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.

Opening Day…a couple of days late

Posted by cardboard hogs on April 5, 2017

The last few years i’ve taken the…sort of MLB opening day of Monday off. I already get Sundays off, so it’s not really necessary to take that day off. It’s Monday’s that i like to not be at work. Plus, who likes working on Monday’s. They tend to suck don’t they? Take ’em off i say. The only problem though was that i am drowning in a mess of a deadline at work…so that time could have been better spent working than watching baseball…but life goes on.

Normally, i take this time off to be with my kid, but he’s in school until 3pm and i saw that as a time in the day to open up some packs of cards from my local Target. Why Target and not my LCS…well, Brian was apparently out that day…he must have taken opening day off too.

I’m not typically a pack buyer or box buyer unless i plan on putting the set together, but i do like to pick up a pack or two of new releases. A couple reasons, it helps me replenish my team card lots as well as adds star cards to my personal collection…which unfortunately ends up living in a white box in my basement. Let’s take a look at what i picked up.

Just a couple of battery mates from the city by the bay. MadBum and Posey. Both of these cards are fantastic examples of how Panini should make cards with none…or at least very minimal photoshopping in order to get a proper non logo’d image. Plus some cool action photos

Next up is a couple of Longo cards that just so happened to be back to back in the fat pack of Donruss. Longoria was one of those guys that I had added to my PC a few years ago…but never really followed up on him. I kinda feel bad for the guy. He’s a great player on a mediocre team…they’re not bad, but playing in the AL East is tough…plus, not too much fan support in Tampa for their baseball team.

17 DO Andrew McCutchen

Cutch is a player that i’ve waffled on adding as a “guy i collect” but never seem to actually getting it done. Instead, i think i’ll just add this card to my non official collection of him…again, in the white basement box.

17 DO Gary Sanchez

Ok, this guy. Mr. Sanchez will most likely be a “guy i collect”. I’m already building up a little stack of his cards so far…would like to get an autograph of his at some point this year. I’ve never been overly fond of catchers though…cept for Posada of course!

17 DES Madison Bumgarner 96:249

Last card from the Donruss pack was this shimmery bit of sexiness. A Madison Bumgarner ‘The Elite Series’ serial numbered card of 96/249. It was the only hit of the day for me…very nice though.

Next up was a few packs of Gypsy Queen. GQ is something that i get excited about each year, but never really seem to get that much in to the set. I saw a few samples on the other blogs and was quite impressed with the cards this year though. My trip to Target yielded single packs only. I had high hopes of getting a blaster, but that wasn’t in the cards for me…so i had marginal expectations for the packs i picked up and was definitely not let down…or lifted up? Pretty cool to get a couple Bronx Baby Bombers though.

Rizzo, because he’s a champion of the world with the Cubbies. Also, JaCoby Jones…not the receiver from Super Bowl fame, but JaCoby Jones that appears to be doing something that should not be done on a baseball card, but maybe i’m just a perv…

17 GQ Trea Turner

Trea Turner. I watched the Nets game Monday morning and couldn’t get over how smooth Trea seemed out at short. He’s quite the talent at such a young age and he rocks the 7 like he owns it. Can’t wait to see what kind of player he becomes.

When i first saw this card, i thought it was some kind of error card. NO WORDS! I’m rich!! Well actually it’s an introduction card from last season of a clean shaven Evan. Maybe he’s working to get back in my PC box.

17 TOD Adrian Beltre

Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus are buddies and should totally make a buddy cop movie.

17 TOD Elvis Andrus

A former Nat in a Sox Jersey. Not sure Adam Eaton was worth giving up on Giolito…but Rizzo is a better baseball GM than i am and so maybe i should just trust the process and see what Eaton can do this season.

Now, Topps Opening Day is not something i buy much of if at all. Just not really in to the cards. I wish they would do something different with the cards rather than just copy the base design…but, it’s a cool and inexpensive little set each year that i like to get a few packs from.

17 TOD Trea Turner

Last card of note is Turner again. A nice kitchen mitten action photo. That’s how i look chasing my kid when he takes the spatula from the kitchen when i’m making fried eggs on sundays.

