Like a wave crashing over me…

Ya’ll ever get caught up in a wave of FOMO? 

I do.  Often. 

I hate it, but it’s a part of my brain that grabs a hold of me and won’t let go. 

Do you remember that car commercial from 15 years ago or so, the one where the woman wanted a new car and it became an obsession for…a car was growing on her forehead.  Every time she saw a car, the forehead protuberance enlarged to a point that she bought a damn car.  Well, that’s how I felt about Project 2020, or more slickly branded as MMXX by The Topps Company, Inc. 

Roman Numerals for the masses.  Honestly, the Roman Numerals looked great for that mostly forgettable year.

So, the draw for me to this specific set was the infusion of sports and art via the medium of a baseball card…in a magnetic holder.  I love all of those things and think they are fantastic.  Those three things fill the parts of my life not given to family, work and rest. 

When the news of the cards were released around this time last year (…I believe…) I was already on board and decided I was going to pursue this set until I realized the cost + the quantity of cards. 

400 cards and $20 each is $8,000.  That’s a couple cases of cards, well one case in today’s market…but you get the idea.  So I changed my focus about 20 cards into the set.  I decided I was only going to buy the PC guys that were released, along with Mike Trout…just because he’s Mike Trout.  So, what that meant was that every release of:

Rickey Henderson

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Don Mattingly

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Derek Jeter

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Mike Trout

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I was in.  I had to be in.

I have to admit, it was fun to see the cards roll out.  Almost became a burden on some days.  If 2020 was a regular year, I’m not sure I would have pursued these cards so diligently.  Vacation would have gotten in the way.  Deadlines would have distracted me and I would have missed a date or two.  But I was home every day in front of my computer every day and the forehead swelling didn’t go away.  In fact, it’s still there. 

Now that the frenetic ebb and flow of the MMXX cards is in full ebb mode, you can get them pretty cheap on electronic Bay.  Like $5 in some cases.  So, I’m going to nickel and dime my way to a complete set, well five and ten my way to a complete set and infill with my Rickey’s, Donny’s, Jeet’s and Trout’s.  Luckily (I’m sure there’s a better word than lucky…) I picked up the more valuable and popular guys from that set already, so I’m hoping I can work through this fairly efficiently.  Also, hoping to make some trades with a few folks on twitter to get the ball rolling.

Link to my checklist

Here’s a couple newer ones I’ve made deals with to procure for the set:

Jackie Robinson

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Ted Williams

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Mark McGwire

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With all that in mind, I’ve started a new tab at the top of the page for the set.  It’s up there, to the right…second row…on the end.  Click it.  I have a google doc of the cards that I’ve already purchased and the ones that I’ve picked up on eBay the last couple of weeks.

So, the big question…will I participate in P70?

Thanks for reading as always!

-Cardboard Hogs

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I don’t buy clothes often…but i got a new hoodie and i love it. I got it from the guy on the left. He’s Masta Ace. One of my favorite emcee’s of all-time. Next to him is Craig G, followed by Kool G. Rap and lastly, my favorite emcee of all-time, Big Daddy Kane. They were part of the Juice Crew back in the ’80’s and made a posse cut call ‘The Symphony’. In my mind, that’s the greatest posse cut of all-time and it ain’t even close. Here’s the hoodie along with my scruffy chin and the video.

A soloist joins a band…

I’ve never been one to join a group, not really a group joiner.  Never wanted to be associated with a specific cohort or any kind of click.  I felt it was unnecessary or just really not for me…partially due to anxiety, partially due to an unwillingness to interact with people I felt might not click well with me.  I’ve always been like that, well, I’ve mostly been like that.  The past few years I’ve shifted a bit and have opened up to others.  There have been a few catalysts for this.  The bride for one, of course.  But also realizing that connecting with people that share your interests is important.  I’ve been able to make some of that happen with the card show guys I stop by each month, well…each month prior to 2020. 

Earlier last year, I was asked to attend a group meeting with other card collectors by Terry Kneis.  He’s been my go to vintage guy through the years.  Not because of his charming personality…because, that isn’t his M.O.  I like to stop by his table because he is crazy organized.  Possibly over the top organized for a card show table at times.  There is a definite sense of needing to ask permission to see his cards.  I think that tends to push people away most of the time…but for me, I love it.  I LOVE that he controls his product to a point that it doesn’t get disturbed by randos.  All of his cards are in order by year.  Every card has a price on the back.  The lesser expensive ones come in penny sleeves and the expensive ones include top loaders.  For me, it’s a time saver that I cherish…plus, he offers up a chair for you to sit and go through your items!!!  That’s right a chair at a card show!!!  I can sit down with my phone, go through my google doc spreadsheet and check off the cards I pull as I put them aside. 

