A Few Of My Favorite Things

*coffee smells good, cards are ready, laptop is fired up, it's time for some Cards Over Coffee*

19 DAY TIL CHRISTMAS

I have posted a variety of my Christmas cards so far, but I haven't really posted a lot of Topps Holiday baseball which is the main chunk of my collection.

Most of it is base, but I do have some of the short prints which are the cooler cards from the product other than the Santa hat swatches. At least in my opinion.

So, I thought I would show off a few of my favorite things...well cards.

*takes a sip*

*read the following to the tune of My Favorite Things*

Santa sack on Cavan.

Francisco with presents.

Ohtani is gifting.

Altuve is swinging.

and Soto with trees and these are a few of my favorite things.

When the Topps Sp come. I collect them. I will binder them. Because they are a few of my favorite things.

*end tune*

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

I do have other Sp's but most are pretty similar to the above ones.

I will say between all of them that my favorite is the Soto. It may take some extra creativity to beat that one in my eyes.

I hope everyone has a Wonderful Wednesday. We are one step closer to the weekend and to Christmas.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Yes, I Had To

I haven't opened up a lot of products this year, with no sponsors and lack of funds, it's been a real tough go for me. 

One of my favorite things to do in this hobby is ripping packs. I would rather open up packs of cards before adding a PC card or finishing up a set. 

I can see you shaking your heads at that last sentence, I get it.

With this year being so tough, I have had to change my perspective and how I collect and enjoy the hobby. So instead of being able to open up packs, I have been using stamps and making small pwe trades on occasion. Not quite the thrill of opening up a pack, but I am getting adjusted to being more excited about it.

However, with the recent release of Topps Chrome baseball, the itch got the better of me.

I haven't missed a single year of opening some form of Topps Chrome from one or multiple sports since its inaugural year of 1996. Could I really let that streak end this year? It's my favorite product release ever and not being able to open up at least a pack was getting to me.

But so wasn't the price.

I told myself after finding out blaster boxes at Walmart were $40, twice what they used to be, that I wouldn't fork out that cash for a blaster whether I had it or not.

That's until I found out I had money leftover on a Walmart gift card, then I pulled the trigger.

Regrettably so.

You will see why below,

Every 2023 Topps Chrome baseball blaster box comes with 7 packs of 4 cards. So, you're paying $40 for 28 cards. Meaning each card better be worth $1.50 each. I am sure you can find better cards in a dime and quarter box and bring more home for the cost.

 

I kicked off with my first card of the new Topps Chrome with Jose Altuve.

I won't bother showing rest of the base cards as this was the biggest name I found, so let's skip to the rookie portion.

Not a lot going on here. Rookie pitchers are not my thing.

Final rookie card wasn't too bad. I would rather have found Volpe but I will take it.

Next up, let's take a look at my favorite part of Chrome, the shiny stuff.

Meh base silver finds. These are 1:3 packs.

Pink Outman was the highlight of this box. Two Pink Refractors are per blaster.

Ugh. Two Sepia Parallels fall 2 per blaster. Not a fan of either player.

And another not-so-exciting find. The Prism parallels fall 1:6 packs so only one-per-blaster so my one shot wasn't great.

The inserts for my box break weren't much better,

Let's not discuss any further on these most hated inserts. These fall 1:6 packs.

And finally, 1:24 packs falls Technicolor. Tougher pull when you think about these falling 1:3 blasters but still player wise not so great.

I guess I should have let my streak come to an end this year, but, I am a traditionalist, so I had to keep it alive. It was still fun having the thrill of the rip, but I should have not spent the money still. Hopefully I can trade some of these off for something I need more.

With future finances not looking any better, I am sure next year I will be facing the same thought process when Topps Chrome releases next year.

Thoughts on my break, Topps Chrome in general and the prices for this year's product welcomed in comments.

I hope everyone has a Thirsty Thursday, in coffee form of course and has a great day as well.

