I realize that i’m crazy late here, but why did Topps do this?
I know it’s always nice to be first, but why did they feel the need to jump out ahead of everyone on the 2011 NFL Draft and basically do a Mock Draft of manufactured patches…and be wrong? I’ve seen the Cam Newton version of this card with the Redskins patch…in hindsight, i’m glad that was not the case. Kerrigan has proven himself to be a pretty good Defensive End and of course…RG3 is in DC.
Getting back to the copious amount of cards in Marv’s boxes…I found a lot of good pieces to plug in to my PC for Santana Moss. He’s been with the Washington Redskins for so long, I forget he put up some really nice numbers with the New York Jets in the first four years of his career, most noteworthy was 2003 when he had over 1500 all purpose yards. Not bad for an undersized receiver.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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!)
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.
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.
I finally got one of my redemptions from Panini.
It only took 167 days and it was this beauty, Dontari Poe. I know, I know…you all want a piece of this cardboard. Well he is definitely available for trade and at the very least he will find himself on ebay in the next few months. I was getting a little inpatient with the redemption and just like Cardboard Conundrum was hoping i could swing another auto, so i emailed Panini about getting a Redskins auto or…really…anything. I just wanted my redemption redeemed. Within a week, this guy showed up in my mailbox.
This card brings a lot in to focus for me. It exemplifies the problem with higher end packs and boxes. This was my big hit last November in a box of Prime Signatures that i purchased from The Sports Room. I opened the pack in front of Rick and he could see the disappointment on my face when i not only pulled a redemption auto, but i pulled Dontari Poe. A Defensive Tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs, who at the moment is most known for practically kissing Roger Goodell on draft day.
Rick looked at me and said “wasn’t really worth it, now was it…” Disappointment happens when you purchase these kinds of products more than excitement, at least in my experience. It was still fun to open though.
Getting back to Poe, he has the potential to become the next great DT in the NFL. As far as collecting goes though, DT’s don’t typically get you excited or draw major demand.
PLUS, he wears #92, the same number Big Fat Albert Haynesworth wore…and all Redsksins fans can feel my pain when they see the gif below from the Monday night massacre against Philly and Vick. Jackass.
I stopped by Marv’s table over the weekend to go through his nickel box of football cards and ended up buying 100 cards for a whopping $4. Thanks for the deal Marv!
As I was going through the cards, i kept pulling QB’s and thinking to myself…’what in the hell is going on here!’ I’ve seen the charts and understand the numbers of QB’s that the Redskins have had since their last Super Bowl winning QB, Mark Rypien…but DAMN! To see it through a card collector’s eyes was a little overwhelming and as a fan, quite disappointing. It’s no wonder why the Redskins have had so little success in the past 20+ seasons. I realize it doesn’t begin and end with the QB, but that’s one major part of the ‘Why’.
Here’s one group starting with Rypien. Shuler…ugghhh…and Frerotte. Gus actually had a pretty good NFL career and saw some success with the Minnesota Vikings as well as the Redskins. Just not enough to be a franchise QB
The next group included Brad Johnson. He had varying degrees of success before and after his Redskins career and nearly got the Redskins to the NFC Championship game in 1999…but not close enough. Jeff George was a freaking disaster and appeared visibly unaffected by his inability to complete a pass to one of his teammates. Todd Husak…i don’t even remember him…
Now for the really dark days. Sage Rosenfels never got a start for the Redskins and i’m not sure if he had any games played in the NFL and I don’t really care to look it up. Patrick Ramsey. The poor kid. I was really excited when the Redskins drafted him and thought he could be a franchise QB…unfortunately, the team around him, especially the O Line was terrible and he got knocked around like a punching bag which hindered his career as it would anyone. Tim Hasselbeck. The thing i know about him is that he’s one of the generalist talking heads at ESPN and his wife is quite obnoxious, although cute, but still obnoxious.
Brighter days are ahead with this next group. Brunell led the Redskins to the playoffs in 2005, well not really because he was terrible and could barely complete a pass. That team made the playoff because of the defense and the running of Clinton Portis. Insert Jason Campbell. I really, really thought he would be the guy and was extremely excited about him starting at QB. But, similar to Ramsey, he was in a very unstable environment which ended up stunting his growth. You can’t expect a guy to learn a new offense every season of his career and have any ounce of success. He has bounced around the past few years and never really gotten a fair shot a starting job. I’m hoping he can be the guy in Cleveland this year. The Browns have done a great job of rebuilding their franchise and I think he can perform better than Weeden at this point. Palmer…that’s it.
Here is a list of the men that have taken a snap from center since Mark Rypien was injured and eventually released from the Redskins in 1994.
