Organizing at 2005

After numerous years of threatening to get organized, this year it is truly happening.  It’s a slow go, but I’m getting there.  How do I get there you ask…well, let me give you an example!

The 2005 Washington Redskins…and google docs.  That’s right two things that have nothing to do with each other have come together for today’s post.  A post about a team that was anxiety inducing to watch and a blast to look back through the cards from that year. 

Now, when I mention google docs…there are layers to this.  I like, well…I require and love organization.  I can’t stand it when things are not in the place I expect them to be.  I also love and require a ‘complete’ version of something.  If is buy #3 and #7 of something, it’s only a matter of time before I’m searching for numbers 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.  I could go on too depending on when it all ends, but I think you get the idea.  I’m a completionist…not sure that’s a word, but neither was ‘blog’ 15 years ago.  I like to have a COMPLETE list of things.  That’s an incredible challenge when dealing with sports cards, especially modern sports cards… 

Parallels

Rainbows

Inserts

Variations

Serial Numbers

SP’s

SSP’s

1 of 1’s

The list goes on and on and on and I want my list to contain each and every single one of these cards.  Now, I know I won’t get everyone.  That’s insanity and I don’t have that kind of cash.  That’s not the point.  The point is the chase.  The pursuit of the low hanging Topps flagship vs. the extra hard to find Upper Deck something or another for a specific year with a specific color variation and the SN on the back…or front.  (Do we have opinions on where those should be?  Front or Back?  I’m a back of the card guy FWIW).  So, in order to get a complete list, or at least that I can feel is 97% complete I take the inventory of cards from the Beckett database and Trading Card Database and combine them into one google sheet…here’s the Washington Redskins version (name change will happen at some point soon…).  Insane I know.  The list covers every card, some objects and a few magazines from what I could find from 1935 – Today.  That’s upwards of 70,000 cards….seems like there would be more, but 70k is what I like to call – A SHIT TON – of cards.  The frightening part is that I’m sure I’m missing a few.  I’ve already found a few cards I have that are not in the google doc.  It’s only maddening if I know about the missing misses…a bit of Schrödinger’s plates going on…ok, maybe not.  So, yeah…the list…it’s insane.  I’ve tracked everything up to 2005 and have combined the lists up to 2012.  Some more work ahead of me, but that’s part of the hobby I enjoy.

Here’s the list…if you dare!

So, the cards from 2005.  The team from 2004.  The pain.

Here’s a sampling of what I’ve checked off the list, an image of a few of my favorite cards or players from the ’04 season and ’05 designs.

First off, the Quarterbacks.  When you have two QB’s that’s ok, because a great backup is hard to come by…but when you have three…that’s too many.  It’s like an exponential thing.  Two is ok, Three is what the hell are you even doing!

Next player is LaVar Arrington.  For a few years he was hands down my favorite player.  Never really reached superstardom at Linebacker, but he was a solid player.  Then a few injuries piled up and he was quickly overlooked and shuttled off for other players that didn’t really match his caliber.  Seeing him in New York as a Giant was a heartbreaker for me…

Chris Cooley was great.  He had a tremendous sense of humor and once even showed off his prick while (I’ll let you google that and have it in your search history) snapping a pick of the playbook…not sure what was more egregious…NFL playbooks are sacred.

Santana MOSS!  Absolutely loved this guy in Washington…so much so, that I’ve been collecting his Jets cards as well.  He was so incredible and passionate, how could you not want a guy like that on your team.  He was traded for Laveranues Coles…who, ironically was traded to Washington from the Jets originally.  The second trade worked out better for my team.

The next guy, Carlos Rogers was…well…I really thought he would be special.  A high draft pick in ’05 that just didn’t pan out as a big time player in DC.  He moved on to the 49ers and had a bit of a rebirth, then on to the Raiders where he ended his career.

Ok.  Here are a couple Miami guys…I could have grouped Moss in here as well, but these two were special.  I love Portis.  One of my top 5 Washington guys of all time…Love everything he brought to the team, including Sean Taylor.  Not saying that Portis was the reason Taylor came to the team, but he did push hard.  To be honest, I don’t think it would have been wise for Joe Gibbs to pass on such a talented player…still miss ST21.

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The last group of guys are Redskins greats, guys that had a huge impact on the organization.  All three are in the Redskins ring of Fame.  Bobby Mitchell and Charley Taylor are both in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

oh yeah, found this one too…Alex Smith Rookie Card…along with one of the numerous Browns QB draft picks Charlie Frye…and future Browns QB Jason Campbell. Let’s play six degrees of separation with these guys some day.

