Some That Stood Out

A few months have passed since I got my big box mail day from reader Grady M, Box Ol' Grady, and I have yet to share any of my fun finds from the many mini boxes.

As I have said before, there isn't even enough cups of coffee in the world to share everything he sends. But, a cup today will be good enough to share a few eye keepers.

*coffee is hot and ready to go*

Let's start with these stand out Judges. They may be some of my favorite Judge cards I now have.

Topps Chrome All-Etch refractor.

2024 Topps Chrome 1989

Panini Crusade

Then these two hockey cards from 2023-24 Upper Deck Allure really stood out.

And upon research on these, I guess each player can build a colorful rainbow combination of different colors. For example, the Lafreniere also has a card the same color as the player above once you get to that part of the rainbow by laying the cards side by side.

Wonder if I should choose one of these players and build off from them.

Finally, I love nothing more than a creative flashback to the 90's, 2024 Stadium Club Triumvirates.

I was pretty stoked to have found these.

They look great!!

I considered trying to finish building both three-part team cards, but I think my time would be better spent getting the Yankees team one and the Ken Griffey Jr one.

So, if any of you have any of those cards available, hit me up for trade at sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com.

Thanks again to Grady for another great mail day. I can't wait to dig for treasure next time.

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

I am still working on taking care of the cards from this mail day so if I come across anything else I think should be shared, it will be.

Thanks again for reading and have a great day.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Don't forget you can start to nominate cards for the 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame!! Cards don't have to be autographs, patch cards, super star cards. It can be whatever you think is Hall Worthy! Find details and current nominations HERE.

The Unicorn Of Bloggers

The Unicorn; Informal definition, "the term unicorn is used to describe someone or something that is very rare and almost impossible to find".

I consider myself that when it comes to being a sports card blogger.

About 99% of the blogosphere is built up of baseball card collectors, a sport I don't dabble much into anymore other than Ken Griffey Jr, 90's inserts and a couple of NY Yankees players. I guess that makes me the other 1%.

So, when it comes to exchanging cards with fellow bloggers in the mail, things can get a bit more complicated since I don't have "that baseball team" like the other bloggers.

Despite the challenge, my latest mail day from Night Owl Cards showed that these types of exchanges can still take place despite me being that unicorn.

Just check out what he sent,

I think I made a comment about this Mondesi in one of his posts. Great 90's insert back when creativity was top shelf. These were found 1:30-1:36 packs depending on hobby or retail.

This is a nice tribute to the 1998 insert, I will take it. Volpe has also shown some bright spots.

I have the Griffey, the Frank Thomas and now own the Piazza. Such a cool looking insert. I am thinking it's set chase time. These fell 1:12 packs in 1997 Fleer.

I got quite a few of these from my father and surprisingly did not have this Piazza version. Each player has nine cards in the set.

Own The Game is a tribute to a past Topps insert line, they look really nice in hand. Nicer than the pictures I posted or ones I have seen online. I also won't ever turn away Aaron Judge cards. Love his story and his game.

Mining For Gold fell 1:12 packs of 1996 Metal Universe. It's shiny, gold nugget goodness.

I like inserts outside the usual; this is one of them. Once again, inserts in the 90's will always rule over today's stuff. These fell 1:8 packs.

 

I have always been a big Fleer Metal fan, this 1:8 insert falls into my category of a keeper.

Thanks again for the mail day Greg!

I was really happy with everything you sent and sorry for my unicorness (if this is even a word) which made your search a little harder.

I have more many Dodgers to send your way soon, just for a heads up.

Don't forget you can start to nominate cards for the 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame!! Cards don't have to be autographs, patch cards, super star cards. It can be whatever you think is Hall Worthy! Find details and current nominations HERE.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Completely Impractical

*takes a sip of hot brewed coffee, gets ready for the new post*

In 2015, Topps included four lifelong friends who do stupid things to compete to embarrass each other.

Those four were Brian Quinn, Sal Vulcano, James Murray and Joe Gatto.

These four make up the Impractical Jokers. A show that has been on television since 2011.

I personally didn't get into the show originally, despite multiple recommendations, until a couple of years ago and I loved it. I spent many days watching it on TV, watching reels as a distraction when I was on the treadmill, then spending time sharing the best moments/reels with others.  Yes, I am one of those guys.