Rich Gannon – 4 games
Cary Conklin – 2 games
Heath Shuler – 13 games
John Friesz – 4 games
Gus Frerotte – 49 games
Jeff Hostetler – 3 games
Trent Green – 14 games
Brad Johnson – 27 games
Jeff George – 7 games
Tony Banks – 14 games
Shane Matthews – 7 games
Patrick Ramsey – 24 games
Danny Wuerffel – 4 games
Tim Hasselbeck – 5 games
Mark Brunell – 33 games
Jason Campbell – 52 games
Todd Collins – 3 games
Donovan McNabb – 13 games
Rex Grossman – 16 games
John Beck – 3 games
RG3 – 15 games
Kirk Cousins – 1 game
That’s 20 QB’s that have bridged the gap between Rypien and Griffin. This hopefully makes it clear why us Redskins fans are so overly infatuated with Robert Griffin III. He’s brought some stability to a very unstable position…now, if he can stay healthy…but, if he can’t? I will take my chances with Kirk Cousins…or at least welcome a first rounder or two for Captain Kirk next season.
So, one of my goals as a Redskins collector has been to acquire some vintage cardboard. As you vintage collectors know, this is difficult for various reasons. They tend to be a little pricey for a basic common card and they are not always in the best of condition. I’m trying to be a little selective in the cards I do end up purchasing, but also keeping in mind that I don’t need gem mint versions of 60 year old cards. I kind of like the softer corners and faded images of these cards. They help tell the story or history of that card. I can imagine some 10 year old in 1955 getting excited to pull an Eddie LeBaron card from his Bowman Football card pack, rocking the face mask-less leather helmet and chin strap, just in case someone knocks his lid off…
In picking up these vintage Redskins cards, I stopped and visited with a dealer that i typically pass up. My first interaction with him a few months ago wasn’t that great. He had a sign that was a little confusing and instead of getting 80% off, i paid 80% of the card value…so i stayed away for a while as i am a tremendous grudge holder. Today though, the Cedar Hills show was dead and I had time to (re)visit new tables. I guess that’s what happens when it’s a sunny May day in Portland, Oregon. Nobody wants to be inside looking at old cardboard. So, with less dealers, there was more time to look at stuff i normally pass up. The dealer was much more welcoming and open about his pricing this time and an provided an excellent conversation. He explained his pricing and had gotten rid of the confusing signs which i appreciated. Maybe i’m just a dolt and didn’t get it, but who says you pay 80% of the price, you say 20% off…am i right? I have an issue with holding grudges, but i need to let go.
Anyways. The vintage selection this guy had of his football cards were fantastic. Most of them were in good condition with minimal creases, plus he had them organized by year and card number which i appreciated.
The prices were very fair considering the condition and age of the cards and he even gave me a break on the Sam Baker card. Being in Oregon, like any other place in the country, when you get a hometown guy his cards tend to be in higher demand. Mr. Sam Baker is from Corvallis and played at Oregon State University…which is a rival to my Oregon Ducks, but I don’t really care as a Redskin trumps Ducks 8 days a week…Ironically, the High School Sam Baker went to (Corvallis High School) was demolished and redone by my office a few years ago. We did a pretty good job on the project.
One of the great things about the vintage cards is the level of graphics and cut & past images. If you look closely at the very racist Redskins mascot for the two cards below, you can see the image was cut out differnetly and the image of the indigenous person is darker than the other card. I have no problem with this at all, just noticed it.
Another thing to check out is the sweet soft-white vignetting that surrounds the players. This is especially noticeable on Ralph Gugliemli as he does his best RG3 impersonation…look at that hair…fantastic…who needs helmets when you have locks like that? Who knew Daniel Craig was a Tight End for the Redskins in 1954?
The last card is Don Bosseler. There are no backstories to this card for me, but he looks like a total badass and someone you really don’t want to mess with. He went to The U, which i’m pretty sure was different back then…but i’m sure he is connected in someway to Luther Campbell.
good night and Hail Victory!
Captain Chaos, Chris Cooley is next up on my all time favorite Redskins list, coming in at number 9.
Cooley was drafted in 2004 and part of Joe Gibbs first draft class since returning to coach the Redskins. The unheralded TE from Utah State ended up being selected in the 3rd round (81st overall) and was the 6th TE picked behind guys with marginal NFL success such as…Kellen Winslow, Benjamin Watson, Ben Troupe, Kris Wilson and Ben Hartsock. Not sure why he was able to slip this deep in to the draft? The only thing i could suspect was his performance at a small school in Utah (football small…)… it could also have been that he played in the Sun Belt conference. Not exactly the SEC when it comes to talent pools. This kind of oversight always happens to the small school kids. You see guys that go to the tradition football powerhouses and get pushed to the top of the draft or taken higher than they should be and fail to meet the high NFL expectations. I always love it when the small school guys succeed, kind of the all american redemption story.
