Tag Archives: Bryce Love

Parallel Paul

Posted by cardboard hogs on

Yesterday was another Super Bowl that didn’t include my Washington Football Team.  At times I feel like it will never happen and I should just give up, but then I think to myself…when it does happen (and it will…at some point…it’s inevitable) it will be the greatest thing ever.  That’s assuming they win, of course, and not just make it to the Super Bowl. 

I know a lot of people really HATE Tom Brady, and I can generally understand it.  I just don’t really get why people hate on greatness so much.  The guy has been to 10…TEN…Super Bowls in his 21 year career and won 7…SEVEN of them.  Just insane.  Hate all you want, but that’s Greatest of All-Time material.

Anyways.

When I rebooted the blog, my goal was to make it something more than a “look what I got today” blog.  I wanted to be able to find a twist or some other way to make this medium more entertaining or readable…but alas.  Work and life.  Life is work these days and will be for the next few weeks.  So, I’d like to apologize in advance for the dull posts.  But, hey.  Dull posts are better than no posts right?

One of my favorite guys at our monthly Portland shows wasn’t at the January show.  Normally that’s a sign that the guy had decided to give up the hobby or just fuckin died.  Well, neither of those were the case with Paul. 

Thankfully. 

I like Paul.  He’s a fascinating guy.  Every time I see him, he’s got some new kind of gadgety thing that you get from some mail order catalog.  It’s like an Inspector Gadget of card collection.  Lots of times he’s there with his kid who seems to be in on the family business.  What Paul deals in isn’t your ordinary kinda cards.  He’s a parallel man.  You know the kind; variations, colors, dots, lasers, patriotic colors, refractors, glossies, not so glossies and super slick glossies.  He’s a veritable one stop shop to get your parallel fix.  Parallel Paul.

That day, I was planning to spend cash at three tables.  Bill, Terry and Paul.  Here’s the Paul portion of the morning.

As I mentioned, Paul goes for the gusto on the parallels and all modern stuff.  I like going through his stuff because I can pick up Washington guys on the cheap.  The majority of his cards are $1.  He’s basically charging you for his cost of retail unless there is something really dynamite about the disco parallel you’re picking up.  But he’s got ‘em all.  Here’s a nice blend of Randy Moss’ kid, Thaddeus Moss.

Ya’ll remember when we used to make fun of blasters and show of a stack of cards for $20?  We’d go “…for the cost of a blaster, I got…”  Well this stack of cards (minus the baseball and relics) cost a tick under that price point.  The sad truth though, if you can find a blaster in the wild it would cost you $20…but you ain’t finding no blasters in the wild.  They’re gonna cost you at least $75 for a box of Prizm. 

I’ve watched a lot of folks rip those Prizm boxes and to be honest, if I paid more than $20 for them I’d be really really really upset.  The hits are rare and the ones you get aren’t that amazing.  I like to stand on the sidelines and wait for disgruntled box break investor flipper guy run through a bunch of Washington guys, toss ‘em to the side so I can grab them for a buck.

Like this group of disco sparkles

Prizm does a nice job of the parallels and including a wide variety of great guys from the past. I was able to pick up the Theismann from Paul today, which i hadn’t added to my collection yet. This one is green…i think…

Also picked up some laser show zippity zappity zoom prizms…stupid dad jokes man…

I was able to chat with Paul a bit.  Again, super friendly guy and incredibly helpful.  I overheard him saying most of what he rips is retail…or something like that.  Maybe there was some percentage I missed in the conversation.  The point is, he’s got the small sales from small investments dialed in quite well.  I doubt he makes a killing each show, but can imagine he’s doing far better than recouping his table and boxes cost.  Nice little income for him.

Along with the parallels paul sells, paul puts pride in presenting player worn garments…i really tried to keep that alliteration going.

There were also a few baseball cards ready to be sorted through. I took a quick pass and found a few gems, these were not included in the “…cost of a blaster…” portion of the story, they were a little more than that, but part of the PC. So, felt compelled to grab them.

Honestly, at this point i’m picking up each and every single Rickey Henderson card I can find these days. I’m never certain if he’s incredibly popular or unpopular, but the cards of his that i don’t already have are hard to find.

As always, thank you for reading and extra special thanks to those that comment to let me know your reading. I really do appreciate it. The last few weeks of work have been rough and i don’t see them getting any easier. I’m very happy that i am fully employed, but sometimes…it’s just more difficult to get motivated to something that doesn’t quite interest you.

