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*

The One

*it's time for a fresh cup of coffee and some cards. Sounds like a great start to the morning don't you think?*

Every Friday on Twitter, @collect_sport, I put up a I Want/Need Thread where you comment a specific card need and I will retweet it in hopes someone will Sell, Trade or even RAK (I have seen this) the card to you. Some people use the thread the way it was intended while others make a team/set demand. I just go with the flow regardless as long as it helps the collectors commenting.

On the thread every week, I also give an example of a specific cards I Want/Need. I have had some success in doing so, but one card I have tried a few times without any luck up I put up again and this time to my surprise had a response.

That's when I met @MattyBW who had what I wanted and so much more.

*takes a sip, gets excited about showing off these cards and takes another sip before doing so*

It wasn't too long after he had replied to my tweet about that specific card need that we had a nice conversation. The biggest point of the conversation was to make sure I got that card but we talked about much more that led to a trade as well.

I recently just started collecting more Jasson Dominguez for my Yankees PC. This was my second add to the collection.

This along with a few newer Cal Ripken Jr cards I forgot to take pictures of were the "newer" cards of the group. The main focus was on the 90's basketball. And if you know me, that hits the sweet spot and in comparison to coffee is the king of the cups.

John Starks adds. I always find it both saddening and odd to see John Starks in any uniform that's not a Knicks one. He was a fan favorite and a favorite of mine.

Finest Shaq. Don't ever let him post up, guy was unstoppable unless he had to shoot free throws.

Hakeem with the block!

And then Hakeem with the shot. Well, the Best Shot. These fell 1:12 packs and also had refractor parallels as well.

My first picture wasn't the greatest at showing how cool this card actually is. So I held it up to a window.

Now rolls in a beauty....

1996-1997 Bowmans Best Honor Roll Refractor! These bad boys fell 1:192 packs but it's not only the beauty of the card that grabs my attention, its the players. Patrick Ewing was one of the trio of Knicks I liked and Karl Malone I enjoyed his game and tried to mock it when I played with my friends back in the 90's. If I was to try that now, my body would ache for weeks.

*takes another sip before the coffee gets cold. I like Iced Coffee okay, but not my hot coffee getting iced. While I am it, I might as well toast a couple of english muffins*

I haven't even gotten to the main card of this post yet and I bet you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for me to show it off. Hold your mugs, we are almost there.

For now, I will tease this card as an intro....

Yup, a 1995-1996 Spx Gold Jason Kidd. Anyone who has followed me knows my deep passion for 90's Spx. I own set all three NFL Sets, one MLB Set, Both NASCAR sets, One and a half Hockey sets, and now......

Hold that thought.

*takes a sip of coffee*

I don't normally like jelly on my english muffins, I am a fan of bland so butter is my usual choice, but I will take a bit more excitement today when I show off the exciting card.

*takes a few bites, sip of joe and now onto the big reveal*

I think I have made you wait long enough to finally show the main card of this post. Not that the other cards above aren't sweet.

To finish up where I was with my Spx set chase, I also have one and a 49th basket....hold your horses...

What's this...

BOOM! You guessed it. The MJ has finally come home to finish up my second basketball set. He is smiling like I was when I finally got to hold this card.

 

And here he is resting peacefully among his Spx teammates.

With this set finally now complete, I am only missing the 1996-1997 Spx basketball set to complete the trio. That one also has my favorite design of the three but is also a dream set. I don't ever imagine myself being able to complete that one.

An obvious huge thanks goes out to @MattyBW for helping me finish up this set. It was a long time coming and it feels good to finally get there.

If you have Twitter, check out my Friday Thread and see what project you might be able to complete. You just never know what you may complete or who you may meet and become friends with. Isn't that the point of this hobby?

Coffee Card blogger out.

Retro Cup:Boss

The Diamond King sent me a box loaded with 90's basketball goodness. LOADED. So I came up with an idea to do a mini series with so many great cards to show off called, Retro Cup. Along with the card showings, I will re-live a memory I had as well when it comes to coffee. So I hope you are sitting down with a cup of steaming fresh hot coffee so we can give this series a go.

*Coffee in hand, let's talk about some cards*

Boss.

Growing up Boss had many meanings to me.

Who's The Boss starring Tony Danza was a show I watched quite often and enjoyed.

There was my father's work Boss who was quite the jerk at the time. I remember the long hours he had to work because of him.

My teachers liked to boss me around or as they called it assigning homework.

Then you always knew on recess who the Boss of the playground was and which one to listen to when they spoke...or else.

And then there was my mother.

My mother was the boss of our house. You did what she told you or there would be consequences. That included my father.

If she asked you to clean something up, you did it.
If she wanted to watch the TV and you were trying to, didn't matter, it was hers
If she wanted you to go to bed at 6:30, you did it
If she didn't want my father buying cards because she felt the hobby was a waste of money....well...he did it still. But, let me tell you, that presented a new challenge in itself.

Every time we bought cards, we would have to find a variety of ways to bring them inside to transfer them to my bedroom without being caught.

We used Jacket pockets, inner shirt pockets, in a newspaper, under the shirts, waited until she was in bed or in the bathroom, and sometimes, I hate to admit to it, even in our underwear. but only the packs not opened of course. You had to get those cards inside no matter the cost!

It was a game, similar to Mouse Trap,as who could get the cards in first without being caught. And it wasn't always smooth sailing either. There were times she nailed us. A forgotten wrapper left in the pocket found in the laundry, a card left behind in the car when she would get in, and sometimes a certain look between my father and I gave it away. Then we would get a long lecture and would play the game all over again. We never fully defeated the big boss you could say if you compared it to Mario. Bowser always hung around.

