GOLDEN

Things turn to gold in today's Hampton Cardboard Craze card. It's the first card featured on the blog.

You can give it a look here:
http://hamptoncardboard.blogspot.com/2016/01/1994-marquee-prism-gold-parallel.html

Gone, But Not Forgotten

There it was right at my fingertips, the missing piece to my 2012 Topps Chrome Rueben Randle rainbow, the Superfractor.

The 1/1 beauty would had been the final touch on my rainbow while also acting as my first Super. I hadn't seen the card listed in years. There was no way I could miss it again could I??....well yes I had to.

The problem was, financially I couldn't afford it and couldn't find a way around it. Within a few hours, I watched it slip away possibly forever. Sadness settled in and I tried to re-focus on collecting before putting this post together wondering if other collectors had to face this situation.

Now I gotta ask, have you ever had that one card you needed that you had to watch slip away due to finances, someone beating you to it or other reasons? Let me know below!

HOBBY TOPIC

This series is all about you, the readers. My opinion is mum on every subject, however, you guys have the open mic per say on here. So without further ado, here is today' topic:

Box Breaks

Do you think Box Breaks have faded? If so, why do you think that happened? If not, what would you like to see from breakers going forward?

Clearing The Air

First off, I wanted to clear the air on my collecting. Yes, I am collecting Rodney Hampton and set a blog up for my collection, but I am NO WAY near being done collecting everything else. Not sure how other collectors who PC heavy on one player do, but I am still die hard Giants, Yankees, Griffey, 90's inserts, sets, and so on collector. I am still collecting the same way I have always been, just adding a tiny bit more emphasis on Hampton. That's all.

Secondly, speaking of Hampton, NEW POST is up! Come check out my mail day...
http://hamptoncardboard.blogspot.com/2016/01/extrodinary-hampton-loaded-mail-day.html

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Reminiscing 90's:1992 Disney Launchpad McQuack Kellogg’s PVC

Key notes for February 6th 1992:
November 7th 1992 was a Thursday
George H.W.Bush was President
Most Popular Movie released in February of 1992 was Wayne's World
Most Popular Book around this time was Hideaway by Dean R. Koontz
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single on February 6th 1992 was To Be With You by Mr. Big
SPORTS N/A

FEATURED TOY:
Known for his role as Darkwing Duck's sidekick along with Scrooge McDuck's sidekick in Ducktales, it was always a bit odd for me how Disney put him in both shows but supposedly Darkwing was a spinoff of it. Still, a bit odd. Either way, despite not always being in the limelight and being a bit of a goofball, Launchpad did show his heroism a few times and would come to the rescue. He may not have been the star, but Launchpad had his place on both shows in the shadows.

FEATURED CARDS:
Speaking of players playing in shadows, I always felt these guys were top notch players. The problem was, they never quite got the recognition.

I used to have nightmares when Mo Vaughn would bat for the Red Sox when my Yankees played him. That guy could seriously hit a ball. It's sort of the way I feel now when David Ortiz bats.

Belle, Delgado and Walker I felt were underrated as well.

Carl Pickens wasn't a household name, mostly because of where he played, but that guy could catch with the best. Jake The Snake Plummer led the Cardinals to the playoffs..Sharpe and Rice were also dominant at their positions but didn't quite get the hoorah as everyone else.

These are just some of the players I felt this way about.There are many, many, many more and from many, many more sports. I could have filled my blog with them.

That's why I am leaving it up to you to fill a few more in. Who do you feel was "great" but didn't get the recognition because of where they played or who they played with?

"Jake The Snake" Autograph Add!

It's not everyday I let my mind drift when I am die hard searching for something I really want, but when looking for Rodney Hampton's recently, I happened to come across a great deal for a QB's autograph I enjoyed watching back in the late 90's, Jake Plummer. Who some know as "Jake The Snake" Plummer. And yes he adapted the name from the wrestler who adapted the name from former Raiders QB Ken Stabler who was also nicknamed," The Snake."

The combination of the price, brand, the on-card appeal and player I couldn't say no. 

So this was added to my cart.... 