Thank you,

Cardboard Hogs

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This video is a few years old, but really cool. Made with 100% Solar Power…take a look.

Mail week roundup and some thoughts…

Posted by cardboard hogs on

I thought Sunday night would be a great time to do a weekly recap of the cards that came into my house during the week.  Mostly they will be eBay pickups.  Some will be from my two close-by LCS’s, Hoody’s and The Sports Room and there may even be a Sportlots delivery or COMC soon…oh yeah, possibly some Topps stuff too.

Sunday’s around our house are normally filled with chores.  Chores of all kinds. 

Laundry

Vacuuming

Bedroom cleaning

Yardwork

Maybe even some Washington Football Team viewing.

Washington Football Team | Sports Teams Wiki | Fandom

That last one is a must.  I’m an incredibly loyal fan, ride or die with a team that’s been killing me for nearly 40 years.  The good ol’ days are so far gone at this point that I can barely remember them.  Good players have come and bad ones too, it’s just the ebb and flow of a team that isn’t too consistent.  You get a lot of turnover during the rough years.

Well, I honestly feel like the team is beginning to make a turn for the better.  Yeah, they are now 6-8 after losing 15-20 to the Seattle Seahawks this morning…but they are still in FIRST PLACE IN THE NFC EAST!!!  Thanks to the Giants losing at home to Cleveland this evening.  What a season, eh? 

Bright spots abound for my favorite team and they are centered around this young man, at least on Defense.  To see his helmet-less face, you feel the desire to card him and make sure he’s supposed to be here…maybe it’s just me being old, but he looks like he’s still in his teens. 

A champion!

A leader!

The cornerstone of a defense that is on the verge of something special.  Chase Young ya’ll

Being one of the worst teams the past decade plus you get to collect some great players at the top of the draft.  Franchise changing players that can catapult you into a different stratosphere of winning and potentially a dynasty.  Now, let me pump the brakes here.  I don’t foresee this team being the next Patriots…I’m not nuts.  But I do see them gaining some traction and having an impact on the league in the next 5-8 years with their young talent.  The coaching staff is doing a great job and putting the team first and winning should hopefully come from that.

Being one of the worst teams the past decade plus you get to collect some great players at the top of the draft.  Franchise changing players that can catapult you into a different stratosphere of winning and potentially a dynasty.  Now, let me pump the brakes here.  I don’t foresee this team being the next Patriots…I’m not nuts.  But I do see them gaining some traction and having an impact on the league in the next 5-8 years with their young talent.  The coaching staff is doing a great job and putting the team first and winning should hopefully come from that.

Along side Chase is a player that was drafted last year.  A guy that I loved watching in college and was drafted in the first round of the 2019 draft.  Montez Sweat.  His rookie year showed lots of flashes of potential, but teaming up with Young this season has had a tremendous impact on his defensive pressure and overall play.  Both are going to be so much fun to watch the next few seasons.

Another pickup from the week is a great young RB that i’m just not sure will make it in the NFL…again, i really hope he does whether it’s with Washington or somewhere else. I’d love to see him healthy and starting somewhere…the Football Team sure could have used him this week with Antonio Gibson out again. Really hoping Bryce Love can get to 100% for 2021.

The last guy I wanted to talk about was the starting QB for the game today.  Dwayne Haskins Jr.  Quarterbacks these days aren’t allowed to develop like they were way back in the 90’s.  They are expected to start from day one and have an impact on day one.  Fair or not, that’s the way it has become.  Haskins is young, he’s athletic, he’s strong…but he’s young.  He also was a one year starter for one of the best college teams, Ohio State.  Putting up big numbers wasn’t the greatest challenge you could have every Saturday, and he took full advantage of it. 

Now, don’t get me wrong here.  I love Haskins and want him to be the guy.  I think he can achieve an extremely high bar of success in the NFL.  I just don’t think he’s there yet and I’m not sure he will get there next season either.  If this was the older NFL days, he’d be on the bench for a season or two before he was thrown into the fire…he hasn’t gotten that chance.  I hope he does and I hope he remains in Washington to be part of the rebuild.  I would love to see Haskins Jr. hoist a Lombardi trophy next to his college teammates Young and McLaurin.

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Thinking of Sweat and Young, I’m reminded of Keith Sweat…when I was young.  Man I loved 90’s R&B.