So that wraps it up for me tonight. Deadline wraps up next week…not sure i’ma make it but there’s always another deadline…Oh yeah. One odd story. At the end of last year, i received an email which i initially though was just some spam email. Turns out it was legit. Someone from a book publisher had reached out to me as they came across an image from my blog a few years ago (2013 no less!). They wanted a copy of an image i did not produce, but scanned and wrote about…as we all do. The image they wanted was the one shown below. Adam Dunn’s 2013 Topps Series 2 card #647.

Baseball Meat Market

I was slightly confused because…it’s not an original image of mine, just a scanned one. I was concerned about sharing the image, but figured it wasn’t in my court…it was their book. Nevertheless, the book is out and i read through a couple pages and it’s quite a fascinating take on some of the biggest, recent trades and how each team benefited or not from the deals. Kind of excited to read a little more soon…plus an “image of mine” has been published…not really, but you know what i mean…

Today’s music video is brought to you by Evidence from Dilated Peoples. It’s a great one!!!

Big time baseball

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 22, 2017

I’m writing while watching the WBC Championship Game between Los Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico…and i must say…i’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Spring “classic” tournament this go round. I know it’s not a super popular thing to like the WBC, but maybe that’s a thing of the past? For the past week and a half, i’ve checked in to just about every game and have been captivated by the intensity of professional baseball players in early…now mid March. Honestly, i’ve enjoyed the baseball tourney significantly more than the basketball tourney that’s going on these days. Mostly due to the fact that i’m not a huge basketball fan, and i’m a big baseball fan, but more than that. It’s the level of competition and intensity each nation has laid out for each game. Plus you get to see some major talent that are teammates during the season compete against each other in these games…looking at you Manny and Adam…I don’t know, i think it’s a beautiful thing and I hope you do too…This is very entertaining baseball, maybe not baseball at it’s highest most intense level, but great to watch. And Marcus Stroman…man, what a night for the Blue Jay kid.

I haven’t picked up any new cards in a while, but had a few Bowman cards sitting around from a box of 2015 i bought a few months ago. In hopes of not wasting your time, here are the hits.

15-bc-daniel-carbonell-230250-auto

First up to bat is a Giants prospect Daniel Carbonell with an autograph that looks like he may have passed out before he wrapped up the ‘n’ in his name. Maybe he had to grab a snack and refuel, i get it…you’re working, you get distracted and forget to eat…it happens. Daniel learned how to write his ‘D’s just like i did when i was in grade school…and for that, i say ‘atta boy!

15-bc-juan-herrera-auto

Mr. Juan Herrera, a Cardinals prospect a the time has basically signed his card like i sign one of those electronic signature devices these days. A big ‘K’ followed by scribble and then a big ‘R’ followed by more scribbles…in this case, we see a big ‘J’ and a ‘H’.

15-bc-raisel-iglesias-220499-auto

Raisel Iglesias. This guy seems like he could be on target for the Reds closer job…assuming the all too important ‘good health’ caveat. I must admit, this autograph made me smile quite a bit. Just write the last name and your number please…first names aren’t important here.

15-bc-rndrys-briceno-auto

Endrys Briceno signs his card ‘Ends’ as in the ends of this WBC is about to happen after Stanton bounced that ball of the right centerfield wall. Detroit Tigers.

15-bc-rowdy-tellez-auto

Rowdy Tellez. So this is one guy i did a little research on prior to posting his card and was surprised to find out that he is only 22. I kind of thought he had been around for a few years and was in his mid to late 20’s. Also, i think his autograph looks like what i would imagine Ron Jeremy’s autograph would look like.

15-bc-stephen-gonsalves-auto

It figures that a left would sign his card justified to the left…and keep all the ink to the left…lefties man…Also, the name Gonsalves is very unique, maybe even odd. He’s another one of those 22 year old people.

I got Adam Jones as my WBC tourney MVP. That catch was everything. Amazing play in a big play moment. Plus he’s really a great guy…can’t help but imagine what kind of career he would have had if he wasn’t traded from Seattle for Erik freakin’ Bedard!