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Since 2020 is almost done. YAY. I thought i’d share the most 2020 video from one of my favorite groups in the world. RTJ – Run The Jewels. Love these guys!

Box Break: 2013 Topps Magic Football

It’s been a while since i’ve picked up a box of cards.  I have been doing my best to stay away from boxes of cards unless I plan to put the set together since I have terrible luck with the ‘hits’.  I’m not a hit chaser and don’t plan to be one either…but I do love opening packs of cards.  It takes me back to being a happy go lucky kid with $5 in my pocket riding my bike to the Stop’n Go for a few packs of 1986 Topps or Garbage Pail Kids and tall bottle of coke…man, those were the days.  Back when $5 could get you way more than 8 cards to a pack.

As you can see from the title, the box is Magic Football from this year.  Unlike the last couple of years, the rookie class isn’t too exciting…but I love this brand and here we go!

Card Design: 3.5 of 5

Just like the past couple of years, the base card design is pretty simple.

13 TM Josh Gordon

Topps does it’s best to give these cards a sort of retro look with the banner and stars.  Nobody really does that anymore, do they?  seems like a throwback to the 50’s.  I’ve always felt like Magic is Topps version of Heritage for football, minus the copying of vintage designs.  Instead of copying them verbatim, they take bits and pieces of the cards to create a ‘new throwback’ look, which i love.

13 TM Marshawn Lynch

I also like that they used a good solid card stock with no glossy finish.  I’m kind of old school like that.  The glossy cards are great and have a time and place, but i really enjoy a card that isn’t slippery or covered with texture.  Just some nice smooth cardboard with a little friction.  Such a weird comment…

Photography: 4 of 5

Photography, yes, photography.  The photos are highly over processed and in most cases i despise this.  Technology is a great thing, but a heavy hand can ruin a great photo.

13 TM Josh Freeman

I was quite impressed that Topps was able to get a photo (almost looks photoshopped, eh?) of Josh Freeman’s short lived stint with the Vikings (is he coming back to the Vikings next year?) As i’ve mentioned in previous posts, I enjoy photography and my wife is a professional photographer, so we have our fair share of HDR imagery discussion in our home.  Fun huh?

13 TM Jawan Jamison

This fairly new form of photo processing is everywhere now and definitely has its place…and I think sports card photography is that place.

13 TM Alfred Morris

The photos on these cards always look really sharp and you can see a lot of texture and depth on each card…i guess for some, this may make up for the lack of glossy-ness.

Look at that smile!  And those Tattoos!

13 TM Brandon Jenkins

Look at those crazy eyes!  And that old school mesh jersey top!

13 TM Roger Craig

Hits: 3 of 5

As i’ve mentioned, I do not by boxes for the hits.  I am not that type of collector.  Magic does offer three autographs in their boxes along with the occasional relic or memorabilia card.  The autographs are stickers though…ugh stickers…better than redemptions, but man an on card autograph is so great!  Since the rookie class wasn’t too stellar this year, the autographs weren’t that stellar either.

Brandon Myers – New York Giants

13 TM Brandon Myers Autograph

Kayvon Webster – Denver Broncos

13 TM Kayvon Webster Autograph

Khaseem Greene – Chicago Bears

13 TM Khaseem Greene Autograph

Magic is owned by Topps, so they fill your box up with little hits and parallels and a whole bunch of other shit that makes collectors want to collect things they don’t really want to collect.  Like some micro cards with Drew Brees and Arian Foster on them.

13 TM Brees Foster 1948 Minis

or how about some receiver action with Cal bookends of Keenan Allen and DeSean Jackson sandwiching Anquan Boldin from the base white mini.

13 TM Allen Bolden Jackson Mini

How about some green border minis with these three dudes.

13 TM Hunt Wheaton Holmes Green Border Mini

Or what about these black border minis!

13 TM Gates LaFell Black Border Mini

and a Hall of Famer Blue Border mini!

13 TM Andre Reed Blue Border Mini

I could have done without these groovy Aerial Attack inserts…but my wife loves Cam, so here honey.

13 TM Cam Newton Aerial Attack

The colors on this thing…holy crap…ho-lee-crap.

13 TM Adrian Peterson Ground and Pound

The Rookie Enchantments are back, but aren’t that enchanting.

13 TM Mike Glennon Rookie Enchantment

Markus Wheaton for all of you Steeler fans out there.

