The Last Post…and a farewell to a Villain

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 31, 2020

This year has finally come to an end. An unforgiving parallel universe of a year where wrong was right and low was even further lower than we could all imagine. Maybe it was the end of a bad dream, the kind of nightmare where you’re about to crash into a concrete wall, screeching brakes being hammered to the floor, arms off the wheel to cover your eyes, barreling towards the wall and nanoseconds before impact you wake up. Sweating. Shaking. Breathing heavily. Saying to yourself, “what the hell just happened!” The nightmare has ended…for now, but is it really over? What will ’21 bring for us? I would love to see an overcorrection from the wrong to the right and some goodness be brought to everyone. More generosity and kindness. Less judgement and crassness towards others. Can we live our lives in a manner that we want to without condescension? I sure hope so.

I love this hobby, I love it dearly. It brings me great joy. In a world where I have marginal control over things, I can control my collection.

It’s there when I need it to regroup emotionally…I’m a highly anxious person.

It’s there when I’ve had a rough day and need to zone out…I worry too much about others opinions.

It’s there when I need a new organizing project and get an idea in the middle of the night…I got some OCD too.

Our hobby is fantastic. A lot has changed about it this past year.

I hope it keeps evolving.

I hope the people that are new are welcomed with open arms.

I hope the new people take some history lessons and learn about our hobby.

I hope we let people collect what and how they want to collect.

For 2021, I will be more involved in helping to make this hobby great. Reaching out to bloggers, twitter folks, flippers, old-school collectors and the new ones as well. I plan to buy more from my LCS than eBay, but I also plan to sell more on eBay. I want to find a happy middle where I can enjoy the hobby without feeling like I am going to strangle myself financially. Creating a net zero cost of cards is the ultimate goal, not sure how that will get done. The architecture and build portion of the world is attempting to reduce carbon emissions significantly with the 2030 challenge, but this is nothing like that.

I just want to have fun with these pieces of cardboard and card stock and shiny whatever the hell they are materials. I hope you do too!

***

With the end of the year usually comes collecting or personal goals. I’m not going to list anything, I think that’s mostly been covered by the manifesto above. So, instead, I’d like to take the time to update the annual wallet card and take a look back.

I started carrying a card in my wallet quite a few years ago. It was a way to always keep the hobby with me wherever I went. Every once in a while the card would be exposed to other people and it would start a conversation, or maybe just some ridicule from some colleagues…architects can be a judgmental group, ya know?

At some point along the way, I’ve lost a few cards…but here’s what I’ve got since I started the blog.

2020: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees 1999 Pacific Paramount, card #162

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2019: Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves 1987 Topps, card #490

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2018: Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins 1992 Pro Set, card #90

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2017: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees 2014 Gypsy Queen, card #N174-DJ

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2016: Art Monk, Washington Redskins 1985 Topps, card # 185

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2015: Rickey Henderson, New York Yankees 1986 Topps, card #500

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2014: Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins 1990 Pro Set, card #333

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2013: Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers 1991 Topps Archives, card #1

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AND NOW, FOR TWO-THOUSAND TWENTY ONE! THE NEW WALLET CARD IS (drumroll…)

2021: Santana Moss, Washington Redskins 2006 Topps, card #245

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I know, I know…I can hear the clapping through the keyboard!

***

OK, so when I woke up this morning I was thinking about the best video I could share with you all today. Something fun and positive and light-hearted to ring the new year in. I was getting distracted during the day and everything was getting away from me. When I sat down to start writing I first jumped on twitter to get an update on this mad world we’re living in…and my heart sank when I saw that MF Doom has passed away…shit shit shit shit. He was one of my favorite MC’s…crazy entertaining and a tremendous wordsmith. Lots of double entendre’s and just some good ol’ hip hop metaphors. At this point, I’m not sure what took his life as he was only 49 (4 years older than me). The one thing that can make me smile is that he actually passed away on Halloween of this year. That’s gotta be the most MF Doom thing ever. For the uninitiated, he was wore a ‘gladiator’ mask and was well known for skipping out on shows but still having someone perform for him…the mask helped with that endeavor. Not sure of the reason for keeping his passing quiet for two months, but that’s none of my business really. If you have the time, please take a listen to the video below of his collaboration with the producer Madlib for the quintessential MC and producer hip hop album. It’s a classic.

