Houston, I Am Ready To Launch

*too late for coffee...the only time I don't drink it*

Since I am up late watching the Knicks, playing poorly tonight, and have Knicks cards to post about, only makes sense to do so.

I may be into watching basketball again right now, but it definitely won't be as deep into my blood as it was in the 90's. There was nothing like basketball in the 90's and Knicks in the 90's.

I absolutely loved basketball.

As a kid, not only did I watch every Knicks game on TV, I would also create my own league playing by myself outside and acting out as some of my favorite Knicks players against rest of the league's teams and players. I kept track of stats, scores, etc on paper which some I still have to do this day. I was also honest about the league, the Knicks didn't win every championship or game, though they came close most seasons.

I always had two players I loved acting out as most, John Starks and Allan Houston. These guys will always be my favorite all-time Knicks players.

Especially Houston.

I always felt he came up in the game's most important moments and always loved when you could hear Allaann Houuuuuuuston being called out on TV when he knocked down a big three pointer.

So, I started a small PC of him a few years ago. It's nothing big nor is it anywhere near the top on TCDB, but it's still fun to add to when I can.

Before I added some new ones recently, I started at 13th place on TCDB. I am well behind the leader but when your username is AHoustonCollector it's expected to be. That would be like anyone chasing me on a lot of my collections on there. I dominate a lot of spots.

So, I don't worry about numbers when it comes to my Houston collection. I just add fun cards when I can and build a collection that way.

This Luxury Box card I thought was a nice looking/designed card.

Any insert, especially a shiny one is always an add.

But, base are cool too.

But not as cool as one of my new favorite Houston's now. I have wanted this refractor for some time, now I have it.

Speaking of refractors...another nice 90's one here. I can't decide if I like the Chrome or Finest one more.

Houston relic cards are pretty much free. You can find them for next to nothing. I like to add some when I can.

I own a few autographs so far, this one was a cheap add.

And my final new add was probably my favorite one. This autograph card doesn't sparkle, doesn't shine, but it simply looks great. 

Not a lot of movement with the new adds above and a few others, but I am up to 11th. Maybe someone reading this today can help me move up further.

If you have some or are curious what my needs are, you can check out my want list collection HERE.

If you indeed have some I need, just drop me an email to sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com.

*looks up at the Knicks score again, looks back down*

Looks like by the Knicks game tonight, I will be spending Sunday afternoon watching a Game 7. I just hope the Knicks can pull it off, this franchise has been through too much and I would actually like to see one of my New York teams win.

If they don't, I will have my Houston cards to focus on at least and remember the good times.

Have a great sleep.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Turning Over A New Leaf

Coffee is ready and so am I! It's time for a new Cards Over Coffee!

*takes a sip*

I have been anti-Leaf trading cards for many years, well not their Pop Century product, but all of their sports products. I only saw junk without the logos and a sad attempt to try and match the other company's efforts.

But recently, I have turned over a new Leaf, I have been adding Leaf cards to my collection and becoming quite fond of them. Maybe more than the licensed companies.

So far, my chase has been mostly focused on Eli Manning and there has been plenty to chase between 2023 and 2024.

This is a Blue Crystal parallel from 2023 Pro Set Metal. As always, team color match for the win.

These are numbered to 7.

2023 Pro Set Pink Wave

These are /4

2023 Pro Set Silver Wave

Those are numbered /7

Then another team color match with 2023 Pro Set Blue Wave

These are /8

Then there is the 2023 Pro Set Silver Crystal. 

 

These are numbered to 5.

I also have a Pro Set Retro from 2023 that's in the same product with the other.

This is a Blue Crystal. If you haven't been able to tell yet I really like the blue ones.

These are /7.

Now onto my 2024 chase so far. I like the 2024's even better so far.

This is the base 2024 Leaf Metal. This card is not numbered.

This is an Orange mojo parallel.

These are /4

Green Pulsar

This is /5

And that's it...for now. I think I may have a couple more on the way.

In the meantime, here is a happy group photo of them,

 

I am not sure how many more of these I will seek out. Depends on the situation and price. There is still tons more I can go for as it feels like this product is an endless pit of parallels with multiple 1/1's. There is no such thing as a rainbow chase with either year of these products, but they do have some very creative parallels. One of the 1/1's was called something like flame or fire and had flames in the background, looked amazing but got out of reach for me.