So, a year ago i was working late at work…really late. I was on a ridiculous deadline and working until midnight 3-4 times a week for 4+ months. Although it was a brutal time, i managed to listen to a lot of spring training baseball and a ton of new music. In between breaks of music and working (and whiskey drinking) I jumped on to twitter and was deeply saddened when i saw that Phife Dawg had died. I believe it was around 11pm when i found out and it just stopped me and my thought process…i couldn’t do anything the rest of the night. A Tribe Called Quest was one of those groups that i fell in love with immediately as a teenager and continued to love through my twenties, thirties and now forties. Losing Phife was devastating…but as it’s an unfortunate part of life, you try to focus on what they did while they were here and not focus on the fact that they are gone…so, tonights video is one of my favorite Tribe songs…and maybe another one of Phife, just for fun.

thanks for reading tonight.

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.

17-tosp-freddie-freeman

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

17-tosp-joey-votto

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.

17-tosp-andrew-benintendi

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?

17-tosp-wil-myers

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?

17-tosp-miguel-cabrera

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

17-tosp-hank-aaron

Hammerin Hank Aaron with the Atlanta Braves and high stirrups.

17-tosp-jackie-robinson

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!

We’re all snowflakes…

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 3, 2017

I grew up in Texas and snow is not a normal thing for me. When i was 9 we had a huge blizzard in San Antonio, 14″ to be exact. It was absolutely nuts…as a kid though, fantastic! It was a freakish event that i will never forget. Rafik and I missed a couple days of school and had the greatest time ever. We watched Chris Marrou tell us about the school closures and hoped it would never end! Our days were filled with bags of sugar to fuel the moments in between epic snowball fights and a rudimentary snow man construction site. It was the greatest of times for every kid in town.

When we were able (forced) to go back to school, our classrooms had so many leaks that we were huddled en masse in the schools gym. A very large, crowded and noisy gym. A gym on the edge of child anarchy. It was one conch away from being a snowy version of Lord of the Flies. The teachers were on edge trying to keep us all in line for the couple of days. We were being taught in a prefabricated building not suited for long division or lessons on social studies. But they did it and they were the real MVP’s that week.

But now…

I’m a tall adult that likes collecting things like cards and books and also likes rap music. I also like familiarity and something i can depend on…surprises don’t work well for me. For the last month or so, my part of Portland has had 3 different weekends of snow…g’darn freakin’ snow!!! Now, don’t get me wrong, snow is cool when you go to it and are able to look at it and touch it. But when it comes to you as an unwanted guest, it’s a bit of an annoyance. We haven’t have had a ruler lengths of snow, but enough to shut the city down a couple of days and keep me from work. It’s also made my snow driving (sliding) skills ratchet up a tick or two.

All the snow that i was surrounded by made me cave and pick up a box of cards with snow flakes on them. Subliminal marketing. Well done Topps, you got me. Now, let’s see what you gave me Topps.

One of the first things i noticed about these cards is the streaking on the card fronts. Half of the cards in the blaster box contained the streaking. Maybe the other bloggers have already touched on this and as usual, i’m late to the party, but it seems that the quality of these cards may have been left to be what they are. Not super upset about it, but a little disappointed with these…especially the Kershaw card.

16-th-nick-castellanos

Another thing that was very noticeable is the large amount of white space, most notably on the landscape cards. Guess that’s the Topps blizzard parallel…? Seems like a little gradient or transparency could have been a savior for Nick’s card.

These cards were awesome in their original issue and Ricky Bones seems to be dressed appropriately for this card, while Mike Trout is attempting to catch a tiny little snowflake. Is snow flake one or two words? snowflake snow flake…

16-th-ra-dickey

Dickey Flakes should be a cereal, f’real.