HUGE TIME SAVER YA’LL!!!

When I get home, my checklist is updated and all I have to do is remove the penny sleeves and drop the cards in their respective binders.  Have I mentioned the time saver aspect? 

Back to the club part of this wandering story…Terry invited about 25 gents and ladies to his house earlier last February for the Oregon Sports Card Association meeting.  It was a quaint gathering with a wide variety of vintage card collectors.  I was definitely out of my league, as far as baseball knowledge but had a great time.  At the end of the gathering, Terry hands out a manilla envelope with a special gift for the days participants.  Me being a newcomer to the group, Terry handed me a $100 off any card that he was selling from his house that day.  The caveat was that it had to be from an assortment of cards on a special table.  Well, this was on that table and I had to grab it.  I could not pass this beautiful card up.  It was phenomenal.  Sensational even. 

1956 Jackie Robinson – #30

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I haven’t really dug into the ‘50’s sets yet, so this is about as nice of a first card as you could get…in my mind. 

One of the activities during the meeting was a trivia party where I was teamed up with an older gentlemen, Steve.  Steve has won many of these competitions and wasn’t overly thrilled to have a new jack join his team, but I think I held my own.  We didn’t come in first place, but we did finish tied for second.  Which was great if you ask me.  Having come in second place, were granted the choice of one card from a 1950’s binder with semi-stars and could pick one card under $80.  I went with this beautiful Monte Irvin card…mostly because I had just wrapped up reading Willie Mays biography and Monte was heavily involved in much of that storytelling…plus I thought it seemed appropriate to pick a Dodger and a Giant on the same day.

1954 Monte Irvin – #3

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Today also marks the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.  I hope everyone has had a chance to listen to one of his important speeches or read an article about his life.  He was a great man that fought for change that people are still fighting for today.  Maybe one day, we’ll get a chance to see past our skin color and political viewpoints and move forward as humans.  It’s a lot to ask for, but it’s also something that is very well achievable in our lifetime.  I sure hope for my kids sake that we can get there.  So, Happy MLK day everyone. Fuji shared a couple of his favorite MLK cards over at The Chronicles of Fuji and i wanted to share the first three i could find today.

As always, thank you for reading!

-Cardboard Hogs

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Here’s a video of my favorite speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Last Post…and a farewell to a Villain

This year has finally come to an end.  An unforgiving parallel universe of a year where wrong was right and low was even further lower than we could all imagine.  Maybe it was the end of a bad dream, the kind of nightmare where you’re about to crash into a concrete wall, screeching brakes being hammered to the floor, arms off the wheel to cover your eyes, barreling towards the wall and nanoseconds before impact you wake up.  Sweating.  Shaking.  Breathing heavily.  Saying to yourself, “what the hell just happened!”  The nightmare has ended…for now, but is it really over?  What will ’21 bring for us?  I would love to see an overcorrection from the wrong to the right and some goodness be brought to everyone.  More generosity and kindness.  Less judgement and crassness towards others.  Can we live our lives in a manner that we want to without condescension?  I sure hope so. 

I love this hobby, I love it dearly.  It brings me great joy.  In a world where I have marginal control over things, I can control my collection. 

It’s there when I need it to regroup emotionally…I’m a highly anxious person. 

It’s there when I’ve had a rough day and need to zone out…I worry too much about others opinions.

It’s there when I need a new organizing project and get an idea in the middle of the night…I got some OCD too.

Our hobby is fantastic.  A lot has changed about it this past year. 

I hope it keeps evolving. 

I hope the people that are new are welcomed with open arms.

I hope the new people take some history lessons and learn about our hobby.

I hope we let people collect what and how they want to collect.

For 2021, I will be more involved in helping to make this hobby great.  Reaching out to bloggers, twitter folks, flippers, old-school collectors and the new ones as well.  I plan to buy more from my LCS than eBay, but I also plan to sell more on eBay.  I want to find a happy middle where I can enjoy the hobby without feeling like I am going to strangle myself financially.  Creating a net zero cost of cards is the ultimate goal, not sure how that will get done.  The architecture and build portion of the world is attempting to reduce carbon emissions significantly with the 2030 challenge, but this is nothing like that. 

I just want to have fun with these pieces of cardboard and card stock and shiny whatever the hell they are materials.  I hope you do too!

