Playing Catch Up

*coffee is hot, coffee smells amazing as a sip is taken before kicking off the new post*

I have to admit, it's been a while since I live posted. The last three posts I had sitting in drafts just waiting on one more touch to publish.

Today's though is up to date.

So, what have I been up to and what's up with the MIA (missing in action, I haven't been MIC..missing in coffee)

I have just been busy with family and life. I don't have a lot of time for much in terms of extra activities such as blogging or technically the hobby in general. My hobby area is such a disaster that I don't really even want to look at it. It looks like a 3-year-olds play area.

I spend most days on the road and when I am not doing that, I have been doing a house overhaul where I have been just trying to get rid of STUFF. You know, one of those things you usually do in the spring, I have been doing now. I plan on having a Yard Sale in the spring, but those plans may change as I prefer to donate and trash what I don't need instead. I feel yard sales are a lot of work and it doesn't feel they are much of a thing anymore. Everyone sells online or Facebook marketplace. Even though I could use any extra funds from selling stuff that way, meeting up with potential creepy people from online in a Dollar General parking lot doesn't sound inviting.

It sounds more like the makings of another Dateline episode.

Sorry, I don't want things to end that way. If I am going down like that it better be a white truck with big black letters that say free coffee on the side, and I enter it looking for such items without question. 

*takes a sip*

As for my health, I know the last update was that they found some swollen lymph nodes in my neck. I had an MRI done with IV and funny thing is, there weren't any. Even though both the doctor and I could feel something both in the front and back of my neck.

Despite that good news, it wasn't all empty of finds because you know, this is 2024. 

They did find a cyst on my main salivary gland by my left side ear that they are sending me to see an ENT for further assistance (scheduled for January). I am not sure what this even means, but they might be looking into see if Cancer is involved or if it needs to be removed, etc. I am definitely stressed about this finding as I just recently found out that my mother was diagnosed with lymphoma. One of the many times bad news has hit me in 2024. Probably another reason why I put on 8 pounds recently from stress eating.

I have lost a couple of those pounds the last couple of weeks. I can't afford to put on weight, or it may re-kick up other health problems including kidney stones.

Ugh.

I also just put 1K into my car again. This time I needed to buy new winter tires since they told me the old ones wouldn't work this year, and I had to replace my CV Shaft as well. So this year alone, I have fixed the back doors, brakes, struts, and something else I can't remember. This has completely drained funds, so the hobby has been put onto the backburner by far between health, home and car problems.

It will be a long time before the hobby is put into the forefront again.

Now onto some better news.

The last few years since their return, my wife and I buy a McDonald's Happy Meal boo bucket and post a yearly picture on Facebook with us enjoying such.

This year she got the orange and I got the blue that I wanted.

I may have also gotten one of the first ever Dunkin' version of the boo bucket that contains 50 munchkins.

Don't worry, I didn't eat them all, I shared.

Though I did take all of the blueberry donuts. Those things are the bomb.

Another thing that went right is a card find. I mean I couldn't do a post without a card right?

I have been slowly chasing the 2013 Press Pass Parks and Recreation card set. I have added a few relics and some autographs. One of the autographs I really wanted because she is my favorite character on the show is April Ludgate (Audrey Plaza). The problem being, I did not have the funds for such a card with everything that continues to go on, so I needed to trade for one. Her autographs are not cheap.

The second problem, nobody had one.

 

For about a week straight, multiple times a day on Twitter, I tweeted out my search for the card.

Crickets.

That's when @breakspalmetto saw my need.

They went and picked up one for me then traded it to me. I couldn't believe it. I didn't even know they had done that until they randomly posted it to me.

 

It's even graded! The grade on the card isn't great, but the card looks superb. Grade is not right.

Back of the card.

With all of the bad things recently and all year, there are a few bright spots, and this is definitely one of them.

Thanks again @breakspalmetto!

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

I am glad I had a few minutes this morning to update everyone on what's been going on and that I got to share my latest card add with you as well.

I hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend. I will probably continue my cleaning project this weekend and get tortured by forcing myself to watch the Giants game. They have made my eyes bleed weekly. It's time for a new QB.

Until next post....7 more to go.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

A Resurgence Of Rodney

*coffee is prepped, I have cards nearby, breakfast as well. mmmm pumpkin donut.*

*takes a bite, a sip and moves on with today's post*

The last two posts on this blog have specifically been about the resurgence of Rodney activity in the hobby after a short layoff.

It has come though in full force as I have not been able to keep one focus or keep track of one product with him in it.

And it doesn't help that there is SO MUCH out there to chase.

This is both a complaint, but also some joy knowing that the end of my Rodney chasing isn't over yet.

*takes another sip, another bite, another sip. pure bliss*

Today's cards are from the 2023 Topps Composite product. As opposed to the inserts in the last post from the same product, these are the autographs. There are tons of them in the product with some just being autograph and others coming with dual relics.

