Finally Found One!

*sits down, cup of coffee, box of cards in hand, it's time for a new Cards Over Coffee*

\

I finally found one!

 

My reaction (same one I have with my first cup of morning coffee)

For some reason or another, 2022 Stadium Club Chrome became a hot product and took off like it was Prizm, Mosaic or Optic football. Shelves were cleaned, product was being flipped, you know the bad old days of Covid.

Fortunately, in my area, I was able to find a blaster just sitting there on the shelf and even though I technically didn't really have the funds to do so, I couldn't leave and grabbed it and tossed it in the cart with no glare from the Mrs...this time. Of course, explaining to her how hard it is to find this product helped as well.

*takes a sip, rips the plastic off the box, stacks the packs, takes a sip and gets ready to rip*

Each blaster box of 2022 Stadium Club Chrome comes with 4 packs of 7 cards. So there really isn't a lot of cards in a box so you are hoping to score on one of them. Blaster boxes are $24.98 which makes the packs $6+ each.

Let's hope this gamble was worth it. I am just hoping for some cool looking inserts, some base for my PC's and some rookies. Maybe get lucky and land a Julio.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

Not a bad start on my base, which was one of the best base cards I pulled from the box. Not a single Judge, Jeter or Griffey Jr for my PCs.

Guess I will be on the hunt for those.

As for the card itself, I like this version of Chrome more than Topps Chrome. The photography is much better because of the Stadium Club branding.

The rookies I pulled from the box. Not any big names.

Overall there are 400 base cards in the set to collect with rookies, legends and present players.

Up next are my parallels,

Base refractor, never heard of this guy. But, a rookie refractor seems like a PC fit I suppose.

X-Factors, one fell per pack. 

Overall, there are X-Fractor, Base Refractor, Wave, Blue /199, Green /99, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1 parallels to be found.

Now onto my inserts...fingers crossed on landing Trophy Hunter card of Griffey, Judge and Jeter.....

Nope, Beam Team of Oneil Cruz and Pete Alonso. These fall 1:6 packs and has 25 cards to collect.

Team Of The Futuer of Fernando Tatis Jr. Whatever happened to this guy, goes from hobby sweetheart with Acuna Jr and now both guys are way out of sight. These fall 1:6 packs and have 20 cards in the set to collect.

*takes a sip to build up two other finds in the break*

Then came a couple big surprises....

In Pack 2, I found this Brandon Marsh autograph!

Then in Pack 3, another autograph!!! 2 retail autos!! I don't know who this is but this is a green parallel autograph /99.

 

Overall, I am feeling like this after the break....and after two cups of coffee.

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

I didn't quite get the PC cards I had hoped for, but pulling was pretty cool. One of the best retail breaks I have had in a while.

Thoughts on my break welcomed in comments. Most of the cards including the autographs will be available for trade as well.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Pumpkin Spice And A Prize Pack That's Nice

*prepares coffee for today's post. finally gets to use some special creamer picked up the other day and pours it*

*takes a sip*

*takes another sip*

*time for a new cards over coffee post*

You may not want to hear it, but it's pumpkin spice season.

I have already started diving into some of my favorites around this time of year. I already had a hot pumpkin spice coffee from Dunkin'.

Bought some Pumpkin Spice creamer, in today's cup, though I much rather have the CoffeeMate version as their creamer is far better than any other brands. But, apparently theirs isn't out yet. This one wasn't too bad, but not as good by any means.

And some Pumpkin Spice Oreos. These are awesome.

I am sure I will be keeping my eye out on another related treats as they release, I am most notably waiting to eat a pumpkin spice donut.

Guess you can say I am ready for fall....not winter though.

*takes a sip, then a bite of pumpkin spice Oreo*

The post title says, Pumpkin Spice which we already covered and now it's time for the Prize Pack that was nice.

I recently was lucky enough to win a prize from Johnny's Trading Spot blog just by commenting on a post.

 

Base card of Tony Lazzeri from Absolute. Once again, I think some Panini baseball products are very underrated.

By Storm of Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman from the same product.

And now onto some cards I don't know a lot about, but really enjoyed. 

Vintage isn't something I have much of in my collection, but I do enjoy when I get my hands onto it. I mostly don't collect vintage because I don't know a lot of players other than the big names prior to 1980 since I wasn't born until 1983 and didn't do a lot of research on them either. So, those players don't mean a lot to me unlike guys from the 90's through today.

