…the card life…

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 3, 2016

Life moves really fast at times, sometimes a little slow…but mostly fast.

Things that you love and wish you had time for get pushed to the side…like blogging.

I miss writing about the cards i collect and telling stories about the players or how i acquired the cards, a back story always adds a little extra dynamic to the whole collecting process. I’ve been buying cards, going to shows and even actually updating my checklists. I just haven’t been writing about that entire process and i’ve come to realize that this is a major piece of my collecting life that i really need to “make time” for…it’s a bit of a release for me after a busy day at work, or a long night attempting to get our 4 year old boy to eat his dinner or go to sleep at night. Life…you know…

Speaking of work, i’ve changed jobs. This is my first new job in nearly 10 years. Pretty exciting stuff. Still doing architecture but instead of public education work, it’s more of multi-family housing infill projects…but with a greater level of attention paid to design. My previous place of employment was great, loved it and loved the people there…kinda just needed a change of scenery and pace. So, i’m at a new place and for the past two months, i love it! I realize i’m still in the honeymoon phase, but it’s been awesome. The people are great, a lot younger which makes me feel younger as well, plus they are incredibly talented. There are lots of the so-called “millennials”, but these aren’t those whiny, lazy millennials that the media tells stories about. They are people that work hard, do great work and play incredibly harder than my last office. We just had our holiday office party Thursday night…Friday was an incredible struggle for me. Free whiskey and coke all night will rack a 41 year olds brain to pieces. In my never ending attempt to be likable, i did my best to keep up with a couple 28 year olds…they won…but i was one of the last men standing, for better or worse…

This blog isn’t about drinking with people born in the 80’s though. It’s about collecting cards of people that were born in the 80’s, or 90’s…jesus! Professional athletes doing amazing things were born in the 90’s. Life moves really fast…

Cutting work short this past Friday, i stopped by the LCS in Beaverton on my way home to visit with Brian at the Sports Room. He’s a great guy that is super easy to talk to and he knows me as a regular so he’s been pulling some great Redskin cards for me. Love being a “regular” at a card shop, much better than at a bar i guess…

Here are a couple of gems that he pulled aside for me.

Now, coming in to the season, Matt Jones was supposed to be the big guy in the Redskins backfield this year. I had my doubts and suspicions…and to this point, i’ve been proven somewhat correct. Jones seems to have the skills to be a top notch back in the NFL…but he just doesn’t have the Fire…maybe? Hate to say that about a guy, but he just doesn’t seem to run with the intensity that other backs his size do. Especially since he was compared to Marshawn Lynch when drafted before last season. Talented and fiery or not, this card is gorgeous. I cannot get enough booklet cards like this for Redskin cards…although, i haven’t been able to find a portrait booklet card holder…let me know if you come across them…or i could just check out the next card show. Absolutely love the colors of the patches and the layers of materials on this one. Matt Jones is one of those sloppy autograph guys, but the overall composition of the cards is quite fantastic. Here’s the back of the card with the numbering of 06/25.

Another Matt Jones card that i picked up from Brian is an autographed eye black card. I honestly don’t think Jones wears eye black, but maybe that would help with some intensity…works for Bryce Harper.

I truly hope that Jones can come back fierce…not Tyra Banks or Beyonce fierce, but legitimately fierce.

Well, that’s what i’ve got for today. I hope to write soon…gotta lotta cool stuff to share and some stories to tell i think.

Reed Book(let)s

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 13, 2014

Here is the next gem of a card to add to my ever growing Jordan Reed collection. This one is a booklet. My first Reed booklet and my 3rd overall (2 Leonard Hankerson’s).

This was a pickup from the Mall 205 card show I attended last Saturday…which was lightly attended. I guess most of the dealers come down from Seattle and wanted to watch the Seahawks put a hurtin’ on the poor Saints…so they decided to stay home rather than make the three hour drive.

