Four Packs To Be Named Later

I recently did a four-pack series of 2017 NFL retail football cards for A Pack To Be Named Later.  You can see them all at the links below.

In order of my personal preference:
2017 Score Football
2017 Donruss Football
2017 Panini Prestige Football
2017 Panini Football

Mid Year's Resolution

My newest resolution is to try to look 1/8th as tough as Glen Edwards does.

2013 Super Bowl Champion...

...Kelechi Osemele!

2012 Fleer Rookie Sensations - Kelechi Osemele - RS-96

Kelechi was a late 2nd-round draft pick for the Ravens in 2012 and he won a starting job on the O-Line.  He parlayed his protection of Flacco into a Super Bowl ring during his rookie season.  Not too shabby of a way to start off!  He's an Iowa State alum (obviously). 

This one was a Listia purchase.  I got it for 1,700 credits...I was prepared to do at least 3,000, if necessary, so I was happy.  This seller threw in several extra cards for me in my package, so if you are looking for autos/relics...check him out.

Blaise Bryant

This is my man, Blaise Bryant.  When my Dad took me to Iowa State games a a youth, he was the stud RB.  Didn't have much of an NFL career...played in Canada for awhile.

But you wanna know why I really love him?

THE HAIR!!!!  Oh, the hair.  Such a thing of beauty.  Exploding from his scalp like a Saturn V rocket.  I hope he still has it cut that way today...

NOPE.

I guess when you are a real estate broker / financier, you can't go around looking like Kid 'N Play.*  At least he's still got that "head to the left" tilt.

(*In case you didn't get the reference.....)

Who's got the best hair ever on a sports card???

TEBOW

Listia comes through with good stuff again.  This time it's a Tim Tebow XFractor...

2011 Topps Chrome Football - XFractor - Tim Tebow - #148

Just Call Me "Josh Sr."

Right before the Super Bowl, Colbey at Cardboard Collections ran a Football Group Break.  That's something we don't see around here too often, so I had to jump in.  There's just one problem, I don't have one team that I root for, that is "MY team" like I have in baseball.  This is the result of growing up in a state with no NFL team and a father who was into college football way more than pro ball. 

Anyway, so I had to pick teams.  I decided I would try to get a Tebow (and grabbed the Broncos) or a Peyton Manning (and grabbed the Colts). 

No Tebow, but got 3 Peytons!  Here were my two favorites.

Peyton Manning

Here were my top picks among the other cards.  Got an Andrew Luck Score rookie, and a very sharp-looking Eric Decker.

It was a buy-one-get-one random team setup.  My random teams were the Falcons and Lions (not too shabby).  I got lucky and picked up a Lions hit.  Mr. Titus Young.

Or should I say "Titus Young Sr."  Why would I say that?  The guy is only 23.  "Sr." gets affixed to your name when you are in your 40's at the earliest, right?

Nope, Titus cared enough about naming his son Titus that he had the "Sr." put on his jersey last season. 

It's spreading!  Mikel Leshoure was doing it, too.  Oh, Detroit.

I doubt we'll be seeing much more of Titus Young now that his name is mostly seen in headlines like:
TITUS YOUNG SUCKER PUNCHES TEAMMATE and TITUS YOUNG RUNS WRONG ROUTES ON PURPOSE.  He doesn't get the privilege and opportunity that he could have had.  The Lions cut him after the season, he was picked up by the Rams, and then cut by them after nine days.  Have fun in the Arena League, Titus.  It's too bad....that's an awfully pretty card and blue swatch.

With that, my first football group break post is done.  Thanks to Colbey Hopper Sr. for making it happen!

Postage Due

2001 Crown Royale - #117 - Kurt Warner

I had what I would consider to be my first "bad" Listia experience.  I got a bunch of "Greatest Show on Turf" (St. Louis Rams - Warner/Faulk/Holt/Bruce) for a pretty low # of credits + free shipping.  All is well, right? 

Wrong.  The lady sends me a bubble mailer with all the cards...and 90 cents of postage on it.

As all card traders know, sending a bubble mailer is at least $1.95 these days...and this particular package was $2.20, leaving $1.30 in unpaid postage to be paid by me.

Normally they would just send it back to the return address, except instead of a return address she just wrote "Danshelle."  Did nobody ever teach her what a return address meant??  Ay, ay, ay.

Anyway, at least I got this sweet die-cut Kurt Warner and a bunch of other Warners that I needed for my collection.  I'll just make sure I never try to buy from "Danshelle" again.

A Bronco, A Cardinal, and a Guy Named Mike

I made another Zistle trade with the SuperDuperMan from Fantastic Catch.  He and I traded just a few months ago, so it was fun to see that we already had enough for another trade.  The three best cards (in my opinion) that I got were these:

I'm always happy to get a Sweeney, and this is a very slick, horizontal design from SP.

