Random Cardboard:2007 Topps Finest Autograph Steve Smith

 

RAK Monday Adds

 Every Monday on Twitter, I run a RAK Monday where you post up wants and others try to help you out. If you are chosen to be helped out, you must pass it on to someone else. Or just give and not take, that's always great too.

Usually the thread goes pretty well and I see a good amount of both. I also join in and receive as well as the administrator of the thread.

One of my last Monday's I got a solid haul from @dtgordo.

 

Odell Beckham Jr. I really miss Odell, just not his antics. I am hoping their top pick in this years draft Kadarius Toney can be of similar in play style.

Anyone miss Upper Deck NFL cards yet...(I miss Osi's pass rushing)

Because I do.  They were always creative with their products.

Thanks again to @dtgordo for the mail day. I appreciate it. 

Instant Impressions

We all make an impression on someone else. Sometimes those impressions can take awhile to build or be instant.

When I make a card trade with someone new on Twitter, I like to get an impression of them first before I go through with it. 

First, I will check out their timeline and see what kind of stuff they tweet about. Is it political? Are they a straight up flipper? Do they have mutual followers? Have they made past trades where I can see how it went? Where they live (this helps because I don't ship outside the U.S.) and their interactions in general on the hobby. I want to make sure I feel good before I fully proceed with someone.

Sometimes, I will back out before it starts if I see something I don't feel good about. Other times they will give me a bad vibe such as not communicating in a timely manner or responding at all after requesting a trade or they will have me spend three hours digging out trade bait and end up selling the card before I have the chance to make an offer on a trade. This one just happened recently and the impression I am left by them is that I will never try a trade with them again no matter the card they are offering.

It didn't take me long to get a good instant impression from my latest new trader in @RyansTrading who posted a bunch of solid trade bait on my Tuesday Twitter trading thread. I listed a bunch of cards I was into and there a trade was born.

A big piece of the trade, literally a big piece, was this Instant Impressions real Hand Print and autograph piece by Panini above.

Even though the piece isn't NY Giants, it still fits into my unique PC.

I have always wanted one of these handprint autographs and now I can finally cross it off. However, I would love to acquire a Giants one.

The handpiece though wasn't the only piece of the trade.

I was able to add two more Kenny Golladay autographs to my collection before he jump starts his career again with the Giants this fall. This gives five autographs of his now. It's really odd to see how much his signature has changed over time especially compared to the three I have already.

Before the football season begins, I will post an overall picture of my Kenny Golladay PC.

The next card in the trade is my first Tiki Barber rookie auto and only my third autograph of his overall.

The final card in the trade was a dual autograph of Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith. Steve Smith made the biggest play in Super Bowl 42 that wasn't the helmet catch by moving the chains on a crucial third down.

and the last card is my first Victor Cruz autograph rookie card. I have other Cruz autographs, but this one marks the first rookie one.

Thanks again to @RyansTrading for the trade. You made a great impression with this trade and hopefully I did as well.

Giants Cardboard: Sorry, I Forgot

 

As a blogger of multiple blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, I tend to have a short memory time to time. Embarrassingly so.

Today's mail day is a prime example of it. I have no idea who I traded with for this mail day and tried my best to research on Twitter to find the trading partner. But couldn't. It is shameful.

So if this was you, please let me know so I can give you the proper thanks.

Because there was a lot of cool stuff in here that I shouldn't have waited so long to post about.

Such as....

Ron Dixon football relic. These are underappreciated in the hobby. I prefer this more than patches especially when it's game used and game noted when it was used.

Rookie Threads Moss

Arthur Marshall. This was probably one of my favorite Autograph sets of all time and especially from the 90's. I own just a few cards from it.

New Kerry Collins for the PC

I showed you one Brandon Jacobs autograph above, here is another rookie one. Jacobs has an okay signature but I wouldn't dare to tell him that it wasn't perfect. Nobody wants to be in his way when he comes running at you.

If only Smith could have stayed healthy. He could have been the Giants all-time leader in receiving. He was really talented.

 

These final cards are really shiny. We will ignore the poor autograph of Aaron Ross.

Thanks again to whoever I traded with for these cards for my PC and appreciate the trade. If this was you again, I apologize I tucked these away for so long in my que. I should have published them sooner but the 25 Days Of Cardmas took over.

2018 Secret Santa Revealed!

For the first time ever, I joined in on a Secret Santa gift exchange in the sport card world and it's one of the bigger ones out there in #supermomsecretsanta5 . The rules were simple. $25 valued gift, a list of five to ten items to choose from and an option of whether you want to ship out of U.S. or not. Both of those appealed to me, so I jumped in. Shipping is one of the biggest reasons I hadn't jumped in on one of these before. I would hate to spend $10 shipping out one package when I can almost mail out three for that. So why send out to one person when you can cover three? I know my logic is probably weird to some, but since I don't have a big budget I prefer to use it wisely.

