2012 Exquisite Dimensions Autographs #EBHW

     As promised in my last post on the Hoard, here is a second, very thick trading card of Herschel Walker. 
     This example is a 2012 Exquisite Dimension Autographs  #EBHW.   Like the 2011 Exquisite card previously showed, this card is about 5/8ths of an inch thick  It's so thick that, as can be seen on the front of the card, the "Upper Deck, Exquisite, Dimensions" text, just above the UGA logo, looks blurred on the scan because of the thickness.

    However, this has a much cleaner signature than the 2011 card.

2011 Exquisite Dimensions Autograph #D-HW (A Real Thick Card!)

     This is one of the thickest trading cards I've ever come across.   It's about 5/8ths of an inch thick, and would probably take a 300 pt holder to house it.  I looked it up, and apparently the athlete signs on a plastic sheet, which is then sandwiched between the front and the back of the card.

     I like it, but the autograph seems a little muddy with this process.  As I am pretty much a Herschel collector exclusively, I don't always know what I'm going to get when I purchase a card. By that I mean, I only want as many different cards of Walker as possible, and I'm not always familiar with how a card looks from a particular set.   In this case, I was surprised by how thick it was.  With cards this thick, storage is an issue.  Even my toploader binder, which I reviewed earlier on this blog, won't come close to holding it. Right now, it's in a plastic case designed to hold several loose cards.  I may buy a large magnetic holder down the road.

    My next post will feature a similarly thick card from 2012.

2004 Playoff Prime Signatures Proofs Bronze #29

     This is an example of a 2004 Playoff Prime Signatures Proofs Bronze  #29 of Herschel Walker. The Bronze subset is serial numbered to 134, with this example being #104. 

      There are 11 variations in the Prime Signatures series which depict Herschel, of which I have four.

2012 SP Authentic Canvas Legends Autographs #CL3

       Here is a nice example of a 2012 SP Authentic Canvas Legends Autographs card of Herschel. I really like the sepia tone of this card, and the signature really pops.

2012 SPx Shadow Box #SB-HW

      Here is a 2012 Shadow Box card of Herschel Walker, from the SPx series.  I'm up to 611 different Walker cards now.  Can I get to 700?  Time, and my wallet, will tell.

Two More From The '06 Donruss Gridiron Gear Performers Set

     I was able to add two more cards from this set to the Herschel Hoard.  First is a 2006 Donruss Gridiron Gear Performers Jersey Card #14:  That card is serial numbered to 75, with this example being # 42.

     The second is a 2006 Donruss Gridiron Gear Performers Autographs Card # PR=14.  This is #4 out of 35 serial numbered cards.

     That gives me 8 of the 11 variations in the set.

2006 Donruss Gridiron Gear Performers Jersey Combos Prime PR-14

      Lately I've been fortunate to score a bunch of Herschel cards that I've been missing..  Among them is this 2006 Performers Jersey Combo from the Donruss Gridiron Gear series.  This card is #9 in a serially numbered run of 20.

     There are 11 different versions of the 2006 Gridiron Gear series that feature Herschel, including autographed and memorabilia cards.   I now have six in the Hoard.

2006 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Material Double Red Tot-60

         This is a jersey swatch card, again featuring Herschel with the Minnesota Vikings.  The card is serial numbered to 45, with this being #27.

         I found this to be one of the tougher of the "Tools of the Trade" series to locate.

2013 Panini Elite Playmakers Jerseys #72

     This is a very interesting card, which I just had the pleasure of adding to the Herschel Hoard.  It is a 2013 Panini Elite Playmakers Jersey #72, featuring Herschel in a Vikings uniform.  It also contains a jersey swatch, hence the name.

     It is one of the more recent dates I've yet seen,  which depicts Walker playing for Minnesota.  The set contains 80 cards, with each one serial numbered to just 10.  This example is #1 out of  10.

     Most  times, with a card I haven't acquired yet,  at least I have an idea of what the card looks like. However, I had never even seen this card before, and didn't even know it existed until I had a chance to purchase it.

    That's always a happy surprise for a single player collector.

Top Loader Binder Review

     I just acquired a new storage product for some of my cards in the Herschel Hoard.  Below is a top loader binder, sold by Colin and Christiane Mercer, out of NW Card Supplies in McCleary, Wash.

     The nice thing about this binder is that it does as the name says, that is, you store the entire toploader, with the card inserted, into the binder pages.  The pages have little tabs on the corners, which help keep the toploaders in place once they are inserted.

     As you can see, there is space for six cards per page.  When you buy the binder, you get 30 pages included, so that's room for 180 cards. I decided to get one for my Herschel autographed cards, and memorabilia patch cards.

   This binder is extremely well made. The cover is padded, and the pages are heavy duty, as one would presume, to hold the weight of the toploaders and cards.

    As can be seen, the D ring mount is on the back page, rather than on the spine, which makes for a much stronger hold, and keeps the spine from excessive strain.   The binder is 12" high, by 10" wide by 4" deep.  It comes in blue or black.

   Do keep in mind that regular 3 ring pages will not fit in this binder, as the rings are sized differently.  Here is one more picture, showing the card backs as well.

     I am very pleased with this product.  The company website, www.toploaderbinder.com, states that the binder holds up to 100 point toploaders, but I got a couple in that I know were thicker.  If you have a really thick card, I wouldn't force it, but I was surprised how well it worked for some of my thicker cards.

    In closing, I give this binder 5 of 5 stars.  They are not cheap, but you get what you pay for.  The shipping costs are pretty high, but I'm sure that's due to the weight of the product. I like having my cards in a binder for easy viewing, but protected as well, and this product allows me to have my cake and eat it too!