Please let me digress a bit here. Not sure if you have heard of Krampus, I hadn’t until about two weeks ago. He’s an incredibly evil Germanic character created to scare the shit out of bad kids…to be honest, i saw a video of him and was a tad scared. We used the Krampus tactic over the holidays to keep our little snowflake/snow flake in line. For the most part it worked…but i feel guilty about it in hindsight. I would point out the window, similar to what Carlos Correa is doing and say “I SEE KRAMPUS!!” and my child of 51 months would run off terrified, similar to what Jed Lowrie is doing. The things parents do to get done what they want to get done the way they want it to get done. Not my best parenting story…but sadly, it yielded the result i was looking for.

We now begin the bumpy snowflake portion of the blog post with a couple winners. Dexter and Kris. It’s a shame Ernie Banks didn’t get to see these guys win the title. RIP #14.

If the card on the right was Steve rather than Nori Aoki, the hair on this pair would be most epic. But it’s just Jacob and Nori.

My game used memorabilia card was Adam Jones which is pretty cool. I really like Adam and often wonder what his career would have been like if the Mariners kept him..also wonder what the Mariners could have done with his dependability over the incredibly fragile and unreliable Erik Bedard…hindsight is 50/50 man..

So that’s my highlights from a Wal-Mart box of snowflake cards. Rumor has it we may get some more snow in the next few days up here, climate change ain’t no joke…remember that we are all snowflakes/snow flakes and nobody is like us…even though those Adam Jones cards are pretty much the same thing.

Heritage autograph issue

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 16, 2016

One of my favorite sets each year is Topps Heritage…actually it is my favorite set. I buy a few boxes…actually i buy quite a few boxes each spring and slowly and painfully build a set including all of those damn high numbers. What can i do, i’m a collector that must complete things.

One of the things that i love about Heritage is that it’s not a set based on “MoJo” or “Sick” hits, it’s just about set building…painful set building…but occasionally you get a nice autograph. Only one though, remember it’s not a gamblers box of cards. When you get that one auto it always seems to be pretty cool you know? Most of my autos through the years have been veterans that played during the season of the Heritage re-up which is super cool. Veteran guys that most of the time i know nothing about so it gives me a chance to learn a thing or two about a guy from the 50’s or 60’s. It’s great for the history of the game and for educating the younger or maybe less informed fan of baseball.

Here are a couple autos i received from my 2015 Heritage purchases a couple years ago (don’t think these have been posted yet…if so, i apologize!)

15-th-chuck-schilling-166-red-auto

When i first saw this autograph Red Sox card of a guy named Schilling, all i could think of was a stupid bloody sock and…nevermind…not a fan of Curt Schilling, so i’ll leave it at that. Now Chuck didn’t have a stellar career or a long career, only lasting 5 seasons with the BoSox. But hey, i’d take 5 years as a big leaguer over non years. As you can tell this card is red ink and numbered to 66…because it represents the 1966 Topps set…but also notice the 1. I always like to get the lower number cards thinking that the penmanship is better for these cards. Mr. Schilling has some pretty nice ink…right over the cup region to boot.

Next up is a younger, modern era player…maybe even a future superstar. I think it’s safe to say that the way he’s pitched the past couple of years he’s at the star level for a star filled Blue Jays organization. Mr. Aaron Sanchez

15-th-aaron-sanchez-auto

When i look at this photo, i feel incredibly old. He looks like he could be my son, my incredibly talented son with some additional flair to his signature. Wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the exact same way Amy Schumer signs her autographs…just look at it. I do appreciate how Aaron tucked his signature on his left shoulder over the white uniform. Nice backdrop for a pretty decent autograph.

Step into 2016 with me. Bought some more boxes of Heritage and pulled two autographs.

16-th-jake-wood-auto

Jake Wood. I love this card. Almost as much as the next one. The smile on Jakes face looks like a smile of content and pride…like a guy that is genuinely happy to be where he is at that point in his life. Now, i could be completely wrong as i don’t know Jake personally, but he just looks like nothing is ever too difficult for him. Jake along with ol’ Chuck from up the page didn’t have a stellar career although it lasted a couple years longer. Jakes is still pretty active and is doing some great things in the world according to wikipedia. He continues to play softball at the ripe old age of 79…i can only hope i can still bend over when i’m 79. Jake also mentors Inmates at a Jail in Florida for the “A Will and a Way” ministry. Good for him.

