Harder To Find Than It Should Have Been

Sometimes randomly searching for something that you have randomly searched for 100 times pays off. I have no idea how many times I have searched every site I can think of for this, and it finally popped up on Sportlots, for $1.25 and cheap shipping ($1.75 for 4 cards), no hesitation, sold. Still not sure why a card numbered to 999 was so hard to find, but I was very happy to add Stubby Clapp's (80 grade name by the way) only Team Canada Cardboard appearance to the collection.

TCDB Trade 44(ish?) (w/ Frankenset Adds)

 A pretty cool trade pack with some variety. Starting with some Gypsy Queen SP set help, with these being one per box there are a little more expensive to pick up, so if I can trade for them it makes my life easier.

(I was going to title this post "I know I suck at coming up with witty post titles", but it seemed a little long.)

NFL Frankenset start from Sportlots

New Project, Football Frankenset, full of throwback jerseys, bad weather cards, kicker, punters, offensive lineman and other random weirdness. Posted in the order I get them more often than in numerical order.

001 - 2005 UD Legends - Charley Taylor

I am making a point of not flooding this with Redskins cards, but I couldn't resist this one. Great vintage photo, single bar facemask, and my favorite uni combo, burgundy tops with gold pants. Also Hall of Famer and a photo that can be tracked back to Super Bowl VII.

008 - 2013 Topps - Antonio Brown

Decent photo, great player and the crazy "bumblebee" throwbacks make for an easy selection. Also a Redskins cameo from Cedric Williams.

015 - 1998 Playoff Prestige Retail - Gilbert Brown

This is what a football player is supposed to look like, what a monster.

030 - 2012 Topps Prime - Aaron Rodgers

What I am calling the "Golden Age of Throwbacks", back when the NFL allowed alternate helmets, the fuax-leather with the Green Bay 1929 Throwbacks.

031 - 2010 Topps Prime - Darrelle Revis

More throwback goodness with one of my favorites, the Jets from when they were The Titans of New York , awesome jerseys, awesome name.

040 - 2008 UD First Edition - Jason Witten

Balancing the Redskins bias with some Cowboys, a helmet-less Jason Witten completing the play against the Eagles. Helmet-less action shots are a no-brainer entry here.

043 - 2002 Prestige - Ryan Leaf

Remember when Ryan Leaf was with the Cowboys? Neither did I, but he started 3 games, going 0-3 with Dallas in 2001 in a season that also saw Quincy Carter, Anthony Wright and Clint Stoerner start games for them.

045 - 2010 Rookies and Stars - Knowshon Moreno

I believe this is the only card to feature these 1960 Broncos throwbacks, they were only worn once, and that is shame because they are something else, highlighted by the vertical striped socks.

059 - 1995 Metal - Anthony Miller

A callback to the 1962-1966 AFL jerseys with a sweet bucking bronco logo on the orange helmet. Also on an overproduction favorite of mine, 1995 Fleer Metal.

061 - 2013 Rookies & Stars - Tim Tebow

A rare "zero year" NFL card, after spending 2012 with the Jets, Tebow signed with the Patriots for the 2013 pre-season, but was cut before the season started.

066 - 2008 Stadium Club - Chris Cooley

More Redskins bias, just a nice Stadium Club shot of a serious spike with the crowd in the background and the Redskins 75th anniversary patch on the jersey.

076 - 2008 Donruss Classics - Kevin Curtis

Maybe the worst throwback uni's in history going back to a 1934 design that was based on the Philadelphia city flag, which itself is based of the Swedish flag.

210 - 2013 Topps - Rob Gronkowski

Gronk in the classic "Patriot Pat" uni that was worn from 1961-1992, and as a throwback in 1994, 2002 and from 2009-2012. Sadly, another causality of the "one shell" rule.

231 - 2011 Topps - Danny Woodhead

A better shot of "Patriot Pat".

381 - 1994 Ultra - Leonard Russell

Another appearance of the bucking bronco AFL throwback.

557 - 1994 Stadium Club - Kevin Greene

1994 was the NFL's 75th anniversary, and featured some beauty throwback, including the Steelers throwing back to the 1993 Pittsburgh Pirates looking like a weird soccer uniform. 

563 - 1994 Stadium Club - Bryce Paup

The Packers 1994 offering, based off the 1937-1948 jerseys with a crazy yellow helmet.

Just a few from COMC

Probably the smallest COMC order I have made, just like the last one, there were a few cards I could not wait to get in hand. Included in that is the above Josh Norman, my first football non-printing plate 1/1. I instantly liked XR last year and have been working on the rainbow since release, while this Black parallel recently surfaced, I still am on the hunt for the Green #/5.

2019 Gypsy Queen Box Break (2 of 2)

Box number two, pretty much the same as the first. Two base autos, the Torii Hunter is a really good looking card and the Borucki will soon be on it's way to a new home.

2019 Gypsy Queen Box Break (1 of 2)

  Rockies, Redskins & Gypsy Queen. These have been the constants since 2012, although the last of three has been not as constant the last couple years. 2015 was hideously ugly and full of posed non-action photos. 2016 was a return to the classic style and well liked by me. 2017 was the big one. Out with minis, in with feathered photos and a weird, disjointed design. 2018 was an improvement, but with the bad taste 2017 left in my mouth, I didn't buy my yearly two boxes for the first time since I returned to collecting. This bring us to 2019, and as the photo above indicates, I jumped back on the bandwagon with 2 boxes.

Cards from Doug

Another great package from Buckstore Cards, as always filled with great stuff, like the above Harry Giles auto-relic-rookie card from Spectra. Shiny, on-card and team color swatch, hard to beat that.

A Couple Football Trades

A couple smaller trades merged into one post. The obvious highlight is the above, I am thrilled any time I can add a new Sean Taylor in a trade, this is the Topps Collection gold foil version that I believe was released as a complete factory set.

3 From The 'Bay (aka Joy of a Completed Set)

IT'S DONE! Time to take a big black sharpie, cross off the short prints and toss the 2015 Gypsy Queen wantlist in the bin. A rare 'bay seller with reasonable shipping to Canada and a Hoyt Wilhelm in stock crosses the last one off and finishes the Gypsy Queen run from 2011-2016. 

RLC Custom Card Project: Joe Grahe, 1972 Topps

The Player: Joe Grahe is best known for his time with the Angels from 1990-1994 in which he split time between the rotation and bullpen, saving 45 games with a career high 21 in 1992. Grahe signed with the Rockies in 1995, beginning the season in the bullpen, then starting 8 games before going on the D.L. and returning to the bullpen in September. He would then miss 1996 due to injury, then spend two years between the Independent Leagues and AAA before returning to the majors with the Phillies in 1999.

The Card: Not my favorite design of the 70s, but it is always interesting to see how these vintage designs work with modern expansion teams. This one is borrowed from the 2013 Topps Archives set which saved starting the design from scratch as the team font looks pretty daunting.

The Project: The Project: Rockies Legacy Collection custom project to make digital cards of Rockies players who never had one issued.