My favorite subset from 2011 Topps Football was the Game Day insert set.  I'm slowly collecting those and Larry Fitzgerald escaping an Eagles tackle is a great shot.  Too bad his talents were being wasted down in Arizona last season.

TEEEEEEEEEEBOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!

This is Timmy T. on a 2011 Topps Rising Rookies card.  He looked GOOD in the Orange and Blue.  I think the missing Tebow storyline was a reason why this season has interested me less than 2011 did.

Thanks, SDM!  I'd recommend you all go out there and make a trade with him if you can.

2012 Topps Football - Hall of Famers

Right before Christmas, my wife sent me to Toys-R-Us (TRU).  I was going to be out in that neighborhood, and she had an errand for me.  She had bought a Groupon-esque deal from somewhere that gave her $20 in credit at TRU for $10.  She wanted a specific brand/size/type of diapers for our son, so I said I'd pick those up for her.  After 20+ minutes of looking for said diapers, talking to the front desk, 2 trips to "check in the back", and much standing around, I finally had the pack of diapers in my hand.  It was $18.  I read the fine print on the deal...NO CHANGE/CREDIT GIVEN.  In other words, I had to find something to buy to get up to $20 or that value would disappear.

Fortunately(?) for me, I found the most pathetic card-display ever.  Some pokemon, full Topps sets, and $30 blasters of Ginter.  Yes, $30.  It was consistent that TRU priced all cards at 1.5x the price of cards anywhere else.  Their packs of Triple Play (that are 99 cents EVERYWHERE) were $1.50.  Whatever you do, DO NOT ever go to Toys-R-Us for cards.  I don't care if they have pretty purple parallels (and alliteration).  It will just depress you.

Finally, I settled on a $2.50 pack of 2012 Topps Football and just cracked it open today.

I got 3 Hall-of-Famers!

Well...Luck isn't there YET, but if he plays 10 years with yardage like this one he sure will be.  Picking up a base RC of him was a fun treat.  The Aikman is a "QB Immortals" insert (for trade if there are any Cowboys out there).  Ray Lewis is retiring after this season -what a beast of a player.  Watching his interviews is just as much fun as watching him play.  That Ravens season of "Hard Knocks" is still my favorite.

Was I happy with what I got?  Yes.  Would I ever buy cards there willingly again?  HECK NO.

Drafts from the Past

I mentioned in my last post that I had entered Jaybarkerfan's Card Draft #2.  I got a bunch of other goodies from that one, but just wanted to show off some more of them.

Let's start with a couple of NFL relics...DeAngelo Williams and a nice red swatch of Marcell Dareus.

Swatch Supremacy - DeAngelo Williams

2011 Bowman Sterling Relic - Marcell Dareus

I got a couple of history cards from Mayo Cut Plug...Booker T Washington and Gugliermo Marconi.  Is Mayo basically the football version of Ginter?

There was also some fun, fun vintage football in this draft.  NOBODY else was taking it, so I had my pick of it.  I can see a little bit of both Eli and Peyton in Archie's youthful face.

And finally, an XFractor of a wrestler dressed as an Indian?  YES PLEASE.  This guy is "Chief Jay Strongbow."  Never heard of him, but I couldn't pass that up, especially as a late-round pick.

2008 Allen and Ginter WWE - XFractor - Chief Jay Strongbow

It's Tebow Time!

I like Tim Tebow. 

(commence throwing of tomatoes)

Luckily, some people have no affinity for him, which makes it easier to get his cards.  All of these came to me from Wes at Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  I picked up the first one as my first pick in his "Card Draft #2" -- then he just threw in the rest of them!!!  All of these were new to me, so they were VERY much appreciated.  Thanks, Wes!

The first one is a Wal-Mart-exclusive parallel.  The rest are from 2010 Press Pass.

Obak at ya'

2011 Obak Football - Morten Andersen - Green Parallel - #/25

Contests.  I love 'em. 

I love entering them.
I love hosting them (keep an eye out for the return of the "BIG PILE" contest this fall).
I especially love WINNING them.  My online luck hasn't been great, but I have managed to win a few contests here and there...This is one of those stories.

Drew from Drew's Cards (naturally) had busted a box of 2011 Obak football, and was giving most of it away.  He split the box into 5 chunks and randomed each one off separately.  Not only did I win a chunk, I won THE CHUNK I WANTED -- "American Heroes and Best of the Rest."  Why did I want this piece?  Well...my main collections for football involve Kurt Warner and Kickers/Punters (see sidebar ----->), and this set netted me the Morten Andersen parallel above (#'d to 25), TWO Kurt Warners (regular and mini), and a Ray Guy.  Yep...that hits almost everything I like.  Too bad there wasn't a Tebow in this set.  :-)

2011 Obak Football - Kurt Warner Mini

2011 Obak  Football - Ray Guy

This was a set focusing more on the history of the game rather than current players.  Here's a sampling of the other stuff I got.