Everyone needs a good laugh and what better way to do it then with the stupidity. As my wife knows with me.

*takes a sip, almost chokes then laughs to himself about some stupid things that had been done*

Like with anything that connects to my life or past, I try to find cardboard related to it. Topps included Impractical Jokers base, relic and autographed cards in its 2015 Allen and Ginter product,

In 2022, I was fortunate to had completed the four base cards (which since then I have misplaced and am frantically searching for them the past month) and now I have completed the four relic cards.

Brian Quinn

James Murray (I like the relic color)

 

Sal Vulcano

And I guess to fit the stupidity theme for the Impractical Jokers, Topps decided to not use the same layout design for Joe Gatto's relic.

I am glad to have it but will admit my hobby OCD is eating me alive with it not looking like the rest.

These took me a few months to hunt down and accomplish with Joe actually being the last one. He is the most valuable of the group and is actually my favorite one of the jokers.

(let's just ignore for now the recent accusations against a couple of the jokers and focus on the show aspect)

They have autographs in the product as well but those go for a ton, so I am not expected to chase those. I am happy with the relics and the base (if I can ever find them or find someone who has them for trade again) anyways.

I hope everyone has a funny day. Make someone laugh today even if it's something stupid you do or at the cost of laughing at yourself.

*final sip for the post*

Don't forget you can start to nominate cards for the 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame!! Cards don't have to be autographs, patch cards, super star cards. It can be whatever you think is Hall Worthy! Find details and current nominations HERE.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

5 Things I Did In The Hobby Last Week

It's June already and it begins a very busy stretch for me. So, posts won't be too often from here until the end of summer.

*insert sad face*

This week alone I have a car appointment tomorrow, hoping it won't cost a ton, a doctor appointment on Tuesday and then I am off to Boston on another 8th grade trip I will be chaperoning. I am not sure if it will be as much fun as the trip to DC I took a couple of years ago, but I do know we will be watching the Red Sox and Angels on Wednesday afternoon. As a Yankees fan, Go Mike Trout!!

And it only gets busier from here on out.....but I will have my trusty coffee by my side.

*it's too late for coffee tonight, but the countdown til morning is on*

I have only done two posts in this segment so far because I have been too busy to do this on a weekly basis, the last one was in April, but I wanted to let you know what this series is about if you don't remember or if you are a new reader.

This series is once again related to Elon Musk's email to government officials asking them about what five things they did.

Also, once again, this is not about politics. I just liked the idea.

*yawns, tries to get this post underway before falling asleep*

1.

I did a lot more social media posts across my planet of them. I started doing Rodney Hampton, Eli Manning updates along with small mail day posts on there since it's much faster to send out a social media message than putting up a big blog post.

If you want to catch up on stuff you missed out on, here is a list of all of my social media channels:

Cards Over Coffee YouTube Channel is for cards:

Cards Over Coffee - YouTube

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

On top of this, I have two Facebook accounts, Cards Over Coffee and Sport Card Collectors,

Twitter/X: Coffee Card Guy

Instagram account: Coffee Card Guy

Bluesky as Cards Over Coffee

There you have that. Now go check me out on those!!

2.

I have put together some blog posts to publish on here this week and next, I didn't want to leave you guys hanging forever because I don't just want to put up quick posts anymore. I built this blog on a solid foundation and want to keep it there. I also made that promise after the 5th anniversary that I would never go back.

3.

I looked in my wallet and found my wallet card. He may be going to Boston with me this week, maybe even be included in some pictures. We will see.

4.

I finally sorted out my Grady M mail day into sections, now it's time to break it down from there and get it put away. There may also be a post on some of the fun finds later this week.

5.

PWE's! I spent Saturday night during the Knicks blowout packing them up. I have some being sent out for trades, RAK's (something I promised Jon from Penny Sleeves blog I would do) and future trades. Trying to stay ahead knowing what's coming up the next few months.

And there you have it. Five things I did in the hobby last week.

I don't think I will even get to five things this week or even next week with graduations and graduation parties going on and family visiting.