Next guy up, Mr. George Altman.

16-th-george-altman-auto

George to this point of my post has had the best professional baseball career (i see you Aaron Sanchez…). George played with the legends of Chicago Cubs baseball; Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo and did more than keep his own among that great group of ball players. As i mentioned above, this is one of my favorite cards from the bunch. George looks idk an intimidating guy, he is 6’4″. He’s also one of those odd guys that bats left and throws right…sorry batted/threw. He also became the first player in the history of baseball to hit two home runs of the legendary Sandy Koufax in one game…not sure how many guys ever did that, context is everything, but to be the first to do anything like that is a good thing.

Got a few more autograph posts lined up for the next few days. Nothing overly spectacular, but i’m hoping to learn a little about some of these guys. Hope you enjoyed reading!

This is what we were listening to at the office today. Childish Gambino aka Don Glover. Check it out!

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?

Breaking Box

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 18, 2013

Some of you kids, if not most of you have heard of Collector Revolution. It’s supposed to be a revolution for collector’s in that it’s not ebay…or feebay as some like to call it. For those that don’t know, it’s a place where collector’s can sell their goods to other collectors online. Not a new concept, but a pretty cool place to find some good cards at a good rate from people you can sorta trust. I still prefer COMC as my #1 online shopping for singles, but collectors revolution is something i may be looking into in the coming year.

One thing they have that really intrigued me was their online box breaks. The intriguing part for me was that they are fairly inexpensive for good product…the drawback is that the breaks are all random, at least the ones i’ve seen. If you are into big hits, which i tend to not be, than this is something you may be interested in. For me, I like a little more focused collection process. I don’t have a ton of money to spend on the hobby so any dollar I have to spend on product is stuff for completing sets or chasing players i like from teams i like. That said, i wanted to give the breaks a few chances.

I was a little weary about the breaks at first, so went with a lower end football break of 2013 Leaf Certified and Platinum Football as well as a break of 2013 Topps Triple Threads. I picked up two spots on the football break and one for the baseball break for a total of $30. As i expected, I got teams I wasn’t excited about – San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts. I was hoping for a Luck auto…but the best card i received was this Dan Fouts serial numbered card.

The baseball break was a little better. I got the Tigers and received these two very nice cards. An Al Kaline serial numbered card…

…and a Prince Fielder Largest Card memorabilia card. Nothing too exciting, but nice cards no less.

Me being a glutton for punishment, i went in on a 4-box break for 2013 Topps Chrome…and pulled the Jacksonville Jaguars…i know…

$13 TC Denard Robinson 86 Refractor$

Not wanting to go out on a bad note, i thought i would buy a spot for the Topps Five Star for $14.50. I figured, i would never buy this product ever and may end up getting lucky. I was essentially buying 7 mega millions lottery tickets…and I lost. I pulled the Astros and ended up not getting anything in the box. When you go hitless in the box break, you name is added to a special bonus box break…which has yet to happen…i’m hoping it happens soon though!

All in all, I like the idea of the box and case breaks but not the random teams. I’d rather pay a little premium to get the Redskins or Yankees or Nationals. I guess at the end of the day it’s no different than buying a pack or box of cards in that you have no idea what you will get. You could end up with a short print auto relic or you could end up with a 7th round offensive linemen…it’s always a gamble. One that I will probably avoid in the future as it doesn’t fit my collecting tendencies.

PS – If you are interested in any of the cards above, let me know as they are up for trade!

PPS – as a side note and something completely unrelated…my favorite album of the year Run the Jewels from El-P and Killer Mike was noted as Okayplayer.com top album of 2013. There are a few other albums on their I need to dig deeper into before I can agree with the ranking (Earl, Tyler and Chip).

2013 Topps S2 – Packs 9 and 10

Posted by cardboard hogs on August 15, 2013

Rounding Home.

