Get To Know Your Blogger: Favorite Dinosaur

*coffee is brewed, poured and now being sipped as today's post begins*

I have done some fun posts on here before, at least I hope you guys thought they were fun, but nothing like today's post and new series.

It's time to reveal some things about your favorite coffee card blogger. Well, I believe I am the only coffee card blogger but that doesn't mean I am still not your favorite one.

This series will hopefully answer some of your burning questions such as who is my favorite DC Comic Super Hero? Who is my favorite singer? What Is My favorite snack? Which Ice Cream Do I Enjoy The Most? Which video games do I enjoy? And other hot topics including today's topic, Who Is My Favorite Dinosaur?

*takes a sip before moving on with today's post*

I have always been mesmerized by dinosaurs since childhood. Sometimes I would "go back in time" on my bed time machine to see them. Even though they were either stuffed or those hard figures you would find at the dollar store, I would still spend a lot of my time that way. Other times I would watch dinosaur related shows/movies such as Jurassic Park, Dinosaurs, any documentary on them along with Land Of The Lost (90's version). I also believe my passion for dinosaurs is what led me to liking Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

I know I wasn't also alone in being a dinosaur fan when I was a child, or even now as an adult, and I also know that everyone who is a fan of dinosaurs has a favorite.

Mine, well, that's easy. I like who I consider the "king of the dinosaurs" in the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

*takes a Gigantic coffee sip*

 

Weighing up anywhere between 4.5 to 8.4 metric tons and over 40 ft long, the T-Rex was one of the largest land carnivores of all time. I would guess along with his morning meal, his coffee consumption would be pretty intense.

The T-Rex was also fast and could take down their prey like no other. He was pretty much invincible so whatever he wanted, he got. Sounds like a someone's ex-wife.

*takes another sip, stomach is starting to growl like a T-Rex's wondering what carnivorous breakfast I could make*

As for why I like him, he just seems like the coolest of all dinosaurs. Big, ferocious, feared, short armed (well that's the least liked feature), and just his appearance alone ranks him to the top. Also, all of his traits are the opposite of mine. I would probably be more Hippodraco, except the being small part as I am 6ft 2in. But the more quiet, wimpier type of dinosaur.

*takes a sip before closing*

I hope to hear which dinosaur and why it is your favorite. Whether you share it in comments, on your own blog (please tag this blog along with that post) or on Twitter. I am curious to hear!

*takes a sip, Coffee Card Blogger Out!*

A Community Effort

 *the aroma of coffee fills the kitchen and hits me. My mouth begins to water so I dig out a mug, creamer and then fill the cup. I sit down to the computer with a stack of cards next to it which only means one thing, it's time for Cards Over Coffee*

Running a Sugar House operation is a year round job that requires a lot of attention to detail and a lot of hard physical work.

First, you go to the woods in the fall to make sure none of the sap lines, the tubing that runs from the maple trees to the sugar house. haven't been taken down by trees or animals or have any leaks from animals chewing on them. If they do, you make some minor repairs. 

January through February, your time is spent doing the same thing with more in-depth repairs while also tapping the trees for sap. Tapping requires you drilling a hole in the tree and attaching the spout which is already hooked onto the tubing that you put together ahead of time. This is probably the hardest step as you are in snow shoes in 2 feet of snow some years. Best way to describe walking in 2 feet of snow is picturing yourself as one of those cartoon characters with concrete on your feet.

*takes a sip remembering the cold winter days of trudging around through the woods*

Once the tapping is accomplished, you wait until the temperatures are freezing, 32 degrees or less, at night and warm during the day,33 degrees and up, so the sap will run like it did in the two tanks pictured above. That day was a big sap run day. It's usually about mid March or so before the temps here go high enough for the sap to run.

Once you have the sap, then comes the sap boiling process. The sap is drained from the two tanks into the main tank which has a fire furnace that heats up the tank and brings the sap to a boil. You need to also keep feeding the fire with wood planks to keep it going. During a sugar season, you end up using a lot of wood planks. Sometimes even all of the ones in the sugar house and more.

