cards…although, i haven’t been able to find a portrait booklet card holder…let me know if you come across them…or i could just check out the next card show. Absolutely love the colors of the patches and the layers of materials on this one. Matt Jones is one of those sloppy autograph guys, but the overall composition of the cards is quite fantastic. Here’s the back of the card with the numbering of 06/25.

Another Matt Jones card that i picked up from Brian is an autographed eye black card. I honestly don’t think Jones wears eye black, but maybe that would help with some intensity…works for Bryce Harper.