Cooley became one of the leagues premier Tight Ends in 9 short seasons, and putting up solid numbers with a franchise that was nothing short of chaotic. New coaches, coordinators and QB’s seemed to come through each year, but he always managed to put up solid numbers.
One of my favorite stories was when the Redskins were looking at drafting him, Joe Gibbs fell in love with the guy and thought he was a Mormon, being from Utah and all, you know? That’s where they keep the Mormons and all of the fine folks of Utah are indeed Mormon! Joe Gibbs couldn’t have been more wrong. Captain Chaos was a beer drinking, prank calling wild child that let everything hang out…literally…or figuratively…whatever.
One of my favorite Cooley moments was his second season with the Redskins, 2005, agains the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins were in the midst of turning around the season and making a late season push, needing to win out to even have hope of making the playoffs. That game was a huge breakout moment for Cooley as he put up 3 of the Redskins 4 first half TD’s, with the last being a beautiful 30 yard run down the sidelines. I remember shouting COOOOOOOOLEY as loud as i could at my tv, just in case anyone could hear me. Such an exciting game and fantastic season. It’s moments like these that make you love your sports team…and make everything seem so much enjoyable.
The Redskins ended up winning the game 35-7 and making the playoffs. They beat the Buccaneers in Tampa and traveled to Seattle where my wife and I attended our first Redskins game together. Although the good guys lost, it was great to see my favorite team in a playoff game…how many kids get to do that!
Cooley is also a bit of a renaissance man. An artist, a painter and a potter. He has had multiple gallery exhibits in DC and involved in the art community as well. But instead of showing his art, i’m choosing to show his crusty heavy metaled out practice shorts…cause that’s just more fun!
He also married a Redskins cheerleader, which is pretty cool…kind of high school-ish, but cool no less…
…and eventually ended up wearing this at his wedding…what a guy!
Last season was more than likely his last. Cooley was cut just before the start of the season as the development of Fred Davis and transition of Niles Paul to TE made his role less critical. It became pretty obvious that his tenure was coming to an end. Cooley ended up coming back for 8 games last year but only caught one pass. At this point, i’m hoping he hangs it up and does the traditional signing of a one day contract as a Redskin.
All Cooley fans remember the great stories about him…his oddball personality and all around fun lovin attitude from a one of a kind character. He reminded me a lot of John Riggins with some of the things he did on and off the field and will alway be one of my favorite Redskins.
#9 – Chris Cooley
#10 – Gary Clark
#11 – Brian Orakpo
#12 – The Hogs
Alfred Morris.
I really haven’t written much about the guy, which is just not right. The kid had a phenomenal rookie campaign in the backfield with RG3. He was an unheralded rookie from Florida Atlantic and i was certain he wouldn’t make the team. Luckily for me the Shanahans and the Redskins scouting department know much more about football than i do. Morris was a complete rock for the run offense last year and played well beyond his years racking up over 1600 yards for the season and only turning the ball over 3 times. Pretty impressive for a Rookie. Not to mention he seems like a genuinely good person…extremely modest and humble. I don’t see stardom ever going to his head, he just doesn’t seem to have it in him to play the ‘do you know who i am’ persona…plus, I can’t imagine RG3 would allow that to happen.
The cards below were picked up at the last card show in Cedar Hills. The two serial numbered cards were from the same table and i managed to get a nice deal for the two. Both are nice cards to add to my Morris collection that i am tentatively starting…you never know how long a running back is going to last, so i’m always hesitant to buy in on their cards. Either way, if i collect his cards or not, they will be a part of my Redskins collection. The third card was basically a freebee from a very friendly dealer at the show. Thank you!
Take a look-see and hope you enjoy them!
I’ve been running low on card money of late, so i’ve been dime box digging. This can be fun and frightening as well. You find things you blocked out due to bad memories or traumatic events that should never be brought up again. Now, I present the 1994 Playoff Redskins cards. The scans are crappy and i apologize for that, but so were the Redskins in 1993. I like to think that i am a die hard fan and can name players from different generations and teams…but i have absolutely no freakin idea who Rick Hamilton is. Kind of looks like a special teams guy? Don’t know and don’t care. I do remember that the ’93 team was terrible and amassed a total of 4 wins and finished 5th. Yes, 5th. That means that the Arizona Phoenix Cardinals finished with a better record. Remember when the Phoenix Cardinals were in the NFC East? Geography is a bitch! But so are owners that move franchises to other cities.
Ernest Byner was pretty tough year and ‘…hung in there. He had 23 carries for 105 yard and 1TD.’ That’s what the back of his card says. My man Ricky Sanders worked through a tough 638 yards. Nearly every one of these cards say something about a tough year, yet they are in a set called Playoff. Such a misnomer.