 

Once the sap gets to a certain temperature, you need to be keeping track of it as you go, you can draw it off as maple syrup. Then it gets filtered and packed into containers ready to sell or for your own personal use.

When the official "sugaring" season comes to a close, it's all about cleaning everything from the tanks to the tubing in the woods and pulling out the spouts from the trees. Very time consuming part of the process, but needed as everything gets corroded.

The summer months are spent cutting up wood planks and stacking the sugar house full again for the next year. Like I said, a year round job.

I am also cutting a lot of the steps down for this post or this post would literally be Syrup Over Coffee and not include any cards. Speaking of syrup over coffee, in my State a lot of sugar makers use maple syrup for sweetener in their coffee. I have tried it and am not a fan personally.

This long grueling and hard working process is what my 74 year old Father-in-Law goes through every year. Fortunately for him though, he has a big family and all of us try our best to pitch in when we can and when he needs us to.

In the hobby, it would be comparable to building a big memorabilia card set. It takes a lot of work that sometimes needs some helping hands to complete it.

This is exactly what I went through recently when building the 2020 Donruss Rookie Holiday Sweater set.

*takes a sip, continues on*

Back in the fall, which is the start of my Christmas season, I came to realize my fondness of Christmas had never really transpired over to card collecting. As fast as I realized it, the magic of the Christmas took over and I began to become obsessed with adding "Christmas Cards" to my collection. Anything with Santa like the early Pro Set ones, Topps Holiday Short Prints and parallels, Bowman Holiday, Ugly Sweater cards and even Donruss Holiday. That's when I had also discovered the 2020 Donruss Holiday Rookie Sweaters.

At first, it was fun just having the one or two I had acquired but soon I found myself adding a few more and that's when I became addicted and thought to myself that maybe a set chase was on its way.

I began to give up some fairly decent cards early on in my chase to land them through trades. I was RAK'd a few. I bought a couple. I was given a birthday eBay gift card from @CardpocalypseNC which landed me one of the last ones I needed and my sister in law even helped out. It was a complete community effort. Not to mention all of the tags on Twitter from followers knowing I was chasing this set which led me to some of my needs.

*takes a sip before the reveal*

I didn't tell too many about finally finishing up this project, I think only one person actually, so for many of you, here is the big reveal.

There are 42 cards in this memorabilia set. It's by far the biggest memorabilia card set I have ever chased and probably ever will again.

So let's check out my hard worked community efforted set,

And there is all 42. The multicolored swatch ones really catch my eye the most.

  

And here is all 42 cropped together. I must have been holding a mug of coffee while cropping this disastrous picture or possibly dumped some in my crotch or maybe had a lil something-something extra in my cup. Well, if I drank.

*takes another sip*

I am also working on the 2020 Donruss Rookie Sweater Dual Sweater set which I am half way done with.

 

Here are four out of the eight. Fortunately I already got one of the two big ones with Justin Herbert. I think this is achievable but it may take some time. Once again, couldn't have even done this without some community help.

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

When everyone comes together to help, it's amazing some of the things you can accomplish. Whether its something as small as 42 card memorabilia set, something larger such as maple sugaring, or even tackling worldly issues such as hunger, when everyone does their part, you can accomplish anything.

Now time for another cup of afternoon coffee.

*coffee card blogger out*

Positive Start

*takes a sip of fresh brew, smiles, feeling great the way the week started*

This has been a great start to the week. First, I got an email saying my next shipment from Burbank Sport Cards Beckett Marketplace has shipped. I can't wait to show that off. Then I was chosen for a couple surprise mail days from my Monday RAK thread on Twitter and yesterday.....

 

I went into Walgreens to pick up a prescription and walked out with my first shot of Pfizer Covid Vaccine. How does that work, you may ask? Well after walking back to the pharmacy, I saw a sign that said Covid Vaccines were now available so even though I was scheduled for one on Saturday, I checked in and they had an appointment right then and there so I took it. I didn't blink an eye or think twice about doing so.

