Too Many Cards (not really)

*sits down, laptop is fully charged, coffee is ready and now it's time for cards over coffee*

A couple of weeks ago, Too Many Verlanders blog sent me a package that contained a lot of great cards and being behind on blogging, I haven't had the chance to show them off until today.

Dennis, as many other bloggers and former bloggers know, sends out some of the most generous and fun filled mail days out there.

Not that some of you others don't.

This time I was in shock as I continued to dig through the package as he just about hit up every part of my PC and hit it up well from shows he had gone to.

I sure hope you are ready and have your coffee in hand as I reveal this one. There were so many cards I had to group some.

Lots of G-Men.

 More here (yes a Yankees insert is hiding in the top corner)

And even more Gmen! (that Hilliard is awesome)

Danny Dimes. Panini doesn't do a lot of things right with cards, but they did these photos right.

Kerry Collins

90's numbered cards (to be fair, I knew these were coming because I claimed them)

J-Dom. One of the very few Yankees I still collect and both of these are new to that collection.

90's insert (bonus it's a Yankee)

You would think the cards above were enough, me to, but then came more! And of course I always appreciate Too Many Cards (and hope you all appreciate my play on his blog name)

This time some NY Giants hits and you want to know the crazy part, I have 6,000+ Giants cards and not a single one of these hits was a dupe. That's impressive. He either had intuition or stood outside my bedroom window watching me drink coffee and sort them. Either way, I am good with it.

Great Expectations from Illusions of Darius Slayton. I have great expectations of him this upcoming season.

 

Rookies and Stars NFL Authentic of Slayton.

Eli Manning manufactured Throwback Patch

 

Optic Donruss Threads of Sterling Shepard.

Finest Autograph rookie of Steve Smith.

Jerrel Jernigan Topps Chrome autograph.

Was this the end of this mail day? Nope. There were two more cards in this very loaded Too Many Cards I appreciated mail day.

Gary Sanchez manufactured MLB Commemorative patch.

And then this Game Floor piece of Shareef Abdur-Rahim that he had in his trade bait blog post I couldn't just leave there. I love unique relics and this for sure was one of those.

Thanks again to Dennis for his generosity and I hope you enjoyed what I sent you as much as I enjoyed this one.

*takes a sip and begins to sort these out with the other Giants cards*

*looks out the window to see if Dennis is there*

Hope everyone has a great day and thoughts on my mail day welcomed in comments.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Reaching 200

*sits down, takes a sip and gets ready for a new post on Cards Over Coffee*

*takes another sip for a celebratory post*

Four days in a row with posts, I know, I didn't expect this either. But, I took some time out to get this done and caught up. I hope you have your coffee and are enjoying this streak.

*takes a sip*

Today marks the day I hit 200 Amani Toomers, well, once I enter them on TCDB. Which I believe moves me up a few spots as well. But, I am still far from the top.

As always, when I get close to a milestone, I try to make the milestone card something cool.

Let's check it out.

 

My first pickup, card #196, was this 2002 Leaf Certified Fabric Of The Game. Remember when Jersey Cards were game worn?

Card #197 was this dual patch card from 2001 Titanium.

Card #198 is Score The Franchise which I landed for .38. You read that right.

I went a little bigger with card #199. This is a 1996 Ultra Sensations Rainbow parallel. Reportedly, the Rainbow cards were one percent of the total print run. I have never found the Rodney Hampton which is the only one I am missing.

And now Card #200....

 

2004 Absolute Memorabilia Ground Hoggs Game Used Shoe. As soon as I spotted this, I wanted it. And you can see the actual game used part of this.

And that's what I am talking about when it comes to a bigger card for the milestone. 

I am also talking about this mornings cup of coffee which is spot on. Some days it is, others it is not.

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

I have since added a few more Toomers, so I will see where I am at and now am on the chase for 250. I will wait on adding the cooler card once I reach 300.

Thoughts on my milestone, the cards and what player milestone you are chasing next welcomed in comments.

Hope everyone has a great day.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

A Trip Of A Lifetime Part 2

*coffee is ready, i am sitting down, post is being constructed*

*takes a sip*

I hope everyone remembers where we left off in Part 1 of this series, if not, you can check that out HERE. 

