Super Rookie Rypien

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 24, 2015

Mark Rypien.

The last Super Bowl winning Redskin QB.

The last.

1992.

Holy Nuts! it’s been a long time since my team was the best in the NFL. I was a junior in high school when the Redskins won their last Super Bowl. Now, i am not a junior in anything at all…nothing. I’m actually closer to Senior in a few things.

That’s all irrelevant to the fact that this lovely piece of junk wax was graded a Mint 9 by PSA. This one only set me back a couple dollars, not enough to buy a lunch with as Rypien isn’t a highly coveted player unless of course you are a Redskins sycophant.

Rypiens’ career wasn’t wonderful, but he had a couple good seasons with the Redskins and, oh yeah, he won the Super Bowl in a season where the offense was nearly unstoppable. Rypien has become quite the golfer and is somewhat of a local celebrity around the Pacific NW. It would be great to run in to him one day and thank him for making my junior year somewhat memorable.

Big League Clark

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 23, 2015

Here is the NFL version of Gary Clark’s rookie card. I did a post of his USFL rookie card that i picked up for free and was a wonderful addition, but as a Redskins collector, I wanted the Redskins rookie! And i got it here. This card set me back around $8-$10 or a graded 9. I saw a couple of 10’s going for $20+ which seemed a little crazy to me…and i don’t like crazy.

I remember Gary Clark being a really intense and passionate guy. This photo exemplifies that personality to it’s fullest. He seems disgruntled or maybe even pissed. I’m guessing Jay Schroeder threw a pick while Clark was wide open down the sidelines…you know how that goes.

Green Lightning

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 22, 2015

Next in line of the Redskins graded cards is Darrell Green. A man of amazing speed and quickness as well as the heart and soul of the franchise for many years. Green is also a Texan which is cool.

He is also graded and in my collection. This little gem was a graded 9 and in very nice condition although as with most of these 80’s cards it’s a tad off center, that’s not just the angle of the photo. It’s a lil off. I love the old school jersey on this card too. Reminds me of the high school football jerseys the kids used to wear with the gigantic shoulder pads. I’m really hoping Breeland can pick up the torch that hasn’t really been carried by anyone in the secondary since Green did it. The Redskins have had some wonderful talent (Bailey, Taylor) in the secondary but haven’t endured like Green has…maybe Bashaud Breeland can be the next guy.

Profile of a Monk

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 21, 2015

Art Monk.

Easily my all time favorite Redskin. Hand’s down, my favorite. I loved his humility and consistency. He is the kind of athlete I would want my kid to be, someone you can be proud of and know that he has a ton of respect for the game and has zero problems in doing the work to be great. There aren’t too many guys like this any more and I don’t think he ever really got enough respect after his career was over. But he is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and when he retired was #1 on the all time catch list. That’s pretty good.

I have a couple copies of this card. One that i’ve had the longest is beaten to crap and actually has a couple of holes in it. I thought of using it for the wallet card challenge but decided against it this year but maybe next year? This card seems to be pretty perfect to my laymen’s eyes but it only yielded an 8. Guess it doesn’t really matter…i’m happy with it being slabbed and protected until i don’t want it to be slabbed anymore…kind of thought of shifting to Beckett graded cards for everything 1980’s and beyond but decided to keep it PSA. Anyone have thoughts on PSA vs. Beckett for grading modern cards? I’ve seen arguments for both sides but modern cards seem to carry greater value and graded with Beckett grading. I wasn’t a huge fan of graded cards for a while but feel that a few in my collection are a nice touch!

Joey Sunshine

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 20, 2015

Joe Theismann is one of those guys that a lot of people don’t like. He talks a lot and has strong opinions that may not always stay the same day to day. But really, who doesn’t change their mind and who doesn’t like a good story teller. For me, he was the QB for my childhood team and led my guys to back to back Super Bowls. Unfortunately, he only one the first one but should have easily won the second one over the Los Angeles Raiders. But that’s not what this is about. This is about his NFL rookie card, not his CFL Rookie card, that’s a white wale or Holy Grail if that’s what we are calling it now?

This was another pick up over the summer months and was picked up for a fairly good price. The photo is pretty terrible though? It’s dark and shadowy. Wouldn’t fly in today’s hi-tech photography and editing programs that exist, not to mention there is so much noise in the background that it really tends to detract from Joey Sunshine. Either way, it’s a lovely piece to add to my collection.

Afro Diesel

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 19, 2015

Since i’ve been getting back in to the whole blogging lifestyle, i thought it would be cool to show off some of the purchases i’ve picked up over the past few months…mostly summer pick ups.

