Humble Redskins

Posted by cardboard hogs on April 11, 2017

Hello out there. I haven’t picked up too many cards lately…been super busy at work. This part of my job is a little tough, the deadlines. They tend to linger on for a while and when you’re on a project like this there are multiple versions of deadlines. At this job, i have to deal with the city as well as clients and consultants. Luckily for me, i’m fairy new to this project type so i don’t have to deal with city people too much. Portland is known in the region to have one of the slower forms of public government and gettin’ shit done…but then again, it is the city where young people go to retire. So, speaking of deadlines…

Kirk is on a deadline of sorts…or maybe it’s the Redskins that are on the deadline. I’m on record as a Cousins supporter and a guy that would love to see him be a Redskin for a long long time. Not sure how the team ownership and pseudo GM feel about that though. I really do hope they get a long term contract done with ~~Kurt~~ Kirk soon. I don’t think he will excel at another place, like oh…maybe San Francisco as much as he does in DC Hyattsville.

16 DE Kirk Cousins squares 41:99

Now, i say it’s deadline, but it’s really a soft deadline. One that will probably come and go without much notice. From what i’ve read, both sides are more than content in doing a year to year franchise tag contract. Not sure if that puts the team in the best situation as he will make a ton of cash and potentially bind the team and keep them from paying other players…and young stars on the team.

Don’t get me wrong, i’m not against anyone getting their cash and if anybody deserves to milk their team for all the cash they can, it’s Cousins. He’s always been tied to RGIII for good or bad and i think he’s made a great name for himself, but you always feel like he’s being compared to the electric rookie year Griffin had…even though Cousins has far exceeded Robert’s career trajectory since then.

16 PS Kirk Cousins dots 37:60

I’m meandering here…so i’m just gonna post some cards and a music video at the end like i do. Here’s a Jordan Reed card that has serial numbers on it.

16 AF Jordan Reed 87:100

Gonna miss this guys, DJacc. Sure hope he does well in Tampa though…so glad he didn’t go back to Philly or Dallas or New York…would of loved to see him go home and play for the Rams along with McVay and Garcon. I might just had to follow the Rams if that was the case.

16 PS DeSean Jackson

Last card is a Kerrigan card. It’s a basic card. No serial numbers, No fractators, No autos and No fake jersey. Just a picture of a guy going to work and doing work every. single. game. You know he hasn’t missed a game in his 6 year career! 96 games and no misses…and he’s had some tough, nagging injuries along the way. Solid guy that isn’t represented nearly enough on this blog…i gotta fix that.

16 SCF Ryan Kerrigan

That’s all i got.

for today’s music, i’m just gonna go ahead and post this week old Kendrick Lamar video…Humble. Like Kerrigan and all those guys that go to work every day and do their work with out the fan fare or self promotion…Like Captain Kirk.

the 70’s…my quest begins

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 8, 2017

Through zero planning and foresight…as i do with most things in life…i am beginning the set build of Topps baseball cards from 1970. That’s right 1970.

I was able to venture out to last month’s card show due to some free time i found on my hands. It was an unexpected trip since i’ve been doing the odd months only for shows, so i guess i was overzealous. I had a few extra dollars in my pocket, but not my normal budget so i had to a little more selective with what i picked up that day. I went in with the thought of grabbing a few 2016 base Redskins as well as some San Antonio Spurs cards…both were in need since i’ve neglected both recently.

I ended up stopping by a table that i typically spend a few minutes at and then move on. He’s an older guy…not sure of his name, but he wears some crazy ass Hawaiian shirts most of the time. We’ve chatted in the past, but this time he was preoccupied with another show visitor, so i started digging through his rows of 1970’s baseball commons…which included ’70’s and up of baseball and football. As i was searching for ’60’s set needs, i couldn’t help but notice the large amount of good condition cards i was passing up…and i thought, hey I’m gonna pick these guys up sooner or later. So, i decided with sooner…not to mention, they were marked at 2/$1

70 TO lot 1

As you can see, the cards were in pretty nice shape. This guy is known for having red and black dots on the penny sleeves, which is a bit annoying. Sometimes, you have to stop and take a closer look at the card…is the mark on the sleeve or the card…what is it!

70 TO lot 2

I was really excited to pick up the lot of cards here and wanted to keep going, but i felt that i should move on…but i just couldn’t stop!!! I ended up getting through a row and a half of a 3500 count box. Really wanted to keep digging, but time and money was thin this day.

70 TO lot 3

As you can see i have 42 cards shown…i managed to get a little ahead of myself and in excitement ended up picking up duplicates of 3 other cards. Guess that’s what happens when you don’t have them collated. Not complaining, just saying.