Maybe someday it will pop back up again, and I can find a trading friend to assist in landing it.

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

 It didn't take me much to turn over a new leaf when cards look this good and with the creativity they spent with doing these parallels. I am looking forward to adding more of them to my Eli collection and hopefully other parts of my Giants PC as well. 

I also need to make a list of Pop Century autograph cards I want from its recent release.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday filled with full mugs.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Food

 

Most of my mornings start off with a cup of coffee and a bagel. 

*takes a sip, then a bite*

Sometimes that bagel is lightly buttered or sometimes it has a slight layer of veggie cream cheese or jalapeño cream cheese. It all depends on what's in the fridge at the time, well except the butter. I leave my butter out on the counter as it's easier to spread. Always have, always will. But I see know some people who don't and say it's bad to do so. We will see, I have eaten countertop butter since I was a kid, still kicking.

I thought today for a post since I haven't gotten a lot of cards coming in, I would show off some food creations I have made recently. I mean, who doesn't like to look at food.

Or eat it.

*takes another bite of bagel or two, then a sip...gulp*

The last month or so I have been experimenting with some new food in my lunch and supper menus. It gets so boring beings stuck on the same meals, so I wanted to expand my palate.

I have chosen a few of my favorite ones to show off below.

I have been looking for a good buffalo sauce recipe and finally found one. The tough part always is which chicken to use. I have tried chicken from the meat case before and breading it myself, but it never quite hit. However, these Tyson Crispy Chicken Strips worked great in the air fryer. I then mixed together the ingredients for the buffalo sauce (buffalo sauce, butter, sugar, Tobasco, dijon mustard) and covered them once they were nice and crispy.

I think they tasted amazing. This is actually a picture of my wife's plate of them. I don't do ranch or any dipping sauce. I am that way with everything, including fries. I like mine as is with lightly salted.

Next up, I mocked a local restaurants pizza. There cost was $25 for this. My cost was much less, and I stretched it out for a few meals. This pizza has a handmade crust, red onions, BBQ sauced base, Pineapple (yes it belongs on pizza), cheese and pulled pork which I made myself.

 

Which is good because it came in handy when I made my homemade mac and cheese and used the rest of the pulled pork to cover it. I am very resourceful and don't waste anything. When the budget is tight, you do what you can. Except I didn't use Ramen to make the mac and cheese. I won't go that far down yet.

Hope you enjoyed the food gallery today.

I promise the next post will be more card related I mean unless you want more food. Hope you all have terrific Tuesday.

*Coffee Card Food Blogger Out*

Four

 

Four years. 

It's been four years since I created Cards Over Coffee. But, not four since I started drinking coffee. My mom probably had it in my baby bottle. The 80's were quite the time.

*takes a sip, from a mug, not a bottle*

I can't believe how fast these four years have gone by, but I have had a lot of fun along the way publishing posts on here.

I am not sure what's in store for Year 5, I do know that I need to make some tweaks and that I need to put the same effort and creativity I put into these posts like I did in the first couple of years. It would also be great to finally see this blog grow; it hasn't had much growth in four years.

But let's just focus on today for now as it is a day of celebration, so hold your mug up high and say cheers. I will return it...from here.

*takes a sip, holds mug up high*

Thanks for everyone who has read the blog the last four years. I would welcome all comments on what you would like to see more of on here or what you have enjoyed so far in the coffee card filled journey.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Jammin' To The NBA Again

It's the afternoon I know, but it's never too late to have a cup of coffee.

I have been so busy as of recent that I have spread out my three to four cups a day throughout my day to fit them in so I can survive.

Life only gets busier after May, so I better cram in what time for posts I have now and what cups of coffee I can fit in as well.

*takes a sip*

*takes another sip*

It has been years (since late 90's very early 2000's) since I have been into watching the NBA, but the last couple of years I have been watching a few more games and this year I found myself watching my beloved Knicks anytime they were on TV.

Including last night when they took down the Indiana Pacers 121-117 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Knicks playoff run this year has been a fun watch so far. Every game has come down to the final minutes which makes for the best games...and a few heart stopping moments.