I know it's only the first shot, but it felt like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders when I walked out of Walgreens. And today, I have a minor sore shoulder from the shot, but overall, I feel great. My mood has changed as well. I can't wait until the second shot is done in three weeks so the overall worry weight will be completely lifted. The second shot is the one that gets you.

*lifts the mug and is thankful to be right handed since the left arm is where the shot was given. Takes a sip, then continues on*

Another thing that made this a great start to the week was a surprise in the mail from @JohnHollod. I knew something was coming, but had no idea what it was.

When I opened it though, I was amazed.

*takes a sip before the reveal*

I have been a long time follower of Johns and really enjoy seeing his Super Collection of Paul O'Neill that he tweets a new card of on a daily basis. John and I also have a common ground in love of 90's inserts.

So I wasn't a bit surprised when I saw a few in this package. It also was no surprise to find them as Yankees either since he is a fan like myself.

*takes another sip*

The first card I found was this 2000 Upper Deck Yankees Legends Pride Of The Pinstripes.

I know this isn't a 90's insert, but the early 2000's inserts up to 2003 were just as astonishing.

Up next, Topps Gold Label. This product pleases your eyes and makes you appreciate what the 90's brought.

Then there were the Matrix parallels from 1997 Stadium Club. These parallels fell 1:12 packs in probably what was my favorite Stadium Club design of the 90's and maybe all time. 

The last card in the package wasn't from the 90's, but was a player from the 90's and was also a jaw dropper.

This Tiki Barber was a card that John spotted in a Twitter stack sale and knew that I would enjoy so he grabbed it. He wasn't wrong, this is one of the coolest Tiki Barber cards I own.

It's also numbered to 50 and guess what, game worn. Remember those days? I do.

Thank you John for this nice surprise. I really appreciate our friendship and of course our passion for 90's cards.

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

 

I am hopeful that rest of the week goes as well as the first two days have. If not, I can always turn to extra coffee. That's my version of alcohol since I don't drink.

*finishes up cup, Coffee Card Blogger out!*

Coffee Break:2021 Inception Baseball

*box of newer product, cup of fresh coffee, it's time for some Cards Over Coffee in today's Coffee break*

Inception was a brand I wasn't sold on when it first released. Being a collector with action photography in mind I pushed off products that didn't include real photography. But, after giving it a couple of years and landing some of the cards actually in-person, my perspective changed and I realized I don't always need those full action shots. I could deal and enjoy the cards with an artistic touch.

So here we are today with a box of 2021 Inception to show off. Let's see how this Coffee Break goes. Grab a cup yourself and sit down and enjoy.

 

Every box of 2021 Inception Baseball comes with one pack of seven cards. Each box comes with one autograph, two parallels and four base. Each box is $185 currently so it's a gamble.

*takes a sip, begins to rip!*

The base set is made up of 100 cards and contains key rookies and veterans.

The design sticks to similar design of the past couple of years.

The back has a small write up along with one year of stats and career stats. 

Other base I found in my break were,

Ozzie Albies

Devin Williams

Alex Bregman

Now onto the parallels.

*takes a sip, moves onto the next part of the break*

There are multiple parallels to be found in Inception this year. These parallels include, Green, Purple /150, Magenta /99, Red /75, Orange /50, Blue /25, and Inception 1/1.

I got two base parallels in the Green.

Blake Snell

And Ronald Acuna Jr.

That does it for my two promised parallels. Now onto the last card of the box which is the hit.

*takes a sip before showing off the final card*

I have not had much success in hits in past breaks of Inception. It usually is a rookie pitcher autograph which does not tickle my funny bone.

This time however, I lucked out.

Pulled a PC card of one of the few Yankees I still collect in Gleyber Torres. It also marks the first time I pulled a patch autograph from the product as well. So not too shabby of a hit.

*takes another sip, then another because coffee is getting cold. Moves onto finishing up the post*

Inception looked good again this year especially that patch auto. That's a really sharp card. But, once again in the "new hobby era" with prices going up, the risk is there more than ever. You just gotta hope that one hit will be a big one.