I was pulling for the Saints to knock off the heavily favored Seahawks and so was the VERY talented Australian actress Margo Robbie. I have no idea why an Australian lady actress would be a Saints fan, but whatever…

I'm heartbroken for the #Saints 🙁

— Margot Robbie (@MargotRobbie) January 12, 2014

…we were both heartbroken…If you haven’t seen The Wolf of Wall Street and are ok with gratuitous everything and anything, then you should kill 3 hours as soon as they can be killed by you. Beats driving to Seattle (I LOVE Seattle, just not the drive…LOVE IT!!!)

Getting back to the card since this is card blog. The guy that i picked the Reed from had purchased it from e-bay specifically for me. Pretty cool huh? That’s what i love about these shows. You attend them enough and chat up the guys, they will go out of their way to find things for you…and not mark up the price! This is a great example of the hobby and what it can be. Very cool…too bad I can’t remember the kids name!!??!?!!

Box Break: 2012 Panini Playbook

Posted by cardboard hogs on May 14, 2013

Panini Playbook

This is something i have never thought of buying in the past and will not buy in the future. For me, this was a high risk, low reward box and something that i bought because i got whipped up in the Panini hype machine and my pursuit of pulling an RG3 auto from a box. As you will see, that did not happen. With all that negative energy out, these cards are pretty cool and it’s difficult to have any kind of criticism of the cards themselves. They are quite beautiful and definitely pieces of art…for the cardboard connoisseur.

As you may know, Playoff gives you 4 cards in a box with some autos and some jersey cards. You always see the great 1/1’s on the websites out there, but I never actually pull them myself. I do love the booklet card idea and had hoped to pull any kind of Redskin card… instead i got a freakin’ Cowboy. A very young and talented cowboy no less…but a Dallas Cowboy.

The other booklet card i pulled was a guy that i strongly remember from Hard Knocks that barely made the team and seemed lost quite a bit. Michael Egnew. He played in two games last year and put up some goose eggs. I wonder if he even ran the right routes? It’s kind of crappy that this is the box ‘hit’. A guy that will probably be out of the NFL in a year or two. No disrespect to Mr. Egnew, but Panini should do a better job of making these box hit booklet cards of guys that will have some type of impact in the NFL. I realize they don’t have crystal balls, but if they did, it would be awesome…crystal balls. If i pulled a single card of Egnew, I would have been cool with that, but not the booklet.

The next two autos were of the Bears Rookie Brandon Hardin…

…and Casey Hayward from the Green Bay Packers. Casey had a pretty good rookie season with the Packers, picking of 6 passes. Seems like the kind of guy you want to keep an eye out for in the future…would love to have received a booklet auto of THIS GUY!

After re-reading this post, it sounds really negative an filled with varying levels of disappointment. That’s not totally the case. I knew what i was getting in to. It was a gamble and in all honesty it was a fun gamble that i enjoyed taking part in. I probably won’t buy another box of these in the future, but I really do like the look and feel of them.

Leonard Hankerson

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 28, 2012

I wanted to get one more quick post out before i go to bed tonight.

One player that i have gone back and forth on is Leonard Hankerson, a second year player from Miami. He seems to be a guy that has a ton of talent and a wide skill set for an NFL receiver, but has been unable to put it all together. Now, i understand that most of last year he was inactive and didn’t get much action and when he was finally able to get in the games, he had a season ending injury. This year he’s been great and frustrating. Some great catches and some head shaking drops.

I went to the card show at Mall 205 earlier this month and saw this booklet card. It’s my first card of this type and i was pretty excited to pick it up for $20 considering the jumbo multi colored patch and (lazy) autograph…i couldn’t pass it up. I love these book cards and think they are great, if you can afford them. One thing i didn’t think about when purchasing the card is how to store it? I did a little research and see that they now have booklet card cases. Looks like i will need to stop by my local card shop for some supplies this weekend. -HTTR!