Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Retro Cup:Team MVP

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 is ready to go and so am I*

Every cup of coffee has an MVP and every person chooses their own MVP for it.

For years my MVP was milk and sugar. LOTS OF SUGAR to go in my coffee. Which is what made it stand out. But, as I have gotten older, my tastes have really changed and I have switched to a new MVP for the past 20 years.

That MVP is Nestle Coffeemate and specifically the Hazelnut flavor. A cup of coffee to me isn't the same without this MVP combo. At least at home. If I am out at a restaurant, I am fine using cream and sugar as restaurant coffee always tastes better. Don't ask me why. And it's not like my coffee doesn't taste good, it just needs it's MVP to carry it home.

These Coffemates come in a variety of flavors and I have pretty much given all of them a go. Some were okay, some are good for holiday time (I will post about those when it's time to) and some sounded good but were downright disgusting. I won't even mention how bad the non Nestle Coffeemate brand creamers taste especially the knockoffs.

So I will stick with my one MVP that works. Just like a lot of teams in leagues do. They all know that one player that helps carry that team and who to keep an eye on. That's what this creamer does.

*takes a long sip, mmmmm. Coffee. Hits the heart and soul. Sets mug down to continue his blogging*

Back in 1992-1993, Upper Deck created their own MVP's in basketball cards.

Upper Deck MVP Holograms was a 36 card set featuring Upper Deck's selection of an MVP on each of the NBA's 27 teams. Cards 1-27 in the set showcase those and the final nine, cards 28-36, are Future MVPs that  focus on player's who could become their team's MVP in the near future.

There were just 138,000 individually numbered sets produced. Can you imagine if these were made today and looking at the back of your card to see 1/138,000. Would be pretty insane for these times but being made back then makes them feel sort of a short print when you think about it.

These sets were available only through hobby dealers and select retail outlets. Or as of now, you can look for these sets on eBay and Amazon.

The front of the card features a checkerboard background with hologram and full colored player in the forefront.

The backs featured team colors and a write up about the player. There is also a watermarked Team MVP and basketball behind the write up.

The Diamond King sent along a few of the cards from the set so I am not sure if he had a full one or just a select few but I appreciate the ones I got. Don't think I have ever seen or owned any until now.

As for a set chase, I don't think it there will be one, but I am a huge hologram dork, so who knows.

Here are the others he passed along,

Alonzo Mourning. Upper Deck wasn't too far off with Future MVP for Zo. Except I don't think he really made his impact until he was with the Heat. I really don't remember him much as a Hornet.

Patrick Ewing, my boy!

Scott Skiles

Glen Rice

Chuck Person

This set also includes the one and only MJ. I mean how can it not? That one should be labeled League MVP though.

*takes a sip, wonders why they never made a coffee mug with holograms of coffee mugs on it since holograms were such the rave in 80s and 90s. New marketing idea? Hmm...*

Upper Deck made some great hologram cards back in the 90's, but I don't think they really upped the ante on that technology until 1994 when you could rotate the cards and see a 3D look especially with players faces.

For me personally though, hologram cards will always mean the late Spx releases. Those were the MVP's of holograms.

*takes a few more sips of coffee, before closing out today's post*

I explained above how I use the Coffeemate to go in my coffee, but I should also mention that I don't drown my coffee with the Coffeemate. I put in just enough to give it that superb flavor without taking away from the true coffee taste. If I didn't want coffee, I would just drink the creamer. That's pretty much how my wife makes hers with the Coffeemate, I took a sip of hers once and it was overpowering and left me on a sugar high.

Not me though, I want to experience the coffee though without the MVP, it's not a team.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Coffee Break:2020 Donruss Optic Baseball Blaster Box

*has already finished his morning coffee as it is now mid-morning, how can this be Cards Over Coffee today when I am already running late on the coffee part. Should I make a cup just for this post? contemplating....*

I feel like I am on a rare tear on here with four posts in a row. Something I haven't ever done on this blog as these posts take a good amount of time to write. But, today, I have some extra time on my hands and I am trying to catch up on a couple of recent breaks I had thanks to a couple of trades with my father. So here we are.

Today's break is a 2020 Donruss Optic baseball blaster box. This a newer Panini product that released not too long ago. So I was a little surprised how quickly I was actually able to get my hands onto some the way things are going in the hobby currently.
 
*still thinking over the coffee idea, but will break into this box some first*


In every blaster box of 2020 Donruss Optic baseball there are 27 cards. Those 27 cards are split up to 6 packs of 4 cards plus a 3 card pack of Pink Parallels and blasters are $20. There are no guarantees in here other than the pink parallels.