13 TM Markus Wheaton Rookie Enchantment

and a Cordarelle Patterson card.

13 TM Cordarelle Patterson Rookie Enchantment

Desmond Trufant, a man that Steve Smith respects.

13 TM Desmond Trufant Rookie Enchantment

Review

All in all, i love the cards.  I was really hoping to put together a set, but after seeing the 330 card set checklist and heavy dose of SP cards i’m not sure that’s gonna happen.  I need to think about it.  My collection is a bit chaotic right now and this won’t help with the chaos.  I really wish Topps went a little lighter on the SP’s.  A box of these guys won’t set you back too much, but if you plan on putting the set together you could be dropping well over $100 on this set and i’m not sure that’s worth it for this group of cards.

13 TM Jordan Reed

and a MINI!

13 TM Jordan Reed Mini

Bacarri Rambo…the best name ever.

13 TM Bacarri Rambo

Hope you enjoyed the review…my pack breakdown for 2014 Topps will be up soon.  I’m waiting for everyone else to release theirs before I put my thoughts out there.  🙂

Christmas Eve Pickups

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.

12 PP Tim Duncan

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

04 UD Tim Duncan All Star Jersey

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.

13 HO Tim Duncan

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.

11 SP Ryan Kerrigan Jarvis Jenkins

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.

06 TR Stephen Davis Game Worn Jersey

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.

95 SP Heath Shuler Reflextions

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.

95 AP Heath Shuler Armed Forces

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 PDX Fantasy Draft

Hey kids, big draft tonight in the PDX Fantasy League.  Wish me luck.  The wife wants me to go RG3 for the 6th pick.  Not sure i have it in me to do that…but we will see…:)

-HTTR

1st pick (6) – LeSean McCoy RB…I love this pick, this is the guy I wanted but wasn’t sure he would make it to pick 6.

2nd pick (23) – Robert Griffin III QB…ok, this is really the guy i wanted but couldn’t justify taking him in the first round, kind of wished i had waited until the 3rd, but i wasn’t sure he would make it that far.  Might have been a reach in this league at 23.

3rd pick (34) – Jimmy Graham TE…got a top ranked TE and i love the guy.  plus he doesn’t seem like the murdering type.

4th pick (51) – Montee Ball RB…this is a gamble, i don’t know much about the kid and i know the Broncos have a litany of running backs, plus Peyton likes to throw TD’s, not hand them off.

5th pick (62) – Pierre Garcon WR…love getting Garcon in the 5th.  Hope he can stay healthy and have another great year.

6th pick (79) – Anquan Boldin WR…i was thinking with all of the injuries, i couldn’t go wrong with Boldin, not to mention he is a great receiver of balls to the hands.

7th pick (90) – Seahawks DEF/ST…ok, this was a huge reach.  i’ve never taken a defense this high before.  the only reason i went for it was because of the junk that was still out there…that i didn’t want to mess with.  so i decided i would go for the #1 defense and see what happens.

8th pick (107) – Alshon Jeffery WR…lots of upside here, hope it pans out.

9th pick (118) – Kendall Wright WR…lots of upside here, hope it pans out…and that Locker can get him the ball.

10th pick (135) – Roy Helu RB…I’ve loved Helu since his rookie year, hope he can bounce back from the achilles last year.  he’s looked great so far, the only problem is how many touches will he get?

11th pick (146) – Mohamed Sanu WR…ever since he threw a bomb of a touchdown against my Redskins, i’ve kind of been following this kid.

12th pick (163) – Josh Brown K…i always wait until the very end to pick up a kicker and drop them as soon as they have a bye week.  kickers get no love from me.

All in all, i am really happy with my draft and feel pretty confident.  I’m a little thin at RB which i am every season…so we will see!

Box Break: 2013 Bowman Football

I’ve been sitting on this box of bowman football for a few weeks now and decided that I want to post the results.  Bowman football is something that I kind of like…and kind of don’t.  Just like the baseball set, they have loads of rookies and prospects for your prospecting desires, which I don’t typically desire.  I desire the Redskins players and rookies.  The last couple of years i’ve only picked up a few packs but decided a box was needing to be purchased for this season.  I’m chalking it up to my hangover excitement to the Redskins winning the NFC East last year…and having some nice draft picks.  Most of what i’m going to show are the guys from my favorite team, but if you are putting this set together, let me know and i may have some cards to complete your sets.

Card Design: 3 of 5

The card designs are nice and simple white bordered cards with all the typical info you’d expect on a nice piece of cardboard.

