Rice-A-Rookie, My San Francisco Treat

In the past few years, I have slowly begun trying to add "investments" to my rookie card PC. One of the "investments" that I have really wanted was a 1986 Topps Jerry Rice. Thanks to Small Traditions, now I can cross that off from my list.

Every other day on Twitter, Small Traditions runs a contest for FREE graded cards and all you have to do to win is RT. When I saw this Jerry Rice pop up, a card I have been chasing for awhile, I threw my name into the hat and found out I won the next day! You know how girls cry after watching a sad movie, well, the same thing happens to me after adding a nice piece to my PC.

Rice is just one of many rookies I am hoping to chase down. Some others include, Dan Marino, John Elway, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Michael Jordan (may take my whole life for that), Mickey Mantle (ditto), Wayne Gretzky (same here), Mario Lemiex, Derek Jeter (Sp rookie), Tony Gwynn, among others.

I would like to thank Dave at Small Traditions again for this card and helping me add this sweet piece to my rookie PC. This is one small step in a giant direction.

90's Rip Party: 1996 Topps Football Hobby Box

In this edition of 90's Rip Party, I go back in time to 1996 and to a football product of Topps celebrating their 40th anniversary. I think this is one of my all-time favorite Topps products as the inserts they put into it looked and felt spectacular. You will have to read on and see the break and I am sure you will agree.

In a box of 1996 Topps Football hobby, you get 36 packs with 12 cards per pack.

The base card design was simple and for once Topps did a great job with the border they used. The photography on these was amazing as well and with the way they did the player/team names it left it open for some great shots.

1,000 and 3,000 yard subsets:

Great rookie cards in the product such asEddie George, Keyshawn Johnson, Marvin Harrison, Eric Moulds, Mike Alstott and many others! The design is the same as the base except the word '96 Draft Pick:

For me, these 40th Anniversary inserts fell 1:4 packs. I got two doubles as well of Brett Favre and Blaine Bishop:

The 40th anniversary product also commemorated Joe Namath and his inserts fell 1:12 packs

These are some of the coolest looking cards around! Broadway's Review where Joe breaks down some of the "top" QB's in 1996:

Turf Warriors is a touch and feel card. It feels like turf! Pretty awesome and these bad boys were a tough pull though no odds were stated, I believe they were at least 1:36

And another beauty of an insert. Hobby Masters! These fell 1 per box. I really like the design.

Overall, another great 90's rip. I think Topps should look back at this product and maybe do something similar with today's they put out. Great photography, well done inserts, and an overall product with their best work.

Rueben Randle PC Card Of The Week: 2012 Topps Platinum X-Factor

Today's Rueben Randle PC Card Of The Week is a pretty sweet one. I love the parallels that are in products like Topps Chrome and Topps Platinum. They look outstanding on here and even more impressive in person. This one is an X-factor, though not worth much more than its base card counterpart, its a thing of beauty!

With that being said, here is today's Rueben Randle PC Card Of The Week:

That 90's Card: 1998 Topps Milestone Barry Bonds

Farewell David Wilson

It would have been year 3 for David Wilson in the NFL which meant this was the year a lot of first-round draft picks break out. However, David was forced into early retirement due to an neck injury and never had a chance to finish his promising career.

David's career lasted only 21 games for the Giants, but in this tearful, emotional and inspirational FAREWELL SPEECH he stated not to reflect on how short his career was and to focus on the fact he got to live his dream making it into the NFL. A dream that not many get to live. He's also ready for the next step in his career and will be rooting on teammates all season, hoping they put their 100% efforts on the field and continue their dream because that dream could end at any second without a sign.

In respect of David Wilson and his career with the Giants, I wanted to show off some of my favorite cards I own of him.

Love this photo....I still remember watching it live:

 

This is my favorite of the group. I think the design is well done:

Hope everyone enjoyed the gallery. I could have added a few more to the list, but these are my top favorites.

David, I wish you luck on the next step of your career and thanks for your time with the Gmen. Let's hope they take your inspiring speech and go grab another Lombardi!

Upper Deck Card Of The Week: 2013 Fleer Retro Metal Robert Woods

The Card Bin: What Did I Find This Time?

Yes, it seems redundant that I name this segment the same name as this blog, but this is what I call this bin:

 

I think most of us collectors have that one place we store all of our extra cards that are not PC related. This is where I stick mine. I also use this as a once-in-awhile dig through to bring back memories or for a just for fun experience. I will start posting cards from this bin to show you what's hiding in there. I honestly have no idea what is in there, I only know its autographs and memorabilia cards from the past 14 years. So this should be fun for both you and I!

Onto today's find:

2012 Elite New Breed Jersey Ronnie Hillman

Thoughts on today's find are welcomed!

Packs To The People....Have You Seen It?

On Twitter, I came across something that caught my eye recently...... it was called Packs To The People. What in that title wouldn't catch your attention? It's a fun web series about a guy named Andrew who does as the title states, takes packs to the people. The packs that he delivers may not always be in the most obvious places or to the most obvious people who are collectors. Most are not which is what makes it fun. Here was his latest video where he brought packs into a McDonalds (watch the first guys reaction): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXGQnS-reio&feature=youtu.be

I think this is really fun concept and I always enjoy watching the peoples reactions in these videos. I have now seen most of them and I recommend you check them out as well. You can search for Packs To The People on YouTube for more of their fun episodes. There are a ton!!!

Now onto a couple more fun episodes. My buddy Tim Yount, who I have mentioned on a quite a few times on here, made a couple of Packs To The People videos himself. It would be great if you guys checked those out for me. Both have their own fun parts to them.

In this video, he took packs to a Pee Wee football team. Watch the reactions of these kids. Some are hilarious. You just gotta love innocence.  One gets a nice pull as well and thought it was another player.....

Packs to the Pee Wees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWFyV_5R9WQ

In this one that Tim did, he caught up with a couple of old timers who hadn't opened packs in years. One of them gets a 1/1 pull and see how they react and their thoughts on today's cards!! Check this out:
My Inaugural Packs to the People Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux9UpPe1M6E&feature=youtu.be

I would love to hear your guys feedback on videos like this and the Packs To The People concept.

Topps Card Of The Week: 2013 Topps Platinum Autograph Jonathan Hankins

Ken Griffey Jr PC Card Of The Week: 1998 Royal Rookies

Today's Ken Griffey Jr PC Card Of The Week is from one of those wall plaques you could find at Walmart or a dollar store awhile ago. These plaques consisted of a players card in a toploader mounted to square wood piece with the player's name on a metal plate under it. They were a fun item to spice up your mancave and a way to display your cards. I still have the four I bought years ago.

Most of the time these had licensed cards in them, this just happened to be one of the rare times they didn't. I snatched it up because I didn't have the card and didn't know if I would ever find one like it again. Either way, it's another nice PC piece and a classic photo shot despite the non-logos.