If you don't know Jake, he spent 10 years in the NFL.6 with the Arizona Cardinals and ended with 4 years in Denver. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round in 1997 and started only 9 games his rookie year going 3-6.

I best know him in his 1998 year, oddly the year this card is, where he took the Cardinals to the playoffs and beat Emmitt Smith and the Cowboys in a playoff game. Believe me, I cheered hard that day. Even though at that time Arizona was also an NFC East foe.

I feel pretty good about this purchase and glad I stumbled onto it.

Have you guys ever drifted away from your buying intentions and ended up with something else?

These Guys Would Co-Sign With Me

One of the most impressive looking autograph sets in the late 90's to me was the 1997 Stadium Club Co-Signers. Now I have added two more to the PC, this time, NYG style!

I don't quite remember what I was looking up when I stumbled on this card that was on a Black Friday sale for $5.25, but, when I saw the price and who was involved, it didn't matter.

Nice rainbow foil shine with a clean on-card autograph of Fred Barnett....

and one of my favorite Giants growing up in Amani Toomer.

My second purchase was because of the first one. After paying for the other one, this one popped up as a same interest item for about that same price and I couldn't let that slip by. So I bought it

Just as impressive as the design, I was impressed to see a Wayne Chrebet autograph go for so low. I consider him as one of the greater WR's the Jets have ever had. The guy wasn't a superstar, but he found ways to make a big impact in a game. Even though he isn't a Giant, I was pretty happy with him on the card alongside...

 

 

Thomas Lewis who is a Giant.

Overall this marks my second and third Co-Signer autograph. I would like to add more, but only for the right price. If only today's autographed cards even looked half as good as these.

Today's topic, do you own any co-signer autographs? Who? And what are your thoughts on the design?

As always, thanks for checking out my mail day!

NEW BLOG! Check It Out! (Plus Notes)

Yes, I know I have stated on here a few times about over-blogging and how I take on way too many projects, well, hopefully I haven't made that choice again as I have created yet another blog. I know, you guys can start to yell at me.

After having 3 failed attempts at running a second blog, I do believe this time is different. This is new blog is a blog specifically for my Super Collecting of Rodney Hampton and it won't have new posts daily (least I don't think so) like this one. That will take a lot of the pressure away as this blog remains my top priority. That may change later on as I may decide to dedicate my time to that one over this one. We will see.

Hampton's Cardboard Craze will be a "if I have time I will squeeze a post in" type of blog. I see other bloggers take this approach as well and it should work for me like it does for them.

Here is the first post that I just posted on there today. Check it out as it explains what the blog will be about.

Introduction To The Hampton Cardboard Craze

Hopefully it will grab some of your attention as I know many of the bloggers/readers that follow me are mainly baseball fanatics. I have been working on this blog for over a month slowly adding things and ideas I might do and wanted to make sure I did it right before I released it. I plan on getting a few posts put together on it soon that way I start to get some content on there.

By now you are probably wondering what I meant "plus notes",well, those are about this blog.I have been noticing a few changes in terms of this blog viewings on here to see what is interesting to you guys and what doesn't work. That will be taken into consideration for changes I may make later on as I hope to have more NEW content/stories by April. I have plenty of fresh ideas to add in. For now, the stuff I have been posting is from Sept-Dec that I am way behind on. Yup, you are reading older posts and it will stay that way til a little after March.

Another thing I wanted to note is that I have also been tearing through and sorting like mad in my collection as I have been re-doing the way I sorted things. It's a lot, and I mean A LOT, of work to undo a collection to re-organize it all over whether you have 200 cards or 2,000 cards or even 200,000 cards. I have finally decided to do everything by team instead of by brand, year and number and tearing that apart was heartbreaking at first, but a relief after I dug in. I will put together a post on this BIG project at some point.

I have had fun being able to take time out to re-sort and seeing some of the cards I have picked up over the years. I must also say I am glad in more than one way I made the choice to re-organize as I found some cards that will make for some great posts later on when things are caught up.

I hope everyone has a great rest of their week and hope you have enjoyed recent posts on here. Thanks for reading and please give the new blog a look (follow, link add) and leave me your thoughts.

