Rookie gambles

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 15, 2016

“…the kids better buy my rookie card now

cause after this year the price ain’t going down!”

These words were uttered by the lyrically inclined, Mos Def…or Yasin Bey.

The value of rookie cards have been a part of non-card collectors for many years and often referenced in pop culture. Maybe not necessarily the value of a card, but the understanding that rookie cards generally carry a significantly greater value or general demand over non rookie cards.

I’ve never been a gambler, nor have i been a prospector. I’m a collector, a team collector. A team collector of an NFL franchise that has not been great for a few years and are faced with a high draft pick each year in the Spring NFL draft. Typically a high NFL draft, assuming an offensive player or skilled defensive player will have valuable rookie cards. When they are drafted by the Redskins, i have a collectors obligation to pick them up. Typically, the sooner the better for me. Problem is though, you never know how a guy is going to pan out in his athletic career. Case in point, this guy.

In 2012, i bought way too many boxes of football cars in hopes of pulling ONE…just ONE autographed RGIII card. Never. Not once did i have my wish granted…ironically though, i did manage to pull two Kirk Cousins cards that year. At the time, i was slightly disappointed…that’s what it came to, i was disappointed to have a back up guy, not the main guys autograph, i mean c’mon man RGIII was the future! As you may be able to tell from the card above, he is a distant memory for all Redskins fans now and something the Cleveland Browns are forced to deal with. Now, don’t get me wrong i have some great memories, some not so great ones too, but the drama with this guy…not to mention the fragility with which he played. Point is, you have to be patient and know when to strike on these young guys. I think i’ve learned my lesson a bit and have managed to make a few good pick ups from the past couple of card shows with Kim. Here are the few top Redskins rookies and cards with autographs.

I’ve written about this guy a lot. The main reason is that i’m feeling like he may be another Malcolm Kelly or Devin Thomas or Michael Westbrook or Rod Gardner or…you get the idea. A highly touted rookie WR that isn’t able to meet the expectations.

Doctson has missed most of the season and who knows what the future will bring. With the lull in his playing this year though, it’s time to swoop in and pick up some autos.

I’ve been able to pick up a few for less than $5 each. Not bad for a first round draft pick, skilled position player autograph and or jersey.

Another guy that i’ve been putting together a nice collection of is Nate Sudfeld. A back up QB…worked well last time, why not try again! I don’t believe Nate has suited up for any regular season games this season, which is great because that means Cousins has played great and has been healthy. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Kirk Cousins and hope the Redskins can sign him to a long term contract and hope that he is the long term answer. But you need a backup and a good backup at that. Worst case, he gets traded and stars somewhere else and i’m able to flip these guys for more Redskins.

The digital camoflauge is always something cool to see on a card. The autograph of Nate though…it needs some work. I think these kids are asked to initial the stickers, not autograph them…oy!

Next rookie that i haven’t really started my pursuit of but need to step it up a bit is Su’A Cravens. He was a huge fan of Sean Taylor as a young’n and his play in some respects reflects the same intensity that Sean had. Su’A is an intense young man that hits hard and plays with enough intensity to become playmaker in the future, so now is the time to strike if you ask me!

Last kid for the night is Keith Marshall. A rookie running back from the University of UGA…or Georgia. Don’t know much about this kid since he was injured in the preseason and has been on IR all season…you can never have enough RB’s, especially the fast ones which i believe he is.

I’m thinking of posting some Bowman cards i’ve picked up recently after i do some research on the nicer cards i pulled.

Hope you enjoyed the cards today.

Here for your viewing pleasure…Pharoahe Monche, Mos Def and Nate Dogg…OH NO!!

Christmas Eve Pickups

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 24, 2013

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…?

The good and the bad…

Posted by cardboard hogs on September 9, 2013

Well, crap…didn’t really expect the football team from Washington to get worked like they did tonight agains the Eagles. The guys looked REALLY rusty on offense…and the defense was on the field way too much. Chips’ quick moving offense looked great in the first half, very dominant, but was slowed down in the second half. That, of course could have been due in part to them having a 26 point lead. No less, the skins didn’t look smooth at all and i’m thinking RGIII and Morris watching the preseason has something to do with that. It’s only one game and there are 15 more to go, but heading to Green Bay next week won’t be easy. Two 0-1 teams with division champion thoughts. Should be a barn burner in Weees-caaan-sinnn.

That was the bad.

Now for the good.

I got some sweet cardboard in the mail today from Sam over at the Daily Dimwit.

The first one is the jersey DeAngelo Hall card he had posted a few weeks ago. D’Hall as i’ve mentioned in the past on this site is the epitome of ‘the good, and the bad’. The good is his awareness to pick up the ‘lateral’ (iffy call honestly) pass and run it in the end zone to put the skins up 7-0. The bad is his dumbass horse collar, out of bounds drag down of DeSean Jackson for a 15 yard penalty…and his constant chattering with that tiny fool. No less, the card is very awesome.