*Here's to another Coffee Break, hope everyone has a great day and remember, coffee is best served warm. Coffee Card blogger out*

Ratings (ratings based on 1-5 🍵 on this break. Ratings are not based on overall product run)

Design 🍵🍵🍵

Photography N/A

Inserts N/A

Hits 🍵🍵🍵

Price 🍵🍵

Value 🍵🍵

Music To My Ears

*sits down for the early morning cup of coffee, grabs laptop, turns it on and fires it up. It's time for a new #CardsOverCoffee*

Today is kind of a piggyback off from yesterday's post where I discussed how during the pandemic I have learned to appreciate the little things both in life and in the hobby.

Another thing I took for granted is music.

I, just like everyone else in the world, love music. Music soothes the soul and can take you places. Certain songs can take you back in time, bring back warm memories, and work really well for a calming center point during a pandemic.

I felt the impact of music over the past year and how much I took it for granted before. Certain songs I have played over the past year brought me such joy and memories in my life that made me laugh and sometimes even tear up. Yes, men can admit that they cry.

Over the past year I have played music on the way to run errands, while I sort cards, while I worked out on the treadmill and even while I blog. Yup, I am jamming right now as I type and enjoy this mornings cup of coffee. Music is simply needed in my life.

What I didn't know was that MusiCards were also needed in my life.

*takes a sip*

If you were to ask me over a year ago if I had any interest in collecting music related cardboard, I would have said no way. Though I saw many forms of them across the blogging world especially the MusiCards. But, that all changed recently when I saw a few posts on Twitter about them so I sought out the checklist.

When I saw that some of the checklist consisted of musicians I had spent the past year listening to, I needed the cards.

That's when I posted my need on my Friday Twitter "I Need" thread. This thread is specifically is aimed at specific cards that you need and others can try to trade, sell, or RAK you them. You're technically supposed to put a specific card but instead I put any and all of the MusiCards. That's when @jrl1828x8 saw my cry for help and assisted.

He not only sent along the musicians that I wanted, but also sent me an almost complete set just out of kindness!!!! 

Lets check out some of my favorites in the set.

*takes a sip, flips through a few cards to upload and begins to type*

Eric Clapton has had a ton of hits, but none hit me harder than Tears In Heaven and Change The World. I can't explain my love of both songs but Tears In Heaven I am sure hits everyone in the feels.

One singer I have listened to the most during the pandemic is Huey Lewis. Not only does he have some of the greatest music videos ever, but his tunes are catchy. The Power Of Love, Stuck With You and Doing It All For My Baby are some of my favorites.

The sad news about Lewis I found out this year was that he is suffering from Meniere's Disease which sounds pretty awful because it consists of Vertigo, Hearing Loss and ringing in the ears. Which forced him to cancel all of his tours and possibly made it so he wouldn't be able to sing again.

Cheap Trick had many hits as well but my favorite is The Flame. Such a great tune.

Goo Goo Dolls was a band I couldn't stand in the 90's, but now I rock to. I actually bought a Greatest Hits CD within the last year. And yes, some people buy CD's still :) 

Some of my favorite songs by the Goo Goo Dolls are Iris, Slide, Black Balloon, Come To Me,Sympathy, Name, and by far my favorite song of theirs in Better Days. Better Days is a song we should all listen to.

Eddie Money just like the other artists on here had plenty of hits but none caught me like Take Me Home Tonight and especially I Wanna Go Back. Because I wanna go back and do it all over, but I can't go back I know.

And finally Tom Petty. Once again plenty of hits but none I liked more than Last Dance With MaryJane. I know the song probably relates to drug use but I ignore that part and use the song in my mind as a girl named MaryJane and his last dance with her. It's Good To Be King was another song I enjoyed.

Thanks goes out to @jrl1828x8 for the mail day. I really appreciate it.

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

I need to write down which numbers I am missing in this set and seek help in finishing it now. I would be interested in hearing your favorite songs from any of the artists I featured here today.