But, vintage is very cool despite my lack of knowledge on it.

If I looked at these correct, they are from 1968.

And this Dave Lopes is from 1975 and appears to be cut from something.

These 1965 Topps Embossed are by far my favorite Vintage cards. I own one other and now can add these three to it.

I did recognize or at least heard of two of the three names here. Only one I didn't was Radatz.

I would call this a solid contest win and many thanks to Johnny's Trading Spot for the contest. Please check out his blog if you haven't yet done so!

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

Along with Pumpkin Spice, Apple Cider is another favorite of mine as fall goes deeper. They make some pretty good Apple Cider donuts locally and I just like a nice warm cup on a cold fall day.

I hope everyone has a great Saturday. 

In comments today, let me know your favorite Pumpkin Spice item and your favorite card from today's post!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Coffee Break:2021 Donruss Fat Pack

*coffee is in hand along with a pack of cards. I will make sure the pack doesn't get coffee-drowned. Instead it will be ripped in the latest Coffee Break!*

 

2021 Donruss Baseball Fat Pack
30 Cards Per Pack
3 Holo Red Per Pack
1 Rapture Parallel Per Pack
$9.97 Per Fat Pack

Summary:Donruss comes hard hitting with shiny inserts and parallels once again. I know the logos don't exist but I am huge fan regardless especially of the inserts and this years Unleashed.

The base set consists of 262 cards which is base, Diamond Kings, Rated Rookies and 1987 Redux.

There are also multitude of parallels to find, which many you will find in a blaster box. These include, Holo Blue, Holo Orange, Holo Pink, Holo Purple, Holo Red, Independence Day, Liberty, Red /2021, Career Stat Line /500 or less, Season Stat Line /400, One Hundred /100, On Fire /75, Presidential Collection /50, Mask Emoji /19, Artist Proof /10, Press Proof /5, Number One 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Donruss also brings back plenty of past insert themes along with new ones in 2021 along with a powerful lineup of hits with autographs from Sammy Sosa to relic cards of Babe Ruth.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

Here are the key cards I found in this break:

That was a short break, probably shorter than most real-life coffee breaks at work. Unless you sneak that extra cup or have a co-worker make a Dunkin' run on company time. I think we all have been there at least once.

*takes a sip*

The pack didn't provide me with much for my collection other than some Rated Rookies. It was still a fun rip regardless and gave me an excuse to come on here and drink more coffee. Not that I need to. Okay, I need to.

*takes another sip, Coffee Card Blogger Out!*

Heritage

*takes a sip of coffee on this cold 22 degree day. Wind chill and snow probably take that down a few more degrees. But, I have coffee and I have cards and that's all I am focused on right now. Time for some Cards Over Coffee*

Heritage is a noun that means "property that is or may be inherited; an inheritance: and also "valued objects and qualities such as cultural traditions, unspoiled countryside, and historic buildings that have been passed down from previous generations." 

I think I know what my heritage is, it's sport cards.

It's what will be passed down to me and what I will one day pass down myself. I just hope the hobby is at a better place when that day comes for me or I could see my once "valued possessions" not be passed down again. Most likely would be sold off.

The thought of that happening is mightily disappointing.

*takes a sip, wonders if my passion of coffee would be passed down as well*

Heritage is also a twice-yearly Topps baseball release with it's first release, Low Number, just hitting the shelves recently. I was fortunately lucky enough to find a blaster box at my Walmart, which also happened to be the last of anything left on the shelf as well. Either way, I wasn't leaving it there for someone to flip. I wanted something to rip.

I am not a huge fan of the product, but I do like to pick up a few retail offerings of it every year just to say I have some. Hobby box wise, I stay away. A little too costly for one hit that 9 times out of 10 will be a relic. Hobby Boxes this year are in the $140 range.

I haven't seen a lot of rips or previews of the product this year so this rip will be fresh for me. So there is only one thing left to do....

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

 

There are 8 packs of 9 cards in every blaster box of 2021 Topps Heritage baseball. There are no guarantees in each blaster other than having a good time ripping something new. Each blaster box not being flipped will run you $20.

The base set takes you back to the 1972 design which to me is a good one, though I wasn't around to collect it at the time. I do own a few cards from that set now.

It is also a pretty large set for modern day collecting.