Sam also sent along two other RGIII cards from this years crop of cardboard, one being a very awesome die cut Bowman of Robert in the throwback.

thanks Sam!

One Free Cooley

Posted by cardboard hogs on July 9, 2013

I stopped in to my LCS last weekend to see what was out and chat with Rick for a little bit. He was kind enough to have a sweet little piece of cardboard behind the counter waiting for me. This beauty from the Donruss Threads 2009 set of Chris Cooley. A piece of the sleeve trim dual colored jersey card numbered 37/50.

Not bad for a free piece of Cooley paraphernalia!

Box Break: 2012 Panini Limited Football

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 6, 2013

The final piece to the Panini America order that i received last week is two boxes of Limited Football. If you read the previous post you noticed there was an asterisk next to the order…well for some reason or another i ordered one box of Limited and was sent two. Not really sure why, i assumed it was due mainly in part to Panini’s love for their customers and a way to buy a great review…i kid! Either way, i am greatly appreciative of the extra box and will now take the time to review what i received! Limited opened

Limited is another one of those one pack, great hit or not so great hit products. With each box, you receive 7 shiny cards in one pack that looks like it should have some pop tarts in it. I’m really hungry and it’s way past my bed time…Looking at the back of this box i see a significant amount of inserts and parallels…significantly more than the Crown Royale box. The base set contains 235 cards with 100 commons, 50 legends, 50 phenoms and 35 material phenoms. I’m going to guess that a phenom is a rookie…possibly a second year player? i don’t really know, just spit ballin here. Either way, it’s going to be a difficult set to collect with the amount of boxes i plan on buying…unless Panini wants to keep sending me some free product. BIG SMILEY FACE!

Card Design – 4.5 of 5

Gotta say i really like the design of these cards. Love the grid action in the background, very architectural…which is great since that’s what i do for a day job, makes me feel comfortable. Plus the grid pattern fades to silver at the bottom of the card which is can or cannot be sexy…this one is sexy. There is a constant theme on the cards, whether they be parallels or base cards. One thing i’ve noticed about a lot of cards from Panini is that they like to have the edited photo on the front of the card and the unedited game action photo version on the back. Kind of like this, makes for some nice consistency…plus a great way to show off the staffs great photoshop and photo editing work…oh crap, i’m seeping in to the other portion of the review…

Photography – 4 of 5

As i was saying…the unedited photos on the back are great! The photos are once again crisp and focused on the player which i truly do enjoy. One interesting shot is the Jack Lambert card and how sharp it is. The Mean Joe Green card from the Leaf Signatures wasn’t nearly as crisp as this one…wonder why? The photos were probably taken from around the same time…thoughts? Love the photos. Panini managed to get to the knees for most of the players…but still no feet…wonder how Rex Ryan would feel about that?

Hits – 4.5 of 5

Oh the hits. As i mentioned in my last post, you have to look at the hits you got, not the hits you wanted…or else you will be a miserable person. As my mom would say, ‘suck it up buttercup’. That said, I pulled a redemption Jumbo Jersey Signature of Joe Adams. First off, i have absolutely no idea who Joe Adams is…haven’t googled him yet, maybe i missed something this year, but this guy is way off my radar. Second, i really HATE redemptions. HATE-HATE-HATE! It’s like waking up on Christmas morning as a kid at 8am and being told you have to wait to open your presents after your grandparents arrive…and they aren’t coming until 3pm…your just standing there looking at your wrapped gifts wondering what in the hell it could be! Just waiting…It is what it is though…at least i didn’t pull another Dontari Poe auto! On the flip side of the redemption…i pulled an Andrew Luck jersey card numbered to 25, pretty dope. Not a big Luck fan only because he doesn’t play for the Redskins, but a great card and a great guy/player. I pulled a couple other autos that are OK, nothing too exciting. BUT i also pulled a Len Dawson game used card. My first look at the card was, great…a jersey from an old guy…but then i looked closer, you have to do that kids, look closer! It’s a game used helmet! A GAME USED HELMET! I didn’t even know that was a thing with cards? Had no idea they were doing this and I think it’s wonderful. The card is pretty cool. I keep tapping it with my nail, probably not a great idea, but it’s just so cool.

Len Dawson Stadium Stars Game Used Helmet 13/55

This Thing…

Case Keenum Phenom Auto 191/249

Vincent Jackson Autograph 2/25

Vernon Davis Limited Threads Jersey 14/25

Andrew Luck Blue Chip Jersey 5/99

Review

That’s it, both boxes have been looked at. I really like this product…a lot. The cards are fantastic and the hits i pulled were not bad at all…except for the redemption…but i’m dealing with it. As with Crown Royale, not sure if I will purchase any more of this product due mostly to the cost but I can definitely see myself buying one next year. If i could offer up only one suggestion, it would be that they wrap the cards in something a little nicer than the silver package…but that’s really it…well that and try to minimize the redemption cards. -HTTR!