All in all, i’m super excited about the condition of the cards and timing of the set build. I’ve been enjoying slowly…very slowly putting together the 60’s sets via awesome trades, show pick ups and COMC orders i have yet to complete. Hey, if you want to trade, take a look at my checklist here. 1970 Topps needs. The cards i have are noted as ‘1’ in the ‘Grade’ column…i know, confusing. I found the checklist online and didn’t have the desire to edit it…will do it at some point though. Let me know if you can help out…please keep in mind though, that i’m a little picky with my 70’s cards. 🙂

I also picked this guy up from the same table…the name did it for me! Made me giggle…

74 TO Fair Hooker

That’s it…more to come Friday, unless i can get something out tomorrow night. Until then, i leave you with a little something from my favorite band…and one of my favorite songs from said band.

Well, hello there…

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 7, 2017

Yeah, it’s been a while.

I’ve been on a bit of a blog hiatus.

Various reasons really. Work overload, tired, old, rainy cold days…and really feeling like my hobby was getting in the way of my amazing family. I was putting cards before my awesome little boy and my amazingly beautiful wife. It’s all about balance, which i’ve mentioned multiple times here. I think it’s really important…you know? The blog is fun and the hobby and collecting are also fun…but family first. The past few weeks, we’ve been able to see the snow at Mt. Hood and the ocean along the Oregon coast. It’s pretty amazing living in the Pacific Northwest…and i don’t want my hobby to get in the way of that.

That said, i do love doing this collecting things and writing about cards. It’s a great way to share my hobby with others…and really, connect with others…just like you!. With the multiple ways of connecting with other collectors, it’s not hard to find trade partners. Now, to be honest, i’ve made a few trades in the past that i’ve felt were not equal in return, so i’ve tried to steer clear of making trades with people i’m not too familiar with. Until one day…Shane from Off the Wall reached out to me regarding a couple Silver Pack cards i pulled…they were Red Sox, so i knew i wouldn’t be too upset to part with them…:) i kid Shane!!! He was nice enough to post a recap of the trade from his end HERE. So, after a very long delay…here is my post!

Shane and i went back and forth on twitter to work through some items i was looking for…i’m a difficult trade partner, because i don’t keep up with my checklist that well. Luckily though, Shane had quite a few cards to help out with my 1960’s set needs. The biggest chunk of cards was the 1969 set needs. Here are a few of the really nice lot of cards.

Next up, was a few cards to fill my 1963, 1966 and 1967 set needs. The way Billy looks at Hal, you would think they hate each other…but they don’t. There baseball cards…i think the whiskey is kicking in now…

The third lot of vintage Topps card needs is the currently popular 1968 Topps burlap set. Go get your Heritage needs filled kids!

Shane also helped out with my 2009 and 2010 Heritage needs…he made a huge dent in my lists, check it out.

It was so great to cross off most of these guys from my list…not to mention a bunch of these guys are SPs or small insert sets. Very cool

In case you don’t know, i collect Redskins. That’s the bulk of what i collect…of course you know that. Most of my card money goes to Redskins cards. Here’s a group of cards that Shane passed along to me in our trade.

I love the Joe Lavender cards. The shades are top notch…plus a Fleer action photo which aren’t the easiest to find!

Last card of the bunch is a card that i have…but love nonetheless. It’s a lovely Don Mattingly card. With Shane being a Red Sox fan, i’m sure he wasn’t too upset to part with the card…:)

Hey, that was a great trade…honestly, might be the best trade i’ve ever made. I was able to cross of a ton of stuff off my lists which these days is a very great thing.

Hope you guys are doing well and getting excited about the 2017 MLB season. I have quite a few things to post in the next few days or weeks, so lets go! Thanks for reading.

Blogging by Hand.

Posted by cardboard hogs on April 4, 2016

2016 MLB Day 1:3

2016-04-04 13.50.33

2016-04-04 13.50.38

2016 MLB Day 2:3

15 MC Bryce Harper 15 DK Bryce Harper 15 LC TF Brandon Scherff 15 PP TF Jamison Crowder

2016 MLB Day 3:3

1967 Topps lot 1 2016-04-04 20.51.47 2016-04-04 20.51.39 2016-04-04 20.51.30

Ode to the Glory days…not really.

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 7, 2015

The Redskins suck. I get it. They are a terrible football organization owned by a man who cannot make a good, sound football decision to save his fans lives. Each time they try something that seems like a good idea, it bottoms out and the wheels fall off way too often. One beacon of hope is the hiring of a legitimate, talent finding General Manager (Scot McCloughan) that has been highly involved with two, currently, well run organizations (Seahawks and 49ers…also Packers). They guy is an apparent scout savant. I’ve always wanted to be a savant at something. But my talent is limited and my skill-set has not reached great levels in anything of relevance. I am a pretty decent collector of things and at one time a great organizer of said things…but those days have been altered by life and the responsibilities of being a grown up.

