What Am I Doing?!

What am I doing?!

Well, I am drinking midafternoon coffee while blogging on here. But shouldn't this be the last post with all of the recent ones and the countdown to the finale?

What am I doing?! Expanding a dying blog?!

You may have noticed this, but I have been able to post a lot more now and have gotten rid of the final cup countdown. Does this mean I have a change of plans on the end of this blog, potentially. But I will also admit I have the final post already scheduled and ready to go.

Does this mean I will follow through? Time will tell as we know, my mind changes often and situations do as well.

So I never know....

What am I doing?!

Also, in the last few days I re-opened up Big Blue Cardboard and Sport Card Collectors for possible new posts, most likely on Sport Card Collectors but both are open. So go follow, subscribe if you haven't yet on those blogs. Once again, WHAT AM I DOING?! Those are supposed to gone!!

On top of this, for some reason I started up two YouTube channels this summer/fall.

I can barely handle having time for one blog anymore, but for some reason I decided to jump onto YouTube. Maybe it's because its much faster to do a video than a blog post. Eight minutes compared to one hour is a huge time saver. y But, my videos on YouTube are also raw and doesn't include all of the graphics, edits and stuff the pros have. They are as real as they get.

I haven't had time to post many videos recently, but if you want to check out what I already have posted and maybe subscribe, they are here.

Cards Over Coffee YouTube Channel is for cards:

(111) Cards Over Coffee - YouTube

Matt's World Of Fun YouTube Channel is for everything else:

(111) Matt's World Of Fun! - YouTube

Once again, WHAT AM I DOING?!! Eating up all of my free time?!

On top of this, I have already run two Facebook accounts for over 10 years, Cards Over Coffee and Sport Card Collectors, along with a Coffee Card Guy Twitter/X account , an Instagram account Coffee Card Guy and for some reason felt I needed to get involved on Bluesky as well a few days ago with Cards Over Coffee. I don't know, had to be one of the cool kids, I guess.

WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING?! This is a lot of social media!

I am also on TCDB as SCC and on Blowout Forums as Giantsphan and on Beckett forums. I don't remember my name on Beckett; think it was similar to Giantsphan. It won't let me sign in, at least I can't find a way to do so. It's been years since I posted there, same probably with these other places too.

By now you are even probably wondering, WHAT IS HE DOING?!

I don't really have a full answer on that. I guess you can say having fun when time allows me to. That's what life is supposed to be about right.

And coffee of course.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

ELIte

It's below 40 degrees out and gloomy, sounds like a good time for some cards, coffee and Cards Over Coffee.

So, with my coffee in hand, I thought we would dive into my latest Eli Manning additions.

With this morning's news of the Giants finally benching Daniel Jones in favor of Tommy Devito, it got me to remembering a time where this team didn't have a quarterback controversy. 

We had Eli Manning and things were great. Well, at least better. We had a quarterback to rely on despite the bad coaching and team built around him. That wasn't his fault. 

And don't say isn't that the same with Daniel Jones, no it's not. Just watch Jones play. He will make you spill your coffee.

Eli was always a pro and went with the flow on and off the field. He was someone you were glad to call your quarterback and since he retired, there hasn't been that. There simply hasn't. 

I expect the Giants to go into this draft and find "their guy" and hopefully turn this team around. I still think they are only a few pieces away from at least contending.

In the meantime, I will continue to celebrate and collect the two-time Super Bowl champion.

My latest additions are from the 2024 Elite football product. You can't have Elite without Eli. See what I did there.

I will kick it off with the rarest to the least rarest.

Green Status /10

Purple /49

Aspirations Red /99

Blue /99

Maroon /249

Status Sparkle /299

Orange /399

Status Explosion /875 (my favorite parallel of the group)

Green Disco not numbered.

Pink

Base

I can't seem to find a full parallel checklist for the product as there are multiple parallel lists and I am someone who likes it all grouped together, so I am not sure how many parallels remain that I don't have. I assume quite a few looking at other products and knowing how the market is flooded with them now.

While I wait for the next quarterback, I will sip on my coffee and collect Eli.

Hope everyone has a great Monday. I know because of the Daniel Jones news I am.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Coffee With Susie Essman

Another trade with @levy2628 only means there were some non-sport treasures uncovered and added to my collection.

This time @levy2628 reached out to me to see if I was interested in any of his non-sport autographs he was unloading, and I am pretty sure he already knew that answer.

YES!

So, I scrolled through a group of pictures he sent and found about four that caught my eye, and I worked out a deal for three of the four I really wanted. Which is a winning percentage, I just wished I had enough trade bait to had done them all.

In the end, I still did end up with four autographs as I chose one of the others just to fill the trade gap which is today's card I am showing off.

