Well…damn…!!??!?!!?

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 20, 2017

We have a champion in the very first ever Cardboard Hogs contest…and it was a non-contested contest. The Winner…wait for it…GAVIN!! from my current hometown of Portland, Oregon and writer/blogger of the very entertaining Baseball Card Breakdown blog. I don’t believe i have your address, so it you wouldn’t mind passing me an email i’ll get something over to you that i hope you enjoy! Not sure i’m going to make it to the show the weekend…

In case you were wondering, here are the results…along with some other stuff.

DOOR #1 – $20

Rypien Monk Mann

Ok, brief story on this lot. This is the old guy, the new…old guy that had the vintage football. Seemed nice, very chatty…but there was something odd about him. He was a little more pushy than the other guys and was really doing a sell job on me. Normally i don’t like that and tend to wander off when i get that kind of vibe. I should have listened to my gut! When i pulled this lot of cards, i handed him the stack and said my usual “what’s my damage…?” his response was “…make me an offer!” I offered $10 thinking that was more than enough. $2 per card. In fact, i thought it was a little too high…Bill probably has all of these cards in his 7 for $5 boxes. Anyways, he LOL’d out loud and said “…the 24K gold card is $20 by itself!”. That’s the Charles Mann card. He could quite possibly be right, but card shows aren’t about getting top dollar for your cards. It’s about selling cards to collectors at negotiable prices that work for both parties. I was taken back by his counter and shockingly stared at the cards for what seemed like 2 minutes before sheepishly taking out a $20 and handing it to him. Retelling this story and reliving the moment, i’m quite upset with myself. I tend to be a fairly generous person and don’t mind getting the lesser end of the deal if i can make someone happy…but this was just a case of me getting taken advantage of…and it pissed me off…i’m still upset that i let myself accept that offer. I should have given him the cards back and walked off. I will certainly skip his table next time…if he’s there again. I can’t imagine he did much business in finding too many suckers last time.

DOOR #2 – $15

This is just some good ole’ Tom hooking me up. His table was my third stop and more than made up for the previous door…Now, Tom has a habit of overpricing his cards and then giving you a great deal on them. I think he does that so he an engage in conversation with the guys at the show. When he handed me that Jamison Crowder card with a $40 sticker, i was like nah SON! But, he smiled and said, “you know i’ll make a good deal for you.”

DOOR #3 – $25

These are a few gems from Kim. All relics or autos, most with serial numbers…and $5 more than door #1. This is why i enjoy hitting up Kim’s table. He has stuff set aside for me and i get great deals on them.

DOOR #4 – $10

Reed Seastrunk Jeffcoat

So, the last door was from the military vet. This is another guy that over prices his cards with the label, but is more than happy to negotiate a deal quickly and easily. He’s the autograph guy that is more interested in moving things than keeping them. I had offered him $15 for the lot and was scrambling around for a $5 to go with my $10 and he said “…$10 is fine…” That’s how you treat a customer at a mall show i say!!

So there you have it kids. Don’t let people take advantage of you and do not hesitate to negotiate…don’t be a sucker like me!

Today is the first day of spring and my mid year birthday…tomorrow is my son’s…kinda cool that we basically share birthdays. So, in honor of none of that…here’s a video from a TEDx conference in Wisconsin by Michael Ford…very cool connection of Hip Hop and Architecture. Check it out.

Let’s Make a Deal! or not?

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 13, 2017

When i was in elementary school, my grandma would pick me up after class. Sometimes we’d head straight to the house and other times we would make a pit stop for a snack or late lunch. Her favorite spot was the Sonic in Schertz. It was one of those older drive ins, and like they still do today, they would bring the food out to your car…sometimes in roller skates! These were great times, simpler times…easier times.

My grandma was a TV freak and had to watch all of her shows. This was before she had a VCR, so we’d have to get through those burgers, fries and shakes quickly so we could get home to watch Monty Hall and Let’s make a Deal on the tele. Grandma was from England. I loved the show, not so much because of the premise of choosing some random “prize” behind doors 1, 2 or 3, but because of the wacky ass outfits the people wore. Granny enjoyed the show because she liked to go on ‘winning streaks’ of picking the right door…again, simpler times back then. If you are unaware of the show, you should definitely check it out. It’s like a three card molly scam where nobody really walks away a winner…why are they dressed like that!