Speaking of Thirsty Thursday, this coffee card blogger needs another cup.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Coffee Break:2021 Topps Heritage Baseball Hobby Break

*takes a sip, begins the day. Another new post on Cards Over Coffee is heading your way!*

It was only just a few days ago when I posted my blaster box break of 2021 Topps Heritage, now I am going to show off what you could find in a Hobby Box break.

So sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee and let's see how we do with this rip.

*takes me a sip, begins to rip*

There are 24 packs of 9 cards in every hobby box of 2021 Topps Heritage baseball. There is one autograph or relic card per box with most boxes giving you that relic. At least that's my past experience with breaking Heritage. Each Hobby Box will run you $130.

Boxes will also come with a box Topper that could be either a Oversized 1972 Topps Baseball or a 1972 Topps Baseball Posters or a

1972 Topps Baseball Originals which literally popped out of the box into my hands when I opened it. Luckily for me the coffee was on the other side.

*takes another sip feeling fortunate that Fergie didn't take dive into coffee, though I wouldn't blame him this morning if he is as tired as I am*

The product takes you back to the 1972 design and is also a pretty large set for modern day collecting. I believe Heritage is the biggest base set out there with this one coming in with 500 cards. Say it with me....FIVE....HUNDRED. That's 5 and two 00's.

The base set focuses on player poses more than actual action photography. It also breaks down into Veteran Base and subsets of

League Leaders

Postseason Highlights

Boyhood Photos Of The Stars

In Action (and another League Leader appearance)

Rookie Stars

 

MLB Awards

There are also short prints, no surprise there. Cards 400-500 are short printed and found 1:3 packs. It will be a challenge to complete this set, fortunately for me I have no interest in chasing it. I also didn't include a picture this time of the short prints because they look just like base.

As in past releases of Heritage, there are Variation cards to find as well.

I pulled this Action Variation of Fernando Tatis Jr. These fall 1:52 packs.

What I like most about their Variations is you don't need to stare down the codes on the back as they tell you what the variation is up by the card number on the back. Most of the time the variation cards will be facing downward in your pack letting you know you pulled one.

*takes a gulp and thinks about what the breakfast plans could be*

Now to take a look at parallels. Parallels in Heritage are not crazy like in other releases out there.

Here are the base cards parallels you could find, Red Border (3 per Target Mega Box), Black Border (50 copies), Flip Stock (5 copies) and French Variation for Cards 1-400.

There are also chrome parallels to find as well. I think most consider these inserts more than parallels, but not me. It's a parallel of the actual base card, so it's a parallel people!!

 

I pulled a base Chrome of Keston Hiura. These fall 1:92 packs now.

Of course with anything chrome, you find more parallels. The ones you could find are,

Blue Sparkle, Purple Hot Box, Base Refractor /572, Red /372, Black /72, Gold /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

*takes another sip before moving onto the inserts*

The Great One is a 25 card set of Roberto Clemente falling 1:18 packs.

New Age Performers. There are 25 of them to chase and they fall 1:15 packs.

Baseball Flashbacks that fall 1:25 packs.

News Flashbacks have 15 cards to collect and fall 1:25 packs. I like the non sport version of these and need to find the Price Is Right version for my collection at some point.

And my final insert,

Then And Now of Seaver and DeGrom. Overall there are 15 cards in the set to collect and fall 1:15 packs.

*takes another sip, gets up to stretch since this review has already taken an hour to type. Goes and grabs some Cherry Turnovers to bake. Turns on the oven, gets ready to finish up the box breakdown*

Well, as I thought would happen, I pulled a relic. Picture my shocked face.

*done typing, needs to get on with the day as a lot of things to do around the house now that the sun and warm weather has finally appeared.*

I like the base card design for this years Heritage. Box prices are a tad high for one hit but it's expected with the way the market has been as of recent.

There are some really nice hits to find in Heritage, you just need to have better luck with it than I do.

Ratings (ratings based on 1-5 🍵 on this break. Ratings are not based on overall product run)

Design 🍵🍵🍵
Photography 🍵🍵
Inserts 🍵🍵
Hits 🍵
Price 🍵🍵
Value 🍵

Trying The Off Brand

*iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttts cofffffeeeeee and blog time!!!*

Sometimes it's not always the brand name items that brings out the best product. Sometimes it's the off brand that not only packs a punch, but gives you your best value back for your money.