There are 500 cards in the base set. FIVE....HUNDRED. That's 5 and two 00's.

The base set breaks down into Veteran Base and subsets of

League Leaders from 2020

In Action (I really like these because of the unique photography on the card. This Cutch was my favorite from the ones I found in this break)

 

2020 Postseason and World Series moments

Along with these Boyhood Photos.

You can't have a base set without rookie cards, so insert these Rookie Stars, which I did really well with landing Adell and Bohm.

I also pulled a Ruiz

 and a Yankees one for the PC.

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.

*takes a sip before moving onto the inserts*

Then And Now of Dick Allen and Luke Voit. Overall there are 15 cards in the set to collect.

 

New Age Performers. There are 25 of them to chase. I feel like I landed the best one.

And finally 1972 Topps Candy Lids insert. Can't complain about ever finding a Clemente in a break.

*takes a sip before finishing up the post*

As usual with my breaks of Heritage, nothing big but a few decent cards. I have seen many though hit it huge in retail Heritage with autographs of Acuna, etc. I don't have that kind of luck. Guess that's my Heritage, never finding the retail big hits. Hopefully that kind of luck doesn't get passed down.

Update

*it's time for some update, coffee and cards. Sounds like a good start to a "warm" 30 degree morning. Almost T-Shirt and shorts weather! Takes a sip, begins to start today's post*

The title of today's post is update and I have a few. Let's start with these,

1. The blog is still snail paced growing after much promoting of it. Not sure what steps to take to get this blog going more.
2. Trying to build up this blog more has cost my other two blogs better content. I may take some time off from here to work on them. No worries about my coffee though, there won't be a break from that.
3. I had my virtual non alcoholic fatty liver appointment. The Liver Specialist is going to send me for multiple blood work, possibly put me on some medications (that's all I need is another medication) and have me come down to her in May to run a test on my liver to see if there is any scarring from having this issue for years. Just hoping all of that goes well. She did say however, keep on drinking coffee as coffee is good for the liver! Woo Ha!
4. My kidney check-in is for the 23rd of this month to see if the medications they gave me helped the blockage in my right kidney. I will be getting an ultrasound before that appointment to check. If the medications didn't work, they will test me further and who knows what happens from there.
5. Have any cards to trade? Well, I do to. I am always up for a good trade!

One more update....

Some 2020 Topps Chrome Update baseball.

Each 2020 Topps Chrome Update Mega Box comes with 28 cards which is 7 packs of 4 cards. There are no guarantees in here but I have seen some pull 1/1 Superfractors and autographs from the product. I was hoping for the same. Each box roughly costs $30-$50 depending on when and how you buy it.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

The base set is built up of 100 cards. Players featured are from the past and present.

I found a few PC guys in this break including the Tino above, Gleyber here

Aaron Judge (awesome photo)

Cal Ripken Jr (well not really PC, but dig a 90's guy find)

And Ken Griffey Jr, still my biggest PC I have.

*takes another sip before moving onto the rookies*

My rookies started off rough.

Not many big names to see in the first six packs.

That's not until I got to the last pack. Where I found this Bo Bichette.

And Luis Robert.

So not too bad of a start to this box. Let's check out the inserts next.

*takes another sip, hopes that his readers are joining in on the coffee today*

I found it odd that I didn't pull a single parallel in my break but they must be hard to find. There are these offerings to be had if I had pulled one,
Pink, Pink Wave, Refractor /250, X-Fractor /99, Gold /50, Red /25, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

I did land some insets though, all of which I really liked the designs of.

Decades Next 2020 with Yordan Alvarez and Pete Alonso.

There are 25 cards in this set and they fall 1:4 packs.

Numbers Game Tony Gwynn

And my favorite card of this break, Numbers Game Jackie Robinson. I cannot tell you in words how great this card looks and my picture doesn't even touch it's beauty. It's like that perfect cup of coffee you can only taste, but can't describe.

There are 25 cards in this set and falls 1:4 packs.

*takes a sip, definitely not the perfect cup for this morning but is at least something to keep me going*

I am sure I will have updates on my updates to post when the time comes to do so, that way I won't leave you all hanging.

As for now, I am going to finish this cup of coffee and get going on the day. As you get older you come to realize more and more you don't want to waste a single minute of your day and I have lots to accomplish.

*takes another sip, coffee blogger out*