Humble Redskins

Posted by cardboard hogs on April 11, 2017

Hello out there. I haven’t picked up too many cards lately…been super busy at work. This part of my job is a little tough, the deadlines. They tend to linger on for a while and when you’re on a project like this there are multiple versions of deadlines. At this job, i have to deal with the city as well as clients and consultants. Luckily for me, i’m fairy new to this project type so i don’t have to deal with city people too much. Portland is known in the region to have one of the slower forms of public government and gettin’ shit done…but then again, it is the city where young people go to retire. So, speaking of deadlines…

Kirk is on a deadline of sorts…or maybe it’s the Redskins that are on the deadline. I’m on record as a Cousins supporter and a guy that would love to see him be a Redskin for a long long time. Not sure how the team ownership and pseudo GM feel about that though. I really do hope they get a long term contract done with ~~Kurt~~ Kirk soon. I don’t think he will excel at another place, like oh…maybe San Francisco as much as he does in DC Hyattsville.

Now, i say it’s deadline, but it’s really a soft deadline. One that will probably come and go without much notice. From what i’ve read, both sides are more than content in doing a year to year franchise tag contract. Not sure if that puts the team in the best situation as he will make a ton of cash and potentially bind the team and keep them from paying other players…and young stars on the team.

Don’t get me wrong, i’m not against anyone getting their cash and if anybody deserves to milk their team for all the cash they can, it’s Cousins. He’s always been tied to RGIII for good or bad and i think he’s made a great name for himself, but you always feel like he’s being compared to the electric rookie year Griffin had…even though Cousins has far exceeded Robert’s career trajectory since then.

I’m meandering here…so i’m just gonna post some cards and a music video at the end like i do. Here’s a Jordan Reed card that has serial numbers on it.

Gonna miss this guys, DJacc. Sure hope he does well in Tampa though…so glad he didn’t go back to Philly or Dallas or New York…would of loved to see him go home and play for the Rams along with McVay and Garcon. I might just had to follow the Rams if that was the case.

Last card is a Kerrigan card. It’s a basic card. No serial numbers, No fractators, No autos and No fake jersey. Just a picture of a guy going to work and doing work every. single. game. You know he hasn’t missed a game in his 6 year career! 96 games and no misses…and he’s had some tough, nagging injuries along the way. Solid guy that isn’t represented nearly enough on this blog…i gotta fix that.

That’s all i got.

for today’s music, i’m just gonna go ahead and post this week old Kendrick Lamar video…Humble. Like Kerrigan and all those guys that go to work every day and do their work with out the fan fare or self promotion…Like Captain Kirk.

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.

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.

A power alley McCovey.

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.

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.

Some Yankee stuff

A Posey Bowman.

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.

A buncha PC randos…

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 31, 2017

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…?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.