13 BO Robert Griffin III Alfred Morris

The backs are pretty simple as well.  You get stats from last season, where the guy was drafted and the school he received a degree from attended.  The vet players have a short write up under ‘The Next Coming:’ where they tell you how great this guy can be and how well he runs routes, or something.  They are often compared to another player, sort of a changing of the guard commentary on the player in hand.  The rookies on the other hand are titled ‘Next in Line:’ which makes sense, although pretty similar to the next coming.

13 BO David Amerson Bacarri Rambo

At this point, i’m not really sure what line some of these guys should be in?  If you didn’t play much in your rookie season, would that make you the next in line or next coming?  I’m confused.

13 BO David Amerson Jawan Jamison Black Border

Photography: 2.5 of 5

I gotta knock the photos a little on this set.  The veteran cards are ok, but nearly every player is chopped off at the ankles again.

13 BO Pierre Garcon Base Black Border

If you’ve read my previous box break posts and as someone who enjoys photography, you will know that this drives me insane.  Cropping in important and can be the difference in a good and a great photo.  These photos are just good.  Now, the reason why i’m knocking these guys down even more is the photography and weak photoshop work on the rookies.  Lots of airbrush work that created some soft imagery on the cards.

13 BO Jawan Jamison

You would figure that if Topps can muscle their way in to being the only show in town for MLB, they could work some magic and get their NCAA license locked down to show the schools logos and proper colors.

13 BO Brandon Jenkins David Amerson Minis

Just a thought…

Hits: 4 of 5

The hits for this box were good, not great.  I did pull a very pretty TJ McDonald sparkle card of some sort that is significantly nicer than the weird looking scan.

13 BO TJ McDonald sparkle 20:50

I also pulled this sweet ass Alfred Morris.  This is more than likely, at least from what I can remember, the best Redskin hit i’ve ever pulled from a box of my own.  This card is a beauty in person and with it being numbered to 99, i am pretty happy with the pull.

13 BO Alfred Morris GU Memorabilia 83:99

There are minis, which aren’t really much of a hit, but this one was.

13 BO Matt Scott Mini Autograph

Bowman did do a great job of having some good second or third tier college guys put their autographs on cards.  With 5 autos in the box, i was quite happy…although some of my Cal friends probably won’t appreciate the two Stanfurd autos 🙂

13 BO Zach Ertz Chrome Autograph

13 BO Alex Debniak Autograph

 

13 BO Tyler Wilson Chrome Autograph Orange Border 19:25

13 BO Matt Elam Chrome Autograph

Review

I jumped on the pre-sell of my jumbo box from Dave and Adams Cardworld pretty early on, so I didn’t have to pay the outrageous prices that the boxes inflated to.  I have no idea why these guys went up so high so quickly.  The rookie selection this year wasn’t nearly as great as last years was.  At least not now.  The overall look and feel of the cards was good, not great, but you really can’t go wrong with 5 autographs and a memorabilia card.  I really did love that I pulled a ton of Redskins too, don’t typically get them in the boxes I break.

13 BO Brandon Jenkins Orange 206:299

Panini Limited: Revisited

So, I couldn’t help myself.  Dave and Adam’s Cardworld had a great deal on their 2012 Limited boxes so i picked up one more.  That made three total, as i bought one direct from Panini and somehow received an extra box from them.

12 PL Andy Dalton 383:399

I really liked the cards initially and thought i’d give it another go.  I was pleased with this box as it yielded some nice new cards for me, although nothing to add to my PC.

12 PL Steven Jackson 326:399

The design of this set has been one of my favorites, next to the Prime Signatures by Panini this year.

12 PL Juron Criner 73:299

Look at this guy, Jim Otto.  I’m sure this legend is super proud of this card too.

12 PL Jim Otto 337:349

The hits were nice, two autographs from two young and talented players along with a gigantic jumbo patch of LaMichael James, with the safety strip at the lower left corner.

12 PL Dont'a Hightower Auto 10:25

12 PL LaMichael James Jumbo Patch 37:99Alshon Jeffery is going to be a beast, look at his intensity!  This card should be blown up, framed and hung up on a wall next to my degree.

12 PL Alshon Jeffery Membership Auto 61:99

Box Break: 2012 Panini Absolute Football

I am way behind on reviewing some of the boxes I have opened in the past few months, mostly focusing on cards that i’ve picked up at card shows.  I have a few lined up, so here is the first one.  Panini Absolute Football.

