You Serious Clark?

*it's Christmas morning, time for a quick cup of coffee and a post before the day fully begins*

I cannot say enough how much I love Christmas. The traditions, scents, tastes, lights and most importantly family brings this holiday into full force like no other holiday.

Christmas also means multiple viewings of my favorite ALL TIME MOVIE, notice how I didn't say the word ALL TIME CHRISTMAS MOVIE, in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Christmas Vacation is by far the best movie out of the Vacation Series and is probably Chevy's best film as well. Though he is my favorite actor and there are other films of his I do enjoy.

The past few years I have been adding items to my Christmas Vacation collection. Last year was a huge year when I was able to land Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid Leaf autograph cards through trades. I also added a popcorn tin that featured the movie as well.

This year I would have to add more to keep the collection growing though there was no way of adding any autographs. But some form of shopping would have to take place even if it was just a small item or two.

"Wouldn't be the holiday shopping season if the stores weren't hooter than they—hotter than they are." — Clark

*takes a sip before showing off the goods*

 

"You Serious Clark?"-Cousin Eddie

I can't remember if I showed off this shirt yet or not, but it's one of two I own and wear. It goes well with the Christmas Vacation pajama bottoms I have as well.

"I hope nobody I know drives by and sees me standing in the yard staring at the house in my pajamas." — Audrey

The first item I added this year was something that actually released last year. I found this bobble head for $5 at Dollar General. Glad I grabbed it when I did before they sold out.

I don't own a lot of Funko's, though I would love to, but my wife found both Clark Griswold and

Cousin Eddie. The saying goes that every family has a Cousin Eddie, if you don't know one, its you. Glad I know one because nobody wants to be the Cousin Eddie.

"Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?" — Clark

There are still a few other Funkos I hope to add to this at some point.

My wife then gave me a couple of early Christmas presents, who doesn't do that? It turned out she was helping me search for new pieces as well.

I didn't know how many ornaments that Hallmark made of the movie. IT IS AWESOME. This one features one of my favorite lines and scenes from the movie. It actually says it but I am not sure if I will open up the box to give it a try or not yet. You know, a collectible kinda thing.

Todd: Hey Griswold. Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?
Clark: Bend over and I'll show you.
Todd: You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that Griswold.
Clark: I wasn't talking to you.

 

The other she got me was the movie cover ornament of a fun, old-fashioned family Christmas.

"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here." — Clark

Still a lot more ornaments I need to add. Some are not very cheap and are tougher to get.

And that does it for this years adds. Hopefully I can find some more next year!

*takes a sip before closing*

When today ends, I usually pull down my decorations the next day and start a countdown to summer and warm weather again. But I wouldn't be honest if in the back of my mind there wasn't also a countdown to next year's Christmas.

Before the decorations go down tomorrow, I will probably spend a couple more hours in my favorite decorated spot in the house. Just so bright and colorful. Just makes you smile and also looks better in-person.

"Dad, you taught me everything I know about exterior illumination." — Clark

Though for me it's interior though I do decorate some outside but not to Griswold extent...yet. My wife sees its coming.

I actually look forward to having a good Old-Fashioned family Christmas some day when I am older. I would love to have the family all under one roof, well maybe, and just enjoy whatever it brings for a week or so with all of the mixed personalities in one spot.

*takes a sip before finally closing out the post*

I hope everyone who is reading this will have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!

The New Mentality

*brews his cup of coffee, pours the last little bit of Peppermint Mocha creamer that's in the bottle and decides that's probably it for the Christmas season on that.*

  

The New Mentality in the hobby is spreading and spreading fast.

When I got my father back into the hobby three years ago, he was all about adding cards to his collection and opening packs for the thrill of the chase. 

Then 2020 hit and he caught The New Mentality.

He started to see how others were making big time money off from retail flips and decided to dip his feet in. That's the starting point of The New Mentality. First it was a fat pack. Then a blaster. Then a blaster and a hanger. And then he started to do the thing I hate most, clearing off most of the shelves of products and even attempting to flip the unflippable products like Score. It had gotten so bad where he wouldn't even tell me what products were on the shelves when I texted for him to pick me up something. He preferred to flip it for more than have me be able to open some. 

