A Generous trader goes Boom!

About a week ago, i received an email out of the blue from a guy wanting to send me some Redskin cards…and i was like “HAIL YEAH MAN!”  So i gave the random guy my home address and waited…not really sure what to expect.  This is the first time, somebody out of the blue has been so extremely generous to just offer up some cards, Redskins cards no less.  I had to quickly update my lists, which as it turned out was a great step for me to…update my want lists.

Here’s the breakdown of the cards sent by Mark Zentkovich, which i received tonight.

A couple of…umm…Swell cards of some old old old school Redskins.  Mr. Battles in some shiny, silky pants…or maybe they are some original Zubaz!  The other sepia snap shot is of Turk Edwards on the prowl about to tackle someone while wearing a QB’s number…Jason Campbell.

90 SW Sammy Baugh

The next Swell card is of Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, who would have turned 103 a couple weeks ago.  Not sure what’s going on with my scanner, but this card is in great shape…not cut and jagged like the upper right shows.

79 FL Redskins Drawing a Crowd

The next series of cards are various team cards from Fleer.  I don’t believe Fleer ever made individual player cards during their early 80’s run, just team issues.  Luckily though, unlike a couple of the early 80’s Topps sets, the logos on the helmets weren’t airbrushed off.

88 FL Redskins Defense88 FL Redskins NFC Playoff

These beauties are from the 1988 Fleer set, which if i remember correctly was the last year Fleer made team only sets…bringing back their sets in 1990.  The game against Chicago was notable for me for a couple of reasons.  It was the game that Darrell Green returned the punt while hurdling a defender and pulling a muscle in his rib cage.  He was visible holding his side with one arm and holding the football with the other as he brought it back all the way for a touchdown, putting the Redskins up for good.  The other notable memory of this game was that it was Walter Payton’s last NFL game…although i was a huge Redskins fan. My favorite non Redskins was hands down Walter Payton.  His greatness was something special that i thoroughly enjoyed watching in my younger years…man i miss the 80’s.

Next run of cards are not cards, but stickers…unfortunately, they are the then defending Super Bowl champs over my ‘Skins.  Also, got some foil action below.

84 TSF Bostic

Badass Jeff Bostic, a former Hog and a former-er Clemson Tiger.  No idea who the Bill is though…sorry.

89 PS Clark Green89 PS Bryant Rypien

Now some Panini stickers from the year 1989.  You know, back when the Redskins weren’t a dumpster fire led by the leaderless.  This was quite a grouping of studs too Gary Clark, Darrell Green, Kelvin Bryant and Mark Rypien…man, i really miss the 80’s.

Not bad for something so unexpected, thank you Mark!  Really appreciate the cards.  I will put something together and send it off to you in a week or so.  Much appreciated!

Now, for something fun.  One of my favorite groups out right now is Run the Jewels, i’ve talked about them a few times here and made it out to the concert last month at the Crystal Ballroom…with the bouncy floor and all.  Here are a couple photos from that show.

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A new Run The Jewels video!!  So many punch lines in this one too, gotta say El-P really brought it with the innuendos here, plus that poor ass bunny went boom!

A buncha PC randos…

I’m a bit of a scatter brain at times.

I love things.  I hate dislike things.

I Get excited.  I Get intimidated.

I’m motivated.  I’m uninspired.

I’m focused.  I’m distracted.

Lots of pendulum swings with my moods.  In fact…just the time it took me to write the words above, i got up to mute the TV, select a song on my iTunes…didn’t see anything i wanted to listen to so i downloaded the new free copy of the OC album.  Poured some water, sat down, got up to pour some whiskey, got some coke to add to the whiskey…and now i’m back ready to write something about my collecting hauls.  The baseball and basketball PC that guys i collect…or do I…?

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I’ve been a Bryce Harper collector for a while.  He’s a fantastic player, intense and quite emotional.  He also has some great hair, see!  Theres something perversely magical about the combination of everything on this card.  The wavy brushed back hair, close cropped beard, unbuttoned shirt, open mouthed gaze to right field…and the animal print border.  This card has it all for the creepy collector…so i picked it up.  Plus it’s numbered to 199, not 200.

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Harper is a good player for me to collect, why you ask?  Well, he’s a National at the moment and will be for another year at least.  He heads in to arbitration after next season and has been fixated on a GIGANTIC contract…a YUUUGE ONE!  Not too many teams can front the cash for a player like Harper, except maybe his favorite team as a child…the Yankees.

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This would be awesome for me.  Many times a player i like moves on to a team i can’t really get down with collecting…i’m looking at you Hanley Ramirez and Carl Crawford.  So, it’s a win win.  Assuming everything goes according to plan…which rarely happens if ever these days.  So, keeping things in the proper perspective, i can see collecting this guy for a long time, no matter if he plays in DC or NYC.

