All The Feels

*coffee is ready, I am ready for a new post*

Have you ever been blown away by someone else's collection?

Like really blown away.

I am.

I have been following @GriffeySuper and his Ken Griffey Jr collection for a few years now and he owns Griffey cards and memorabilia I can only dream about. Like the level of dreams I had about Amy Jo Johnson and Helen Hunt when I was a kid.

Yeah, those levels (and you can just use your imagination for that)

*tries to imagine that again for a second, refocuses on a sip then on cards*

His collection has an incredible 142,000+ Griffey cards. He owns some of the coolest and rarest Griffey collectibles out there including a Pepsi soda machine. Yes, you read that right. He also has been featured in ESPN and Sports Illustrated articles about his collection and I believe a sports card one as well.

But it wasn't just his collection that got me, I was also awestruck by his story. He went through a journey to be where he is today, you can read it HERE.

Let's see if it gives you all of the feels it gave me.

*takes a sip, re-reads the article again, feels hit by the feels again*

One day he posted a huge lot of Griffeys he had just acquired which included a card I have always wanted but couldn't ever afford, so I made a comment about the card.

After a short conversation about the card, he asked for my address. I was left flabbergasted.

Along with that card, he also sent another I have been wanting for a while now.

Which is this 1997 Topps Team Timber. I remember pulling a couple as a kid, but never Griffey. It was one I had been chasing and just never landed for my Griffey PC.

Then came the card that left me floored and the one I saw in his lot that caught my eye was....

 

1995 Zenith Z-Team. What a beautiful card. Never thought I would ever hold one, not to mention own it.

STUNNED!

I had all of the feels.

I am so glad to have found @GriffeySuper on Twitter/X. Super nice guy, super cool collection, super cool story and super generous. I love to follow him to see what he adds next.

Thanks again so much for these Griffeys!!

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

With the 1995 Zenith Z-Team knocked down, my biggest want is now the 1996 Zenith Z-Team which features my favorite Z-Team design. Hopefully can add one of those by years end!

I should make a post of my top 10 Griffey wants in a future post.

I hope today's post hit all the feels for you and hopefully you took a minute to read his story.

Thanks for reading.

*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.

Also, check out my Ken Griffey Jr wants HERE.

Hospital Coffee

2024 has been brutal for me.

First, I injured my shoulder which led to a broken bone and a bruised bone/rotator cuff. From there, it has been rolling down a cliff. My car got backed into, my uncle passed away, my septic backed into my house, everyone in my household has been sick and now the latest was yesterday's early morning visit to the ER.

On top of everything else, I was buckled in pain soon after waking up on my left side yesterday morning and knew that I had to go to the ER with a suspected kidney stone. Which was confirmed once I had blood work and a Catscan done. The stone is 5x3mm and most likely won't come out on its own. So, this most likely means a fun journey to having multiple surgeries to remove it. The first surgery is to put a stent in place that I will have to stay in for a week or two, then the second surgery will be to retrieve the stone and stent. I have had this procedure done the last six stones I have had. Only once I was I able to pass one.

This means there is a long road ahead. Along with the kidney stone finding on the Catscan, there was also an umbilical hernia spotted as well. That will most likely need to be fixed with surgery later on, I will need to discuss with my surgeon first.

I cannot countdown to the end of this year fast enough. I didn't expect it to kick off like this.

At least I have the hobby to fall back onto when I need an escape.....and coffee.

 

Like this latest Emmitt Smith add to my 1995 Zenith Z-Team set chase. This is now my fourth towards the seventeen-card set thanks to another trade with @levy2628.

If you have any I don't and want to PWE trade, let me know! Always up for trading. Here is my spreadsheet of needs HERE.

Hope everyone has a great Monday. I will hopefully have more cards to post about soon and more updates on my journey with my health.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Freshly Perked:Heroes

Freshly Perked is a new series that will be focused on my mail days throughout the week. I will only post this series on the weekend whether it's a Saturday or a Sunday to recap my mail days. Hope you enjoy!