MADVILLAIN – MADVILLAINY

Also, check out his earlier work with KMD as Zev Love X and music from his other aliases; King Geedorah, King Ghidra, Viktor Vaughn, Metal Fingers, King Dumile and Metal Face. He also did some work with 3rd Bass back in the day…enjoy. Have a Happy New Year, hug your loved one, tell them you love them and stay safe out there.

-Cardboard Hogs!

Sittin’ on Chrome

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 18, 2020

Retail is crazy man, insane really. I remember not that long ago when we would all laugh and joke about spending (read wasting) a Jackson on a blaster from Topps or Panini at your local Target or Wal-Mart. We would go as far as saying, I spent $20 bucks on cards from COMC or Sportlots or eBay and got a whole bunch of fill in the blanks that I needed for my PC!!! Yeah, I was one of those guys…but something happened.

What was it?

Greed?

FOMO?

COVID-19?

Social Media?

No. It was Gary Fuckin’ Vee!!!

Well, not really. It was a bit of all of those things…(side note, I have nothing against Gary Vee or what he has brought to the hobby, any interest in the hobby in my mind is a good thing) every one of those, plus more than what I mentioned. I’m sure of it.

Crazy times ya’ll.

So with retail evolving into sneaker heads land and lines waiting for new releases or limited editions of whatever’s new, my thirst for retail has grown. Grown more out of the FOMO category more than anything else, but also just enjoying a good cheap rip once in a while. I like to open cards. I would venture to say we all do, or at least the vast majority of us…I need to do a better job of not speaking for others…I never depended on anything from Target to build a collection around, just something that was inexpensive that I could open on a Tuesday night…fill some need for instant gratification…and go on with my life. A few years ago I began hording boxes. I’d buy a box or two but not open them, you know? Just buy them.

Saving them for a rainy day.

Saving them for a day that didn’t go as I had planned.

Saving them for a long week of work.

Saving them for something to write about on a blog I abandoned.

Saving them for something cool to break.

I could pick up blasters of cards that I’m not super interested in, but like to have just to get an idea of what they look like…I like design and I like sports, so sports cards fill both of those buckets for me…but also the rip factor.

That has obviously come to a screeching halt during the past six plus months, but I have still managed to accumulate a few tasty samples from Target and Wal-Mart as well as from my LCS’s Hoody’s and The Sports Room.

The first two locales for an acquisition are great because the’re based on MSRP…no ‘flippity flip flipper-life’ markups. There’s no LCS overhead cost markup or anything else that would make the box more than they should be. Trust me (you know this too), retail boxes should not be going for these nutso upticked prices.

…HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT PRIZM FOOTBALL IS GOING FOR ON EBAY, HOLY SMOKES!!!!…

The hobby shops are a bit of a different story, there’s a markup. The great folks over at Hoody’s though, didn’t do too much for this box of Topps Chrome 2020 I picked up a couple months ago. $35 for a $20 box. Nothing too egregious I guess…?

The packs are lovely aren’t they, Mr. Pete Alonso and some honeycomb corners for the exciting Sepia Refractor Pack. Let’s see if this was worth the $35!

Here are the results of the box and the ‘bonus sepia pack’

*****

PACK ONE

Joey Gallo and Bobby Bradley

AJ Puk ’85 Insert and Luis Urias

*****

PACK TWO

JD Martinez and Austin Nola

Robel Garcia Prism Refractor and Ian Desmond

*****

PACK THREE

Archie Bradley and George Springer

Jean Segura Refractor and Trevor Story

*****

PACK FOUR

Paul Goldschmidt and Lucas Giolito

Austin Riley ’85 Insert and Jose Altuve

*****

PACK FIVE

Freddie Freeman and Nicky Lopez

Dansby Swanson Refractor and Charlie Blackmon

*****

PACK SIX

Matt Olson and Rafael Devers

Mike Yastrzemski Future Stars and Michael Fulmer

*****

PACK SEVEN

Randy Arozarena and Kevin Newman

Babe Ruth Decade of Dominance Die-Cut and Sam Hilliard

*****

PACK EIGHT…THE SEPIA PACK!