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With the end of the year usually comes collecting or personal goals.  I’m not going to list anything, I think that’s mostly been covered by the manifesto above.  So, instead, I’d like to take the time to update the annual wallet card and take a look back. 

I started carrying a card in my wallet quite a few years ago.  It was a way to always keep the hobby with me wherever I went.  Every once in a while the card would be exposed to other people and it would start a conversation, or maybe just some ridicule from some colleagues…architects can be a judgmental group, ya know?

At some point along the way, I’ve lost a few cards…but here’s what I’ve got since I started the blog.

2020: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees 1999 Pacific Paramount, card #162

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2019: Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves 1987 Topps, card #490

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2018: Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins 1992 Pro Set, card #90

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2017: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees 2014 Gypsy Queen, card #N174-DJ

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2016: Art Monk, Washington Redskins 1985 Topps, card # 185

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2015: Rickey Henderson, New York Yankees 1986 Topps, card #500

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2014: Joe Gibbs, Washington Redskins 1990 Pro Set, card #333

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2013: Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers 1991 Topps Archives, card #1

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AND NOW, FOR TWO-THOUSAND TWENTY ONE!  THE NEW WALLET CARD IS (drumroll…)

2021: Santana Moss, Washington Redskins 2006 Topps, card #245

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I know, I know…I can hear the clapping through the keyboard!

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OK, so when I woke up this morning I was thinking about the best video I could share with you all today.  Something fun and positive and light-hearted to ring the new year in.  I was getting distracted during the day and everything was getting away from me.  When I sat down to start writing I first jumped on twitter to get an update on this mad world we’re living in…and my heart sank when I saw that MF Doom has passed away…shit shit shit shit.  He was one of my favorite MC’s…crazy entertaining and a tremendous wordsmith.  Lots of double entendre’s and just some good ol’ hip hop metaphors.  At this point, I’m not sure what took his life as he was only 49 (4 years older than me).  The one thing that can make me smile is that he actually passed away on Halloween of this year.  That’s gotta be the most MF Doom thing ever.  For the uninitiated, he was wore a ‘gladiator’ mask and was well known for skipping out on shows but still having someone perform for him…the mask helped with that endeavor.  Not sure of the reason for keeping his passing quiet for two months, but that’s none of my business really.  If you have the time, please take a listen to the video below of his collaboration with the producer Madlib for the quintessential MC and producer hip hop album.  It’s a classic. 

MADVILLAIN – MADVILLAINY

Also, check out his earlier work with KMD as Zev Love X and music from his other aliases; King Geedorah, King Ghidra, Viktor Vaughn, Metal Fingers, King Dumile and Metal Face.  He also did some work with 3rd Bass back in the day…enjoy.  Have a Happy New Year, hug your loved one, tell them you love them and stay safe out there.

-Cardboard Hogs!   

Silver pack attack.

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!

2013 Topps S2 – Packs 7 and 8

I feel like a dope writing about 2013 Topps series two, but i will manage to get over it sooner or later…plus i have another post to go!

I’m not really sure where I left off on the Topps post, but these two cards really caught my eye…plus they were in my to be organized scan folder.  So here they are, Trouty and Alvarez.  Both amazing photos and both are landscape cards, which i LOVE in base sets!  Both cards manage to get the player and ball in the shot…great photography to the photographer.

13 T Pedro Alvarez Mike Trout

This sideburn slash sort of neck beard is disturbing…plus he’s a Red Sox guy.  Not much for me to like about this card.

13 T Koji Uehara Gold

Ah jeez.  Jackie and the Babe.  The only problem with Topps pushing out these old school legend cards is the lack of photo variety.  I’ve got 5 other Jackie cards with that same pose…wish they had access to other images, you know, to spice it up a bit?

13 T Jackie Robinson Babe Ruth The Elite

Bryce Harper.  Love this kid.  He is the newest addition to my player personal collection and a reason i started following the Nats a few years ago.  He seems like he can be quite a jerk sometimes, but he’s intense and he goes all out each game.  That is how I would want my son to play.

13 T Bryce Harper Making their Mark

Rizzo – Italien – Cub.

13 T Anthony Rizzo WBC

Joey Belle.  Remember how crazy this guy was.  Dude had a serious temper and would go off over the stupidest crap.  I’ve said too much…

13 T Albert Belle Cut to the Chase

This guy.  Love the Cuban players.  Did you hear, he won the home run derby over the all star break…it’s been that long since i’ve been blogging.

13 T Yoenis Cespedes Making their Mark Jersey

Good night.