Topps Series 1…in 2 parts

Posted by cardboard hogs on February 7, 2015

Once again i’m late to the party, but that’s cool. I’ve always lagged a little in life but always seem to finish ok. I like hanging in the background a bit to see what else is out there before i really develop my own opinions or thoughts on something. Especially baseball cards and extra especially the annual Topps flagship. As most of the other folks out there have noted, Topps really busted out some nice new graphical elements with this years set. The colored border with a gradient base and texturing is something that typically appears on higher end sets or short print inserts. Topps took the opportunity to add a much more visually appealing card this year…and finally got rid of the white border…the freakin’ boring white border is gone…for this year at least. The backs of the cards are fantastic and i’m in agreement with Night Owl on the left justified alignment of the player description text. The player stats and personal information both align, but the couple of sentences about the player are centered…so close! Graphically though, the card backs are wonderful and are the best i’ve seen in a while.

The first card of the year bit that Keith Olbermann is kinda cool. It’s something that i’m sure a lot of folks do, but they don’t have a sports show on ESPN so maybe it’s not very original, but it’s cool right? What was the first card of the year for the Cardboard Hogs?

In the past i’ve opened a pack or two and wrote a post about it, pack or two write post, pack or two write post, but like Topps I wanted to change it up a bit and break outta the box. So I’m gonna jump around and show some hits and show some base, and yes, I am all about that base. Another thing that i’m all about is jumping around and ANOTHER thing that i’m about is Derek Jeter and the card that every blogger has posted. It’s hard to not post this card though, right? It’s absolutely fantastic. The child like exuberance. Arms up in the air. Having just won another regular season game in a 20 year career and this is how Derek Jeter acts. It’s a brilliant card and deserves to be at the start of the set…although, doesn’t it seem that the #2 card would have been more appropriate?

Along with the Jeter card, the first pitch cards have been getting a ton of buzz. When i saw the list, i really wanted one of two cards. The Jack White and the Eddie Vedder. I’ve loved Pearl Jam since Ten. I was a closet PJ fan since i loved hip hop so much and my friends didn’t get the whole grunge thing…not me though. Eddie spoke to me.

Everyone remembers Jeremy from the first album, but Black

and Alive were the songs that hit home…like really hit home for me.

So pulling this card was fantastic and made the all the other First Pitch cards less significant. I didn’t get a Jack White, but got a couple other interesting cards that made me smile…but not like Eddie rocking’ the Ron Santo t-shirt.

So, there has been some debate about which card is the best card of the set. Some of the action photos this year are fantastic and show a lot of passion and grit like the Mike Trout card…which is beautiful and a terrific action shot with the infield dirt kicking up in Trouty’s face.

But I gotta go with the Michael Taylor fully stretched out to catch a ball that is super intent on getting a glove on. I love the tight crop on the card while managing to get the ball, glove and both feet in the shot, plus you get a nice perspective of his location on the field with the warning track just a few steps behind him.

Speaking of the Nat’s. The team cards are pretty dope again this year. I loved the team celebration cards, but think the cropping could be a little better on this one right, maybe just a little? I love to see the hands in the air like they just don’t…I think i care too much about cropping on cards…seems to be a recurring theme with most of my posts. But man, look at Werth’s hair…so fabulous.

This next card is fun on so many levels. The digiflauge. deGrom’s flowing locks. D’Arnauds’ blue and orange chest protector amongst the camp and the excitement of winning!

More to come tomorrow kids! Enjoy!

Rickey gets out a bit…

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 25, 2015

So, it’s been an eventful week for wallet card Rickey. He’s been a great partner in crime and…lunch. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have much protection in the money clip and well, since i’ve been biking to and from work, sometimes in the rain…he’s been getting damaged quite a bit. But that’s cool, that’s what this thing is kind of about anyways right? Carry a card with you and document all the events that happen in your life with the card. Photograph the mundane and the extravagant as well as anything else in between. All the cool kids are doing it!

One of the highlights for wallet card Rickey was Wednesday night!

He got out of the house on a school night to see the Hail Mary Mallon show with Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic…also, Homeboy Sandman. It was a blast…a wonderful time and a highly energized show which an old man like me really loves. Really, really loves. I’ve loved hip-hop and rap music before i loved baseball cards and i’ve always been a fan of both as i’ve gotten older. Now, Aesop Rock isn’t your run of the mill rappers. He’s a sophisticated and verbally dynamic emcee that apparently has the largest vocabulary in Hip-Hop…the findings were based on algorithms so…it’s pretty cool. What’s also really cool is the PBR I shared with wallet card Rickey…that cardboard kid is a lightweight.

Anyways, the show was great and i have a couple of videos i took from the show below…now, you should be warned that there are bad words being used the two videos below. So proceed with caution and…enjoy…or skip it! 🙂

The next day at work was wonderful, i was enjoying the excitement from the previous nights events. By the time Saturday came around though, i was bull dozed by a head cold. Sleeping all day long and doing absolutely nothing king of bull dozed. So me and Rickey shared some Ricola cough drops and took long naps.

During the awake times, i along with the rest of you heard the sad news of Ernie Banks passing. Now, i’ve never really been a Cubs fan but i love baseball and the history of the game. He was one of the players that i’ve always loved. I haven’t pursued too many of his cards in the past but when the wife and I went to Wrigley for a game a few years ago I wanted a shirsey and wasn’t settling for anything but Banks’ #14. I rocked the shirt today with pride and less of a head cold.

I was digging around for some cool photos of Ernie on the internet and didn’t come across any great ones but then found this fantastic photo that Pearl Jam posted on their twitter account. Such a great shot of Eddie, Ernie and Wrigley.