This week i wanted to focus on the graded Redskins rookie cards. Obviously, i didn’t want to blow my budget on all of these cards but wanted something really nice to add to my collection. Initially i wanted to shoot for 9+ cards but realized very quickly that most of those cards were a little ridiculous in price, so as i’ve done with most things in my life, i lowered my expectations.

The first card is of one of my most favorite football players, John Riggins aka Riggo aka Diesel. My very first jersey was of John Riggins and his #44 when i was 7. Now, you have to understand that i grew up in San Antonio and this was the early 80’s. A time when the Cowboys rivalry with the Redskins was serious and fierce. Both teams seemed to meet in the playoffs each year and there was a lot of hatred for the Redskins where i grew up. But i didn’t care. I loved the Hogs and the Diesel.

This little gem is in pretty nice shape although the centering is off just a tad. The 8.5 seems to be a little high maybe? I’m not card grader and i was happy with the price on this one, so I couldn’t pass it up.

John Riggins was one of those players that was kind of a bad ass that would plow through the defensive line and sway defensive back away like annoying gnats. Kinda like what Marshawn Lynch has been doing in recent years. Riggo has managed to take great care of himself after retirement and stays busy. Still a little crazy and an off beat personality but he’s doing well for himself.

Holy Grail?

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 15, 2015

Well, not quite, but this USFL Gary Clark rookie card (his true RC) has been a card that i’ve always wanted. I realize it’s probably not that difficult to find, but every time i saw the card it was a little too expensive or dinged or a part of set that I didn’t want to buy. Not this one though, it was actually free. Well, free with strings attached. I picked it up at the Mall 205 card show a few weeks ago from my new favorite table, Kim. He always has a ton of Redskins ready for me and i am more than happy to hand over some cash for what he has. I picked up a few gems from him and paid but decided to dig a little more in case i missed something new and exciting when i stumbled across this card.

He just gave it to me. It was only marked at $5 and i would have paid for it regardless, but getting it for free was a much better deal. Nice little addition for the Gary Clark cards.

Pre-Christmas LCS visit

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 13, 2015

I had a great holiday break and was able to get a couple of weeks off from work. That also meant that I had the kid with me most of those two weeks and had to plan fun adventures for him. The first and most funnest adventure I could possibly think of was taking him to the LCS down the street. Seriously, what kid wouldn’t want to visit a card shop with expensive pieces of cardboard, wooden bats and autographed baseballs…seriously…The adventure was a bit of a mis step on my part, but Rick was fantastic with him running around the store, plus we got there so early that nobody was in the shop. That was a great way to keep my level of embarrassment down to a minimum. The kid did manage to get in to some trouble, but overall was fantastic and most important, he did not break anything. Well, nothing that I noticed. Haven’t been back since.

Rick has always been generous with me and offers up a few free items each time I go in. Nothing major, but free is always cool. This time though, the free card went to the little kid and it was a very nice Derek Jeter card from 2008. Our kid actually looked at the card in sort of confused/excited sort of way. He tends to keep away from my cards since i’m very protective of them. Not to mention he’s managed to wreak havoc on a couple of them already.

During the slightly chaotic visit i was able to pick up a couple Redskin rookie cards…which, are unfortunately no longer Redskins. Lache is a practice squad Panther last i checked, which is cool. I like the Panthers and hope he gets a chance to shine next season. He is crazy fast and quick but couldn’t seem to make the team this year. If the Redskins have one area of decent depth, it’s at running back.

I also picked up the Cody Hoffman rookie card from Prizm. I thought this kid would make the practice squad this year but was off and on and I believe he was cut just after a few weeks in to the season for good. Not sure if he will pick up somewhere else, but I could use this card for the team set!

During the visit we also managed to finagle a few junk wax packs of 1991 Pacific and 1990 Donruss baseball. Cards which Rick was more than happy to just let us have. I’m sure he would not have minded us taking a few more for the road…maybe next time.

Podoley Mail Day!

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 8, 2015

Mr. Hog got some mail today from the electronic bay. A very nice copy of Jim Podoley’s 1959 Topps card graded PSA 8. Quite a nice card with no real visible marks or scuffs on the surfaces. I’m guessing it was graded an 8 due to the off centering as the corners are pretty sharp.

Jim played for the Redskins for four seasons (1957-1960) making the Pro Bowl in 1957. He crossed the end zone 13 times which isn’t too bad considering how poorly the team played during that stretch going 13-31-4…wretched! Although you would never know it with a smile like that!

Looking at Jim’s stat’s he looks to have been the old timey version of a deep threat or had ridiculous YAC totals racking up an average gain of 23.8 yards for his 16 receptions.

Unfortunately, Jim passed away in 2010 from melanoma…please remember to get your moles checked, wear sunblock and stay out of the sun as much as possible…for real. That cancer is no joke.

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.