I haven't mailed mine out yet as I had to wait for a few pieces to come in and now gotta get some other stuff together before I send mine, but I did get my Secret Santa gift already. I was going to hold out for Christmas to open it knowing I don't have any cards coming this year, but the package got the best of me so I opened it.

I immediately recognized the name on the package as it was from a fellow Yankees and Giants fan @MannisCards. That's the one thing that makes it tough for Secret Santa gifts if you end up with a name that collects the same stuff you do. Luckily the guy I ended up with I had some options that weren't in my collecting realm.

@MannisCards tackled every bit of my list in one form or another.

Ken Griffey Jr:

Aaron Judge: (all three are new and I totally dig the Sp rookie below)

Sp:

Unique Patches:

Towel:

Football Swatch:

(never have heard of this product before. Cool patches)

And NY Giants:

Overall I was pretty pleased with my findings.

Thanks goes out to @MannisCards for the Secret Santa gift! I hope when I mail out my persons cards this week they will enjoy theirs just as much. I look forward to joining in again next year for #supermomsecretsanta6.

Mystery Box On The Mail Box

It may look like I had a pile of mail coming in all at once, but honestly, I am a tad behind posting these that is why they are all in a row. There was one week where I wasn't expecting a single thing and for the most part that was true.

Then came Friday when I looked out my kitchen window to see a box sitting on top of my mail box. You see where I live, if you have a mail box and don't use the post office, they pretty much stick your packages that don't fit in your mail box wherever. One day they could be on your porch, the next day your neighbors and a day after that, on top of your mail box. Unprotected from elements of course.

So I went and grabbed my package curious to see where it was from. After reading the return address and name, I knew it was a surprise package from my good friend, @Jake1725.

Inside the box was a mix of cards and non card items.

Up first, these 1993 Gameday cards that are from Mcdonalds. I miss the food/sport card combos.  These were included apart of an NFL Kickoff promo similar to today's Monopoly one with the pull off pieces to win prizes.

 

Who doesn't love a hologram? Who doesn't love a hologram with Yankees on it? This innovation needs to be brought back. You listening UD??

 

A mixed group. Love that Topps Giants Super Bowl card. Miss the days where my team wasn't such a mess.

 

A stack of Jumanji cards just in time for the new movie. Once again, it's a movie that should have never been made. Leave Jumanji alone!! Nothing beats an original and The Rock is no Robin Williams.

 

I have always wanted some of these, Jake must have read my mind. Nice addition to my 90's PC.

 

Love lenticular cards. The way this one is presented makes the effect of lenticular even cooler.

 

Steve Smith autograph rookie card. He made a big play in Super Bowl 42 that kept the drive going for the Giants win on the touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress. This card is also /25

 

I know there are so many parallels out there, so so many, but some of them look amazing. This Evan Engram card is a perfect example. My first Spectra card this year.

 

Star Wars figures. All key characters included.

 

The best player in baseball history. Yes, I will boldy say that. He also didn't cheat the game.

 

And finally, we gotta #AllRise for this magazine cover.

 

 

A big thanks goes out to @Jake1725 for being a good friend and for the surprise mail day. I wasn't expecting that at all. Speaking of surprises, you never know when a return one could happen....

Thoughts on my mail day welcomed in comments!

NYG Week Part 1:Can't CONTEND With Contenders Autographs

Well, a few weeks ago I posted about my trade with 90's Niche Football Card Blog and told you I would use the rest of the trade as a series of posts to countdown to the NY Giants first game of the regular season against the Dallas Cowboys.

Well, here we go.

Up first, my very first Geremy Davis autograph. This guy hit the field a few times last year but never really made an impact yet. But, I keep hearing that he is a hidden gem, it's just too bad the Giants didn't feel the same way as he was apart of this years cuts. Luckily for me though, they re-signed him to the Practice Squad.

Steve Smith was absolutely dominant his years with the Giants. His rookie year was slowed down by injuries but he made a huge impact and catch in the Giants Super Bowl 42 win over the Patriots

Tavares King is a guy who looked to have a solid training camp and preseason made this years team. Corey Washington at one time was dominant in the preseason too and was one of my favorite players from the preseason of 2015, failed to provide the boom in the regular season like he did in the preseason. I still think he has a lot of potential if given just one more shot.

And finally, a card I have wanted for a couple of years, running back Orleans Darkwa. Not only do I love the name, but he has proven himself a few times on the field and so far is on the team. The guy also had a very solid preseason so who knows where he actually stands on the depth chart.

 

A great start to Giants week I must say. But, there is more to come. Stay tuned!