It's probably a good thing I am not holding a coffee mug at those times, or I may have a few stained shirts. Not that I don't already find a way to stain every white shirt I own, just ask my wife. I can have nothing in my hand, and it will still be stained.

*takes a steady holding sip*

My latest mail day from blog reader Oren included a lot of basketball cards, but nothing from the new era of collecting. Which is fine with me, even though I have enjoyed watching the Knicks recently, 90's cards will always prevail.

To kick off this mail day were a couple of 1994-95 Fleer Sharp Shooters that were randomly inserted into packs. I don't remember a lot about the Spreewell Warriors years other than the choking incident, but he played well for the Knicks helping them go all the way to the NBA Finals losing to the Spurs.

1998-99 Topps Coast To Coast of Michael Finley. I felt that he never got enough respect for his play.

These inserts fell 1:36 packs.

Beautiful die-cut inserts with a space appeal, Stardate 2001 fell 1:12 packs from eX2001.

At 1:24 packs, Whiz Kids is actually an insert I haven't seen before. But, I love it!

1995-96 fleer came out with these unique foil etched Franchise Futures that fell 1:37 packs.

I was a big fan of Stephon back in the 90's, he was a pretty solid player for many years. A buddy of mine at the time was actually a collector of him at the time so we did a big trade off. I traded him some Stephs and he traded me a 2000 Ultra Brady rookie. We both were pleased with the trade. I am not sure if he has his collection anymore, but I still have that Brady.

Side note, Steph became a Knick later in his career. Seems like a lot of players did that.

These inserts were easy pulls at 1:4 packs.

Any insert that is pleasing on the eyes regardless of player, is an easy addition to my collection. New School fell 1:36 packs of 1997-98 Topps.

1997-98 Ultra All-Rookies fell 1:4 packs. This was one of the better designed All-Rookies during the run.

 

The next card dives into newer basketball but has that 90's Metal feel.

And that does it for the basketball portion of the trade.

He also sent along a cool

90's relic card (not game used) of Curtis Martin. I believe these fell 1:97 packs.

And the final card of our trade is Oren's attempt to still get me into hockey cards and maybe even watching hockey again. I am a long-distance NY Rangers fan but I haven't watched a game since the 90's but still cheer them on to win. However, when he keeps sending cards that are fire like this, he may get me soon. This card is even more astonishing in person.

Thanks again to Oren for our latest trade.

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

I will be again in front of the TV tomorrow night to watch the Knicks/Pacers Game 2. Hopefully the Knicks can play like they did towards the end of the first game. Going up 2-0 would be huge like they did against the 76ers.

Let me know if you have gotten into watching any sports that you haven't in a while or any comments on the cards from today's post.

Hope you have a great rest of your day and remember, coffee is good for anytime in the day.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Before I close, I also wanted to remind you of the Coffee Card Hall Of Fame voting and that it needs you guys to nominate cards in. 

Details on the Coffee Card Hall Of Fame can be found HERE. I may add this to every post from here on out for a reminder as I will forget about this too! Haha!

May The 4th Cup Of Coffee Be With You

*turns on Star Wars theme music*

*takes a sip*

*starts to type*

Happy Star Wars Day fellow readers! I hope you have your coffee in hand and ready to fight the dark side. Or maybe drink it.

Today I am showing off a card I have been waiting to show off on Star Wars day.

Last year, I was finally able to acquire my number one most wanted Star Wars card in the 1977 Topps Star Wars #1 Luke Skywalker. Or in other card terms, his rookie card.

 

I don't care about the grade at all, I am not a grading card collector, but it's the fact that I own this card finally that does. If you didn't know this is the most valuable card from that Star Wars set so it has taken me awhile to acquire it. But, I am always paying attention to people listing cards on Twitter because sometimes they are willing to trade, which is where I got lucky with this one.

Thanks again to @JohnnyOeleven for the trade.

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

What are your plans for Star Wars day? What's your favorite Star Wars card. Comment below and I can't wait to read your responses.

Have a great Saturday!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Before I close, I also wanted to remind you of the Coffee Card Hall Of Fame voting and that it needs you guys to nominate cards in. So far ONLY 4 cards have been nominated!!

Details on the Coffee Card Hall Of Fame can be found HERE. I may add this to every post from here on out for a reminder as I will forget about this too! Haha!