Running Backs with great nicknames and huge shoulder pads.  I remember learning how to do the "Ickey Shuffle" when I was little.  Man I was a cool kid.

A few modern guys.  Dennis Byrd is the "Rise and Walk" player.  They thought he would be paralyzed after a freak spinal injury, but he overcame that to walk again.

Quick question...which linemen would you rather face? 

These guys?

Or these guys?

Yes...those are US Presidents...but they all played football in college (and/or the big screen).


So thanks again, Drew, for the awesome contest.  These will all find a great place in my collection.

Listia Randomness

Listia wins presented without comment...mostly because they are all awesome.  :-)

2010 Topps Gridiron Lineage - Joe Montana / Jimmy Clausen - GL-MC

1983 Fleer Frank White - #127

Allyson Felix - 2012 Olympic Hopefuls - #66

Target Bargain Bin...with a Hit!

While relaxing at the in-laws' last week, the wife and I headed over to their Target for a "date."  They have a much better card section at their target than the one by my house, and they had way more variety in the $1.59 "Power Packs" than I normally see.  So I grabbed one pack of 2009 National Chicle Football and one of 2009 UD Icons Football (Retail).

First, the National Chicle:

2009 National Chicle Kenny Britt and Vincent Jackson

The Vincent Jackson mini is a "Bazooka Back"...seeded 1:12.  Kenny Britt is a regular base card.  SO WHY IS THERE A BLIMP BEHIND HIS SHOULDER????  My google search for _Britt Chicle Blimp_ turned up nothing.  Maybe instead I should search for "dirigible"?  Or perhaps "zeppelin"?

2009 Topps National Chicle - Amelia Earhart - Era Icons - EI-1

I love these oddball history inclusions.  The copy on the back of the Earhart reads "Amelia became the first person of either gender to go solo from Honolulu to Oakland. The 2,408-mile journey had been attempted, unsuccessfully, by several others."  If I am going to be unsuccessful at something, I do NOT want it to be flying across the Pacific by myself.

Next up was the pack I had never seen in the "Power Packs" before.  2009 Upper Deck Icons Football (retail).  Old Matty Ice is on the cover.

2009 Upper Deck Icons Retail Pack - Matt Ryan

As I was opening this, I said, "WAIT!  I got screwed...there are only 4 cards here instead of 5."  Little did I know...one was double-thick.  :-)

2009 Upper Deck Game Day Gear - Mike Vrabel - NFL-MV

It's a nice navy blue swatch from his Patriots days.  Having never pulled a hit out of a retail pack before, this got me really excited.  Especially since it was a $1.59 pack!  :-) ha ha

I will pretend that this was from one of his scoring plays.  For a primarily defensive player, his having 11 career touchdowns is a pretty neat stat.

College Football Cards - Cyclones and the Dog Days

I haven't posted another "Most Wanted" card in quite awhile, so it's about time I do that.  How about I do better than that?  Here's two!

These are both cards that I have seen while browsing the Interwebs lately and want to add to my list.

First, Upper Deck's 2012 College Football offering has a subset of College Mascot patch cards.  They are cool, but they don't have my favorite team (Iowa State), so there is no card of this guy:



"Cy"

Thus, I will need to go after the next best thing...the wife's Alma Mater.  You may not know this, but my wife is one smart cookie.  As in, Ivy-League math-degree smart.  And they've got her mascot in the set!



Handsome Dan - Yale - Upper Deck College Footbal 2012 - College Mascots - CM-60

That will be going in the binder of cards for her if we ever manage to get it.  The prices on those are a little high right now, but it is not one of the super-short-prints, so I am confident it will come down to our level one day.  If anyone has one for trade, please let me know!

So after I get that one for her, I will need to get something for myself.  And I know just the thing.

2004 Bazooka College Collection Jerseys - Lane Danielsen - Iowa State - BCCLD

This is a 2004 jersey card of Lane Danielsen.  He was an undrafted Iowa State alum who never made it big in the NFL.  He was on the Vikings' practice squad for awhile.  I always would have Seneca Wallace throw bombs to him on the PS2 NCAA Football games.  As far as I can tell, this is his only relic card, and one of only two cards of him.  He's now married with kids and has some sort of a medical career. 

Do you have any of those?  That would make my day.  My Dog Day, that is.