Collecting cards and organizing them is a huge stress relief for me. I can get lost in them at times and love looking at the dated styes of the card design, jerseys and equipment. As i’ve finally gotten around to organizing my Redskin team sets and realized i have a gigantic amount of duplicates, i thought what better way to organize them then to make a Redskins Frankenset! Yes! A Frankenset. I will take all of the duplicates and numerically add them to a new binder filled with ultra pro platinum sheets purchased from my favorite LCS The Sports Room! Wonderful!

I’ve come up with a couple of basic rules:

1. no duplicates of the same set on each page, don’t be fooled by some of the images here, those are just cards behind missing spots in the binder.

2. all time favorites will get their card numbers, i.e. Art Monk get #81 and John Riggins gets #44. this may be tough as it could be difficult for some players…or not?

3. a unique player on each page, so no duplicate sets or players on the same page.

These are fairly generic as of now and i’ve still got quite a few cards to go through before i can add anything to the Frankenset, but it’s a start.

At some point, i will create a spreadsheet and track all of this wonderful stuff.

side note…Rickey went to Buffalo Wild Wings today for lunch but didn’t really want to make an appearance, Rickey doesn’t like wings apparently…

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…)

Box Break: 2013 Topps Magic Football

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 7, 2014

It’s been a while since i’ve picked up a box of cards. I have been doing my best to stay away from boxes of cards unless I plan to put the set together since I have terrible luck with the ‘hits’. I’m not a hit chaser and don’t plan to be one either…but I do love opening packs of cards. It takes me back to being a happy go lucky kid with $5 in my pocket riding my bike to the Stop’n Go for a few packs of 1986 Topps or Garbage Pail Kids and tall bottle of coke…man, those were the days. Back when $5 could get you way more than 8 cards to a pack.

As you can see from the title, the box is Magic Football from this year. Unlike the last couple of years, the rookie class isn’t too exciting…but I love this brand and here we go!

Card Design: 3.5 of 5

Just like the past couple of years, the base card design is pretty simple.

Topps does it’s best to give these cards a sort of retro look with the banner and stars. Nobody really does that anymore, do they? seems like a throwback to the 50’s. I’ve always felt like Magic is Topps version of Heritage for football, minus the copying of vintage designs. Instead of copying them verbatim, they take bits and pieces of the cards to create a ‘new throwback’ look, which i love.

I also like that they used a good solid card stock with no glossy finish. I’m kind of old school like that. The glossy cards are great and have a time and place, but i really enjoy a card that isn’t slippery or covered with texture. Just some nice smooth cardboard with a little friction. Such a weird comment…

Photography: 4 of 5

Photography, yes, photography. The photos are highly over processed and in most cases i despise this. Technology is a great thing, but a heavy hand can ruin a great photo.

I was quite impressed that Topps was able to get a photo (almost looks photoshopped, eh?) of Josh Freeman’s short lived stint with the Vikings (is he coming back to the Vikings next year?) As i’ve mentioned in previous posts, I enjoy photography and my wife is a professional photographer, so we have our fair share of HDR imagery discussion in our home. Fun huh?

This fairly new form of photo processing is everywhere now and definitely has its place…and I think sports card photography is that place.

The photos on these cards always look really sharp and you can see a lot of texture and depth on each card…i guess for some, this may make up for the lack of glossy-ness.

Look at that smile! And those Tattoos!

Look at those crazy eyes! And that old school mesh jersey top!

Hits: 3 of 5

As i’ve mentioned, I do not by boxes for the hits. I am not that type of collector. Magic does offer three autographs in their boxes along with the occasional relic or memorabilia card. The autographs are stickers though…ugh stickers…better than redemptions, but man an on card autograph is so great! Since the rookie class wasn’t too stellar this year, the autographs weren’t that stellar either.

Brandon Myers – New York Giants

Kayvon Webster – Denver Broncos

Khaseem Greene – Chicago Bears

Magic is owned by Topps, so they fill your box up with little hits and parallels and a whole bunch of other shit that makes collectors want to collect things they don’t really want to collect. Like some micro cards with Drew Brees and Arian Foster on them.

or how about some receiver action with Cal bookends of Keenan Allen and DeSean Jackson sandwiching Anquan Boldin from the base white mini.

How about some green border minis with these three dudes.

Or what about these black border minis!

and a Hall of Famer Blue Border mini!

I could have done without these groovy Aerial Attack inserts…but my wife loves Cam, so here honey.

The colors on this thing…holy crap…ho-lee-crap.

The Rookie Enchantments are back, but aren’t that enchanting.

Markus Wheaton for all of you Steeler fans out there.

and a Cordarelle Patterson card.

Desmond Trufant, a man that Steve Smith respects.

