Still Livin' In The 90's

*reminisces without coffee because it's late*

If I had the choice, I would still be livin' in the 90's. Those were the greatest times for me.

"cowabunga!"

Hanging out with friends, playing baseball in the backyard, playing tackle football in the snow, shooting hoops on the playground, playing toys on recess and riding the merry-go-round (remember how dangerously fun that was), watching Saturday morning cartoons with my bowl of Rice Krispies Treat cereal, going to the latest Scholastic book fair looking for the newest Goosebumps book, watching horror movies weekly with my mom after spending an hour in the local video store searching for them, and simply just hanging out with friends and spending nights over at their houses.

"Booyah!"

Oh, and did I mention collecting some of the greatest cards ever made.

Most of that I won't ever get back or be able to ever experience again the same way, but at least I can still enjoy the greatest cards ever made.

"they were all that and a bag of chips"

A recent mail day from Twitter from @Rookies_Relics reminded me of those great times I had and the great cards.

 

Blitzkrieg Harrison. Not one of the coolest designs like the others, but still better than most stuff today and fell 1 every 6 packs. The much tougher to find die-cut version of these fell 1:36 packs.

I have had my eye on some Mr. Momentum on eBay for a while and didn't own any. They are as cool in-person as I thought they were! These inserts were found 1 every 10 packs.

 

Seasons Best was always a fun insert that provided plenty of variety and fell 1:16 packs

"as if!"

When I mention wanting 90's inserts, these are the cards I am talking about!

Thanks again to @Rookies_Relics for the mail day and reminder of the good times. Oh, snap they are phat!

*yawns and realizes its bedtime*

I am always up for any cards like this. 1995-1999, any sport, any team, any player. Anything that is shiny is a bonus. Refractors are an amazing bonus. If I already have the cards I will still take 'em. 

I will admit there are times I do dive back into some horror (mostly around Halloween) or watch my Saturday morning cartoons on DVD (Darkwing Duck up next) during the week with some cereal (Fruity Pebbles now since they don't make the other one) and possibly shoot some hoops outside by myself. I am trying to keep some stuff going.

That's how I am. I am still livin' in the 90's.

Hope everyone has a great night.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

The Gift That Kept On Giving

At Christmas I received some wonderful gifts from hobby friends. 

Bloggers, former bloggers and even readers. It made a rough year better to know that so many cared.

Today's mail day arrived a day past Christmas, but that didn't matter to me. It was well worth the wait.

This mail day is brought to you by... blog reader Oren!

First, let's kick it off with some unopened packs.

I have never seen or heard of these packs. Will be a fun intriguing pack rip.

As soon as I saw this pack, I immediately thought of All For Love. The song by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting.

  

And I thought these were interesting. I had no idea that Cryptozoic put this set out. They usually focus on television such as CW shows and a few movies.

I will be ripping these down the road as I try to integrate Throwpack Thursday on here.

This was just the beginning of the mail day. It kept giving.

 

Giants blue. Color team match parallels are some of the best out there.

 

This Wemby sat on my want list a very long time.

This gift wasn't done yet. It kept giving.

 

A new sweater card for the Christmas PC.

A couple Wandale relic cards. He is one of my favorite players on the team. Very underrated.

Eric Gray auto. Other than kickoff returns this guy hasn't really hit the field for the G-men. So, who knows what he is capable of.

I can finally cross this one off the want list as well. Been wanting a Mack auto as I try to get every player I can in a Giants uniforms autograph.

Was this it for the mail day after a want list item crossed off? Nope. I kept pulling more out. It kept giving.

Davis auto. His time was short with the Gmen but he was still in blue.

I can watch runs by Jacobs on YouTube all day. What a beastly man.

I really like the design on this Jones relic. Jones, no longer a Giant but he will forever be remembered in blue for the good and the bad.

 

I started collecting Jernigan back when he came out of the draft. He showed flashes in his couple years with the Giants. There is actually a guy on Instagram I follow with an incredible Jernigan collection.