That was a painful realization.

The New Mentality is an ugly disease in the hobby. It's when greed and money means more than card collecting. It's all about the money and not about the fun. I believe the only cure for people who have caught The New Mentality is to show them how to have fun collecting again.

I am currently working on that with my father. It's a slow, slow cure especially if someone has had that mentality for awhile.

*takes a sip of coffee while game planning the next part of my cure*

Before The New Mentality fully hit him, I was able to land myself one more blaster box from him in trade. It wasn't the hottest product on the shelf but it was better than nothing at the time.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

In every blaster box of 2020 Panini Optic baseball, there are 27 cards. There are 6 packs of 4 cards of Optic then an extra 3 card pack of Pink parallels. Each blaster is $20 unless you are buying from a flipper.

There wasn't much in terms of names of note for base, so I will skip to the rookies which I was impressed with. There was almost two in every pack which seems odd to me. Feels like the last time I ripped Optic on here there was maybe a couple total. 

Even found a Gavin Lux Rated Rookie. He's no Luis Robert in terms of value, but maybe down the road he will be.

*takes a sip happy at what I have seen already*

 

Now onto the shiny stuff and inserts

Nelson Cruz Silver

Inserts of Illusions with Trevor Story, The Rookies AJ Puk and Stained Glass with Ketel Marte

This Lindor was my favorite designed insert of the group, Mythical.

*takes another sip before another rip*

Now onto the bonus Pink Pack Parallels.

Each of these have three cards. Could be insert parallels, subsets or base. It's all a surprise.

Andres Munoz. Not sure who this is.

Acuna! 

Hiura

Not too bad at all!

*finishes up cup of coffee with the remaining Peppermint Mocha creamer, now back to Hazelnut for the next cup and to finish up this post*

Remember above where I mentioned the spread of The New Mentality is fast, since my father started doing that, others around the area caught it. They have the disease much more than my father does as they follow the vendor store to store to store taking all they can and leaving the scraps. Scraps are known as Hockey cards. This has helped me out some in trying to fix my father's catch of The New Mentality. He isn't getting the opportunities as much to flip anymore and I have been trying to take advantage of that and remind him how great the hobby is just collecting again.

And believe me, collecting is great. So isn't coffee.

Before I close, I wanted to give you some insight on what to look for when you or someone else you know has caught The New Mentality.

Here are the signs to look for to know if you or someone you know has caught it, it's as simple as one, two, three.

1. Buys a pack, blaster, hanger or mega box of a popular product when its able to be found
2. Looks up value online to see what it goes for.
3. Flips it.

It will be pretty obvious when you have or someone you knows does.

How do you know if you are cured or don't have it? Well, that's as simple as one, two, three as well.

1. Buy a pack, blaster, hanger or mega box of a popular product when its able to be found.
2. Barely make it to the car before ripping it. It's okay to rip it just outside the Walmart or Target door. We all have been there.
3. Enjoys the cards that were opened.

I hope this helps. If you or someone you know has caught The New Mentality, remember to remind them why they got into collecting in the first place. It may or may not work but it's worth a try.

So Glad I Didn't Pay This Part 2

*Coffee aroma fills the house on yet another cold morning. But, something about that scent just lifts you up and carries you out the bedroom door into the kitchen. It sets me down next to the computer to do another new post of Cards Over Coffee*

Yesterday, I showed you the results of a "$60" Hanger Box and today I will dig into a much more expensive Blaster Box.

But, first...I want to show you something I did pay a lot extra to get.

Every year my wife knows I look for holiday flavored Oreos and Facebook must have known as well as ads for the Limited Edition Gingerbread Oreos circulated across my face for a week. The only problem was finding them.

Well, my wife did find them finally on Amazon. The asking price shipped for them was $13. You read that right, THIRRRRRR-----TEEEEEENNN----BUCCCCKKSSS.  

Can you put a price on love or Oreos though? No. At least not this time. So she went and pulled the trigger and told me to not waste any regardless if I like them or not. I obliged knowing I didn't think I would have a problem with it.