So, i was going to post the final two packs from my series two box last night but we had a nice family dinner night with my mother, mother in law and brother in law. Where did we go you ask, well we went to Pok Pok. If any of you ever venture up to Portland, it’s not to be missed. The restaurant has received quite a bit of notoriety the past few years and a place that we love to visit whenever we get a chance. If you do indeed make it to Pok Pok, you MUST get the wings. They are unlike any other wings you have ever had, they are BETTER! Just a little local Portland foodie plug for any foodies out there. There is also a spot out in Brooklyn, which i’ve heard is not quite the same…guess you need that Southeast Portland flavor to make it great.

Back to cardboard. I’ve only two packs left to share and there isn’t too much for gloriousness, as i’ve pulled the ‘hits’ already. As has been the case with the previous posts, i like to show dueling or similar cards. The two below feature great faces of intense physical exertion. Joaquin and Jorge are both doing their ultimate lip pursing, almost to the point that their lips have disappeared…but they haven’t because that would be wierd.

Next is the contorting Jered Weaver Cut to the Chase. This photo gives you a great idea as to how much pressure pitching can put on your body…and of course there is more lip pursing.

Enter Sandman Chasing History. This is an open mouth lip pursing. Something only legends can do. Can you do it properly?

Salvador Perez is super happy in this card. I’m assuming it’s a walk off for the win…but no lip pursing. Disappointing.

Finally. Tiny Tim Lincecum. Look at those long flowing locks, splayed glove and a cream white ANTS jersey. Does the MLB test for weed? I know it’s not really a PED, but i can only imagine with this kid. Inappropriate, i know…

2013 Topps S2 – Packs 5 and 6

Posted by cardboard hogs on July 20, 2013

The last couple of posts have been about celebrations. This post is going to be about great plays and faces…as in the faces of men celebrating something or working very hard at doing something.

The first pair of cards feature a very smooth and shaded Jackie Bradley Jr. gliding in to make a very nonchalant catch. Jackie has a great name and also had a wonderful spring training rendering him the next superstar phenom…unfortunately, spring ended and so did his hot run. He’s a great young player and is in that always awkward transition of being a major leaguer and a AAA player…he’s too young to say he’s a AAAA guy, plus I think he has a ton of talent. One thing I can’t seem to understand is that the Red Sox always seem to have a great farm system and the Yankees continue to ignore theirs…or at least the Yanks don’t seem to be able to develop enough major league talent. The other card is of Andy Dirks and he appears to have made the catch, good for him and better for the photographer for making this photograph. This is one of the things I love about sports cards. They can capture a singular moment in time and become eternal images on cardboard (card stock) forever.

The intensity of these next two faces is both fascinating and extremely disturbing. Not sure what the expression being exhibited by Adam Dunn is about, but if I had a daughter I would keep her away from him…based on this one photo of him. I know it’s judgmental, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut. James Loney. This is the face I make when i’ve become irregular and having a tough time with my situation. Both intense faces, both disturbing faces.

These next two cards are the epitome and possibly a little over the top of facial enthusiasm. The Papelbon card is out of control, but so is Papelbon…this was probably a 38 pitch save in May, and this is how he’s reacting. So Intense! The Trouty card is kind of cool. You have to love this kid. He doesn’t get the fanfare that Bryce Harper does, for some odd reason? Both are equally talented and are going to be a whole lotta fun to watch the next 12-15 years. Wonder if Trout was in DC and Harper was in LA if Trout would get more love? Harper would get attention regardless due to polarizing personality…just wondering.

I’m not a Giants fan, I don’t hate them or even dislike them, I just don’t like them like them. You know what I mean? They are a solid team and should be successful for a very long time, or at least as long as this kid is healthy. I have a feeling that this kid’s baby face isn’t going to age much, so I guess that would make him the Dick Clarke of baseball…no?

I’m gonna end it with some mini action. The Kid and a guy named BJ. Why a guy would want to go by BJ is beyond me…but maybe that’s just my issue or maybe it’s because his name is Melvin Emanuel. (ps. yes that is a hair…from my head linking the Kid and Melvin…i’m receding)