BONUS!!!
HOBBY TOPIC:
How many of you have ever re-done the way you sort and how did that go for you? Do you regret it? Let's hear it!

Box Of Goodies,Grady M Mail Day Part 6: Shiny Ending!

Finishing off this Grady M mail day is part 2 of my shiny additions. Today most of the focus is put on Panini Prizm parallels that always bring the zing.

I didn't get to bust any 2015 Prizm so these parallels bring joy in two ways. Great players mixed in as well with Big Ben, Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson.

 

NBA all da way! Harden, leads the way in this group

 

My picture was bad here but David Robinson, Jimmy Butler and Jason Kidd are hidden in here. 

 

And to finish up the post and the mail day, some more NBA Prizm parallels.

 

Overall, Grady's mail day didn't disappoint. They never do. Thanks again Grady for this great stuff and I am still currently putting together your next mail day. Hopefully in the coming weeks you will have yours as well.

Comments on the mail day as whole or your favorite parts to view can be made below.

Thanks for reading! 

Totally Psyched! More Additions To The PSYCH AUTO PROJECT

And I am back with another Psych Auto Project update! Two more cards down on the checklist. These were on the lower end of the buying so I didn't pay very much to land the both of these. One went for even .99 cents!

Up first is Greg Grunberg, he is best known for his role on Heroes.

Up next is Michael Weston. I first must say this is the one I landed for .99 but it's also one I had issues with. The card arrived scotch taped between two white filler cards. I did all I could to be careful with the card and somehow in the process of prying for it's life out of the filler cards, it knicked the top causing some damage. Not major but still visible. And still recognizable for my OCD. I almost want to replace it in my set project but think I will just have to deal with it. Even though I stare at it every time I see it. I was mad that it was mailed that way. I would have rather had it in a top loader with the tape on top of that.

Now back to Michael Weston. He was best known for his role as a detective on one of my other favorite shows, House.

Glad to knock two more down off the list. Still a long ways to go, but knocking off the cheaper ones can only get me to my goal faster.

As a hobby topic, how many of you have shipped a card completely sealed between two filler cards without a top loader involved? You can answer yes, I won't hate you...too much ;) If you haven't, what do you think of people who do?

Box Of Goodies,Grady M Mail Day Part 5:The Shine Begins

Welcome. This is my favorite part of each mail day, not that I don't enjoy the rest but here is the butter on the bread of the package.

The shiny stuff as most collectors call it.

Up first, we have some hockey and NASCAR. I included anything that had a rainbow shine.

 

Platinum parallels. 

 

More here. Going to miss this product in 2016 when Panini takes over the exclusive license.

 

Beauties here from Elite. Carpenter is numbered to 21!! And that Ellsbury I am all over. 

 

And the shiny continues! Chapman I like even more now. Go Yanks! 

 

Certified is always loaded with this kinda stuff. Guess that's why it's one of my favorite releases each year. 

 

Topps Chrome parallels. Never go wrong here. 

 

And to end part 1, OOOOOOOOOOODEEELLL! 

 

Solid all around in part 1. Part 2 puts a bit more focus on Prizm parallels and there are plenty to look at. 

Catching Up With Rodney

I think I can finally call myself a Super Collector of someone and can officially use the words "Super Collector" unlike past attempts. So here it is out loud on a mountain top, :I am a Rodney Hampton Super Collector!!!:

Why can I call myself this now unlike my past player attempts? That's because my collection of Rodney's is creeping towards the halfway point of his overall trading card output. Bet you didn't see any of this coming out of nowhere as I don't discuss it too much on here.....yet.

Here are some more of the recent additions to my PC that I got in cheap eBay lots.

A 1996 Pro Line National parallel. Says it's numbered to 499 but to be honest, I haven't seen many of these around.

Some of my favorite brands mixed in here. Ultra, Collectors Choice and my always favorite Playoff brands.

Speaking of Playoff...sparkle! A 1995 Playoff Prime Mini Parallel. These really shimmer. My picture was really not doing it justice here.

President's Reserve was at the time what I considered a high-end product from Collectors Edge. The base cards looked elegant printed on acetate with a touch of gold. I still have a few of the base kicking around, but I didn't have Hampton til now.