Like most of Panini’s cards now, you can buy a retail version and a hobby version but the quality is quite different.  As a set collector this would drive me insane, but since i don’t plan on putting this set together, it’s no worries to me.  I do think this is a great way to differentiate between a hobby card and something you can pick up at Target, good for the hobby and collectors in my opinion, but allows the fringe collectors to afford different brands of cards.

12 PA Santana Moss

Card Design – 4 of 5

The base card for Absolute is pretty clean.  Photo of the player on the front along with his name and position as well as the team name along the bottom.  The greatness of these cards for me is the vertical gradation in the colors from left to right, or right to left depending on your culture.  The gradation gives them a nice light show or a cardboard Pink Floyd laser show look to the card.  Groovy.

12 PA Aaron Hernandez

The one thing i’m not liking about these cards is the card stock.  Seems really thin for the amount of money these guys cost.  I also wasn’t crazy about the overall packaging by Panini.  You get the display box, and a pack box…with a cello wrapped cards inside.  That’s quite a bit of packaging for a box of cards, wouldn’t you agree?

12 PA Ray Lewis

Living in the Pacific NW, all the extra wrapping is heavily frowned upon.  Yes, we are those people that bring their bags to the grocery store and ride our bikes to work in the rain.  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Photography – 4 of 5

Panini has the waist up photos locked down.  They do a great job of focusing on the player, allowing them to take up most of the photo space available on the card.  All the cards i’ve seen appear to be game action photos and give you a good view of their eyes.  No over processing or out of control editing for these cards either.  Another good job by Panini.

12 PA Frank Gore

Hits – 4 of 5

No Redskin hits here, but when you get any card autographed and numbered to 10 it’s a good thing, and it’s an even greater thing when that player is AJ Green.  This may be one of the best hits i’ve had in a long while.  It is a sticker auto, but i will let that slide for a perennial pro bowler card numbered to 10!  Not really a Bengals fan or an AJ collector, but the guy has proven to be a beast in his first couple of seasons.

12 PA AJ Green Spectrum Auto 3:10

The other hits were fairly nice as well.  Brandon Weeden came through with a nice looking jersey card but he looks completely unimpressed in this photo…or thoroughly confused, you be the judge?

12 PA Brandon Weeden War Room Jersey 4:49

I Like the Terrance Ganaway autograph, it has a nice flair to it.  The card itself has a ton of great color in person and is very attractive (much better than the scan!)

12 PA Terrance Ganaway Spectrum Auto 46:299

Review

I was pretty happy with the box i received.  Nice hits and i really love the design of these cards.  If i have a few extra bucks to spend on cards laying around next year, i can see myself picking up a box for 2013.  Although, with my desire to spend less on boxes and packs I doubt i can justify the cost for the value.

12 PA Vick Ballard 215:399

Opening each pack was cool, although i think it was a bit excessive packaging.  It was nice that i could open one or two as i wanted, can’t have everything i guess.  I think Panini can do a better job of their future packaging.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Box Break: 2012 Topps Magic Football

A busted box of Topps Magic Football has been sitting on my stack of cards for some time now just waiting to get judged, and now is the time.

Magic was something that i got into (cards, not tricks) a couple of years ago on a whim at Target during a deodorant shopping event.  I saw a blaster box just sitting there and thought it would be a cool purchase and was hooked from that point on.  I loved the retro look and the college unis on simple borders.  Loved it so much so that i ended up buy a few more boxes from Target but never completing the set or buying any hobby packs.  The following year, 2010 i wanted to pick up a hobby box to see if i still had a crush on these pieces of cardboard and sure enough, the love was there.  I loved the photography and simple borders as well as the card stock.  Although i do love shiny cards, i am a sucker for matte finish stuff that is done well.  Again, i bought a bunch of cards, but couldn’t be bothered with completing the set…just wanted the few Redskins and any hits i could pull.  Now, in 2011, it got a little tricky…and extremely annoying.  Magic had become a set that i was tuned in to on when it would be dropping and where i could pick up some good packs.  BUT, as Topps likes to do sometimes, they changed the rules, moved the goal posts and upset this collector.  The only way to get a box of Magic was to purchase them from their online store and pay their exorbitant shipping fees, which was about the same price as the box itself if i remember correctly.  SCREW THAT, no thanks.  I was able to pick up a few singles from COMC and ebay but no packs, since they weren’t really issuing those this year.  I never really found out why Topps decided this was a good idea, but would love to hear the reasoning if someone can help?

