Yes, I Had To

I haven't opened up a lot of products this year, with no sponsors and lack of funds, it's been a real tough go for me. 

One of my favorite things to do in this hobby is ripping packs. I would rather open up packs of cards before adding a PC card or finishing up a set. 

I can see you shaking your heads at that last sentence, I get it.

With this year being so tough, I have had to change my perspective and how I collect and enjoy the hobby. So instead of being able to open up packs, I have been using stamps and making small pwe trades on occasion. Not quite the thrill of opening up a pack, but I am getting adjusted to being more excited about it.

However, with the recent release of Topps Chrome baseball, the itch got the better of me.

I haven't missed a single year of opening some form of Topps Chrome from one or multiple sports since its inaugural year of 1996. Could I really let that streak end this year? It's my favorite product release ever and not being able to open up at least a pack was getting to me.

But so wasn't the price.

I told myself after finding out blaster boxes at Walmart were $40, twice what they used to be, that I wouldn't fork out that cash for a blaster whether I had it or not.

That's until I found out I had money leftover on a Walmart gift card, then I pulled the trigger.

Regrettably so.

You will see why below,

Every 2023 Topps Chrome baseball blaster box comes with 7 packs of 4 cards. So, you're paying $40 for 28 cards. Meaning each card better be worth $1.50 each. I am sure you can find better cards in a dime and quarter box and bring more home for the cost.

 

I kicked off with my first card of the new Topps Chrome with Jose Altuve.

I won't bother showing rest of the base cards as this was the biggest name I found, so let's skip to the rookie portion.

Not a lot going on here. Rookie pitchers are not my thing.

Final rookie card wasn't too bad. I would rather have found Volpe but I will take it.

Next up, let's take a look at my favorite part of Chrome, the shiny stuff.

Meh base silver finds. These are 1:3 packs.

Pink Outman was the highlight of this box. Two Pink Refractors are per blaster.

Ugh. Two Sepia Parallels fall 2 per blaster. Not a fan of either player.

And another not-so-exciting find. The Prism parallels fall 1:6 packs so only one-per-blaster so my one shot wasn't great.

The inserts for my box break weren't much better,

Let's not discuss any further on these most hated inserts. These fall 1:6 packs.

And finally, 1:24 packs falls Technicolor. Tougher pull when you think about these falling 1:3 blasters but still player wise not so great.

I guess I should have let my streak come to an end this year, but, I am a traditionalist, so I had to keep it alive. It was still fun having the thrill of the rip, but I should have not spent the money still. Hopefully I can trade some of these off for something I need more.

With future finances not looking any better, I am sure next year I will be facing the same thought process when Topps Chrome releases next year.

Thoughts on my break, Topps Chrome in general and the prices for this year's product welcomed in comments.

I hope everyone has a Thirsty Thursday, in coffee form of course and has a great day as well.

Speaking of Thirsty Thursday, this coffee card blogger needs another cup.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

That Time Of Year Again

It's that magical time of year again. 

The time of year where we put away our beach towels, summer shorts and fruity drinks and exchange them in for the excitement of Pumpkin Spice season.

I am already deep into my Pumpkin Spice season.

I have my Pumpkin Spice creamer,

 

in my Pumpkin Spice coffee.

I have this Pumpkin Spice muffin to go along with my cup of coffee and this post.

And snacking on some Pumpkin Spice Oreos later.

Not to mention the scent of Pumpkin Spice from a lit candle, while I am wearing a Pumpkin Spice shirt and typing the words Pumpkin Spice multiple times on this post.

Can anyone have too much Pumpkin Spice?

No, I don't think so.

It's what your fall diet should intake.

Speaking of intake and the fact that this is mainly a sport card blog, how about some sports cards in this post? And no, they aren't Pumpkin Spice related.

Here is a Large Flat Rate box of random goodness that my friend @Imitationbacon on Twitter sent me. He goes to Goodwill and finds some incredible cards, some of those cards are up for trade occasionally so I jumped in on a few. Well, quite a few and this is only Box 1 that he has for me.

It took me roughly four days to dig through and sort these into piles that will be ready for future pictures for future blog posts.

With my lack of mail days this year, I may be stretching this one out for a while to make sure I can still have some posts.

I hope all of you have Happy Humpday and make sure you have your Pumpkin Spice latte in hand for the next post.

In comments today, let me know your favorite Pumpkin Spice treat!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

90's On The 9th:1996-97 Finest Foundations Silver Refractor Patrick Ewing

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

Welcome back to a NEW 90's On The 9th right here on Cards Over Coffee. I know this segment is very up and down in terms of views and comments on here but I have recently picked up some cheap and cool looking cards from my favorite era of collecting to you are stuck seeing them.