Fernando Tatis Jr. Refractor

Aaron Civale Refractor

Orlando Arcia Refractor

Luis Arraez Refractor

*****

All this writing reminds me of one of my favorite all-time MC’s, MASTA ACE! Here’s Sittin’ on Chrome…the namesake for today’s post. Enjoy the jeep thumping mid-90’s bass heavy joint.

Cabin fever cards

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 15, 2017

About a month ago, my family took a weekend trip to Mt. Hood, with me, i went too. We’re lucky enough to have good friends that own a small cabin in the woods and are more than happy and willing to share the tiny abode from time to time. It’s near Rhododendron, which is close to Zig Zag, which is close to Welches, which is close to Government Camp, which is close to Mt. Hood…it’s on Mt. Hood actually. The cabin is a small, one bed timber framed cabin with a kitchenette, it’s…umm… cozy…(read small)…but it is nicely nestled in the forest off a small unpaved road. Normally the roads are covered in snow, but we were able to visit just after a heavy rain storm that washed away most of the snow, leaving some ice.

cabin road

I believe these cabins were once used to house park rangers that would work during the year. It allowed them to retreat to a nice home after a long day at work rather than travel to and from their own homes each day. For one person, these cabins are crazy comfortable, for two people, it’s perfect…for two people and a toddler…you need more space. A LOT MORE SPACE! But, hey it’s free…and i got some cards to open while i was there too!

That blurry flash is my child doing his best to run around in a small building while my wife makes snacks and i build a manly fire. So, cards.

One of my goals with the renewed interest in blogging was to open packs or do something card oriented each time i travel. We were kind of in that weird time of year where the 2016s didn’t interest me anymore and the new 2017’s weren’t out yet…other than the flagship Topps…which i already had a box of. So i picked up one of those dreaded repack jobs that deliver very little in return. Spoiler alert, my low expectations were met with a couple of mild surprises. Let’s take a look.

As the box mentioned, 4 packs and a total of 50 cards and a BONUS! Before we open everything, let’s do a little inventory. The 4 packs were of 2015 Topps (2), 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Collection (1), and 2016 Gypsy Queen (1). The white box of surprises had a little mini Twins baseball guy which was quickly jacked by the toddler. There were 53 cards in the white box, so i’m already ahead no matter what happens. Here are some Topps highlights.

Justin Upton and Clayton Kershaw were the only names of significant note for me. Hey, notice the vintage table pattern, apparently the table has been in the same location for over 50 years…i imagine it’s been moved a time or two to sweep though.

A couple insert cards. High leg kicking Carlton and top 40 Free Agent Robbie Cano. One of these guys is going in to my collection and the other one is going in to the Phillies box i got in my basement. Let’s take a look at the Gypsy Queen cards!

A couple of real DBacks.

BB GQ McCovey

A power alley McCovey.

BB GQ mini Drury

And a mini Brandon Drury…a Diamondbacks hot pack i guess. Now lets take a look at the Ruth cards.

Two odd photos of Babe Ruth, kids and bats.

Two odd photos of Babe Ruth swinging things that aren’t baseball bats.

BB LR Ruth 1

One photo of Babe Ruth doing baseball warm ups, his Career Achievements card…but what about that white box? Mostly junk wax stuff, but kind of fun to look through. There were three cards of note that made me want to take a photograph of them, and here they are…in order of how much i like them, from least to most.

BB box Jackson Winfield

Some Yankee stuff

BB box Posey

A Posey Bowman.

BB box Jeter

A Jeter Diamond King! Yay! This was by far the best card in the bunch, pretty nice card. I think i may have a copy or two of this one, but it’s still a nice little piece to pull in a cabin in the woods.

the end…

Something that’s hopefully appropriate for this post…family member, Paul Riddle on the drum kit here.

Silver pack attack.

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 8, 2017

That’s how they get ‘cha!

Apparently Topps is doing a giveaway for purchasers of their hobby boxes, which is fantastic. I believe the “catch” is that you have to buy hobby boxes in order to get the four card per pack freebie…which i’m totally fine with. Most of my boxes, actually all of them now since i don’t really do blaster boxes, are from Dave and Adams or my LCS down the street. So, as a collector it’s a win-win chicken din-din!

Wanna see what i got? Take a look-see.

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It’s a Freddie Freeman from the Atlanta Braves. Wonder how he feels about the local football team crappin’ the bed last Sunday?