If you do remember, I was having a pizza supper before heading to a baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks. This game had a 7:05 start. However, the problem was our group had already fallen behind schedule that day. Between the longer waits and restaurants and the travel time, it made us late for every event and that included the baseball game.

Which was disappointing, but we still got to go and it was my first time at a Nationals game (well I went to an Expos one way back) and my first baseball game in 8 years and only my fourth game overall.

We took the metro from our hotel to a place near the game. Rest of it was walking to get to the stadium.

We arrived roughly at the Top of the 5th inning. We did however miss a lot of action especially in the first inning where Former Diamondback Stone Garrett hit his first career grand slam for Washington. We did get to hear that on the radio we listened to on our way to the game.

The Nationals led early 4-1, but that didn't last long.

Once inside the stadium we were greeted with this,

We had to find our seats which were way up in the nosebleeds.

But it made for some great action shots.

(for you prospectors, I believe this was Corbin Carroll)

 

Overall, it was a great game and high scoring. The Diamondbacks went on to win 10-5 and we got to witness a few homeruns in our time there including one by Pavin Smith who had a big night.

On my way out, I snapped a few more photos.

  

And stopped by the overpriced store on the way out. 

 

And had to go home with something, so for $25 I brought home a Screech. Yes, I way overpaid but thought it was a memory to have. I didn't however pay the prices for Series 1 which was $35 a blaster and $16 a double pack. No thanks.

Fun experience. Didn't root on either team even though deep inside because Washington was home I wanted them to win. The stadium was beautiful, but the crowd was dead, maybe that's what it's like to root on a last place team.

Or maybe they are always like that there.

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

Day One was very tiring and we didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight and had to get up early for Day Two. It didn't help that we got lost after the game to find our way back mainly because we didn't exit where we entered. Let's also say the streets in Washington are very sketchy after dark to.

Thoughts on my pictures, the game, and if you have ever been to a Nationals game welcomed in comments.

More on this trip soon. I may combine the last of my pictures together into one post because there was a lot in Day 2 to recap.

Have a great Wednesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Finished Cup:1995 Skybox Impact Countdown To Impact

 *coffee is ready, cards are next to me and it's time for a new cards over coffee.*

So yesterday I posted an Unfinished Cup, which is a set that needs completing to today a Finished Cup meaning......you got it, a set I completed.

It almost took me 30 years to complete this set, I never know why it takes me that long but it has to do with my focus on the hobby, but it's officially done, and I can celebrate.

The 1995 Skybox Impact Countdown To Impact fell 1:20 packs. There are 10 cards in this set. I posted this as an Unfinished Cup back in March of this year so I finally focused and got it done.

Here were the four cards needed to finish this one up,

Some big time names in there. Which is the way I work with all of my set chases tackling the top guys last.

Here is the 10-card set in all of it's glory,

Yes, I am smiling behind my mug that this is finally done.

*takes a happy sip and may have done a little happy dance*

*gets back to blogging*

Thoughts on my latest set completion welcomed in comments.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

UNfinished Cup:1995 Topps Air Raid

 *coffee is hot, the only kind of coffee I like. sits down, takes a sip and gets ready for a new cards over coffee*

I know some of you were hoping for the next post in my Trip Of A Lifetime, but, I thought I would mix some cards in with those posts so wanted to tackle my next post in my Unfinished Cup series.

Today I am showing off the 1995 Topps Air Raid cards.

These cards were inserted 1:20 packs in 1995 Topps Series 2 and features 10 of the greatest QB/WR combos in the NFL. Somehow the Giants made this set with Dave Brown/Mike Sherrard, I am not complaining though, just sayin'.

The card features a shiny attractive front.

  

And the back features some bombs away! Football bombs that is.

This Elway/Sharpe connection was quite a lethal one back in the 90's. This card was also my latest one towards the set which I am now only one card away from completing. I am in need of the Troy Aikman/Michael Irvin card which is oddly also the last card in the set.

Do you have my final card? Let me know!

Thoughts on my latest set chase welcomed in comments.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your coffee and your Monday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

A Trip Of A Lifetime Part 1

*sits down, takes some time out to try and get a new post up on cards over coffee*

*takes a sip of brew, gets ready to type*

When I last posted, I mentioned it would be awhile before I would be able to post again because life would become hectic. Well, it has become that, but yet, here I am trying to find time to put up a new post.