And to finish up the newest additions, Action Packed and sportflix.

 

These are officially crossed off my printed checklist as these were picked up awhile ago (that's why this was called catching up with Rodney). There are still many holes to fill but hopefully I can continue to chip away one card at a time. Isn't that what Super Collectors do?

Breakin Wax:2014 Topps Chrome Soccer Blaster (1 Auto Per)

Soccer, the other white football meat.

It's not something I usually buy or something on the top of my list, but when needing to hit a certain dollar amount on my dacardworld order, something that said Chrome and one autograph per box for $9.99 caught my attention. So I gave it a go.

In each blaster of 2014 Topps Chrome Soccer blaster, 8 packs of cards with 4 cards in each pack. Blasters will run you a little under $10.

The base cards look really good. I was quite impressed.

I pulled lots of color in the box. I found...

Purple Refractor 1:2
Refractor 1:3
X-Fractor 1:6
*Orange Refractor 1:12 (this is numbered to 75)

I must also apologize for the sideways photo as well.

Purples are very sharp!

Some of the inserts I pulled. A couple are refractor parallels
In Form 1:8
1976-77 Topps Footballers Mini 1:8
One-Two 1:16

And my autograph. Not a big star but cool anyways. Especially for the price.

I found this to be $10 well spent. Nice looking base cards, fun searching for the colors and the autograph is well done with a nice signature. These are something I would go back and buy again and might soon.

What are your thoughts on the product? Soccer cards? Let's hear them below!

Box Of Goodies,Grady M Mail Day Part 3:Get Ready For Some Football!

Part 3 of my mail day consists of NFL like the title says. So let's take a look at the what was hidden within.

Up first, Score 2015. I am still in the midst of working on the set so hoping some of these will help. I haven't checked yet.

I am trying to do the inserts too.

Football rookie mania! Aaron Donalds not a shabby one to have.

More inserts.

Really dig these framed cards from Gridiron. Didn't have any of these guys.

Hadn't seen one of these. Cool looking.

I really like that Panini does these BCA inserts and memorabilia cards.

I haven't bought any Topps Chrome yet, but seeing these inserts tells me I really need to. Or at the very least I need to pick up the Giants versions of these.

 

NFL down. MLB, Shiny Stuff and more ahead! Come back and see what else I got in this package bomb!

Psych Autograph Project New Additions

At the beginning of the year, I broke two more boxes of Cryptozoic Psych and joked about trying to put together an autographed set. Well, it seems my joke may have turned more reality as I began picking up a few more pieces towards it. Today's mail day only ran me $20 which is much less than these normally run for.

Up first, Angus Mcfadyen who also played in Braveheart.

Up next, Dana Ashbrook who should ring a bell with most of us since he played in the cult classic Twin Peaks as Bobby Briggs.

Leslay Ann Warren is up next. She also inscribed hers with love. She played in the 100th episode of Psych as a rock groupie but is known by many for her role in The Happiest Millionaire.

Sage Brocklebank played recurring role as Buzz Mcnab on Psych but has also guest played on other TV shows as well.

 

Can't believe I knocked four off my checklist so fast. Maybe this side project is a possibility but we will have to see. Things will get quite costly as I move from the lower end autographs and try for the harder ones.

In the meantime, it's still fun.

Reminiscing 90's:1992 Disney Goslayn Mallard Kellogg’s PVC

Key notes for January 23rd 1992:
November 7th 1992 was a Thursday
George H.W.Bush was President
Most Popular Movie released in January of 1992 was Reservoir Dogs
Most Popular Book around this time was Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single on January 23rd 1992 was All 4 Love by Color Me Badd
SPORTS N/A

FEATURED TOY:
The daughter of Darkwing Duck, AKA, Drake Mallard, Gosalyn was always edgy. She was the first to show her confidence in not having fear. Sometimes however that confidence would end up in trouble and a dad rescue.

FEATURED CARDS:
The 90's always put out "edgy" looking inserts. If only we had these kind of inserts today.

 

 

 

 

 

Another Darkwing Duck character down. Two more to go!

What was your favorite "edgy" insert from the 90's? There were plenty to choose from!