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I also got a Joey Votto card. He’s a Canadian. I work with a Canadian and she’s great, really nice. I always imagine Joey Votto would be a nice guy as well, until i saw him swat that fans shirt last year…he did end up giving him a souvenir afterwards, so maybe he is nice.

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Next guy is Adrew Benintendi. Name is much harder to spell than i had expected. Seems like yet another young superstar for the Sox…great…they have a pretty stacked lineup and don’t think they will miss Papi much this year, except maybe the veteran leadership?

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One of my best friends is a Padres fan…he was a Chargers fan, but i think he’s since moved on. For his sake, i’d love to see Will stay healthy and lead his team to the playoffs, maybe even the World Series. Dreamers gotta dream i guess.

17-tosp-yoenis-cespedes

I love Cuba and I love Cuban players. This guy is from Cuba and a solid power hitter. Seems a bit like a wild card though…how great of a player can he be for the Mets this year?

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Piggy! Next to Verly, he’s my favorite Detroit player…that’s all i got.

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Hammerin Hank Aaron with the Atlanta Braves and high stirrups.

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Last card is Jackie Robinson…love this card and love the image. Great card.

That’s all i got tonight…crazy tired from the Run the Jewels show the other night…i’m too old to go to midnight shows…but hey, it was well worth it! I love RTJ!

Mile High Hogs

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 2, 2017

When i travel to a new destination I like to pick up a few packs or a blaster from the local Target or Wal-Mart. It’s kind of a souvenir. A souvenir that matters to me and hand a greater level of value than a cheesy shirt (although i love an odd shirt now and again…). The cards serve as a little reminder of the town I was in, an artifact from a past vacation. In the past, the trips have been via automobile and the cards were a little easier to handle since i could always see where they were and keep them safe and sound. The last couple of trips though have been via airplane…the friendly skies! When traveling, i’m always concerned about the safety and security of the cards and tend to open them up when i get home. Not this time though, i wanted to join the mile high club! Well, i wanted my cards to join the mile high club…of sorts. So i did it on a plane earlier this week!

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Since we card people don’t like damaged cards, getting these guys on the plane safely was a bit of an emotional journey for me. Going through security and boarding a plane is difficult enough! My first concern was the lovely TSA folks that can be a little handsy with people and peoples stuff. The only thing worse than the disinterested cashier man-handling (woman-handling…? person-handling…?) the cards and dropping them 18″ to the bottom of a plastic bag is definitely getting them through TSA. They pick up bags and boldly ask “THIS RED ONE YOURS SIR!”, why, yes. The red bag that i was about to grab is mine…definitely my bag. The surly looks that follow…them, not me…i’m nice. Half the battle has been fought, but the war has not been won. I still need to get these unprotected packs boarded and loaded on a flying tube with an ever increasing shortage of personal stowing space. Done deal. Packs located gently on my fold away tray until i am told to hide my fold away tray. See the photo above (and now below) that was after we reached our cruising altitude…so no foul there although my phone was not in airplane mode.

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Normally when i’m opening a pack of cards i like to have space to lay them out and sort them as i go through the cards. Kinda particular about those sorts of things, you know. It’s nice to have a little layout space and a clean surface to boot. In hindsight this plan would have been better if i had a more sturdy box to put them in afterwards. Enough with the long winded build up. Here is what was pulled.

Tyler Glasnow – Pittsburgh Pirates | Alex Bergman – Houston Astros

Dee Gordon – Miami Marlins | Cole Hamels – Texas Rangers

Brian McCann – New York Yankees | Tyler White – Houston Astros

Kenta Maeda – Los Angeles Dodgers | Gleyber Torres – New York Yankees

Javier Guerra – San Diego Padres | Jorge Mateo – New York Yankees

Kolby Allard – Atlanta Braves | Lucius Fox – San Francisco Giants

Not a bad pack, no real jaw droppers. I do like the three Yankee cards and the Alex Bergman is nice as well as the Maeda card. They all have a nice little shine to them as well. My wife, sitting in the miserable middle seat (love ya babe!) was particularly fascinated by the shiny-ness of these cards which the cabin lighting made a little extra sexy! Here’s pack two!

