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.

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…

Christmas Eve Pickups

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 24, 2013

I had an extra hour today because I decided that work was so slow that I shouldn’t be there. I left to run some errands and was able to get over to see the fine folks at Hoopla sports cards. I had been in there many times, but never really had the time to look around. They have a ton of stuff and are super friendly guys, so they helped me find a couple of things I was looking for…and of course some other things I didn’t know I needed.

As my building of the Tim Duncan collection begins, my main focus is on base cards and cards that I just like the look of. Getting in to basketball cards is completely different…they don’t wear protective head wear so you get a great look at each players face. Here are two pictures of Timmy’s emotionless face. So stoic.

I also picked up my first jersey card of Duncan. That is one BIG STAR.

I love the overhead view in this card. There was a guy in the shop opening some high end version of Hockey cards…man, Hockey cards are REALLY AWESOME. As an amateur photographer, I love the contract of the white ice and the colorful jerseys. I’ve noticed some of these nice contrasts in the basketball cards…but not this one per se.

Here are a couple of cards i didn’t know existed of Ryan Kerrigan and Jarvis Jenkins. I also picked up Paul, Helu and Royster…but I like these guys more so I scanned them instead.

The next one is a beauty. A Stephen Davis Turkey Red jersey card. This card is all kinds of wonderful and cost me $2. Not bad at all for a jersey card.

This is where it gets fun. Heath Shuler. He was a highly touted QB coming out of Tennessee and was to be the face of the franchise for years to come. His QB guru head coach was going to groom him in to the next Troy Aikman, or at least some other great Hall of Fame QB.

A lack of pocket presence and multiple injuries helped derail his career along with inability to really learn the offense that was tailored to fit his specific athletic abilities.

Luckily for the Redskins, they drafted another QB…you know, just in case The Man didn’t work out. Why does this sound so familiar…?

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.

#PaniniPylon Prizm 1/1 – Ryan Kerrigan

Posted by cardboard hogs on May 30, 2013

The next card from the Panini Pylon auction is Ryan Kerrigan.

Ryan has been solid in his first two NFL seasons and is starting to build a decent career in DC. Hopefully he can play a full season with a healthy Brian Orakpo opposite him and have a dominating season in 2013. Seeing Orakpo and Kerrigan bookended at the line of scrimmage would surely cause some heartache for the NFC East quarterbacks.

There are no great stories with this card other than I finally learned how to bid properly and not get too excited with online auctions!

Ryan Kerrigan, a Buccaneer??!!?

Posted by cardboard hogs on May 15, 2013

I realize that i’m crazy late here, but why did Topps do this?

I know it’s always nice to be first, but why did they feel the need to jump out ahead of everyone on the 2011 NFL Draft and basically do a Mock Draft of manufactured patches…and be wrong? I’ve seen the Cam Newton version of this card with the Redskins patch…in hindsight, i’m glad that was not the case. Kerrigan has proven himself to be a pretty good Defensive End and of course…RG3 is in DC.

Mall 205 Card Show

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 11, 2013

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a card show and since my last post, so I will tackle both in one post this evening!

Each month, we have a show at Mall 205 here in the Portland area. Not sure why they do these things in a strip mall, but that’s how they do it up here I guess. Maybe they pick up residual traffic from mall shoppers? I don’t know. It provides a great opportunity for me to get new deodorant at Target, some new kicks at the Famous Footwear (remember that name…) and chase it all down with a slice of pizza from the place no longer called pizza schmizza although it still looks like a pizza schmizza.

As of late, I’ve been on a purging phase and have managed to get rid of a bunch of CD’s at the local Everyday Music and have some cash for the card shows. So, I had a slightly bigger budget than normal for this trip…the excitement builds. In general, I don’t go to these shows with goals or objectives because I tend to look for the same stuff and hit up the same tables. This time though I really wanted to pick up some new Robinson Cano and Rickey Henderson cards along with any shiny new Redskins cards I didn’t already have. I was only successful with the latter goal.

Having gone to these shows for the past couple of years now, I’ve developed a rapport with a few of the guys and gravitate to their tables first. My first stop is always Tom. Somehow he manages to have some new Redskin stuff for me each time at fantastic prices. He’s always personable and friendly as well as having a tremendous amount of great cards. In my visit with him, he pulls out this triple auto card with RGIII on it that I can only manage to drool over. No idea how much it was and really didn’t want to know…it was too much for me, but a beautiful card no less. I walked away with a new orange Kerrigan card and a serial numbered Fred Davis along with a couple other items.