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Just hope if he ends up in the pinstripes, he can take the ups and downs of playing on a tremendously large stage…it can roughen the edges of the smoothest player.

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Normally i love it when a guy stays on the same team his entire career, like Jeter and Ripken to name a few.  One guy that i could see staying with his team for the duration of his career is this kid, Trea Turner.  He’s a future superstar…with a ton of potential.  I can’t help but thing of Jeter when i see him, slightly different type of player but I think he has that magical ability to be where the play is and can bring a ton of victories the next few years.  I’m slowly working on his collection and this Gold Label is a nice base card pick up from the show.

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Ok, enough about the Nats and baseball.  How about some basketball…and a couple Spurs i picked up.  I’m a streaky Spurs collector.  I’ll go months between a Spurs purchase and then pick up a few cards to add to the collection.  At the moment though, they are just dropped in a box marked “Spurs to be organized”.  The odds are not favorable that that box gets organized in the current year, but at least they are together.  Go Spurs Go!

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The obvious guy for me to collect at the moment is Kawhi.  If this guy wasn’t born to be a Spur, i don’t know what a Spur is.  Tough, physical, durable, smart and doesn’t need to let you know everything about his personal life…i like that.  The quiet modesty vs. the humble brag.

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The problem with me and Spurs cards is that i tend to skip the basketball tables at the show…just walk right past those dudes.  One of the guys works for COMC and is super cool, but his table is filled with basketball cards…and i don’t have that kind of time to sift through a ton of basketball cards.  Not to mention i don’t know most of the guys.  If they don’t play on the Blazer or Spurs…i don’t know them.  Apparently Vince Carter is still dunking over dudes…who knew!

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Every time i get one of these Red White Blue Prizm cards, i’m just gonna go ahead and post this image as well…because…well…it’s the exact same thing.

Rocket Pops

 

I couldn’t get some Leonard cards and not get one of this guys.  The Saint, Timmy Duncan!

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This card in person is crazy sparkly.  It’s like a flat disco ball.  It shimmers quite a bit.  Plus you can really see the gray beard of a man young Duncan became.  He does have skills.

I also picked up this card on a whim…was about to start buying up a bunch of Clemson Tigers at the show and slammed on the brakes, but not before i slipped this Hopkins card on my stack.

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So, as i’ve been typing, i’ve been listening to the new OC album.  I believe it came out today, maybe yesterday…doesn’t really matter.  It’s a free download and it sounds pretty nice.  I’ve been a fan of OC since i first heard Times Up!  A great moment of lyrical supremacy and a very cool sample from Les DeMerle’s Jazz version of A Day in the Life which has been sampled many times in hiphop, but for my money, Times Up is the best use of the first portion of the cover…If you like the OC video below, maybe give the free download a chance…it’s not bad…and it’s free!!!  Or listen to the Beatles A Day in the Life…it’s pretty fantastic as well.

 

 

Clemson Tigers!

I was born in South Carolina.  Conway Country, South Carolina, Myrtle Beach…Myrtle Beach Air Force Base to be exact.  My parents were both in the Air Force when i was born and they were born in South Carolina as well.  Both of my parents were born in South Carolina.  My mom was born in Charleston and My dad’s family was from Spartanburg, SC.  He was the son of a cotton factory worker that loved football, Clemson football.  Football is huge in Texas and really all throughout the south.  Every summer we would visit the Palmetto state, and when we went to Spartanburg we would go to the Beacon drive in.  It’s a bit of a divey drive in greasy spoon kinda place, but damn that food is good!  And the walls were always covered in Clemson newspaper clippings, Frank Howard and Danny Ford photos along Tiger memorabilia everywhere…not so much with the other school in the state, the Cocks, just mostly Clemson Tigers.  So, as a young’n my college football team was chosen.  The Clemson Tigers.  A Tigers fan in the state of Texas, where i could have chosen the Longhorns or Aggies or Red Raiders or whatever…I stuck with my family on this one.  Football hasn’t been too nice to me over the past few years.  The ebbs and flow of a football season are quite emotional, far more than baseball, which i think is why i’m more drawn to the diamond than the gridiron.  But tonight, my team won and it feels great!…and yes, i did order some Panini Clemson Tigers cards tonight.

Now to some baseball cards.

Wrapping up my box of Topps update with the hits.  Like i said, nothing too major, but some cool decent stuff from the jumbo box.