A week later, they were coming from the West Coast, the cookies arrived and they were marvelous. Every bite was like eating a cookie of gold. It must be how Bill Gates feels when he eats cookies and this is as close as I will be eating like the rich.

*takes a bite of cookie, thinks about making Windows 2020. Decides not to, could contain a virus*

Now it's time to break this blaster box of Prizm and see how we do.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

(once again, take note of the price of this blaster box....$110)

2020 Prizm Football Blaster boxes come with 6 packs of 4 cards each. 

This blaster should come with the following,

• 1 Relic
• 5 Disco Prizms
• 3 Rookies
• 1 Silver Prizm

Blaster boxes normally are $20 but as you saw above this one would have been $110. With only a few more cards in a blaster than a hanger, 4 to be exact, this makes this an even tougher bargain with each card having to be valued around $5.

*opens up packs, pulls out the best of the group to show off*

Mark Brunell was my best base card of the group. He also is a player I collect so I won't complain.

Only found three rookie cards in this box and none of which are top notch.

Kinlaw (defense ugh) and Quez Watkins who I am not even sure has played at all this year.

And Thaddeus Moss was the other. Once again, not a household name so not sure if he has hit the field at all either.

Now onto my insert pull.

I also found one insert in my break,

 

Not great. It's funny not to see an insert in every pack anymore. I kinda like it but then don't. I am hard to please I guess.

*takes another sip of coffee before moving onto the next part of my break*

Let's hope the parallels or the relic card stand out.

Here is my five Disco Parallels. I really like the look of them but a TE and OL for my rookie parallels, ugh. Some decent veterans however.

 

And my silver parallel was of Russell Wilson. I love me some Russ so this will be kept in the collection and may be the card of the break so far.

Now onto my relic pull....

Boom!! Oh wait...........................................there wasn't one.

*takes a sad sip of coffee hoping that the taste will re-awaken the mood after this tough break, it does. To a certain extent*

No relic, no big name rookies, and not much else to brag about. The Wilson is beautiful and by far the highlight of this box break. Once again, I am glad that I didn't have to pay for this.

In closing, overspending on the Oreos was a great decision in comparison to this Prizm. It doesn't take a genius like Bill Gates to see that.

Will I fall for more Prizm, it's likely despite these two breaks. But, what price will I be willing to pay  or not pay for more, well, we will see.

So Glad I Didn't Pay This Part 1

*takes a sip of morning coffee, it hits the spot on this very cold bitter day.*

Panini Prizm. One of the most popular products, at least for football and basketball, out there. 

It's a product I enjoy to rip every year to land some of the top rookies and NY Giants cards for my collection. This year in the hobby as we all know, has been a different. The days of walking into a retail outlet like Walmart to find a pack, blaster or hanger of cards just isn't there. So top that off with the most popular product of Prizm, the odds of finding any in a store are the same odds as winning Powerball or a years supply of coffee.

So instead of wasting time texting my father to stalk Walmart or putting myself in Covid's way by going there, I went searching for ways to trade for some via the internet.

It didn't actually take me very long before I found an online card shop that had some Prizm they were willing to trade and we made a deal. What I didn't know, was that what I traded for came marked for what they were going to sell them for in the shop.

My mind was blown. (insert the Will Ferrell GIF)

*takes another sip of coffee. Looks outside his kitchen window at the wind blowing and waits to see a witch on a broom circulating in the gusts. Nothing yet. Probably even too cold out there for a witch*

Today I will be showing off one of the breaks while following up with the other tomorrow. 

I just had to show you what I got from this "expensive break".

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

(before I do a small breakdown, take note of the price. Yeah, $60 for a hanger box! Insane!!)

Every hanger box of 2020 Panini Prizm football comes with one pack of 20 cards. If you go by the $60 price tag, that means every card in this box should be valued at $3. Normally, I believe the hangers would go for $12-$15. Each hanger comes with 4 exclusive Red Ice Prizms.

*opens box, takes a sip*

I pulled the pack out and on top is Blake Jarwin. That's gotta be a #hobbyfail start right?