Review

All in all, i love the cards. I was really hoping to put together a set, but after seeing the 330 card set checklist and heavy dose of SP cards i’m not sure that’s gonna happen. I need to think about it. My collection is a bit chaotic right now and this won’t help with the chaos. I really wish Topps went a little lighter on the SP’s. A box of these guys won’t set you back too much, but if you plan on putting the set together you could be dropping well over $100 on this set and i’m not sure that’s worth it for this group of cards.

and a MINI!

Bacarri Rambo…the best name ever.

Hope you enjoyed the review…my pack breakdown for 2014 Topps will be up soon. I’m waiting for everyone else to release theirs before I put my thoughts out there. 🙂

A Panini Redemption, and it’s a Bear!

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 6, 2014

One more Panini redemption down and one more to go. Come on Panini America, you can do it! Get it done! Get those busy athletes that don’t care about sports cards to sign their autographs on a sheet filled with little 1 3/4″ x 5/8″ stickers. They love it. Tuned in to the latest Rick Ross song bumping through their beats by Dre headphones. C’MON PANINI!

Initially when i pulled this redemption of Jeffery, I wasn’t too excited. He a Gamecock and I’ve always been partial to the Clemson Tigers. I was born in South Carolina and all of my family is from there, so I picked the Tigers at a young age and never looked back. Now that Spurrier is coaching the cocks, i have even more dislike for them…Spurrier…yuck…Clowney is pretty awesome though. And so was Jeffery this past season.

In hindsight, this is actually a pretty decent hit. Unfortunately though, there isn’t a serial number on the card. It’s just a regular ol’ autograph on a nice card. Seeing the high quality of Jeffery’s auto, i can’t imagine it took him too long to get his pen on the sticker.

Quick stats. This card was redeemed on February 23, 2013 and it was pulled from my mailbox on February 5, 2014. Nearly a year, but not quite…348 days to be exact. Way to go Panini, keep those customers happy. Just for the record, i haven’t picked up any packs or boxes from Panini since last summer and I haven’t really missed it.

I apologize for sounding too negative, but the redemption thing in this hobby really needs to end. Of all the frustration this hobby brings on its collectors with parallels, topps control of the mlb contract and high price ‘hits’, the redemption is the most annoying. Waiting nearly a year to get one of your guaranteed hits from a box is simply ridiculous.

Leather Helmets and Art, Pt. VI

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 5, 2014

One more 1950 Bowman card!

I completely forgot about this guy…or maybe I ain’t no good at countin’ higher then five. Howie Livingston, number 24. My favorite number! This handsome young fella got his NFL start with the New York Football Giants. I can forgive him for that…you have to let these things go you know. These guys play football for a living and don’t have the same passion for their teams like we do. So you have to get over it and appreciate them when they are rocking the Burgundy and Gold or whatever color combinations your favorite team wears.

Like a lot of these mid century guys, there’s not much information out there without doing some serious research which I’m not too keen on doing at this point of the evening. A quick peek at his NFL stats lead you to believe he was quite a beast on the field. He had 9 picks in his first year in the NFL and 29 for his career. But, as you can see from the back of his card his position was halfback and hd also had 313 yards rushing in the same season. He was a dual threat before dual threats were dual threats.

This kid also punted!

Howie has a strong chin. I wish this card has some clouds or blue sky in the background. The bland green (is it really beige?) background needs a little life.

Leather Helmets and Art, Pt. V

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 3, 2014

The last card. Mr. Frank Spaniel from the University of Notre Dame.

And it’s my favorite card of the bunch.

Awesome imagery with Mr. Spaniel rushing towards the end of his short one year career. This card has all the makings of a wonderful piece of cardboard. Great color. Great facial reaction. Great hair…look at that freakin hair…it’s perfect. And the clouds, JEEBUS! The CLOUDS on a beige sky no less. I think a perfect blue sky may have blown my mind and I wouldn’t be able to write about this card. My only issue with this one is the kids thumb. It’s like a mutant thumb or maybe a regressive thumb stump. I wonder if it was chopped off in a table saw accident. Not sure why that would come to mind…there’s a kid that rides my bus. He’s a high school kid, super chatty and likes to sit next to me sometimes. One thing I am not is super chatty. Especially with strangers. Extra especially with strangers that could be my kid. Anyways, he was telling me a story about how he chopped off his finger with a kitchen knife one day on accident. Really! Is that the kind of thing you tell some random guy on a bus? I don’t think so. This is a perfect example of too much information from him and a case of the i don’t give a f***s from me.

Getting back to this 64 year old piece of cardboard. It’s pretty cool huh? I’m really loving these 1950 Bowman’s and think i have a couple more to pick up and one I may never be able to pick up. But that’s part of the chase right? Cards that are out of our financial reach and that you will never get to own? Maybe i can get one that’s severely damaged and has Giants scribbled on it or something? It’s all about the chase…