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Christian Vazquez – Boston Red Sox Scouting Report Certified Autograph

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Stephen Strasburg – Washington Nationals All Star Game 2016 Event Worn Workout Jersey

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Willie McCovey – San Francisco Giants 500 Home Run Club Capt. James Cook Stamp

My mind is a little distracted right now and i’m having a little difficulty writing and listening to ESPN, so i’m just going to let the images be.  That Captain James Cook stamp got me doing some serious research though on global sailing, exploration and cartography.  Maybe i can save some of my research for another (re)post.

Hope you guys have a great night!  Here’s a cool song my wife introduced me to a couple of days ago…probably late on these guys, but love the song!  Enjoy.

A Panini Redemption, and it’s a Bear!

One more Panini redemption down and one more to go.  Come on Panini America, you can do it!  Get it done!  Get those busy athletes that don’t care about sports cards to sign their autographs on a sheet filled with little 1 3/4″ x 5/8″ stickers.  They love it.  Tuned in to the latest Rick Ross song bumping through their beats by Dre headphones.  C’MON PANINI!

Initially when i pulled this redemption of Jeffery, I wasn’t too excited.  He a Gamecock and I’ve always been partial to the Clemson Tigers.  I was born in South Carolina and all of my family is from there, so I picked the Tigers at a young age and never looked back.  Now that Spurrier is coaching the cocks, i have even more dislike for them…Spurrier…yuck…Clowney is pretty awesome though.  And so was Jeffery this past season.

12 PC Alshon Jeffery Autograph Rookie Ticket

In hindsight, this is actually a pretty decent hit.  Unfortunately though, there isn’t a serial number on the card.  It’s just a regular ol’ autograph on a nice card.  Seeing the high quality of Jeffery’s auto, i can’t imagine it took him too long to get his pen on the sticker.

Quick stats.  This card was redeemed on February 23, 2013 and it was pulled from my mailbox on February 5, 2014.  Nearly a year, but not quite…348 days to be exact.  Way to go Panini, keep those customers happy.  Just for the record, i haven’t picked up any packs or boxes from Panini since last summer and I haven’t really missed it.

I apologize for sounding too negative, but the redemption thing in this hobby really needs to end.  Of all the frustration this hobby brings on its collectors with parallels, topps control of the mlb contract and high price ‘hits’, the redemption is the most annoying.  Waiting nearly a year to get one of your guaranteed hits from a box is simply ridiculous.

Christmas Eve Pickups

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.

12 PP Tim Duncan

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

04 UD Tim Duncan All Star Jersey

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.

13 HO Tim Duncan

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.

11 SP Ryan Kerrigan Jarvis Jenkins

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.

06 TR Stephen Davis Game Worn Jersey

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.

95 SP Heath Shuler Reflextions

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.

95 AP Heath Shuler Armed Forces

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…?

Top 12 All Time Redskins: Stephen Davis

Trying to get back on track with my Top 12’s.  It’s been a few months since i posted a new player…i guess i just wanted to sit on Santana Moss a little longer than most.  Next up at #7 is Mr. Stephen Davis.  I can’t believe i’m doing this, but i’m gonna post a video of Davis as a Panther.  I apologize for the music…nickelback…i am so so sorry.

This might possibly be the oddest top 12 Redskin on the list.  When most people think of Davis, they probably imagine him running behind Jake Delhomme and not Brad Johnson.  His Redskins career was shorter than it really should have been and if i recall correctly, this was due mostly to a contract dispute.  The Redskins thinking he was another replaceable guy at running back at the end of his career and Davis knowing he had some yards left…well, the Redskins were wrong on this one (and many others, i know) as he made a Super Bowl appearance with the Panthers in his first season with them.

96 SC Stephen Davis

One of the things that i loved about Davis was his powerful running and bulldozing style, very similar to the Diesel, but also a great way to shorten your career.  Davis’ pounding running style was a major force for the 1999 Redskin team that won the NFC East and were a bobbled snap from playing the Rams in the NFC championship game…

96 SB Stephen Davis

Another point of interest for me and Stephen Davis is that he is from Spartanburg, South Carolina!  My pops and all his family are from Spartanburg and with me being born in Myrtle Beach, I’m always drawn to football talent from SC.  Although i’m more of a Tigers fan than an Gamecocks fan, i can respect Clowney.  Good thing Davis went to Auburn.  As a side note, Auburn’s architectural design/build program, the Rural Studio is a fantastic group of young architects doing great things in rural Alabama and Mississippi.  Wish i could have been a part of that program when i was an undergrad.

96 PP Stephen Davis

Not much to add about Davis, other than i just loved the way he played.  Loved the mashers…kind of reminds me of Alfred Morris.  And the beat goes on!

00 UD Stephen Davis

if you are still reading…this music is so so much better.