Hope everyone has a great, not as busy as I will be, week! Remember to take a sip for me!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

The 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame Nominees So Far

This year has been flying by, and I haven't really been able to post a ton because I have been busy, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been some Hall Of Fame type of cards that should have been nominated for the 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame.

And up to this point, only the following cards have made the list,

Nominated by Matt

 

Nominated by Ginko-5

 

Nominated by Matt, Jafronius, and Uncle Charlie

 

Nominated by Matt

 

Nominated by Me!!

With only five cards nominated so far, at this point they would all be in which doesn't leave us with the fun voting aspect since I accept five yearly into the hall.

I am hoping today's post will serve as a reminder to myself to add the following to every post going forward,

Don't forget you can start to nominate cards for the 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame!! Cards don't have to be autographs, patch cards, super star cards. It can be whatever you think is Hall Worthy! Find details and current nominations HERE.

And for the rest of you to add some nominations to the cards above. Also, let me know if I happened to have missed any nominations as well.

Thanks again to those who have added in some nominees and hope to see more going forward as well.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

It's About The Firsts

When I read Night Owl Cards blog post When the firsts were mostly fun, I thought what a fun Blog Bat Around subject that the article would make.

I am not sure if that was his intention, but I have seen a couple bloggers now use it, so I said why not join in as well and have a cup of coffee while I am at it.

*takes a sip*

The point of the post was mentioning some firsts both in hobby and in life. We will avoid some "firsts" topics on this blog however ;) 

Nobody wants to read about that. I promise you.

*takes another sip*

For my post on this, I copied Greg's layout but will have to tweak a few parts as my version of some of his topics didn't quite match. You will see this as you read on.

And that begins with the First Blaster. 

 

I don't remember what my first blaster was, but I do remember my first hobby box which was a box of 1997 Pinnacle Inscriptions football back in 1997. A brand-new box of it came in and my father reserved it at the gas station for us. If you are questioning why I said gas station, it's probably because you haven't read any of my stories in the past, our gas station was like a hobby shop with tons of boxes/packs in the 90's.

This product was a lot of fun with trying to chase down the acetate Inscriptions Autographs. It was also an expensive one, so even though we reserved the full hobby box, we could only grab a couple "packs", like the one pictured, at a time.

First what I considered old card in my collection 

 

was the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr rookie. This iconic card was my first older card and that's not even close to being the type of older cards I expect to see others post about.

I would call myself the "young" blogger, but I certainly don't feel it.

First parallel I knew was one of the first packs I opened. This one cover two topics.

1994 Topps Football Special Effects. These were very eye pleasing.

First baseball cards I purchased through mail-order . 

 

I never ordered any cards through any mail in offer. I did order these 1992 Kellogg's PVC Darkwing Duck figures though.

First sitcom I saw was....probably..

Home Improvement. I watched soooooooo many sitcoms in the 90's it's really hard to narrow them down to which one I watched first, I do know Home Improvement was definitely up there and was the most watched one.

First "big kid" book I read

Was this. Absolute classic. It was followed up with a couple "sequels", but they weren't as good as the original.

First cartoon that freaked me out, none did I grew up watching horror movies. Instead, my first favorite voice actor that followed my entire childhood.

Everyone should know this legend, Jim Cummings.

First article I wrote as a professional writer.....

Do I consider myself a professional writer, no. But I got to write for a professional magazine and had my first article published in it. Something I will never forget.

First championship I experienced for a favorite team

 

I saw plenty of NY Yankee championships, none of those really hit home as much as the NY Giants beating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 42. I wasn't a football fan when the Giants won their first two Super Bowls so instead, I got to watch a lot of misery and a blowout Super Bowl loss to the Ravens. Winning this one against one my most despised teams that was undefeated at the time gave me a thrill like no other.

And I guess we can't finish this up without discussing my first cup of coffee. I don't have a date on that, I just know it was with my mother playing the game of war with playing cards sometime in the 90's.

There you have it, a lot of firsts.

Thanks to Night Owl Cards for the idea.

I could have gone on with more posts and more firsts, but I just wanted to keep it related to his theme to fit the Blog Bat Around. Maybe I will do a spinoff or sequel to this someday. For now, I will need a sequel to this cup of coffee.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Maybe He Was Right

It was a week or two, maybe more but I lost track, Greg from Night Owl Cards had posted a break of 2025 Topps Heritage baseball and I left a comment on how I didn't really care for the product, and I think he took that to heart as a fan of it.