JP Crawford – Philadelphia Phillies | Austin Meadows – Pittsburgh Pirates

Raul Mondesi Jr. – Kansas City Royals | Byron Buxton – Minnesota Twins

Eddie Rosario – Minnesota Twins | Joey Votto – Cincinnati Reds

Matt Carpenter – St. Louis Cardinals | Billy McKinney – Chicago Cubs

Tyler O’Neill – Seattle Mariners | Conner Greene – Toronto Blue Jays

Brady Aiken – Cleveland Indians | Francis Martes – Houston Astros

Each of the cards made it home safe and sound, no dings, no dents, no errors. Twenty Four shiny cards to sit and wait on now…will they become stars or not…!

So there you go. That was the very first time i’ve ever busted a pack on a plane, in the air above the United States of America. Hope you enjoyed the show!

***BIG PIMPIN***

Now it’s time to do some contest pimpin’ for Collector’s Crack and his annual NFL playoff contest!

Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web

Since i don’t have to deal with the emotions of having my team in it this year, i’m free to pick a SB matchup that will hopefully be closer to reality…and so should you! So, hit that link and sign up! But first, in honor of CB’s contest i thought i’d post a couple of videos in line with all the pimpin’. First is one of my favorite UGK songs and the other is an interesting documentary on Pimp C that i haven’t quite gotten through yet. It’s by Mass Appeal, so you can’t really go wrong though.

Next level favorites and more autographs

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 17, 2016

I didn’t receive a Topps Now Christmas card today…and honestly i’m not too upset although i kinda feel a little left out. So to make up for my collecting insecurities i stopped by the LCS to see Brian today. There was a show on the other side of town, but i was with my offspring all morning and afternoon. I thought making an attempt at hitting up the show would be a major failure due in part to the snow, but also to a rambunctious young boy. I decided the baby step with a card shop visit would be a more appropriate first step…i mean, you don’t learn how to ski going down a black diamond run on your first visit to the mountain right? The boy did great and i was able to pick up a couple new Redskins that i will get posted here soon as well as a box of the heavily discussed Bowman Draft cards. I’ve been on a bit of a run this year with Bowman cards since they offer a huge array of prospects and on card autos for everyone…plus the chrome versions (as with all Topps chrome cards) have an odd but appealing scent to them. I’ll try to get to those later in the week once i have a chance to open a box and go through them.

All of that stuff from the first paragraph has nothing to do with the cards i’m about to show right now. This past September, i was between jobs and didn’t buy too many cards during that month but did pick up a couple of retail packs and a Stadium Club box from the card shop. As you may have seen from an earlier post this week, i noted that the Willie Mays card was my favorite of the year. Honestly, that set had numerous images that could have been labeled “Best of 2016…”. So here are a couple other images i thought were worthy of noting.

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First up is the Alex Gordon rainy day photo from the post season of 2015. This may not be the greatest photographic image, in fact, i believe it could have helped a bit with a little more separation and cropping to show his feet and home plates…this may have allowed a little more blue at the top of the photo. Also thing this in a landscape with some “rule of 1/3rds” going on could have made this an epic card. That’s all nit picking…it’s a great card and a great moment captured by a talented photographer just before the pitch.

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Every time i see or think of Lou Brock, I can’t help but think of the Q-Tip lyric “…got the scrawny legs, but i move just like Lou Brock with speed, I’m agile plus i’m versatile…” You get the idea. Being a big Rickey Henderson fan, i’m also a fan of Lou Brock. Their careers became so intertwined as Rickey entered the league breaking all of Lous’ records along with some of Maury Wills records.

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The other image is of Monte Irvin and his total control of 5 bats. Mr. Irvin passed away at the start of the year at the age of 96. Irvin was one of those players whose professional career overlapped America’s involvement in WWII as he was part of the 1313th Battalion in Europe…but it was also during the Negro League days where he was one of the many stellar players that would eventually be part of the breaking of the color barrier. Reading the stories of the players during this part of our countries terrible history is quite sad. Makes you wonder what kind of numbers some of these incredibly talented players could have put up during their younger or peak years. This is just a beautiful card.