*smiles behind the cup of joe remembering those moments, then continues to drink it*

Another Boss I remember growing up was this fun insert in 1997-1998 that was put out by Skybox in their Z-Force product called Boss.

These inserts fell 1:6 packs and feature a photo of the player embossed against a hardwood floor background. They look as cool as they sound.

 

I pulled a few myself back in the day but have since misplaced mine so I didn't have anymore until I got this mail day

The card back has a small write up and the backside of those boards along with the team logo. There are 20 cards in the set to collect including some big names like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

This is a second one I found in the box of goodies was Shawn Kemp who I felt never got enough love on the court or hobby respect.

The Boss inserts also have parallels called Super Boss. Which is just a foil coating and has the word Super overlapping the word Boss. Those fell 1:36 packs. I believe I pulled one back then but don't really remember who it was. Wished I still had it.

*A few sips of cup number one to finish up this cup and this post, then onto cup number 2*

90's inserts will always remain the boss of the hobby especially mine, there is no battling me on that one. I will stand my ground. Cards that look that good and are that creative will trump anything that is presented today.

I should also mention that even though my mother was the boss of the house and the things I said above make her sound like a mean witch, she wasn't. She had a big soft spot especially for me. It also helped me respect her more which is something a lot of kids don't have today for their parents because times are different and you have to go about things differently. I say this often, but change isn't always for the best.

Before I finish, I don't have the big boss battle anymore, I can actually bring my cards inside without any problem as my wife helps support my hobby. I can't say the same for my father who is still battling Bowser after 38 years of marriage and her dislike of the hobby. He needs to find a new block power to help him get by.

Not As Advertised

*first morning cup of coffee,getting prepared for a small rant*

You ever buy something and find out later that it wasn't as advertised?

Well, here are a couple of examples of what I mean.

I remember being a kid and on the TV commercial for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers White Tiger Saba Sword really made me want one. It looked like the coolest toy around and being a big Power Rangers fan especially of the White Ranger, I was sold. So I saved and saved and saved money I earned working for my grandmother and some Bingo winnings so I could purchase said toy. When the day came when I had earned enough, I made my parents go to the store and I bought it.

I waited until I got home to open the toy so I wouldn't lose all of the pieces, busted that box open and put some batteries in and boy....did it fall flat. Where were all of those sound effects on the commercial? Where was all of the buttons they showed? Why didn't my Saba talk? Did I really just spend $40 on a toy with three buttons?

Yes, yes I did. Definitely not as advertised.

Then there was the time when I saw that Subway commercial for some new sub. Man, that's loaded with meat and everything under the sun so you purchase one for yourself and bring it home. Well, remember that sandwich on TV where it was this huge monstrosity, well, it's got a few pieces of meat and is as flat as a tuna sandwich on regular bread.

Once again, not as advertised.

And of course you wanted to try one of those new "loaded" blizzards from Dairy Queen where there's more candy than ice cream...supposedly. So you buy one and find yourself eating vanilla ice cream with a couple pieces of candy.

Falsely advertised.

*takes a few aggressive sips of coffee before continuing*


By now I bet you are thinking, yup, I bet he bought something cardboard that wasn't as advertised. And the answer to that is yes.

I was searching for some base sets for my 1990's Spx chase and I stumbled upon one for 1997-1998 Spx hockey I didn't have. It was fairly priced and even had a make offer attached to it. So I did what I usually do to save money and made an offer and it was accepted.

It took a little while to arrive because of the slow mail from Covid, but I got the set and was pretty stoked to have done so. I even gave the seller top scores of five stars before even opening up the set to check it out.

I assumed I was good. The set appeared from the outside to be safe in a plastic carrying box and I figured it was all good coming from a reputable seller.

A couple days later I opened up that plastic case to start taking pictures for a blog post and that's when I started to notice something.

 

Top card. Beautiful hologram, some etched foil and a touch of blue for color.

A few cards later, Mr Ray Bourque. The one and only athlete I have ever met in person and got some stuff signed of.

Curtis Joseph

Hmm. This card stopped me for a minute. Where is the blue on this card? It's more of a silver. Maybe they did some team colors?

The Great One

Then this Brian Leech. This had more of a shiny silver foil on it than than the previous silver and it doesn't match the color of Gretzky.

John LeClair

Jaromir Jagr and his famous mullett

Another shiny silver. This wasn't the last one I saw either.

  

And a Joe Juneau to end it.

Something seemed off about this set. There were quite a few cards in here that didn't have the blue and had silver and shiny silver to them. So I did some minor research, I hadn't remembered the details of this set in a long time, and found out that the silvers and shiny silvers are parallels.

The 1997-1998 parallels for the hockey set were Bronze, Silver, Grand Finale, Gold, and Steel (shiny silver).

So I didn't have the base set. I only had a partial base set and some parallels.

NOT AS ADVERTISED.

 

Overall I found 10 silvers

and two Steel parallels

That's 12 cards not apart of the base set I will have to find now. Which may or may not be easy which is why I buy the sets as sets. Sometimes buying singles costs more than buying the set already done for you.

*grips on tightly to coffee mug*

I didn't ever go back and complain to the seller about it because in actual reality, I did get more value this way but it wasn't what I had hoped for.

*chugs a half cup of coffee, pours the next cup, grabs a no bake cookie sitting on the counter and munches on it before finishing up the post*

I can't say that everything that comes Not As Advertised is bad. Even above I did score more value despite it not being what I had wanted. And I have gone to plenty of yard sales where I have bought boxes marked common cards and found some amazing stuff. Those are the good stories.

Then there once again is that Subway sub and that Saba sword. At least a lesson was learned with those, but I also can't guarantee that I won't make the same mistake again.