After the previous years experience, i had pretty much forgotten about the Magic cards and moved on with my life as we do with Topps at times.  Until, i saw they were going to be releasing a new set and boxes that you can purchase at a store…holy crap!  You mean i can buy cards from a store and not online only?  Normally i wouldn’t be so snotty about this, as i am totally cool with purchasing online, i just don’t want my only options to be online purchases.  Takes away from the fun of busting packs on a Wednesday afternoon after work.

IMG_7695

So here is my take on the 2012 version of Topps Magic.

Card Design: 4 of 5

In keeping with the simple style, Topps has again followed through with the same KISS theme.  Minimal information is on the front, but you get the basics; name, position, conference, team helmet, and a whole bunch of stars that make no sense to me.  The banners blends in nicely with the border and unfolds to reveal the critical information like a scroll with an oversized shield.

12 TM Luck and Richardson

The backs are nice and include some fun little facts with the Magical Memoranda.  You don’t get your typical stats, but they tend to highlight some important information and single game stats for your FYI.  As usual, nice card stock and the lovely matte finish.  The matte finish is nice in a world of glossy cards.  They have become the rarity in the hobby for the most part, save for the vintage inspired sets.

Photography: 5 of 5

The thing that i am most drawn to this set about is the photography.  They have HDR’d the crap out of the photos and really over processed them, but i think it works well for these and tends to give the players a greater level of detail and grit.  My wife is a photographer and she tends to stay away from over processing as it always looks…you guessed it, over processed.  When you are doing family portraits or architectural photography it can become a distraction, but for professional athletes it works well.

12 TM Morris and Cousins

Look at the intensity in those eyes!

12 TM Bush and Vick

Hits: 4 of 5

The hits with this brand are minimal, which is fine with me.  I believe collectors get too hot and heavy about the hits.  If that is your thing, this set isn’t for you.  If you are OK with getting a nice auto or two than you may be happy with Magic.  I ended up pulling 2 autographs and a redemption card.  So, it’s not just Panini that is slapping me with redemption cards, Topps does it too.  I’ve stated my thoughts on the redemption card here before and thought about it a little more.  Still don’t like it, but maybe it’s not that bad…assuming you actually get the card.  There have been times when i forgot about my redemption cards and come home to a manilla envelope.  It’s like a little slice of cardboard heaven when you get one you weren’t really expecting.

12 TM Ronnie Hillman Magic Auto Redemption

There are a couple of subsets in the cards as well.  Nothing to exciting.  As a matter of fact, i must say that the Charismatic Combos is not only a weak insert, but a terrible name.  Charismatic Combos, christ that’s terrible.

12 TM Manning Cruz Charismatic Combos

The ultra mini cards are cool, but a little too mini for my man hands.  If i don’t get these in some penny sleeves quick they will have rounded corners.

12 TM Tannehill and Vick super Mini

There are also the Supernatural Stars, which are not that existential or starry either galactically or professionally.

12 TM Sanchez and Turner Supernatural Stars

Magic also has the Magical Moments inserts which makes sense, because it’s Magic.  Drew Brees is on a 3 Mile Island.  Cute.

12 TM Brees and Murray Magical Moments

I do like the Enchantment cards, especially the one that i pulled…big smiley face for the RG3.

12 TM Robert Griffin III Rookie Enchantment

There were also these other good looking young running backs that have some nice upside to their careers.

12 TM Martin and James

One of the autos i pulled was a Kaepernick.  The HDR affect does his tats some serious justice although his auto is crazy sloppy.  An odd thing about this card is the photoshop flub with his hands.  It looks like the photo editor cloned his left hand over the football…kind of a crappy job for a big time player.  Let’s try harder next time Mr. Topps Photoshop editor.

12 TM Colin Kaepernick Auto12 TM Marvin McNutt Auto

Review

Overall, i do like these cards a lot.  They are simple and clean and the photos are nice.  It’s a basic card and the price point isn’t too excessive for what you get.  I haven’t decided if i am going to build the set, i did manage to get quite a bit of unique cards and minimal doubles, so i will see how i feel about it.  I do hope that Topps issues these cards again next year and does not do the online only thing.

Here are a couple of the Redskins cards i pulled from the box.  Funny that they decided to include Jabar Gaffney since he wasn’t on the team this year and he is wearing RG3’s number.  Technically, there are two Redskin cards with a player wearing number 10.

12 TM Robert Griffin III 12 TM Jabar Gaffney

Topps Magic, I like you.