Cool Cards #1

Starting a new series.  Just pics of cards I think are cool.  There is one I got from the first blaster of Topps 2016 Series 1 that I got a couple weeks ago

It is part of the MLB Debut insert set, and it is for Nolan Ryan.  I knew he played for a long time, and I remember him playing in the late '80's and early '90's.  I have his cards from that time period.  For what ever reason did not realize he started playing in 1966!  That is 4 decades that he played in!

The part I thought was funniest though when looking up info on when he retired (1993. Ironically enough, the year I stopped collecting.) was that he got into the Hall of Fame with 98.8% of the vote.  Who the hell voted against him!

Checking Codes

I finally got some Topps 2016 Baseball Series 1 the other day.  I picked up a blaster (I might post about the relic later) and as I was sorting them, when I got to the third pack, I realized I hadn't been checking codes.

For those that don't know, there is a little code at the bottom of Topps cards.  Look at the back of the card and you will see it.  It should say something like Code#CMP017123.

So, on the third pack of the blaster, I decided to check the codes to see if I had any variants.  I flipped the pack over and this is what I saw.

Well, I didn't actually see that, since I was looking at the back of the card, but it was this card.

Yep.  a hated Yankee.  But what is that?  Is that a camouflaged logo on his uniform?  It IS!!!  And the photo variants in Series 1 feature camo on the uniform in some way!!!

Yep.  First card I saw when I realized I needed to check codes was a photo variant.

I'll be picking up a blaster of Heritage tomorrow.  Wonder if I will get lucky and pull another variant.  Or even better a relic or auto!

Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

2 Weeks ago, I was almost done sorting Topps Football 2015.  I had to enter them into various databases, but that was about it.  When I went to Casey's for gas, I figured I would pick up a couple packs.  No big deal.  I'll sort them quick and be done.

2 Weeks Later...

So...Um...I ended up getting some more packs.  and a couple hanger boxes.  Each of those stacks is about 36 cards.  So that is about 396 cards.

Looks like I have some more work to do.

First Big Name Viking Of 2015!!!

I have no idea how many more cards it took, but I finally pulled my first Viking who did something last season!!  And it's Adrian Peterson!!

I got some other Vikings players (From other packs) and have 5 or 6 total.  Not sure how many there are in the set, but I have more then I did :)

Little Blue Army Man

I collect stuff other then cards.  I also like Blind Bag figures.  I have figures from Lego (Both regular and Simpsons) Megabloks (Halo and TMNT) most of the Hot Wheels from the last two years (Will be finishing that on Friday) and more.

Why do I mention that?  Because today I got my 50th unique Halo minifig!

It is a Spartan Soldier.  I have more then 50 figures total, probably closer to 75.  I use the extras for tokens when playing Pathfinder.  They make good enemies.  

So yeah.  Nothing too exciting.  Just the 50th unique one I've gotten.

Bad Timing

Hey look! It's Robert Griffin III of the Washington Red...never mind.

First Viking of 2015

Ok, so it is 2016, but this is the first Vikings card I got for the base set from a 2015 card set!!!

It's a rookie, and I don't remember him doing much this season, but it is still a Viking.  Only took 160 cards to find one from the base set.

Now to see who I get for my first viking who isn't a rookie/actually did something last season

Tom Brady's Twitter Handle is...

Still sorting football cards.  No Vikings yet (Well, a couple, but no base cards, which is what I'm sorting right now.  Both Vikings inserts are Adrian Peterson though, so that is good.)  Not that exciting though.  Think I only have 1 Dolphin too.

I did find something rather interesting on the back of #125--Tom Brady's card.

See that part at the top?  The empty blue area below the number?  On most cards, that is where the player's Twitter handle goes.  like @Nocturok (Shameless self promotion for a social media outlet I rarely use anymore, but if you want to follow me go right ahead.)  But nope.  None for Tom Brady.

I'm kind of surprised by this.  I never looked too closely and just happened to notice it on his card (more on why I was looking closer in a bit) but I figured if anyone would be on Twitter, it would be one of the biggest names in the NFL.

Not too suprising (and the reason I was looking closer at his card) is there is no mention of Deflate-gate.  Maybe there is on some other company's cards, but not Topps 2015 football.  They did that for Adrian Peterson as well.  I think Score mentioned that he had a year off or something, but that was it. Not that it matters, especially for something like Deflate-Gate, which didn't cause Brady to miss any games.  I just thought it was rather interesting how card companies handle stuff like that.

BTW, If anyone from Topps reads this, I have an idea for an insert set.  Famous controversies..

Good and Bad

So I finally got around to starting to sorting the Topps 2015 Football cards I've picked up so far.  I printed up several checklists from Trading Card DB and I opened the first Jumbo pack, one of them from the Championship Edition.  As I was sorting them into piles (cards on the first page, second page, ect.) I saw the first card.  It was this.

I kept going and I noticed that on the check list, #1 was Arron Rodgers, and that there were three VER tags behind it, meaning variants!  not only that, but #1c was Brett Farve!!  So in the first pack I got, I got a Variant.  Cool.  and then I check a regular pack and saw that the Veteran Variants are 1 in 95!!  Even better!!

Ok, so the "Good part of this post's title is obvious.  Not an ultra rare variant, but still cool.  And better then the ones I got from Baseball 2015 Update Series (a couple Throwback variants.  In blasters, they are listed as 1 in 5) So what is the bad?

It's a Packer card.  On the bright side, he ended his career in the better team, the Vikings, but it is still a Packer card.  Still think it is cool though.

Championship Edition #5

It's time once again to see who will win the Superbowl.  And time to see if I can go 5-0 in pics using cards.

Like always, each card earns that teams conference (AFC or NFC) a point.  Cards for the Broncos and Patriots earn them 2 points.  Parallels and Inserts will count only if a tie breaker is needed.

Lets see who wins

NFC (7)	AFC (10)
Andre Williams (Giants)	C.J, Anderson (Broncos)
Patrick Peterson (Cardinals)	T.Y. Hilton (Colts)
Brett Farve (Packers)	Ryan Fitzpatrick (Jets)
C.J. Spiller (Saints)	Jordan Cameron (Dolphins)
Earl Thomas (Seahawks)	Denzel Perryman (Chargers)
Roddy White (Falcons)	Rashad Greene (Jaguars)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Duke Johnson (Browns)
	Denver Broncos

Topps 60 Blue Parallel--Rob Gronkowski (Patriots)

Fantasy Focus--DeMarco Murry (Eagles)

4000 Yard Club--Peyton Manning (Broncos)

Looking like Broncos will be ahead at half time.  Lets see if the Panthers can catch up.

NFC (14)	AFC (20)
Patrick Willis (49ers)	EJ Manuel (Bills)
Carlos Hyde (49ers)	Sheldon Richardson (Jets)
Riley Cooper (Eagles)	Vontae Davis (Colts)
Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals)	Elvis Dumervil (Ravens)
Robert Turbin (Seahawks)	Rob Gronkowski (Patriots)
Pierre Garcon (Redskins)	Brandon Marshall (Jets)
Jamis Winston (Buccaneers)	Khalil Mack (Raiders)
	Adam Jones (Bengals)
	Josh Robinson (Colts)
	Kieth Mumphery (Texans)

Topps 60--Jimmy Graham (Seahawks)

Not looking like the Panthers will win.  I kind of figured that actually.  I want them to win, but think the Broncos will.  The Achievement Hunters agree.  Guess we will see what happens.