So, that brings me to some cards…the last show i went to, unplanned, i stopped by a new guys table and chatted him up a bit. He seemed like a nice older guy and kinda reminded me of my grandpops. Had a similar look from what i could cobble together from my cloudy memory…it’s been 25 years since he passed. There was something about the guy that made me want to hang out. I began to sift through his cards and was pleased to see that he had some odd ball cards and a ton of vintage football stuff…mostly 49ers though. Since most of his collection was 49ers, i didn’t get too many cards but was able to pick out a few i needed for my master collection.

DOOR #1

Rypien Monk Mann

Next stop was Tom’s table. Tom was my original go-to guy at the show…it’s been close to 8 years since i first met him. He works at Check out my Cards during the week and does the shows on the weekends. He’s really helped me through the years with filling out some Heritage set needs, plus he’s a great guy to talk to. Here’s what i picked up from his table at the last show.

DOOR #2

Next table for some Redskins cards. My new go-to guy, Kim. Kim is great. He’s always incredibly nice and friendly as well. Plus he always has way too many cards for me to sort through with incredible deals. He tends to deal more with the big hits and pricier cards but always comes through with a great deal. Here’s what i got from Kim.

DOOR #3

Last stop. Last door. The veteran Marine autograph guy. Not too sure about this dude. Seems friendly…maybe not. Has a ton of autographs from people of all walks of life. Chasing famous people for autographs isn’t really my thing, but it’s always cool to see what he has. Sometimes he has a nice new lot of cards that i can sort through…most of the time i end up passing his table without picking anything up, but today i got a few autograph cards. (i know, i know…it’s supposed to be three doors, but just roll with me on this.)

DOOR #4

Reed Seastrunk Jeffcoat

Okay kids. It’s time to play LET’S MAKE A DEAL!!!

Here’s the deal, i’m going to do a bit of a game…or a contest as the kids say. The first person to correctly guess the cost of each lot will win a nice little gift pack of their favorite team from my collection. Closest to the correct answers win, along with some kind of tie breaker i guess.

Here’s a list of possible prices for each lot: $5 | $10 | $15 | $20 | $25 | $30 | $35

I’ll post the winner next Monday, March 20th…the first day of Spring…and my mid year birthday!!

One of a kind

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 2, 2017

In my endless journey to collect every single unique Redskin card that man, woman and child has ever made, i have to understand my limitations. Whether they are due to fiscal inability or levels of rarity that would make winning the lottery easier, i must pursue, pursue, pursue…or collect, collect, collect! What that means is when i have the chance to pick up a card that is rare…10 copies or less…maybe, actually 5 or less…i gotta do it…assuming I can afford said card. The real issue comes in to play when the old printing plates cross my eyes.

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Printing Plates are annoying. I would venture to say that most of us would wholeheartedly agree to those four words. They are FREAKIN’ ANNOYING!. At first i thought they were a cool little insert in packs and something that was part of the card production process. A truly unique, one of a kind insert. But now, there are multiple printing plates for multiple card sets each year, and as a team collector it makes me feel the need to put them on my checklists…knowing good and damn well that i won’t ever get the majority of them…or possibly any of them. They are One of One after all. Last Saturday though, I had a chance to pick one up from Kim at the show and this was it.

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It’s from the 2013 Panini National Treasures set, card #100 of Robert Griffin III. Now a former Washington Redskin(s). The thing that’s baffling to me and printing plates is their price. This card you see here was marked at $20 and i probably got it for around $10 (bought a bunch of cards so it’s hard to say exactly). Now, i’m no economics expert, but neither is your President of the United States…but i would think that a second year card of an NFL QB that is the only one of its kind in the entire world would fetch upwards of $100. Possibly even more, tens of hundreds maybe, but no, not today, not at this show.

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Now, i get that RGIII isn’t the same RGIII in 2017 as RGIII was in 2012…or 2013 RGIII. But it’s still a 1/1 card! I feel like a fool for complaining about this pick up, but it just seems really odd to me and my marginal understanding of basic economics. Regardless, i now own it and am pretty pleased with the card. it is quite lovely and has a nice weight to it. It’s thicker than most of the other plates that i have, which is great because most of those are dinged or dented or bent(ed). This one just has some printer roller streaking, maybe that’s RGIII fleeting career moving past him quickly and on to the next guy, not quite sure.

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Another thing that i think is a little crazy about these printing plates is that i normally end up with the Black versions, not the Cyan, not the Magenta and definitely not the Yellow. I may have a couple Cyan and Magenta ones…but i don’t believe i have any Yellow plates. Could it be that the Yellow Uno/Uno plates are even more rare? Maybe the rarest of them all?