The second card is this Julio Jones. This years base card design is similar to years pasts which is fine for a product like this. Also ignore the green reflection on the card, the room I took the picture in has brightly colored walls. This is just a base card.

The next base card was the last best base card I found. This one was of Jets/Patriots great Curtis Martin.

Overall, there are 400 base cards in the set broken up with 300 being base and 100 being rookies.

Speaking of rookies, ONE. ONE ROOKIE IN THIS PACK. Rookie cards are what this product depends on and it appears Panini made it extra tough this year to find them. Cam Akers wasn't too bad of a find though after his big game last week.

*takes a sip/gulp before looking at the parallels*

The first parallel card I found in this break was a Green Prizm of Xavien Howard.

Then came the Red Ice Prizm parallels.

Mercole Hardman Jr. These are eye pleasing.

Joe Mixon

Kirk Cousins

Oh, rookie parallel. James Proche. Almost Joe Burrow...same division at least.

And there was also one insert to find,

Go Hard Or Go Home is a new insert line in Prizm this year. Can't go wrong with a Lamar Jackson find. There are 10 of these to find in the set.

*enjoys the rip just as a rip*

I think it's plain to see not every card in this break was valued at $3. The "money hit" was most likely the Cam Akers rookie card but even that really isn't something to brag about. It will however make my first rookie card of him so it's a nice collection piece regardless.

Tomorrow I will be showing off a blaster box and the results from that. Will that one hit home or will it crumble? Grab a cup of coffee and come back tomorrow to see.

Speaking of grabbing a cup of coffee and crumble, my stomach tells me it's time for breakfast and another hot cup.

Tips On Investing In Sport Cards

*takes a sip of coffee, smiles behind the mug feeling a little better today and knowing that Christmas is only a week away*

Investing is a major part of the "New Hobby" as I call it.

Who's going to be the next big player? Who is already in a spot to turn things up to invest into in hopes of making big bucks?  Which product should be cleaned off shelves to invest in so I can flip it for more?

INVEST! INVEST! INVEST! MONEY...MONEY...MONEY!!!!! (picture Andy voicing the pig off from Toy Story)

I have never touched on my investing in this hobby so figured while the topic arose, I would.

So here are some of my HOT investment tips,

• INVEST YOUR MIND: Invest your mind into the hobby and decide which path you want to go in collecting. There are many roads to travel in what you want to collect and why you were brought into collecting. Invest your mind into what you like to collect and not follow the path of those most followed. Be yourself in the hobby by investing your mind into what you like, not what others do.
• INVEST YOUR TIME: Invest your time in your collection. Sort, trade, enjoy, and do it all over again. Investing your time into what you collect is the best investment you will make.
• INVEST IN OTHERS: Spending time with others online, if you have an LCS or store closer do that to, has been a great investment for me. I have made serious friendships over my time online and these friends have become better friends then the ones I supposedly have in real life. Not that these online friends are not real people.
• INVEST IN STORAGE: Investing in the way you store and showcase your collection will give you that happy feeling that your collection won't get ruined and gives you a way to "show off" your masterpiece.
• INVEST IN SHARING: There is no greater feeling than sharing your hobby with others and what you collect. On top of that, sharing can also mean sharing cards with others. If you have something that you don't want and you know someone else will enjoy, trade it or simply just send it to them. Putting smiles on others is a worthy investment that will make you and the other person feel amazing.
• INVEST IN CHILDREN IN THE HOBBY: The only way this hobby can continue to grow and survive is if we invest our time in the next generation. Telling them to collect to make money isn't the best approach. Share with them why you enjoy collecting. What collecting can mean to them. You know, memories, nostalgia, etc. Buy them cards, send them cards, help them learn and enjoy the hobby and all that it has to offer.

I hope these tips were handy for you. It's how I abide in the hobby every day and strongly believe in my investments. 

Oh, wait, you wanted to know about how to make money off cards by investing in the hobby and which players or products will give you that. My bad, I don't do that here. I am a collector. I collect, trade and show off sport cards. I don't buy cards to flip. I don't sell cards even. I hoard little pieces of cardboard with players pictures on them and I enjoy doing so.