Let's kick it off and don't mind me for messing up the parallels on these. They are awfully hard to figure out.

Base auto.

Teal Surge /149

White Surge /125

Blue Surge /75

Lime Green Power Surge /25

Geometric Green /20

And the final card is the Amped dual relic auto. One of many there are. They just go for way too much and are overpriced.

 

This is the purple parallel /99.

Well this is all I have for now.

This also marked all of the new Rodney's that I have for now.

*takes another bite to finish the donut, sip of coffee, then finishes up today's post before moving onto the second donut*

I think these look pretty cool and as Topps lands the NFL license soon, they will look even better and give them more opportunities. Question is though, will they continue to plug Rodney into their products.

For now, I will enjoy this resurgence of Rodney and collect what I can of it.

Have a great day.

8 Cups Left.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Grounded

Hey! I am back for my first post of October and it's on a football Sunday. So you know what that means....time to drink some coffee, watch some football and share some football cards.

And don't worry about the title of this post. Grounded doesn't mean my wife took my laptop away and I can't type or that my parents told me to stay in my room or that I went out and about and caused some ruckus or didn't eat my broccoli. Which by the way is my favorite vegetable when it's cooked.

You will see in just a second why the title is the way it is.

*takes a sip*

In my last post I mentioned how both Panini and Topps have flooded the market with Rodney Hamptons. For the first time in awhile, like late 90's, thanks to Topps Composite I am able to chase some Rodney Hampton inserts.

And it wouldn't be today's times if these inserts didn't have a decent amount of parallels.

The insert line is called Grounded. .Makes sense for it to be all running backs which Rodney was.

I spent a good amount of time chasing these first instead of the overpriced autographs,

This is the base.

Refractor

Lazer

Pink Refractor

X-Factor

Green /99

Blue Wave /75

Gold /50

Orange /25

 

Red /5

And I believe I have all of them except the Superfractor. Which I will probably never be able to land if it ever gets pulled.

I am still happy where I am at with this chase however.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

The non logos on these don't bother me as much as I expected, I think the busy design behind it helps. Hopefully the super will get pulled and by some miracle ends up with me.

As for rest of the product Composite, I do have some of the autographs I will wait to share in my next post. I must apologize for the Rodney influx posts but it's really all I have been getting in the mail and have nothing else to share otherwise.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday.

9 Cups left.

*takes another sip*

*Coffee card blogger out*

You Didn't Think I Would Miss It Did You?

It may have taken me all day for this, but I promise you I won't forget to post on National Coffee Day.

What kind of Coffee Card Blogger Would I be? (this is where you say a bad one if I did)

Since it's late, I won't be drinking any beverage while I put this post quickly together, but I will tell you I did have a couple cups earlier today to celebrate. It wasn't quite the Dunkin run I had wanted to make, but was just too busy and didn't quite have the time to celebrate like I had wanted.

It's just the way things are right now.

My original plan for today's post was just to post about the coffee day but figured it wouldn't be Cards Over Coffee without some cards.

So, let's check out my latest Rodney Hampton adds since 2023 products have put out a ton of them. In the last two months, Rodney has had new cards in Select, Topps Composite, Topps Motif and I just found out yesterday he will be in 2023 Panini National Treasures as well. With all of these, there was 60+ new Rodney's out there to chase. Pretty much an impossible one with TONS of 1/1's.

My new method to this is just add what I can because I don't have the finances. I can only add stuff when I get the gift cards to do so from reward apps that I am apart of. I must be stingy and don't overdo it. There are some going for a lot more than they should be for Rodney. I must be patient and wait which isn't the easiest thing.

This method has costed me some low numbered ones from Select such as the /10 and /5 ones. I just hope they will pop up again.

This is the base silver /399.  A nice guy on Twitter sent me this one as a RAK.

This a blue /99.

And finally a Tie Dye Die Cut /25.

This is all I have for now and there is more to go including two 1/1's. Yes, TWO.

*yawns before finishing up tonight's post*

I hope everyone was able to celebrate National Coffee Day the way it needs to be celebrated. Not sure where the parades were today but this is a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade level day.

Oh, before I close, I always welcome Dunkin' gift cards in my email inbox (sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com) to help celebrate or as a thank you :)

Let me know how you celebrated the holiday in comments and/or if you have a player you collect that recently got bombarded with a ton of new cards from recent products.

10 Cups left.

*Coffee Card Blogger is going to bed...I mean out*

Out Of The Blue

*coffee is ready and hot, so isn't today's mail day show off*

I know in my last post I hit you guys out of the blue (definition meaning completely unexpected) with the news of this blogs upcoming retirement, for which I apologize for, but I just feel it's time.

And it's not just because of the views and comments, it's more about life.

Life comes first and it has kept me on my feet all year and hasn't slowed down. It's time I start to slow down some and use moments that I spend doing this for important ones.

With that being said, let's get to today's post or what we can call Cup #1 of the final 12 left.

