young’ns

Posted by cardboard hogs on March 29, 2017

Although the past Redskins season didn’t unfold as i had expected, there were a couple of bright spots…or at least areas that may appear to be bright if things unfold how i hope they will. The rookie class from last years draft had minimal impact this season, starting of course with the much written about here, Josh Doctson. Most of the kids drafted in April of 2016 didn’t see much playing time due to injuries or roster depth.

Take a quick peek:

WR – Josh Doctson from TCU
LB – Su’A Cravens from USC
DB – Kendall Fuller from Virginia Tech
DT – Matthew Ioannidis from Temple
QB – Nate Sudfeld from Indiana
LB – Steve Daniels from Boston College
RB – Keith Marshall from Georgia

If you look closer at the draft though, the team managed to keep everyone in the organization and didn’t cut them. What that means of course is that the organization felt they did a good job of drafting. Now, who really knows who drafted these guys. Could have been Scott McCloughan or Bruce Allen…or maybe it was Chris Cooley…who knows…! I’m going to keep my hopes up and hope these guys have great futures with the team.

Besides Doctson, i’m really hoping for something great from Su’A Cravens. He’s making the shift from LB to Safety next season. Something that should have been done last year…but who has time to look backwards these days.

16 PS Su'a Cravens auto 39:49

Cravens likens himself to a Sean Taylor kind of player…most of the defensive backs that play for the Redskins or wear 21 do, so it’s cool that he gets to fulfill that wish i guess. Taylor was a freak of nature and a complete beast on the field. He also loved football and always went all out when he played…not saying Cravens can’t do that…but…i’m just sayin it’s a lot to live up to.

Not to mention, Cravens likes his social media which i really couldn’t imagine Sean Taylor posting photos of him posing near a waterfall during his vacation…but maybe…who knows. I have hope that Su’A will become a dominant player, only time will tell.

16 IN Su'a Cravens auto 91:488

The only other player that really saw much time on the field last year was Kendall Fuller, although it was somewhat short lived. He was coming off an ACL surgery from the prior season, so no telling how healthy he was last season. His impact last year didn’t amount to much, but he seems like the kind of player that will be solid and have some great games. Maybe not an All-Pro, but his blood line is that of an NFL’er…plus the new secondary coach for the Redskins was his DB coach at VTech. So there’s that.

Nate Sudfeld is a bit of a curiosity for me. Is the Cousin’s replacement next season? Is he just a guy that will be a 2nd and 3rd string quarterback? Who is he and what can he do! Only time will tell for him.

16 LTC Nate Sudfeld auto

Since he’s a QB, i’ve been working to stock up on his autographs like i did with Cousins during RGIII’s rookie year. That was some seriously major foresight on my part. If things don’t work out for Cousins and the Redskins in the future, i’ll have my Sudfelds ready to go and fully invested in!

16 SC Nate Sudfeld

The other players i don’t have cards for yet are Steven Daniels and Matthew Ioannidis. Daniels was injured during training camp and was placed on IR but had a decent start to his camp last year. Seems like one of those small cannon ball kind of line backers that is everywhere and becomes a field leader…like London Fletcher was for so many seasons. Keith Marshall was another player that was injured and didn’t have an impact on last season.

Looking back on t the draft, you really have to hope that these kids can get and stay healthy or this draft could turn out to be a huge bust. But if they can get and stay healthy, who knows what their future holds for them. Lots of potential and talent for them young’ns.

The music today is brought to you by a couple of enigmatic dual personality MC’s from New York. Kool Keith and MF Doom. A couple old guys that the young’ns love…especially Doom. He has quite a cult following for those true hip hop fans.

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!!

2013 Topps – Packs 9 and 10

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 19, 2013

DONE!

I have finished opening 10 jumbo packs and am quite proud of myself. The last two packs turned out to be pretty action packed as well as thick card packed. There was a post over at Basketball Card Blog about the girth-iness of the Topps Cy Young card. I was hoping I would pull one of my own and when i got to the 10th pack i noticed what looked like 10 cards glued together. This reminded me of the time when i opened up an old shoebox of cards from the 90’s that had stuck together to form an un-bendable stack of good ole’ junk wax. My heart broke as i ended up tossing most of these cards as they were damaged, that will teach you to put your 90’s glossy cards in some polypropylene sleeves for that long lasting protection.

On to the cardboard.

First card of note is The Big Hurt. I absolutely LOVED this guy in the 90’s. I remember going to my local flea market and buying 9 of his Score and Topps Rookie cards thinking i was investing in something really great. Like most kids around this time, I was planning my investment strategies when these cards hit the $1,000 mark. They sell for a few dollars now. Frank Thomas was an unbelievable hitter. Great command of the strike zone. Herculean power and a fierce competitor. One of my cousins from Phoenix City, Alabama tells me he went to school with Frank Thomas…i guess it’s believable since Thomas went to school in Columbus, Georgia just across the state line. That anecdote had no other purpose than to be a topper, sorry. These Chasing History cards are OK, not great, not terrible…just OK. Topps has really gone out of their way to put retired players on cards the last 8+ years. I think it’s a great theme to carry on, but maybe pump the brakes a little on this one.

Next up is Reggie Jackson and his super Abs. This card is from his Athletics days. Just look at those glasses and sweet ass afro busting out the bottom of his ear flapless helmet. I couldn’t imagine players using ear flapless helmets these days…someone would be killed by an erratic fastball and claim some unwritten rule in doing so. Still love these The Great cards, this one goes along with the Mo i pulled earlier.

This is my second Bryce Harper card from the box. I got the base card #1 and this one. These Chasing the Dream cards are kind of nice. I would really like them if the name was easier to read on the left side…maybe that’s just due to my old, tired eyes. Harper is going to be a great player and I really love the way he plays the game. I want my son to go all out like he does. Unfortunately, his temper gets in his way at times, Bryce Harper that is. I think it’s going to get the best of him as he gets older and becomes a veteran and more comfortable pushing back. Hope he doesn’t let it come to that though. Topps absolutely loves this kid and it’s almost as if Mike Trout doesn’t matter that much…kind of crazy that the stat guys love Trout so much but his love is overshadowed fairly significantly by Harper, at least from what i’ve seen.

Ok. Here is my thick ass card. It’s Alex Rodriguez. Look at it. That pompous smirk and his magnetic wrist band to increase blood flow to his wrists or from his wrists, i have no idea how those things work or if they work…snob.

If you knew me, you would know that I do not like A-Rod at all. I think he is the worst of the selfish/narcissist modern athlete. I really wish he didn’t play for the Yankees. Anyone else but the Yankees. I understand that a lot of athletes have personal issues and many are far worse than A-Rod, but something about him just kills me. He is a false image of a great baseball player and overwhelmed with his own image that he diligently created. I wonder if he just took less money and stayed in Seattle if i would feel this way?

Ironically, my last two packs contained these two minis. Maybe it wasn’t irony but rather the cardboard gods (my apologies to the card atheists…) balancing things in a very confusing world.

One great humanitarian for the game that would drop everything to help people in need. The other a self serving and self absorbed popcorn fed, orange spray tanning sucka! Now, don’t get me wrong, A-Rod is/was a great talent. Even with the PED rumors, i think he is one of the all time great players…it’s his attitude and entitlement that tugs at my short hairs.