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Idiotic, i know…there’s one of each of the CMYK printing process plates randomly inserted in your packs, boxes and cases…but it just seems odd to me. Cue Rod Sterling…

…That’s all i got for today

I saw The Founder tonight with Michael Keaton, he wasn’t physically there, he was on the screen, but it would have been pretty cool to see the movie with him. I have a couple questions about Mr. Mom and Gung Ho i’d like him to answer anyways. Getting back on track…It’s the story of Ray Kroc and how he brazenly took the McDonalds model ~~nationwide~~ worldwide and became a billionaire of the seemingly kind McDonald brothers. (Nick Offerman is a man crush of mine.) It was a good movie, not epic, but entertaining. Watch it if you get a chance!

Here’s a one of a kind from Slug and Ant…AKA Atmosphere.

Rookie gambles

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 15, 2016

“…the kids better buy my rookie card now

cause after this year the price ain’t going down!”

These words were uttered by the lyrically inclined, Mos Def…or Yasin Bey.

The value of rookie cards have been a part of non-card collectors for many years and often referenced in pop culture. Maybe not necessarily the value of a card, but the understanding that rookie cards generally carry a significantly greater value or general demand over non rookie cards.

I’ve never been a gambler, nor have i been a prospector. I’m a collector, a team collector. A team collector of an NFL franchise that has not been great for a few years and are faced with a high draft pick each year in the Spring NFL draft. Typically a high NFL draft, assuming an offensive player or skilled defensive player will have valuable rookie cards. When they are drafted by the Redskins, i have a collectors obligation to pick them up. Typically, the sooner the better for me. Problem is though, you never know how a guy is going to pan out in his athletic career. Case in point, this guy.

In 2012, i bought way too many boxes of football cars in hopes of pulling ONE…just ONE autographed RGIII card. Never. Not once did i have my wish granted…ironically though, i did manage to pull two Kirk Cousins cards that year. At the time, i was slightly disappointed…that’s what it came to, i was disappointed to have a back up guy, not the main guys autograph, i mean c’mon man RGIII was the future! As you may be able to tell from the card above, he is a distant memory for all Redskins fans now and something the Cleveland Browns are forced to deal with. Now, don’t get me wrong i have some great memories, some not so great ones too, but the drama with this guy…not to mention the fragility with which he played. Point is, you have to be patient and know when to strike on these young guys. I think i’ve learned my lesson a bit and have managed to make a few good pick ups from the past couple of card shows with Kim. Here are the few top Redskins rookies and cards with autographs.

I’ve written about this guy a lot. The main reason is that i’m feeling like he may be another Malcolm Kelly or Devin Thomas or Michael Westbrook or Rod Gardner or…you get the idea. A highly touted rookie WR that isn’t able to meet the expectations.

Doctson has missed most of the season and who knows what the future will bring. With the lull in his playing this year though, it’s time to swoop in and pick up some autos.

I’ve been able to pick up a few for less than $5 each. Not bad for a first round draft pick, skilled position player autograph and or jersey.

Another guy that i’ve been putting together a nice collection of is Nate Sudfeld. A back up QB…worked well last time, why not try again! I don’t believe Nate has suited up for any regular season games this season, which is great because that means Cousins has played great and has been healthy. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Kirk Cousins and hope the Redskins can sign him to a long term contract and hope that he is the long term answer. But you need a backup and a good backup at that. Worst case, he gets traded and stars somewhere else and i’m able to flip these guys for more Redskins.

The digital camoflauge is always something cool to see on a card. The autograph of Nate though…it needs some work. I think these kids are asked to initial the stickers, not autograph them…oy!

Next rookie that i haven’t really started my pursuit of but need to step it up a bit is Su’A Cravens. He was a huge fan of Sean Taylor as a young’n and his play in some respects reflects the same intensity that Sean had. Su’A is an intense young man that hits hard and plays with enough intensity to become playmaker in the future, so now is the time to strike if you ask me!

Last kid for the night is Keith Marshall. A rookie running back from the University of UGA…or Georgia. Don’t know much about this kid since he was injured in the preseason and has been on IR all season…you can never have enough RB’s, especially the fast ones which i believe he is.

I’m thinking of posting some Bowman cards i’ve picked up recently after i do some research on the nicer cards i pulled.

Hope you enjoyed the cards today.

Here for your viewing pleasure…Pharoahe Monche, Mos Def and Nate Dogg…OH NO!!

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.