*takes a sip*

I also received something myself out of the blue myself from longtime friend and Cards Over Coffee reader, Oren.

And that was a superb mail day.

Especially when I open up a package and it's loaded with unopened non-sport packs.

 

Which included packs from my favorite Batman movie, Batman Returns. I also really like the Dark Knight series to. I believe there were four packs to open and open I plan to!

Batman will always be my favorite super hero.

My sister loved The Little Mermaid movies and cartoon series growing up. She would pretend to be Ariel and attach a long thing of toilet paper to her pants and pretend that was her fins. My parents didn't have money for anything better than that. These will serve as a fun memory to those days.

The Truth is out there. And it's that I dig getting these X Files trading cards.

I really look forward to opening these two as well.

I don't know who this is, but I like adding cards like this as I learn who they are.

Topps Chrome Black and Star Wars is a great combo. I would love a Darth Vader card like this and have it as a refractor to...I bet that is stunning!

 

And my final card, well cd-rom, is of Wally Szczerbiak. I miss the days companies would think outside of just the regular card box. Upper Deck was always known for their innovation.

Thanks goes out to Oren for another fun mail day. I am looking forward to kicking up our trading again as I have a stack and some stamps ready to go.

I hope you have enjoyed today's post ....out of the blue.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

Also, out of the blue the last couple of weeks especially, I have had some lymph nodes in the left side of my neck (front near adams apple and back of neck to) swell up without any explanation of why. So, this will lead me down a new path as I am waiting on a call to set up a catscan with dye to see if they can figure this all out. All I can say is that it's very uncomfortable at the moment.

As I said earlier in this post, life has really thrown some lemons at me this year.

I will keep an update on this as I know more.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

The 12-Cup Plan

*sits down with some cards and coffee ready to post the latest post on cards over coffee*

This morning, I have been spending some time reflecting on blogging and what I should do moving forward. With time, views, comments playing a factor, this morning I officially retired for good (yes, I promise you they are not returning), Sport Card Collectors and Big Blue Cardboard.

Which now leaves me some decisions with this blog.

The same factors play a role with this one as well along with my decline in mail days. Time is shorter now with my life being busier and I spend a lot of time doing each and every one of these posts when I have time and getting 30 views and 2 comments per post doesn't quite feel like the effort I am putting in is getting the attention I had hoped for. I could spend my little free-time better elsewhere which includes my neglected collection which could use a lot more sorting attention.

But I am not quite ready to just call it quits on this blog yet. I am not retiring it today that's for sure.

It is coming though.

After today, I have "brewed" a full 12-cup pot of coffee and once that pot is empty, the blog will end. Which also means I will have to keep re-warming up the cups before every post. Or just brew single cup. You get the point.

In layman's terms, there are 12 more posts left on this blog which will end on May 10th 2025, the blog's 5th anniversary. I think this is the perfect way to end this blog.

Of course, we all know I have changed my mind on things in the past many times, but right now, I am pretty set on this idea and next summer only gets busier.

To break up the good and bad news of this post, I thought I would share some mail days that have sat in my drafts for a while.

*takes a sip*

Marshall Faulk was one of the players I was missing in my Hall Of Fame autograph collection and now he is home. Leaf or not, it's still an auto.

Shiny Fleer Mystique Supernaturals insert. The shiny Griffey's always catch my eye first.

 

Like above, shiny Griffey. This one is numbered to 199.

And for now, this cleans up my card picture drafts so I have nothing else to showoff right now.

*takes a sip before closing up today's post*

With only 12 posts remaining going forward on this blog, I will be very picky and choosy on what I post when I find time to post. Not that I have a lot incoming to post about anyways, but any mail days from bloggers will take high priority over anything else.

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

It's Fall, Y'all

It's too late for a cup of coffee, but not too late for a blog post.

And it's never too late to talk about fall.

Fall is my favorite time of year I have recently discovered. It signals cooler temperatures, football of course and my favorite tastes of the year.

I know many of you hate Candy Corn, but I really like the Harvest corn and especially these pumpkins. These are different then basic candy corn.

Pumpkin Spice! I have already finished two of these and have had a couple Dunkin' Pumpkin Spiced coffees as well.

Mmmm 🤤🤤🤤🤤pumpkin spice donut....also have had Apple cider ones as well (and of course some apple cider)

Spooky football cards! I managed to gather enough gift cards together from all of my apps to pull off a package of these. I thought they looked pretty cool upon seeing some images.

There are still some things I enjoy that I haven't gotten to yet. I occasionally like to turn on a horror movie from my childhood for background noise and nostalgia. I need to still make my annual apple bread and apple pie. And it's not colder weather without chicken and dumplings, soups and my favorite homemade chili with cornbread.

Can't wait for those.

*smiles/grins excitedly like the grinch before closing up today's post*

Hope everyone has a good night sleep, including myself.

Wake up, drink some coffee and enjoy your Tuesday.

Also, let me know your favorite fall treat in comments.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*