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Last image is of one of the three autos i received in the box. It’s of Matt Wisler. The young pitcher for the Atlanta Braves who was involved in the Padres deal for Craig Kimbrel and Melvin (BJ) Upton Jr. While he was in the Padres organization he pitched for the San Antonio Missions! I spent many a night as a child watching the San Antonio Dodgers on the south side of San Antonio. They later became the Missions as the relationship with the Los Angeles Dodgers was ending. Since San Antonio is home to many wonderful historic missions, the name made sense. Besides, everyone remembers the Alamo, right? Speaking of San Antonio, my alma mater played in their first bowl game today but lost to New Mexico. Tough break for the young program. Baby steps.

As i mentioned, i received 3 autographs but two of them were redemptions which i have yet to receive. I’m hoping to get them in the next month or so…no idea when really, but both of the names are great and i’m not too interested in asking for a replacement…so now i wait…

The next two cards were from a jumbo box of Topps Series 2. One is a great prospect and the other is a guy form the Reds organization that may or may not pan out…who knows? Sticker autos are always a little disappointing. There’s just something about the card being in the signers hand rather than a sheet of Apex sticker sheets…or whatever is used. Anybody know?

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Kind of proud of the Raul Mondesi card. Ties in nicely with the Alex Gordon from above i guess. Raul is only 21 and is already a World Series champion with a very bright future…lets see what happens in 2017!

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As i mentioned, i wasn’t able to make the card show today which isn’t too unusual since i tend to hit them up every other month and i was there in November. Still enjoy going to the shows and talking to my favorite dealers and collecting with the old guys there. The vintage dudes seem to love telling stories of cards they had and have lost through the years…love it! Great time…wish i could have a drink with most of those guys though.

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

2014 Topps S1 – Packs 7 and 8

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 27, 2014

Yeah, it’s been a while. I haven’t posted since the 10th. I was on such a roll too! Life.

I’m going to stick with the 2014 Topps Jumbo duo pack breakdown because I like order and crossing things of off lists. It’s a problem, but it’s my problem. I pray to whatever you choose to believe in that you have already seen these cards, so that none of them should be eye openers. My hope though is that i can knock it out of the park with my witty narrative…or not. You will be the judge of that.

I’m going to go ahead and start with the box autograph ‘hit’. Not because i’m super excited about it, but because if you are reading this, you probably pulled this auto as well. From what i’ve seen on the other blogs, this card is a popular pull from this years Topps. Way to diversify your packs Mr. Topps company. Andrew Lamb-oh everyone.

I did get a couple of Harper’s in one pack. My first look through the pack and i completely missed the Power Player logo on the lower right of the card. It’s a Harper parallel and an insert. Nice. Here’s hoping the Bryce kid tears it up this season and avoids walls.

Another nice little pull from these two packs was a Casey Janssen black border card. See! It has a black border!

Next up is a Derek Jeter All Rookie Cup team. It’s not the athletic supporter type of cup, which is probably best for us all considering how many gift baskets this guy has handed out. He is stellar in his accomplishments on and off the field. A legend.

Maddux Mini. Why is the border yellow? WHY!

A gimmicky base card from Topps that you have seen on every blog from everyone that has opened a Topps pack this year. I can’t wait to put this one in a 9 pocket sleeve in a binder and forget all about it. He’s catching a football. Maybe I should get out my Nolan Ryan slinging the pigskin card out and put them side by side.

I pulled two buy back cards and this one is a very Brave Ralph Garr, no relation to Terry Garr I imagine. Maybe thirds cousins?

Sean Doolittle closing it out with a very red and pubic-y beard and 90’s Oakley glasses and a t-shirt that has words on it. Great photo selection Topps. Great selection.

Two more packs to go with a nice thick card that will make some of you smile, and then it’s back to some good ole vintage Redskins…or maybe a few card show pickups from a future show.

Oh hey, i’ve gotten around to posting a few very random cards on ebay. Please take a look if you are interested in bidding on them. The cards that don’t sell will be available for trade, or will end up back on ebay.

2014 Topps S1 – Packs 1 and 2

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 8, 2014

I’ve always been a little slow and therefore have been late to various things in my life. So i’ve developed a mentality of sitting and waiting for other people to do something before I go. It allows me time to think of what I want to do or can provide…since 2014 Topps has been out for a couple of weeks I’m going to show you what I got as well as give you a piece of my mind! 🙂

I know some folks don’t like the Topps flagship or are upset with their exclusive MLB license. You won’t get any of that vibe over here though, I’m all in for the Topps flagship. To the parallels and inserts, I say…”I don’t care” or “I choose to ignore you”. I say that to the cards. Take them out of the center of the packs and put them aside. Sift through the base cards first and them make my way to the “hits” part of the program. You should probably also know that I always eat muffins by starting from the bottom and working my way up. I like to save the best for last. Gives me something to look forward to.