This has to be it right? The end of the mail day?

Nope. It gave more.

Wait? What?!! A stinkin' Curtis Martin auto!!! Want list item achieved! And he is one of my 90's guys. This was really cool to find.

That has to be it right? Final card like that?

Nope. Oren had one more gift in there.

 

Phew. What a beauty! Rhett Bomar or not, what a patch!

Thanks again to Oren for his generous Christmas package.

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

A couple of side notes before I close out. We lost our first basketball game on Saturday 15-10. It was really challenging as one team had to cancel so we had to combine our team together again and try to fit 17 girls in a game of 7 minute quarters. We had a rotation with a group of Starting 4 that switched out every 4 minutes while the fifth spot switched out every 2 minutes. It was complicated to keep track of and the team didn't get the chance it needed to gel as momentum would start then would have to pull people out for a new group. This week has two practices and two games coming up.

ALSO, DON'T FORGET ABOUT NOMINATING CARDS INTO THE COFFEE CARD HALL OF FAME IF ANY FROM TODAY'S POST OR YESTERDAY'S WITH THE MAIL DAY FROM DENNIS YOU THINK DESERVE A NOM.

And lastly, read/follow Big Blue Cardboard. I will occasionally put up new posts on there. When I have time.

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!

Becoming Overwhelmed

*sits down with a stack of cards. a slice of apple cake and coffee tag along and it's time for some cards over coffee*

The past few weeks the hobby has felt like more of a job, than a passion.

I have an overwhelming amount of sorting projects I need to complete. I have people wanting to trade. I have a couple of retail items to open. I have a card room to clean up. I have blogging to do. I just haven't felt like doing any of it.

ANY OF IT.

It feels like that "honey-to-do" list or when you were a kid and your parents gave you a list of chores to complete more than stuff I really want to do.

So, I have been dragging. I am behind on posts, haven't cleaned up my card room (hopefully I won't be punished and sent there), taking forever to dig out trade bait and mail it, etc, etc, etc.

I know, at least I hope, this will end at some point. Just got to get over the hump.

*takes a sip before moving onto the cards in this post*

One thing that might help lift some of this feeling is maybe getting myself to actually complete some of this stuff. Which is why I am trying to catch up on some blogging this week. Just may need some extra coffee to help motivate that.

To continue my third day in a row of blogging, let's show off my latest trade mail day with reader Oren.

*takes a sip*

If you have been a long-time reader, you know I don't collect or show off many hockey cards on this blog. But, Oren has been trying to slowly hook me in by sending me shiny inserts like this MVP Domains Kevin Fiala.

And these Pinpoints of Crosby and Marchano. 

They are very eye pleasing, just not sure enough to get me into hockey collecting.

The shiny didn't end there, this Sean Casey is stunning. Almost 3D look to it.

Then came two new Lamars for the side PC.

A V2 insert which when the card is tipped in different directions shows the player featured moving. Like Sportflix, but more advanced. I am not sure why we don't use this technology today. Their loss I guess. This is probably why I am chasing sets like this one which the Bledsoe is new to it by the way.

Curtis Martin Behind The Numbers relic. I like the die cut number with jersey as it's better than a plain square swatch. This was back in the days when these were game used by the players. Now they are just jerseys off the Fanatics shelves.

I don't collect Diaz or the Brewers, but Dufex I do. Also, the photo is also amazing.

Two 90's basketball cards. This is another sport I don't post a lot about, but when they are from the 90's, I will definitely post them. Especially when they are the Wave Of The Future.

And the final card from this mail day, is a Wander Franco rookie from Topps International Trading Card Day.

This one had a little mix of everything.

Thanks again to Oren for our latest trade! I am looking forward to the next.

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

I know I am not the only one feeling like this. I see others post about it at least on Twitter. I am sure I am not the only blogger like this either.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the hobby? let me know in comments!