Panini Card Of The Week: 2012 Certified Steve Smith Mirror Red Jersey Card

Brand: Certified (Panini)

Card Number:89

Card Type: Memorabilia/Parallel #'d 87/99

Book Value: 

Panini Card Of The Week: 2013 Certified Steve Smith Mirror Red JerseyCard

Brand: Certified (Panini)

Card Number:89

Card Type: Memorabilia/Parallel #'d 87/99

Review: 2013 Score Football

First off, I would like to say thanks to the WONDERFUL people at Panini America for providing us with this box to review. Here are many places you can find Panini America: official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook. If you don't follow them at all..you should! They talk to you on Twitter, have contests on their blog and Facebook and the site is also fun to visit!

Box Break Down:

• 10 Packs Per Box, 50 Cards Per Pack
• Three Autographs Per Box
• One extra Autograph or Memorabilia Card Per Box
• Fifty Rookies Per Box
• Ten Hot Rookies Per Box
• around $95 a box  

 

BASE CARDS:  I not only really like the design, but the photography is amazing. The cards give you that feel like you are at the game or remembering those moments on the field when you watched it on TV. Yes, I know it has a border and usually I am not a border type of guy, but once you get a glimpse of this photography the border appears as a TV screen as the cardboard brings the game to life.

There are also three subsets that wrap up this set.Airmail, Franchise and Road To The Super Bowl along with the 110 rookies in the classic 1989 Score design.Road To The Super Bowl wraps up the Ravens run through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl. The Airmail are top QB's in the game and Franchise are some of the most important players to teams. You know, Franchise players.

Overall there are 440-card base set that includes 220 veterans, 110 RCs, three 32-card subsets and  then the 14-card Road to the Super Bowl.

I like seeing subsets built back into products. It breaks them up. In terms of Base cards, Score gets a high five here.

 

 

INSERTS: Parallels galore!! We lucked out and pulled a End Zone black parallel numbered to 6. There are also Scorecard (we borrowed an image from Panini to show since we forgot to take a pic of one), Gold Zone, Red Zone and Artist Proof (low numbered pulls) and what we call "glitter" parallels. The Glitter parallel reminds me of Score Summitt parallels in 1995 that they called Ground Zero.Overall, well done design on the inserts.

The Hot Rookies jump off the cardboard at you with their bright colors. And for once it does bother me that players are in 00 numbered uni's, because seeing them in their NFL uniforms for the first time overtakes that part. I would rather see this then unmarked helmets that some companies use.There are also autograph and parallel versions to the Hot Rookies as well.

There are hard to find parallels of the base rookie cards as well as we landed a purple bordered version of first round QB EJ Manuel thats numbered to 99. There is also harder to find Black parallels. Not to mention Red and Blue retail parallels as well.

You get a decent amount of inserts per box.

 

AUTOGRAPHS: Two autographs per box is whats stated from Panini (will explain at the bottom in final notes why I said it that way)..but from what I hear there are actually 3 in every box. We found Tavon Austin hiding in our box early on. He should be a great weapon in this league and probably one of the better players in this draft.

I once again enjoy the original set design so an autograph looks great on it.

The Inscriptions design is that of the late 90's autograph insert that could be found in packs of Pinnacle. Back then the cards were printed on acetate. Here is an example of one:

I think its a great design and would have been awesome if Panini had followed the original suit of printing on acetate instead of cardboard.But still, very well designed.

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS:A nice prime swatch of the Future Franchise receiver of the Bears Alshon Jefferey.A well designed material card as well. I like the white against the color of the memorabilia.The player stands out as well.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Did this product live up to its hype and celebrate 25 years of Score...YES!!! If I was Dennis Green and had to say something about this product, I would say "This product was what I thought it was!!" I was impressed just by Panini's images, but now that I have busted some of this product, not only will I highly recommend it to you, I really want more! And I will probably find a way to get it!

Honestly, there is a lot of fun in a box of Score Jumbo or even a pack. They are 50 card packs and rummaging through it is like buying a box of cards at a yard sale, you never know what you are about to find. The cards in the packs are also aligned like an Oreo cookie. You got to eat through the first chocolate cookie (base cards) to get to the awesome creamy center (inserts, autographs, memorabilia, other surprises) and you finish the rest of the cookie by finding the subset cards.

The one thing that I really need to point out is the box has a printing error on it, it states "one autograph or memorabilia per box" don't listen to it. There are at least 3 hits in a box and possibly more low numbered hits and printing plates and most likely a bonus autograph.

My final thoughts on this product is, not a bad price. 500 cards per box. A ton of parallels with great odds of hitting a low numbered one as I have seen at least every box with one under 50. 3-4 hits. 50 Rookie Cards of tomorrows stars. There is value in every box and fun waiting to happen.
 

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 5
                Base Design: 5
                Insert Design: 5
                Memorablila/Autographs: 5
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 5 if not easily 6.