I may also invest my into blogging about the hobby, Tweeting about the hobby, Facebook pages I run about the hobby and coffee that I drink while I do all of that about the hobby. I invest so much into coffee. 

*takes a sip of the investment. So worth it*

I think the closest to that kind of investing, or what others may consider investing money wise, I get is grabbing some Bowman Chrome baseball every year. That's not to buy and flip, that's simply just to add some rookie cards to my collection. I try to have one of every player.

This year I was able to land a 2020 Bowman Chrome Mega Box. This is only the second Mega Box I have ever opened. The first one was very successful with 2020 Prestige football so hoping this baseball Chrome is just as lucky.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

 

Each box of 2020 Bowman Chrome comes with 35 cards. There are five 5-card packs of  Bowman Chrome baseball along with two 5-card packs of mojo refractors. Each of these boxes range from $45 to $60 per mega.

The base card design is just chromed up Bowman.

I pulled a Trout and Gleyber as my best base. Both are PC players so that works out perfect.

Now onto the rookies or as some may call them, investments.

Dubon

Aquino

And Robert. I was surprised to find him honestly.

 

and all of the rest

Now onto the two mojo refractor packs *takes a sip to rip again*

(Jackson is a name I have heard)

And I even pulled an autograph. Not sure if they are guaranteed but it was a nice find regardless.

 

Encarnacion autograph. On card. I don't know this player but looking at the team I can't imagine he is a very hot prospect.

*enjoyed the rip, so takes a sip*

To close, I don't want it to sound like I judge those that do choose to invest money in the hobby. That wasn't the point of this post. I just think my investments are less riskier and more rewarding for you in the long run. Take my advice or not, I will still be standing by it and be sipping on my biggest investment while I do so.

The Day That Was Coffee-Less

*Hello Coffee my old friend, I'm glad to sip on you again. I couldn't drink you yest,,,,er....day, wasn't having fun in surgery. But today...I get to drink you at least once, maybe twice. I hear the sound....of percolating*

Yesterday didn't go as planned.

My arrival time was for noon yesterday with a planned surgery for 1pm and an hour and a half procedure. Well, surgery didn't begin to almost 2pm, it lasted only an hour only because they couldn't get the job done and put a stent in instead.  I didn't quite wake up from anesthesia very easily so what was estimated to be around three and a half hours total turned out to be more like 8. My poor wife had to sit in the car the entire time. 

I haven't even mentioned yet that they didn't provide me the coffee they promised me when I woke up!! So I went coffee-less the entire day which is a feat for most coffee drinkers.

So I will be returning back there in a couple of weeks to get the stent and stone removed. Hopefully it will be much quicker and more successful next time.

I appreciate all of you who reached out to me to give me good wishes.

But, enough with me blabbering about that. Today is all about Cards and Coffee and focusing on the positive. 

The positive being is this hanger pack that I traded for awhile back when Ginter released from my father. He grabbed me the blaster box I showed previously on here then grabbed this a week later before flippers grabbed the rest of it.

*takes a sip of well earned coffee*

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

Each hanger pack of 2020 Allen and Ginter comes with 3 packs of 6 cards and a bonus pack of 5 gold parallel mini cards. I think these cost roughly $5 a pack but can't remember since this was so long ago.

Here are the highlights from the packs,

 

 

(only need one more of these for my set!!)

(solid find)

 

(having grown up on a farm, I would agree a dog is essential on one)

*takes a sip before taking a rip of the gold parallel pack*

The pack has a great topper so I expect the rest of it to go well.

Not too bad at all! Don Mattingly, Doby, MVP Abreu, Judge and a Chip Gaines I really wanted.

I felt pretty good after ripping this rack pack. Being a fan of Ginter helps as well.

*takes a sip before finishing up the post*

I plan on taking the rest of today to get some rest. Yesterday was tiring and I didn't sleep much last night at all in pain. But, came on today to put up a new post was a nice distraction and it gave me an excuse to drink some extra coffee. I don't blog on this blog without it!