Have a happy Wednesday!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Fusion

*takes a sip feeling nostalgic once again today. 90's inserts do that to me every time I land any or pick any up. takes another sip and gets ready to show off today's #CardsOverCoffee post*

The definition of Fusion is the process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity.

Some examples I can think of when two things become one, other than the Spice Girls song, is marriage which joins you and your wife as one. Coffee and myself which makes me move, because without it I would be a bump on a log. And then an insert line from Stadium Club that took two players from a team, put them on separate cards and when you landed both versions they fused into one.

*takes a sip before moving on with today's post. would you consider my coffee an infusion with every sip?*

I bought a ton of 90's Stadium Club from all sports especially between they years of 1995-1999. I remember going into the local pharmacy, Brooks Pharmacy, with my father and grabbing packs that were located up front next to the travel medications. I guess that's just in case you got a headache from landing a nice pull and shouting loudly about it.

I pulled a few fun cards, but never the 1:24 packs Fusion insert. Instead, I had to wait close 20 years and buy a few instead since the prices were much higher back then. Of course I couldn't do it without buying a fused set.

Since there were not any NY Giants in the Fusion set, which is Topps loss, I searched for the cheapest combo I could that would fit my collection.

So I chose Curtis Martin (side PC) who is paired with Drew Bledsoe. The design is a wonky gear, but I totally get that they run off from each other so you need both parts.

Now cue the Spice Girls....two become one.

*takes another sip. tummy wants some breakfast*

I was happy with owning just the two football ones and to say I finally had some for my 90's collection. But, then I saw a basketball version that actually had a team with my interests.

I would have preferred Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston, but this is still a solid combo. This design is much more unique than the football one. A team name being fused is pretty darn cool.

Once again, cue the spice girls...two become one!

I loved watching the NBA in the 90's, especially my Knicks. Speaking of the Knicks, how about those 2021 Knicks so far!! At least one New York team can hopefully bring me some excitement. 

*takes a sip fusing myself with coffee*

I may have to chase a few more of these, would look pretty cool having a few teams fused together laid out. It's just too bad that Topps never brought this concept to baseball or even back. They are condition sensitive however as you would imagine with the side corners it has.

In comments today, let's hear your thoughts on the Fusion cards, if you own or have pulled any or have any for trade :)

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Trying It Out

*hears a noise, gets up from computer and sees that the cat had knocked stuff off a shelf. stops to think about picking it up now, but decides to come back down to laptop and coffee, because it's time for some Cards Over Coffee*

Today, kicks off the first post with my lightbox photos. I know these photos won't be perfect as I continue to figure out how to use it, but I think they are drastically improved from what they were. Glad I am trying it out.

*hears another noise, cat must be getting into something else or tearing apart the stuff they already knocked over. gets up, takes care of the mess, then comes back to sit to continue on with the latest #CardsOverCoffee post*

Another thing I was glad I tried out was trading with blog reader Oren. He has been my most consistent trader of 2021 as I have shown off a multitude of trades on here from him.

This is my most recent one that included cards from most PC areas,

NY Giants. The lightbox really shows off the shine on the Slayton card.

Fleer Metal universe! I can never get enough of it!

90's inserts. I have never seen these up close before.

Side Player PC in Curtis Martin. I still desperately need the Ground Zero parallel of his 1995 Summit rookie card.

Sets. This is only the third or maybe fourth towards my set chase of these 1995 Topps Boosters. Such beautiful cards and now they can be captured better on here with the help of the Lightbox.

90's Relics. Today's relics have no comparison to these.

And finally, a Lamar Jackson Score rookie card. What a game he had on Monday night against the Colts! He is fun to watch!

Thanks again to Oren for another fun trade, I know we just finished another yesterday so I will be showing those off on here soon as well.

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

I think the lightbox worked out well today even though I may need more practice with how I take and set up the photos. Otherwise, I am very pleased.

Thoughts on my mail day or the lightbox pictures are welcomed in comments below.

Have a great rest of your Friday and thanks for reading! Please add this to your blogroll or share the posts when you can. Thank you in advance.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*