By the way, if you are curious what I am listening to as I blog today, it's a Pandora station on my phone from 1993. Songs like All That She Wants, In The Still Of The Nite, How Do You Talk To An Angel, and Have I Told You Lately.

*time for breakfast and another cup of coffee, Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Appreciating The Little Things

*it's time for a cup of coffee and some cards. Which means it's time for a new post of Cards Over Coffee*

One thing I have learned during the pandemic, other than that there is a lot of greed in the hobby and in the world, is that was finally time to appreciate the little things in life and in the hobby.

Things that I used to take for granted such as family and family get togethers, were things you became accustomed to, but didn't realize how deeply important they were until the pandemic.  There are some close parts of my family I haven't seen since Christmas of 2019 and it starts to get to you after awhile. You start to think, "why did I pretend to fall asleep during game night?" or "why didn't I go out to eat with them when they invited me?" Or "why didn't I push myself to stay up later those few extra hours to spend even more time with them instead of going to bed?" The answer is, I always thought it would be there next time.

During the pandemic, it was starting to get worrisome that there may not be a next time. I should have done those things at "those times" and taken advantage of every moment. As vaccines have started rolling out, I have my appointment set up for May 1st to get my first shot of Moderna, I feel like I may have those times again and this time you better believe I will soak in every second of it. Time to be that weird uncle who gives out the long hugs.

I not only find myself questioning little things in life such as above, but little things in the hobby as well. Something such as simple as following @CardsFromTheAttic.

*takes a sip, continues on*

When I first started following @CardsFromTheAttic years ago, some of his tweets felt like an attack on the blogging community and I couldn't have that. We are a close family in the blogosphere and I couldn't simply deal with someone who felt the way they did about us. So I unfollowed him and he followed suit later on as well and I went on with my Twitter life.

Fast forward to last summer, I started seeing some tweets from him being re-tweeted from others I followed. I then began to ask myself if I misread him years ago and gave him another follow. Come to find out, he is actually a good guy and his tweets I felt were attacks were actually apart of his personality and humor. You have to be a funny person, such as I consider myself to be, to fully get his humor.

Since I have re-followed him, I have joined in on some of his banter and enjoyed his content such as the March Madness Tournament in #CardboardChaos. Even though every brand I voted on, the late 90's ones, never made it too far.

 

Another thing you find out fast about him is his love of yellow in 1991 Fleer. He bleeds yellow. He screams yellow. He tweets yellow. Probably even has yellow socks and sandals on while he tweets. (The last part of that you would have to follow him to understand that sort of inside joke)

I questioned myself again about 1991 Fleer and maybe I missed something. Maybe I should give it another look and another chance just like I did in following @CardsFromTheAttic again. Come to find out, I did miss something in 1991 Fleer and it wasn't anything that Coldplay sang about.

*takes another sip, finds a snack to tie over before breakfast*

My favorite part of 1991 Fleer was staring at me the whole time and it was something with a black border, not yellow. Something that really stood out that I would have turned a blind eye to before. It was the Pro-Visions insert.

The 12-card insert set featured paintings by artist Terry Smith and featured "framed" black borders on each card front. The cards were randomly inserted in wax and rack packs to find. All I know is when I did open up some '91 Fleer "back in the day" is that I never once landed one of those inserts. I think they must be a little tough to find.

I am not sure how I didn't pay any attention to these before, but God Bless America that I am now.

And thanks to @CardsFromTheAttic, I have the entire set.

The artwork along with the black border really makes these stand out. I do wished that Griffey had been included, but it still doesn't disappoint.

Along with this full set, he also sent along some extras,

some of which I hadn't seen before including this Pete Rose.

Thanks goes out to @CardsFromTheAttic for the mail day and for the reminder that not everything about 1991 Fleer was bad.

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

Whether it's family or something as simple as 1991 Fleer, I am no longer taking anything for granted. That includes waking up each day or even that cup of coffee in the morning (and of course the ones at noon and night as well). You just never know that day where it may not happen so take advantage of every second you are breathing.

*hope everyone enjoys a fresh cup of coffee today with this post and I hope you all have a great day as well. Coffee card blogger out*