I just never had past luck with the product and to me the re-use of vintage designs didn't do much for me as I didn't collect in that era.

So, it wasn't anything I ever sought out and nothing that I ever planned on purchasing.

That may had changed one sunny day.

I went shopping at Walgreens for my wife with a list she had given me and as a collector you have to see if there are any card offerings, that would be like me going into a bakery and not seeing if they have any coffee, so I traveled up to the front of the store where they were on a small shelf.

My Walgreens isn't as populated with product as some, most of it was packed with those lame repacks, but this time they did have a few packs/boxes of Pokemon and also there sat two hanger boxes of 2025 Topps Heritage baseball.

For some reason or another, or maybe it was Greg sending me signals or was in my subconscious, but I felt led to grab one.

And I did. I dropped the $15 on this 35-card hanger box and left unsure of how I felt about doing the deed.

Before going on with the story, I must say that I also purchased the items my wife needed. Can you imagine if I went home with just a hanger box I didn't plan on purchasing and how that would have turned out?? That box may have found its way internally.

Anyways, I didn't open the hanger in the car or even when I got directly home, I got some chores done around the house and then made my way towards the box wondering if I had made a big mistake.

I quickly opened the box revealing the see-through packaging. I could notice something a little different in the stack of cards once I turned it sideways as I opened.

I ripped open the pack and began digging in. I completely brushed through the stack of base that began the pack and immediately went for the good stuff. Usually, I am the one who will eat the Oreo cookie part first and save the frosting for last but this time I dove right in because I didn't care for the cookie, I wanted the double stuff.

Here is what I found,

Nickname variation 1:160 packs. That was surprising.

Heritage Throwback 1:9 Packs

 

1976 Player Icons 1:9 Packs

I don't have the odds on this one, but /76 can't be an easy find. If only it was a better player.

Burgandy/Purple Sparkle? 1:1 Packs

Chrome Parallel 1:2 Packs. Not numbered that I could find.

Light Purple Parallel 1:1 packs

and then the thing I saw from the outside of the pack....

 

I don't know the odds for this one, but it's /25 dual clubhouse relic gold and has two spectacular young guns.

Wow is all I can say. After years of opening this product for product reviews (back when I did those), I never hit anything more than a single relic of some pitcher. This break more than makes up for all of those bad years.

So maybe Greg, you were right. Maybe this product isn't as awful as I thought. Or maybe I am just riding the high from a sweet victory for once. Let's just leave it at the middle of both ideas for now.

Don't forget you can start to nominate cards for the 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame!! Cards don't have to be autographs, patch cards, super star cards. It can be whatever you think is Hall Worthy! Find details and current nominations HERE.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Never Forget To Say Thanks

I don't know how the rest of you were raised, but I was raised to always say thank you.

I say thank you after any compliment. I say thank you after any gift big, small and sometimes unwanted. I say thank you for anyone holding the door open. I say thank you for someone who just serviced my car I say thank you to nurses, teachers, doctors and people working at a grocery store. I say thank you to anyone offering me coffee. I say thank you to the mail man who delivered a fun pwe to my door and now I am going to say thank you to the person who sent it.

Thanks Jon From A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts.

Thank you for the Victor Cruz Topps Tek that is numbered to 50.

Thank you for Eli Manning #1,152.

Thank you for this Russell Wilson that bleeds Giants colors in the background.

Thanks for this really nice Frank Gifford card.

 

 

And thanks for the set help.

Also, thanks for being a good friend Jon.

I sure hope most of you say thank you for as often as you can. Two simple words can mean a lot to someone as it lets them know you appreciate what they just did. Think about how you feel when someone tells you that. Let that sink in.

As always, thank you for coming to read this blog...with coffee hopefully. Thanks for trying to offer me some through the computer screen too.

Don't forget you can start to nominate cards for the 2025 Coffee Card Hall Of Fame!! Cards don't have to be autographs, patch cards, super star cards. It can be whatever you think is Hall Worthy! Find details and current nominations HERE.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*