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!!

Sundays with J-Dox

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 4, 2016

Sundays around here can be a little chaotic. Lots of chores to be done before the day is done, spending quality time with the family, and getting ready for the upcoming work/school week. Not to mention finding a way to watch every second of every Redskins game. The swings of my emotions would often swing directly with the results of the game and how each play played itself out. I’ve grown up a little bit though. I’ve been able to manage my expectations a little better and control my emotions and temperment…being a fan of a team that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 1991 will do that do you i guess.

The 23-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals today though was quite frustrating. Arizona has a solid defense and a few fantastic players on both sides of the ball…but i think the Redskins had many chances to win the game today…the defense just didn’t get the job done today. Here’s hoping they can regroup for the Philadelphia Eagles next week in Philly and that DeSean Jackson has a big game.

Speaking of D-Jax, there seems to be a lot of build up about him returning to the Eagles next season. Although i wouldn’t be overly happy about that, i don’t think i would lose much sleep over it either. One of the reasons is this guy…Josh Doctson.

Josh is a completely different type of receiver than Jackson.

He’s also a very different kind of receiver than the Redskins have had in a long time. Tall, fast guy that can make some plays on the edges and in the middle of the field…i just hope he can get healthy. He’s been dealing with some odd achilles/foot injury all year and hasn’t been on the field too much this season…two games i believe.

Here are a few of the nicer cards i picked up from Brian the other day. Brian is an Eagles fan.

I’m always a sucker for jumbo patch cards like this…but i’m always a little curious about the crop of the player on these cards. Jumbo patch or player photo…i’ll take the jumbo patch, especially with the burgundy and gold stitched together.

The tri-colored patch is pretty cool, but the autograph is just aiight.

So whether or not D-Jax leaves and Josh Doctson can fulfill his large shoes…or not is to be seen. If J-Dox turns out to be a gem, i’ve got a nice start to his rookie card collection.

Thanks for reading…on to the Eagles! HTTR!!

Silk, Mettle and Zumthor

Posted by cardboard hogs on April 26, 2013

It’s Friday night and i’ve been tracking the NFL draft the past couple of hours and days to see whom the Redskins would pick up. I don’t follow a lot of college football, so most of these guys are complete strangers to me. When it’s all wrapped up and the draft is complete, i plan on doing a quick post of the guys that were selected for the Burgundy and Gold. – HTTR!

I couldn’t really think of a good post, so i am going to dig in the crates a bit and post some cards i purchased a month or so ago. They are of my childhood idol Rickey Henderson and they are all pretty cool.

The first one is the Copper (looking) Proven Mettle card numbered 58/99. The card shows a very young looking Rickey in some classic A’s garb with his patented inquisitive stare/squint. These cards are pretty cool and seem to be very popular on the ebay. Not sure how much value they would hold if the apocalypse hit and coins or metal were the only currency accepted. I’m not worried about that though, but we do have an emergency kit along with some water in the basement…and extra cat litter to make the mother in law happy.

The next card is the wrought iron version serial numbered 16/50. This coin is a little better looking than the copper looking one, but has a little ding on Rickey’s nose…not cool, but that happens i guess. The profiles of these coins sticks out from the plane of the card, so i guess these things happen. Still a nice piece to add to my Rickey Henderson PC.

The last Rickey Henderson card is the silk manufactured version of his 1980 Topps Rookie Card. The card is pretty cool and i like the casing around it, frames the card nicely, plus it’s pretty thick. Also like the fact that they don’t have a plastic cover over the card so you can feel the material. Nice. I know Fuji is putting this set together, hope to see it soon…that could be a pretty cool set.

I’m going to go off on a non sports card or sports card note here, so please feel free to move along if you like.

One last item since i’m talking all time favorites. Today is the birthday of my all time favorite Architect, Peter Zumthor. He turned 70 today. My wife and I were lucky enough to venture to one of his few built projects in Vals, Switzerland…the Therme Vals. As an architect, we tend to plan vacations around what buildings we can visit and my wife is a willing participant most of the time…but she was super excited for this trip as it was one of the most heralded thermal baths in Europe and nestled in a tiny Swiss Alps village. Needless to say we had a fantastic time visiting the various rooms and the views were some of the most amazing sights i had ever experience…truly humbling. Zumthor is a bit of an enigma in the Architecture world. He hasn’t built very many projects, around 20 i believe, but he has become world renown due to his dedication to his projects and the sites they inhabit. Zumthor was a Pritzker Prize winner in 2009, which i guess would be the sports equivalent of the Hall of Fame. He is a true craftsmen and his buildings are works of art. If you are interested, here are a few links to some of his projects as well as his wiki page.

Peter Zumthor Wikipedia Page

Peter Zumthor Interview

Therme Vals

Kunsthaus Bregenz

Saint Benedict Chapel