It's that way sometimes for food, household cleaning items and even for your coffee.

There are the headliner brands such as Maxwell House, Folgers, Eight O'Clock, Seattle's Best and Chase and Sanborn just to name a few. All of these are fine brews.

But, they also cost about $12+on the bigger cans that hold 22 oz. I need to buy the bigger cans so I am not running to the store all of the time especially in today's world having to wear a mask, follow footsteps on the floor and trying to stay at least 6 ft from everyone.

Followed by a hand sanitizer bleach down in the card.

*takes a sip*

However, this off brand Best Yet coffee still tastes pretty darn good, has 22.6 Oz and is under $10.

It still tastes just as good, has more in it and is cheaper. So a lot of the times I will go that route. Who doesn't love something just as equally good that can save you money?

*takes the next sip*

I feel the world of baseball cards can relate to that scenario.

There is Topps who headlines the baseball card world with it's never ending MLB license, the Maxwell House and Folgers of the collecting world, and then there is that Best Yet brand in Panini who doesn't have the MLB license, but still has MLBPA and USA licenses.

Is Topps more appealing to the crowds because of it's MLB logos? Yes. But, does it pack the punch for the value like Panini does? No.

I think Panini doesn't get enough respect for their baseball card lines. I hear you guys grumbling, I know there is no logos on the helmet or team names even for the player, but if you can push past that, take a look deeper into Panini baseball products, there is so much more you're missing out on.

Not only are most of their products cheaper, but they also come with more hits and have more value per your purchase. This goes for both hobby and retail.

One of their best products with the biggest value/punch is Donruss. Everyone grew up collecting some form of Donruss in their lifetime. I know it was a regular, and still is, in my household.

Let's compare 2020 Topps Series 1 to 2020 Donruss hobby box style.

2020 Topps Series 1 is $130 per hobby box and you get the following,

• One Autograph or Relic Card Per Box (98% of the time that is going to be a single color relic)
• One Silver Pack Per Box

vs

2020 Donruss Hobby Box that goes for $118

• Three Autographs or Memorabilia Cards Per Box (all three will not be autographs, but they also all won't be single color relics either)
• Seven Parallels Per Box
• Four Independence Day Parallels Per Box
• Five Inserts Per Box

They both have the same key rookies to go for as well and the equally good headlining signers for their autographs as well such as ken Griffey Jr, Acuna, Judge and Otahni just to name a few.

I don't know about you, but that cup of Best Yet is looking pretty good in comparison.

*takes another sip, okay, you caught me gulp and now onto cup number 2*

If you still are not convinced by now, well, I brought some examples of their inserts in here thanks to my buddy Grady who recently sent me some. They are not the bland reprints of designs past or those annoying Topps Now fillers, they are bold, bright and creative.

As Seen...it's supposed to make reference to As Seen On TV. A baseball player on TV, what else can you ask for? The only thing these cards are missing is Billy Mays in the corner.

Dominators a long standing line in the Donruss re-created by Panini. Spectacular!

Same goes for Elite Series (the Arenado is a parallel)

And Donruss HIghlights that's been around forever.

Not convinced yet? Let's see one more shall we?

 

Now Playing (I know a lot of us wished this was true). Creative play on words and once again a great looking card.

Don't tell me that these didn't spark some interest for you and that you sat there looking at the team logos the whole time either. I bet you didn't even notice they were missing and are probably going back to look now.

*halfway done cup number two*

I should probably clarify that not all off brands are equal to the name brand. One of those that comes to mind is immediately Kraft Mac and Cheese. There isn't a single off brand that comes close to it and most are pretty nasty. Take my word on this at least.

Once again though, that is my opinion. Everyone has different tastes.

But, the examples I gave above of coffee and cards (this seems to be a thing on here), are more equal or better than the name brand. Don't take my word for it, you will have to give it a try yourself to experience the full flavor.