Keepin’ it 1 hunid

Today on Twitter, Josh Doctson posted this vague tweet that was left up for interpretation…or maybe it was quite clear.

Yup, 100%.

There’s a lot of things that can be 100%…one of them is not this laptop i’m typing on, that’s at 42%…apparently in honor of Jackie Robinson.

100% could be how he’s “keeping’ it!” that’s what the kids say.

100% could be how much effort he gives each time out, although some like to give 110% or 120%.

100% could be the score on his driving test, that’s a good grade.

100% could also be how his health is rated in relation to his aching achilles, which is most likely the reason for the very general tweet.  If that’s the case, this is great news for the Redskins and the guy that drafted him…the guy that was fired a couple weeks ago.  This, of course is assuming he continues to stay healthy and is at 100%.

I find it hard to believe that a football player every really gets to 100% healthy.  With all the hitting and overzealous physical contact from large, fast moving objects from opposing directions…how can you ever be at a full 100%.  100 percent is technically perfect, can’t really do better.  Even the foolish coaches that tell you to give 110% or 120%.  If you give your all, isn’t that a full 100?  Maybe i’m just a slacker or too cynical for wordplay with number…but…nevermind.

So, today marks the 17th anniversary of one of my all time favorite albums.  Hands down favorite album by one of my favorite artists, Common (Sense as he was named when i first heard him).  Like Water for Chocolate was a phenomenal album that came out at a time when hip-hop was getting back to more positive rhymes and storytelling…not to mention the music produced by the late great J-Dilla.  Here’s my favorite track from that album…if you like this one, the rest of the album will be a great listen for you if you haven’t yet heard.  Common definitely gave it a 120% effort on this one.

Well, hello there…

Yeah, it’s been a while.

I’ve been on a bit of a blog hiatus.

Various reasons really.  Work overload, tired, old, rainy cold days…and really feeling like my hobby was getting in the way of my amazing family.  I was putting cards before my awesome little boy and my amazingly beautiful wife.  It’s all about balance, which i’ve mentioned multiple times here.  I think it’s really important…you know?  The blog is fun and the hobby and collecting are also fun…but family first.  The past few weeks, we’ve been able to see the snow at Mt. Hood and the ocean along the Oregon coast.  It’s pretty amazing living in the Pacific Northwest…and i don’t want my hobby to get in the way of that.

That said, i do love doing this collecting things and writing about cards.  It’s a great way to share my hobby with others…and really, connect with others…just like you!.  With the multiple ways of connecting with other collectors, it’s not hard to find trade partners.  Now, to be honest, i’ve made a few trades in the past that i’ve felt were not equal in return, so i’ve tried to steer clear of making trades with people i’m not too familiar with.  Until one day…Shane from Off the Wall reached out to me regarding a couple Silver Pack cards i pulled…they were Red Sox, so i knew i wouldn’t be too upset to part with them…:) i kid Shane!!!  He was nice enough to post a recap of the trade from his end HERE.  So, after a very long delay…here is my post!

Shane and i went back and forth on twitter to work through some items i was looking for…i’m a difficult trade partner, because i don’t keep up with my checklist that well.  Luckily though, Shane had quite a few cards to help out with my 1960’s set needs.  The biggest chunk of cards was the 1969 set needs.  Here are a few of the really nice lot of cards.

1969 Topps lot

Next up, was a few cards to fill my 1963, 1966 and 1967 set needs.  The way Billy looks at Hal, you would think they hate each other…but they don’t.  There baseball cards…i think the whiskey is kicking in now…

1963 1966 1967 Topps lot

The third lot of vintage Topps card needs is the currently popular 1968 Topps burlap set.  Go get your Heritage needs filled kids!

1968 Topps lot

Shane also helped out with my 2009 and 2010 Heritage needs…he made a huge dent in my lists, check it out.

2009 Topps Heritage Hi numbers2009 Topps Heritage Then & Now2010 Topps Heritage

It was so great to cross off most of these guys from my list…not to mention a bunch of these guys are SPs or small insert sets.  Very cool

In case you don’t know, i collect Redskins.  That’s the bulk of what i collect…of course you know that.  Most of my card money goes to Redskins cards.  Here’s a group of cards that Shane passed along to me in our trade.

Redskins Lot

I love the Joe Lavender cards.  The shades are top notch…plus a Fleer action photo which aren’t the easiest to find!

Last card of the bunch is a card that i have…but love nonetheless.  It’s a lovely Don Mattingly card.  With Shane being a Red Sox fan, i’m sure he wasn’t too upset to part with the card…:)

2014 Topps 50 Years Draft Don Mattingly

Hey, that was a great trade…honestly, might be the best trade i’ve ever made.  I was able to cross of a ton of stuff off my lists which these days is a very great thing.

Hope you guys are doing well and getting excited about the 2017 MLB season.  I have quite a few things to post in the next few days or weeks, so lets go!  Thanks for reading.

Dual Prime Signatures and Two Rookies

The two cards below were picked up from an ebay purchase last week and i didn’t really look at them until i scanned them.  Upon this additional inspection i noticed the word Rookie was different on each card and one was a sticker auto.  I’m assuming the shorter print Hankerson card was issued prior to the design being refined and finalized so it could be signed in person.  While the Niles Paul, not Paul Niles card was done later since it was a sticker card.  Either way a little odd that the same card would have different designs…is it a lack of quality control from Panini, or was i duped?!?!!?

12 PS Leonard Hankerson Auto 19:49

Both of these guys were drafted in the 2012 draft as receivers and have really caught on like the team would have liked.  I’m expecting big things from both Hankerson and Paul though, especially since Niles has taken on the Rambo personality on his Twitter account.  I’m sure this will no doubt carry on to the field as he grows in to his new Tight End position.  With Niles, Fred Davis and Logan Paulson the TE position is looking really nice for next season…although, i will miss Captain Chaos Chris Cooley.

12 PS Niles Paul Auto 87:199