This should be a fun new series on the blog that takes a look at cards I don't always show off on all of my social media reaches or even in a regular blog post on here. Not that they aren't as important, but it's more because they are smaller type mail days that don't require a big long rambling.

*goes over to coffee maker to grab a cup before moving into this post, but realizes the coffee maker didn't brew all the way through. Opens up the cover, sees that the a good chunk of the water is still held up with the grounds. Slams the cover back down, gives it another tap and for some reason or another, coffee maker is going. Being resilient for that need of a fresh cup will help you get what you want*

This weeks mail days come from a trade, a steal of a deal and some generosity.

First up, I saw a buddy of mine post a 2020 Prestige Heroes insert of Patrick Mahomes and instantly fell in love. Kinda of like when you see that big coffee mug you simply need.

So I went and found the checklist to see if any Giants players were on it and discovered that Eli Manning was. This led to a tweet by yours truly looking for that said Eli Manning card.

I ended up getting a pretty quick response after my tweet and the person wanted to do a pwe trade in which they were looking to trade for Braves cards. So I spent a good hour looking for a few of equal value and replied to that person's tweet to never hear back from them. There is nothing worse then not responding to someone. That is my biggest pet peeve in the hobby. Well, besides wasting time looking for stuff in a failed trade. This person hit both but I am not one to shout out there names from a hill top in song.

Remember that the next time you try to trade with me. I am looking at all of you.

*takes a big gulp a little angry, picks up the pile of cards nearby and looks through them again. Be one with the cards. Be one with the cards*

Fortunately, a Jets fan by the Twitter handle @pbasniper said he had a blue parallel version he would happily pwe for free my way before he threw it away. Read that again and catch the key word Jets fan in there to see why he would toss Eli away.

I was very happy to hear that after my first failed attempt to land this card.

The card arrived in a few days and was as spectacular as I expected, maybe even a little more with the Giants blue also involved.

Back of the card showcases more of the fun comic book art creativity.

This would be a fun rainbow chase, but probably a costly one. I will just be happy to own a copy of it.

A well earned thanks to @pbasniper for this mail day.

*takes a sip of coffee feeling better about the missed trade*

Next up, I pulled off a very quick trade with @GarrettAdair who had a couple of Xavier McKinney cards for sale. Yes, I put both trade and for sale in the same sentence. Knowing I couldn't buy, I reached out to Garrett about a trade and he happily obliged knowing they would be going to a good home.

Prestige Blue Extra points parallel /299

 

And autograph. My first Xavier autograph and it accomplishes my biggest want out of this years Giants draft class. His signature though, could use some coaching.

Xavier McKinney was a second round pick by the Giants and fills in a much needed position that has been a gaping whole for some time. With him and Peppers side by side, the Giants secondary got a little bit better. Big expectations are all around for Xavier.

Thanks for the trade Garrett!

*coffee coffee coffee...and cards. Three sips before the finale part of this post*

Finally, my wife could see my disappointment on one of our latest Walmart runs to look for cards and the shelves were so bare I could have set up my blogging station there with laptop and coffee and changed the name to this blog to No Cards Over Coffee.

Which wouldn't be quite as good as this one.

She and I share the same eBay account so she had a notification that one of my cards was ending and landed it for me as a surprise really cheap. I had actually forgotten it was ending.

 

This 1996 Zenith Z-Team Barry Sanders creeps me to only three more cards away from having the set. I am only missing Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders and Dan Marino from completing it. This is a slow moving snail of a 14 year set build. I know someday I will get there but first it would be nice to see a Aikman pop up. None are on eBay from what I can tell.

That does it for the very first Freshly Perked. I will see how this kind of post is received before I do another down the road. As I have said before, mail days for me right now are few and far between so I never know when the next could be!

*takes a sip of coffee, thinks over what breakfast could be today and decides on a bagel.......yes again. *