*takes another sip*

The week after my last post on here, I took what I called "A Trip Of A Lifetime" as I volunteered to be a chaperone on an 8th grade trip to Washington, DC. As most who have followed me on here or on other social media sites know, I don't get out much nor do I ever get to take trips. The last time I took a trip was to Maine and that was 6 years ago. 

It was time for me to finally hit the road again and take a trip and if that meant to be a chaperone to be able to take one, I didn't care. I can't afford to take one otherwise and the school was covering all expenses on this trip.

I had never been as far as Washington DC before in my life, the furthest I had been before that was NJ to see the Giants back in 1994, so it was going to be quite exciting. Not to mention all of the history I would see in the Nation's Capital.

The trip would be a 10-and-a-half-hour train ride from where the two-hour bus ride would leave us. so 12 hours total. It would also be my first train ride as well.

We headed out on Monday which the entire day was spent on the train, but it was building up to Tuesday where the fun would begin.

And I wasn't going without a coffee or two while I was on the ride. However, they were $3 a small cup so I didn't do more than two.

The train ride didn't turn out to be quite as stressful as I thought it would be. I also had a motion sickness patch on so that helped in my journey as well.

We arrived to our hotel about 11 pm after having to take the metro to get to it. It was the first time I had been on a metro so that was quite the experience as well. Good thing I had the motion sickness patch on.

I don't think I went to bed until 12:30 after that long day.

*takes a sip, grabs a breakfast snack, takes a bite, continues on with the post*

The next morning came before I was ready for it and coffee and breakfast from the hotel was in order before the day started. Wasn't bad for a hotel breakfast buffet.

I did have to request a pot of decaf coffee or otherwise I would have gone without, and I can't have that happening.

After breakfast, we had to get on the metro to get to our first destination. One of the issues we had with this trip was that the hotel the school chose was 40 mins away from everything we were visiting. So, a lot of lost time in-between and it made us late to a lot of the things we did.

However, we did get to visit mostly everything on the itinerary. 

Starting with the Arlington National Cemetery.

We got there early to avoid the lines which started to grow by the seconds we stood there.

Once inside, you could feel the history.

Especially once the tour began. It was mind-blowing if you haven't been there before.

 

One of the coolest things we got to witness was the changing of the guard.

 

It was something that is hard to even describe. Just a lot of emotions.

And this was my last picture on the way out.

That was quite the memorable experience for sure.

Next, we had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. I have always wanted to go to one and it was as great as I had hoped.

Between the music memorabilia, stupid me didn't get any pictures of that, (what kind of collector am I??!!)

And the meal, I was pleased. I didn't get the Hard Rock burger I had hoped for since they didn't seem to want to cook it well done (no pink in any meat for me), so I got this chicken burger instead. Was solid.

They also let me charge my phone while I was there since I had been using it was dying from taking so many pictures (I took more than I have included in the posts).

Next up, we were hitting up the National Zoo.

Once again another metro ride and then a trip up these bad boys to the zoo. This escalator was the tallest one I have ever seen and been on. I did not look back once I was on.

The zoo was a tad disappointing in comparison to Arlington and even the lunch, but I still got to see some animals and go to the zoo for only the second time in my life.

 

(gorilla hid from the camera the whole time like we were paparazzi)

(now this is the life, just picture that with me with a cup of coffee)

The elephants were the highlight of the zoo as they were the easiest to spot (yes there could be a small joke in that statement as well). A lot of the animals were either missing or hiding which made the zoo part not really a thrill like I had hoped especially for it being the National one.

After the zoo, we went and grabbed lunch from a pizza place up the street from our hotel that served up large NY slices. My first-time having NY pizza as well and I enjoyed it. Which I also got Hawaiian for my slices and yes, pineapple does go on pizza.

To finish the day, have I mentioned this part yet.....a baseball game!!! Yes, we got to see the Nationals take on the Diamondbacks but we will wait on that for another post.

The trips not over yet, there is still more posts to come.

In the meantime, finish up your cup of joe for this post and have another one hot and ready for the next one.

Have a great Wednesday, until next time.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*