$11 TC Ryan Kerrigan Orange Refractor$

After Tom’s table, I typically just move down the line knowing the other tables I want to visit will have some good stuff for me. I worked down the line and ran into a new guy, Greg who had some nice stuff to offer. He dropped a Kirk Cousins auto Prizm and Alfred Morris in front of me…$10…why, yes, thank you.

The next couple of items I picked up came from a couple of different tables at good prices…can’t go wrong with any RGIII in my mind.

One table I visited was very interesting. The guy was selling DVD’s, comics and had a box of cards with a really nice and shiny Derek Jeter on top…so I stopped to take a peek. His sign said ‘this box $1 each’, but he tells me that if I buy 5 cards or more, I can have them for 50cents each…hmmm. If I buy 4 cards, that will be $4 but if I buy 5…it will set me back $2.50. I used to be really good at math and from what I can recall it was in my best interest to max out my purchase at this guys table. Unfortunately, I only managed to pick up 5 items. 4 Jeters and my only Rickey Henderson of the show.

As I worked my way to one of my new favorite table, for some reason I have never asked for the guys name…but I always spend a good amount of money on his stuff. He always has great stuff and gives you a nice deal…plus he’s really cool. I was sifting through his 50% off box when I heard some loud cursing. I turned to see some kid darting out of the aforementioned Famous Footwear with some new Nike kicks in his hand. The kid was fast, but I can see that corporate check on those sneaks a mile away.

THE KID WAS HELLA FAST!

He was being chased out of the mall by Paul Blart’s slimmer brother, well, slightly slimmer and Segway-less. This mall cop had no chance, but it was a valiant effort. I should have offered him a slice of my Hawaiian pizza, they were on sale that day…daily special.

Anyways, back to marked down cardboard. Homeboy hooked me up with some RGIII goodies along with an Aldrick Robinson auto and a Ryan Torain auto that I’ve passed up many times. At least I can cross it off my imaginary list.

Last stop before my wife kills me for being late. New table, friendly guy and great cards that were marked down to 80% off. 80% off! Why in the hell would I pay retail when I can get great cards for 80% off! The guy had a few boxes of nice serial numbered cards with Clinton Portis and Santana Moss cards that I could use for my PC. Unfortunately most of the cards were in their previous teams kits, but still guys I loved to watch.

01 UD Santana Moss Game Gear Jersey510:1000

04 PP Clinton Portis Jersey 39:100

02 TD Santana Moss 139:199

All in all, a great show that included great deals, food and a petty crime. Can’t beat that at all. I ended up staying under my budget and walked out a happy guy…plus it was sunny and warm on a March day in Portland, Oregon. Life is good

One last thing, I couldn’t help but notice this sign and think of The Chronicles of Fuji.

Hogs out!

The boxes of neglect…

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 27, 2013

This new blog was an attempt at therapy for me and a way to connect better with my favorite hobby. Unfortunately, life always seems to get in the way…as it does and doing one post a week has become difficult. This is by no means me waving the surrender flag, but more of an apology to the blog itself for my neglect. With that in mind i am going to attempt to up the ante and do two blog posts a week, one on Wednesday and one on Sunday…we will see how that all works out.

Another task that i have thoroughly neglected with my collection is the purging i promised myself and my wife. I’ve gotten to the point of putting the cards to be sold into a nice empty white box, which is now a grey dusty filled box. The biggest problem is the time involved with this task along as well as the difficulty in dealing with the fine folks on ebay. The scanning and describing and mailing aspect seems insurmountable at times, especially with a 4 month old. A new short term goal is to get a few dozen posts before February…it would be nice to have some loot back in my paypal account as well…to buy more cardboard.

The last item of note to get off my chest is this Washington Redskins shoebox that needs some serious sorting and organizing. I would say that i’ve done a wonderful job at purchasing cards through checkoutmycards.com, the two card shows in town and my favorite local card shop, The Sports Room. But i’ve done a terrible job at organizing them. I know for a FACT that i purchased two Ryan Kerrigan autographs from COMC at about $8 each. Not the worst thing in the world, but that money could have gone to another card i don’t already have. I could also use this time to figure out what RGIII cards I have and which ones i can afford to purchase. So, i’m hoping to get this going on the next few weeknights around the Riddle house here…work be damned!