Bumping Into Cards

One of my wife's friends is visiting from out of town this week on a business trip so we all went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant.  Everything was going swimmingly.  We were all catching up and eating good food.

About three-quarters of the way through our dinner, the restaurant started filling up with smoke. There wasn't a fire but the kitchen had badly burned some food.  I could never figure out what caused the smoke but I suspect it was a pizza in their oven that burned.  No matter the food, the smoke would not dissipate.  My eyes were burning and my chest felt heavy.

Worst of all?  There was nary an apology over the smoke storm they created and it was obviously affecting other patrons as well.  If their restaurant could not even handle smoke from the kitchen, I question whether the place could safely manage a fire.  Needless to say, I won't eat there again.

I could not run out of that restaurant fast enough to get fresh air.  It felt so nice to be able to breathe again and find relief.

Speaking of running, today's post highlights a trade I made with Trevor at Bump and Run Football Card Blog.   He posted on my blog indicating he had a few 2008 Topps Football to trade.  I can't turn down an opportunity to collect more 2008 Topps so we settled on a nice trade.  As the name implies, Trevor posts mainly about football so our trade focused on football cards.  You can see what I sent him over on his blog.

Getting the 2008 Topps out of the way, I received a few football set needs.  Trevor also included some baseball as a bonus! I haven't checked whether I needed them or not but either way the gesture is appreciated!

2016 Classics is a set I've really enjoyed this year with the retro look.  Both of these rookies were signed by the Seahawks with only Alex Collins making it on the roster.  He's had limited playing time so far this year.

During my previous look at Prestige I remarked that outside of the Seahawks, I wouldn't be collecting any more Prestige.  Well here comes Prestige again, thankfully with only Seahawks.  The two rainbow foil cards are Extra Points parallels.  

This year Lynch's absence is glaringly obvious.  The Seahawks' run game just hasn't been the same. Thomas Rawls, the heir to Lynch's throne, has been injured for most of the year.  Hopefully, he will provide a spark to the anemic run game.   

The last set features a nice mix of new and old Seahawks cards.  I didn't become a Seahawks fan until I moved out west from New England so some names aren't familiar, like Vann McElroy and Kelvin. Other older players like Jon Kitna, Darrell Jackson and Bennie Blades are names I immediately recognize. The Blades and Jackson cards have writing throughout the background that shows up slightly on the scans.  It's a cool looking effect in person.  Out of the four modern Seahawks players, coincidentally all four were part of the Super Bowl winning team.  

This was a great trade with some set needs and PC needs completed.  I look forward to trading with Trevor again!

Riding Out the Storm At a Card Show

The big rain/wind storm that was advertised for the weekend never came.  That was fine by me as it meant I never lost power.

The lack of a storm was pretty evident as I was driving down to a card show.  There were patches of blue sky and not a drop of rain.  Storm or no storm, it was a good day for a card show at a local mall.

I didn't make it down to the show until the mid-afternoon; close to when tables were starting to pack up.  Nonetheless, I managed to make quick work at the few tables I checked out

One table had a 6-for-$1 box, which had a sizeable amount of 2008 Topps Football.  Sensing I could get a deal, I held up the giant stack of cards and asked how much.  After some hemming and hawing, the dealer said $5.  I would have paid $10 for that stack so I'm glad I held my tongue.

There ended up being almost 120 cards, which means I scored quite the deal.  Furthermore, out of the 110 rookies in this set, my stack had probably 100 of them.

2008 was the first year after Favre left the Packers.  This happens to be a variation of the Favre base card and it's the only one of him in a Jets uniform.  It just looks weird.  There is also a variation of Favre riding a lawnmower.

Looking at the 2008 checklist there are not a whole lot of notable rookies.  Bennett is still going strong, now with the Patriots.  

Being a Seattle area show I knew I would find at least one table with a good selection of Mariners players.  The same table that had to 2008 Topps also had these Felix cards.  Most of these were early Felix, which is cool.  These will go in my Felix PC binder.

All 2016 Topps Chrome.  I don't have a desire to collect this year's Chrome and I traded away a lot of them earlier.  But I did want at least the Mariners.

The Zych autograph was my most expensive individual card purchase ($3) and I probably overpaid by a dollar.  However, that's to be expected for a hometown team.  Zych has the distinction of being the last player alphabetically in all of baseball, I think ever.  That in itself is worth the purchase.

A few random Mariners pickups that can fit nicely into my existing collection of these sets.

Cards for my WSU PC binder.  Unfortunately, it turns out I already have to the two SP Authentic cards but these cost me about 17 cents each so no big loss.

Vince Mayle is a former Cougar and this happens to be his rookie card.  For my WSU binder I typically only focus on players in their college uniforms.  I think I can make an exception for rookie cards, since at least the college is featured in the stats.

Chrome is not my main focus for 2008 Topps but I like the style so much that I'll pick them up if I stroll upon them.

Two inserts from two current sets I collect: Score and Panini Classics.  

What do you know, 2016 Absolute makes another appearance even though I'm not trying to collect the set.  I will collect the Seahawks, though.

I was really pleased with the amount of 2008 Topps I was able to find.  Even if I didn't get any other cards I would have considered this show a success.

Are you ready for some football?

The quest to complete 2008 Topps flagship across all sports continues with another trade with Bo over at Baseball Cards Come to Life.  He sent me a message indicating that he had found a small batch of 2008 football and asked if I was interested in a trade.  Of course I was so I scrounged up cards from a couple Topps sets from this year.

Starting with the rookies, it's no surprise that only one of these players is a current NFL player. According to the NFL, the average career length for a rookie who starts the season on the roster is 6 years.  Only one of these players had at least 6 years of playing time.  Can you guess which one?

I'll give you hint, it's not Colt Brennan who never played a snap in a regular season game.  

Kevin Smith had a productive rookie season with 8 TDs and 976 yards rushing.  That was Smith's best season and he was out of the league after the 2012 season.  

Allen Patrick bounced around several practice squads but could never land a spot with a team.

Devin Thomas is the only Super Bowl champion on the list.  He was a member of the 2011 New York Giants.  Thomas was a major contributor on special teams.  

Lastly, Kentwan Balmer played only three NFL seasons.  He played his last full season in 2010 with none other than the Seattle Seahawks.  

That leaves only one man: Jacob Tamme.  Drafted in the fourth round, Tamme has had a good career as a tight end.  He's played in one Super Bowl, losing to the Seahawks in a route, 43-8.  He currently plays for the Atlanta Falcons, who coincidentally, are playing the Seahawks on Sunday.  

Only one Seahawks card in the package and it's one I already have.  However, I don't mind getting dupes of cards in my PC.  

Tarvaris Jackson would fit nicely in a former Seahawks binder, should I ever start one.  He was a serviceable backup.

The three running backs at the top of the scan were all great players so it's nice to get those cards.

My 2008 Topps football collection slowly grows but it will get there eventually!