On to the card judgement.

Topps has come back with the white border cards and personally i’d like to see a different color border, or possibly a full bleed. I know this isn’t anything groundbreaking but a little variation would be great for the borders. I’d like to se a card from each year and know that there was more than just a slight variation of the previous years designs…something bigger like the changes in card designs from 85 to 86 to 87. Basically I want a fresh and new design each year. The photos though, those are great. Lots of action photos from what i’ve seen so far and great shots of men leaping in to walls.

One of the things that Topps has done with their photos is select the image that makes you stop…and look…and think…why this photo? The Crisp card has appeared all over the blogosphere and it now appears here. That afro is straight up Oaktown. If rappers had baseball cards, this would be the exact same image that Boots Riley from The Coupe would have. Big Ass Afro and a clean pair of mutten chops piercing out of each cheek, shoulders back doing the Bernie lean.

Besides the cool images, you get the obligatory post game celebration photo. The gatorade bath. Now, this would make a much better football card. In fact, I think Topps should have one football head coach card next year and it should be Pete Carroll getting an orange bath after the Super Bowl and it should be card number 48. That’s a free one for you Topps people, run with it. This Dozier card though…it reeks of gimmick that folks complain about. Dozier…remind me of the Souls of Mischief lyric…’Maintain composure, hit dosia, pick a booga, don’t be shook up, i got the hook up.’

TWO OAKLAND RAP REFERENCES in one blog post!

This kid. Love this kid.

One last base card before i show a couple of the ‘Hits’. The Kendrys Morales card. This card should never have been made unless it was a Mariners team card. In this modern world of high price cameras and digital media at every turn, how can you have a card of a player that only shows his back. AND THE BACK IS OUT OF FOCUS!!! Seriously??!!??! The only guy that’s really in focus is Felix Hernandez. Not Morales! The moral of this card is that team celebrations are good and should only be shared as a team card. Really bad decision on this one.

Mini’s. Die Cuts. I love both and that’s what you get this year! Some 1989 design mini with various border colors that are die cut! Yes please! Sign me up for that. AND I get a Lou Gehrig. Such a lucky boy I am.

This next pair of cards came in my first two packs and I started to think I had a Segura Hot Box. Guess you will have to wait and see…I’m not trying to tease you, I have no idea either as i’ve only opened two packs.

Be on the lookout for the following 8 packs America. I can only hope that I get more blurry cards of guys backs.

Black Friday Heritage

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 19, 2013

So, I did some Black Friday shopping in my pajamas like a good American.

No, I wasn’t at Wal-Mart at 3am busting down the storefront and trampling mustached women in rascals. Even better, I did it online over at the Check Out My Cards wonderful website. I had been building up my cart for some time, nearly 6 months, and decided I needed to work on completing some sets. Most of what I picked up was 2010 Heritage base cards, but I also picked up some New Age Performers from this past years set along with a couple Then and Now cards.

And here they are!

Miguel Cabrera involved in a deeply personal thought about SABRmetrics

Yoenis Cespedes. It took me about 5 tries to find this card, because apparently Yoenis is nearly impossible for me to spell. Yoenis.

Billy Butler is both excited and nervous about the pitch he just hit…one can only wonder…

Check out the baby faced Aparicio and the babier face of Michael Nelson Trout. I believe the Mathews/Dunn card would have been perfect if we could have gotten some chest hair on the Dunn photo…Taco meat for everyone!

Time permitting, i’d love to scan some of my other pick ups from COMC…but i’m not sure time will permit in the next few holiday days. One cool thing of note is that I have Boxing Day off. This is the second year we’ve had this holiday since we were taken over in a not so hostile manner by a Canadian company. I’ve heard positive things and negative things about the holiday, so i’m not sure if I should let my white guilt reign over me or if I should just buy some more baseball cards. Any thoughts out there from our friendly neighbors to the north?