 

I don't know Susie Essman, upon Google it tells me she is mainly known for Curb Your Enthusiasm which is a show I have never seen, I just chose this auto because I like the Fans Of The Game set and it's technically a Yankees card.

But the other three, I definitely know and so won't you.

Stay tuned for some more Coffee With to see who else I acquired in this trade.

I Am Getting Old

I have been experiencing a lot more "old people" moments recently.

• Nighttime driving has been an absolute struggle.
• Staying awake watching TV has been tough, I have been falling asleep while sitting upright. I actually fell asleep while typing the last post on here and funny enough the zzzzzzzz button had been pressed when I was leaning forward.
• My body has been aching more.
• I watched politics when sports were on TV.
• Almost every room I walk into for a meaning, I forgot why I was going in there until long after the fact.

And I am sure there are other moments that I forgot, but that's because I just started typing them.

So, to balance this out, I have been trying to find ways to stay young.

I have been doing extra time on the treadmill, outdoor walks, extra chores around the house that have been needing to get done for 20-years, taking daily vitamins, jamming to 80's-90's hits and watching shows that make me feel young. Just recently I finished re-watching the entire Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, Alien Ranger and Power Ranger Zeo series. 

Which is roughly over 200 episodes combined. That's a lot of Mighty Morphin action fun and memories.

Watching those all over again led to me adding some new Power Ranger cards to my collection I don't think I have seen any new Power Ranger cards since 1996. 

I discovered that at this year's The National, Leaf must had joined forced with Heritage Auctions to come up with an eight-card Power Ranger Promo set to promote an auction of the Power Ranger/Villain suits from the show/movies they must have had up for auction.

The card fronts feature a shiny chrome like card and featured character.

Back of the card is /500 and gives a very short description.

Each of the original Rangers and two villains each have their own card.

And then one group card. I only have three of the eight as they are a little tough to acquire and there are not too many out there listed.

I would really like to finish the set or at the very least get the Lord Zedd card. 

We will see if I can remember to do so now :)

I suppose I better head to bed before I fall asleep trying to finish up this post. I need to catch some Z's, not type them again.

*Old Man Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Barking At My Mail Box

Good evening Coffee Card Enthusiasts! (due to the evening part there will be no coffee in this post)

Welcome to a new post on Cards Over Coffee.

Today's post is being brought to you by a mail day from blog reader Oren who mailed me my very first taste of 2024 Topps Allen and Ginter which is one of my favorite Topps products.

I didn't have a clue on what part of Allen and Ginter would be arriving to me as Oren didn't specify on what was coming.  Just that it was six Pwe's full of Allen and Ginter.

Yes, six PWE's!

To my surprise, all six arrived today on the same day. Usually if there is more than two, they get spread out over multiple days.

Not this time.

So, I ripped right into them once I had a few minutes to do so.

And what did I find?

Dogs. Lots and lots of them (along with two bonus cards)

Now to be honest, I am a cat guy, but I do enjoy all types of cardboard.

The cards are called Stars Of The Show The Westminster Kennel Club and feature 40 of the best show dogs. That's a pretty deep checklist for this product I thought. Usually, the inserts have like 10 in the checklist.

Here are a few that stood out to me, which also happen to be the dupes of the group.

Pineapple. Interesting name. I like pineapple, especially on ham and even my pizza. Don't give me that look.

Sage reminds me of one of those rich snobs who look down on you.

Hickory reminds me of someone who would be very wise and maybe voiced my Sam Elliot in a kid's movie.

Mick is definitely not short for Mickey as in Mickey Mouse. Mick looks like he could rip your face off like Cujo.

Tommy is the stud muffin on the group. One that all of the cute cheerleader dogs would go after.

This dog looks like he has played for 8 NFL Teams. I mean, there is a Ryan Fitzpatrick feel here. Tell me if I am wrong.

Here is the overall big stack I received which is now organized all by number. With this many, it only seems fitting, that I try to finish up the set, which I will do at some point.

The two bonus non-dog cards are these two.

Golden Age mini. I don't remember this image on a Golden Age card despite all of my rips of it.

And finally, another new insert from this year's Allen And Ginter called Sister-Sister which has nothing to do with Tia and Tamera.

Thanks Oren! Yours will hit the mail box tomorrow!

And not only will Oren be expecting mail, but some of you other bloggers/readers/friends will be as well. This is probably one of my biggest Christmas time pwe mailings I have done, and I am still lacking a couple of addresses. If RJ Sahl,Fuji and Matt from Diamond Jesters wouldn't mind dropping me their address to sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com it would be appreciated!

These envelopes will start making their way in the mail tomorrow. I plan on dropping a few at a time in the mail so keep an eye out on your mailbox!

I hope everyone has a great night of sleep (after you read this post of course and tell me in comments if you are a dog or a cat person).

6 more to go....or is there....

*Coffee Card Blogger yawning, Out*

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*