Here’s that Hamilton guys card. He’s wearing LaVar Arrington’s number and running with splayed thumbs. Better watch out, those things will get broken on you. Frank Wycheck was a decent Tight End that had his better years with the Oilers and Titans. Wikipedia says he tested positive for steroids…remember all the fuss about the steroid era in football? Me neither.
Jeezy Creezy this guy. I dropped so much money on this kids card. At this point, i’m hoping his political career leads him to a Presidential election or possibly VP so i can sell his stuff on ebay and get my lost dollars back. Actually, I don’t really think that. If he politics like he played football, this country will be set back to the Bush era overnight. Shuler had so much hope and yielded next to nothing. I realize that being a professional athlete is a very special thing and few men and women get to be in that position…a position i’ve never even come close to touching, being a sports fan is such a soul crushing activity though and we have to put the blame on our sad demeanor at work on Mondays.
I’ve never been a big fan of the Beckett price guides and think the ‘pricing’ guys have a little part in the destroying of my childhood hobby, but that’s just my opinion…and i have been called an asshole many times over. With both being the case, i never really have an idea how much a card costs or what it’s market value is. I tend to just look at the card and decide if it’s a $5 card or $20 card to me. I believe that the value of a card varies per person and so i don’t put too much weight in the value of cards, but rather what value it has TO ME. Right now, anything with RG3 has a ton of value for these eyes of mine (I’ve used value way too many times in this paragraph)…The last Cedar Hills show i went to, i purchased two RG3 cards from two different tables. Overpaid for one and underpaid for the other. Both guys asked me what i would pay for the card and here is how is went down.
The First Table: I was searching through a box of unorganized football cards from this past season and noticed a Prizm RG3 with a different photo than i had seen before. I put it aside and pulled a few other cards out including Alfred Morris serial number, Kirk Cousins chrome and a bunch of other Redskins you may not care about. I got about 15 cards and laid them out in front of the guy and reviewed them…he took a look at them. As we were reviewing the cards, I had a number in my head. $50. The number in his head was a much better deal for me. $20. I was a little confused and stared at him for way too long for two guys to be staring at each other over football cards. After we both realized how awkward this moment had become, I agreed to pay his price with little to no resistance. As i walked away from his table i felt a little guilt, but rationalized that it was his price and not mine and that i simply got a good deal. I agreed to pay what he was requesting. As I left his table, I did a quick Ebay search and was told by my iphone that this card alone is being sold for $10 to $20, so i felt pretty good about my purchase. Big smiles for me.
The Next table: This guy has been at the past couple of shows and has a bunch of cards laid out on his table in penny sleeves and top loaders as you do when you sale cards. No prices though. This kind of annoys me, because as i have mentioned, i have no idea how much something should cost and i am a sucker for the Burgundy and Gold on cardboard, especially when it’s got Bobby Three Sticks on it. The guy has this Leaf Metal Universe card in a screw down case, he must have felt it screw-worthy…which in turn I thought, i just may need to own this card. Now, I don’t know if it was the all white jersey, or the shiny metallic card or the screw down case that made me think this card was something i had to have or if it is just my addiction to the Redskins. The guy asks me what i think he should sale the card for. Numbers run through my mind like John Nash…60, 20, 50, 35, 40…it took about 5 minutes for me to come up with those 5 numbers until i blurted out TWENTY! The guy smiled and says…’Damn man, you must have been reading my mind! That’s the exact same number i was thinking!’ How convenient, eh? It’s like asking a painter for a quote on your house and you tell him, ‘I think we may have Lead paint’ and sure enough the bid comes back with an estimate for Lead paint without the guy even testing…(that’s a whole ‘mother blog). Back to my point…this was the last card of the show for me as it was my last $20. I leave the mall and get to the car to look up the prices on ebay and they were maxing out at $10 with most of them going for $5. CRAP! I got hustled!. Getting hustled made me a little upset though…completely unfair as I just got a bargain and now i overpaid. Karma works quick in my world.
The lesson here kids is that beckett can only be loved by those that care about the cost or perceived worth of things…just kidding, that’s not the lesson. Just a cheap, unwarranted shot by me. The real point is that you should always do a little research before you purchase anything to find out how much it should cost YOU.
One thing I’ve learned about collecting cards is that this hobby can rob you blind. It’s so easy to see these pieces of cardboard as an investment. But at the end of the day, most of them are simply little pieces of joy that have varying value to each of us. I am a collector, not an investor. I collect because i enjoy the pursuit of the cards, not how much money i can make when i flip the cards for more money…that said, don’t forget to check out my ebay store.
good night to you and yours.