So, if this doesn't interest you, don't read on but make sure you at least have your coffee ready.

1996-97 Finest had different levels of base cards. There was the base bronze, Silver 1:4 packs and Gold which fell 1:24 packs. A fun and challenging set to build which is what I like.

Each level also had their own refractor levels as well. Today's card is a Silver Refractor which fell 1:48 packs which may not seem like much today, but was tough back then.

Which is why I was surprised to had landed it for under $5 from one of my favorite Knicks of the 90's.

The card looks superb especially in the light. This is actually the first one of these I own.

 

Back of the card.

It's by far one of my favorite Patrick Ewing cards in my collection now. I may have to see what other refractor cards of him are out there from the 90's.

Thoughts on my latest add, this segment as a whole or if you own any of these and of who welcomed in the comments.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Wow

*sits down, takes a look at today's cards and jaw drops again. pushes jaw back up, inserts coffee, keeps jaw closed with hand*

*takes another sip*

I had no idea what direction to go with today's post. Do I talk about Twitter and how helpful that has been towards my collection? Do I talk about the friendships I have made in the hobby? Discussion on trades and their impact in my collecting process this year with my financial situation? Do I turn this to a Finished Cup post? Or do I simply just say Wow and go from there.

I went with the latter.

Wow was the only reaction I could have when I got a PWE in the mail from Twitter pal, @mcfarm21.

*risks taking a gulp trying not to choke when looking at the cards again*

Rick saw my Cards Over Coffee Unfinished Cup post of 1995 Topps Air Raid and looked in his collection to see if he had my missing piece.   

Which he did. I wasn't surprised though as he has a lot of great 90's inserts.

The back of the card. What are the odds the last card I needed was the last card in the set? I didn't even think about that until this post.

This is why I said this post could have become a Finished Cup post. But, I couldn't do that. He had snuck another surprise in there with this card.

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Rick has known for a while I have wanted this card from him for my Hall Of Famer/90's autograph collection and he just snuck that in there.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Can't believe he did that!

Thanks again Rick for this mail day. Finishing off a set and a huge autograph need on my Hall Of Fame list is HUGE and I am overly happy and appreciative for it.

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

I am glad that I decided to start posting my set needs on my blog as it has been very helpful for me. I have finished off a couple sets because of it. (thank you to those who have helped!!!)

If you are also curious what remains on my want list for autographs, here is my updated list and some I know I will never land, but they are on there anyways,

• Sammy Sosa Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Barry Bonds Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Tino Martinez Auto Card (Yanks uni only and no TTM or IP)
• Mariano Rivera Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Tim Duncan Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Patrick Ewing Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Paul Pierce Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Kevin Garnett Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Tom Brady Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Randy Moss Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Steve McNair Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Jamal Lewis Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Donovan McNabb Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Corey Dillion Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Tony Gonzalez Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Ike Hilliard Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Marvin Harrison Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Patrick Mahomes Autograph Card (no TTM or IP)
• Wayne Gretzky Auto Card (no TTM or IP)
• Mario Lemieux Auto Card (no TTM or IP)

There you have it. My remaining autograph needs.

Thanks agin to Rick for helping knock another one down.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Coffee With Matchbox 20

*sits down, turns on some music from Matchbox 20 and gets ready for a new post on Cards Over Coffee*

The last year or so, I have been chasing down autographs from singers and have added one from Taylor Swift, Mandy Moore, and Elton John to name a few of the recent ones. Somewhere I also have one from the drummer of Train.

I think Facebook knew this when they put an ad up for the new Matchbox 20 album that the preorder came with, you guessed it, an autograph album cover.

I haven't heard any of Matchbox 20's newest tunes, but really, really love their older stuff. 

*takes a sip, begins to hum an older matchbox 20 tune..okay...wasn't humming was doing best to sing it and was glad that nobody was around to listen*

*takes another sip from dry mouth of "singing'*

Not hearing their newer music wasn't going to stop me from taking advantage of being able to add their autograph to my collection. Especially since a lot of their older songs bring me a lot of nostalgia and memories.

Here is their new album.

 

and the autographed album cover. Really cool.

I am glad that the autograph came separately so I can listen to the CD without messing with the autograph. Maybe I will find a song or two that catches me.

If not, I still have plenty of other Matchbox 20 songs that I enjoy including,

Back2Good

Push

3AM

Real World

How Far We've Come

These Hard Times

Bent

If You're Gone

Unwell

This is not all of them, but just the more important ones to me. I even liked a few of the Rob Thomas solo songs.

I am very happy with my latest addition, and I am always on the lookout for the next one. Maybe Facebook will read this post and help me discover my next. We all know they are paying attention.

In comments today, let me know your favorite Matchbox 20 song and if you have added any musical autographs to your collection recently.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

*takes a final sip*

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*