The base set and basis of this product is basically chroming everything that the regular Donruss offered. That's the easiest way to put it.

 
The base set is made up of 200 cards. First are the Optic Diamond Kings in the base set


Next are the Rated Rookies. Two things to note, Luis Robert is in here for you prospect chasers (I think some form of Jasson Dominguez as well) and what is up with my run of Brendan McKay cards?! That's the fourth I have found recently in my breaks.

The Rated Rookies are followed by the base cards and ending with All Stars which I didn't get any of in this break to show off.
 
Another thing I didn't get a lot of to show off in this break are the parallels which are aplenty in this product.
 
So if you're looking to build a rainbow, good luck.

They include,
BASE:Holo, Pink Velocity /199, Red/White/Blue /150, Black Stars /125, Orange /100, Spirit of 76 /76, Blue /75, Red /60, Carolina Blue /50, Teal Velocity /35, Black /25, Gold /10, Green /5, Eagle 1/1, and Gold Vinyl 1/1.
FOTL PARALLELS: Pandora /99, Pandora Blue /99, Pandora Purple /99, Pandora Red /99, Cracked Ice Blue /7, Cracked Ice Green /7, and Cracked Ice Red /7.
CHOICE PARALLELS: Red Dragon /88, Green Dragon /84, Liberty /45, and Freedom /45.
RETAIL PARALLELS: Carolina Blue & White, Lime Green, Pink, and Red Wave.
 
If you're keeping track at home, that's 30 parallels including two 1/1's. Though it would look amazing to build one, it will be quite the challenge.

I was just happy to find this Aaron Judge holo silver in my first pack. It's pretty stunning.

Which was my only other parallel besides the three promised pinks which were,

Joe Palumbo. I have no idea who this is


Shane Bieber. Which song does he sing again?


And Jorge Polanco. Those aren't the strongest names in the hobby.

Now that we have taken a look at those, time to move onto inserts!

*before I do that I gotta finish making my coffee, yeah you knew this was coming. I expect you to do the same*
 
Inserts have their own form of parallels but nothing like the base cards...fortunately. Just three to find with Holo, Gold #/10, Gold Vinyl 1/1.


There are 25 of these Retro Donruss 1986 inserts to chase.


Illusions looks really cool, I would imagine the parallels to it helps it stand out more. There are 15 of these to find.


Mike Trout! Alright! These Mythical have 15 cards to chase as well. Solid design here too.


Stained Glass. This card is eye popping. This is actually the holo silver parallel to it. My PC guy Gleyber and all. Solid way to end this break. 

*takes a sip of very hot coffee, then moves onto finishing up this post*

Well my first break of Donruss Optic baseball in some time was okay. The Trout, Judge and especially the Gleyber will be going straight to the PC. I am pretty happy with those. The base and other parts were weak, but overall was a fun break regardless.

However, don't think I felt strongly enough about it to go back for more. I haven't ever been a huge fan of Optic like I am with Prizm. Which coincidentally enough will be our next Coffee Break. Til then, drink your coffee while it's warm and have a good day.

Ratings (ratings based on 1-5 🍵)

Design 🍵🍵
Photography 🍵
Inserts 🍵🍵
Hits Not applicable
Price 🍵🍵
Value 🍵🍵🍵

Monday, August 10, 2020

Behind The Scenes

*sitting here cup in hand wondering if you guys believe what I type in this section is real or not. Light bulb shows above my head, what about a short behind the scenes post to show you how legit this is....*

And before I begin today's post, this blog and everything I put on here is as real as it gets unlike a lot of those so-called "reality TV shows". I have never, ever gotten into any of those. That's not reality. A real game of Survivor would be leaving those people on an island to survive with cameras watching them. Not play a game, unlock food, vote people off the island or something along those lines.

Real survival just like this real blogging.

*takes first sip of coffee*

I do have a couple of Coffee Breaks I could have posted about today in 2020 Optic baseball blaster box and 2020 Prizm blaster box but I thought I would go behind the scenes a little to show you what this blog is all about. Which in the end is simply Cards Over Coffee.....and an added breakfast food occasionally. But that would have been a long weird title for this blog so it's simply and mainly, Cards Over Coffee.

*another sip*

Most mornings I am able to blog on here are the same, first I get up and check Twitter for any notifications and scroll through a little. Sometimes that site can be a drag when you see so many collectors not getting along occasionally so it can be a very fast scroll. Then I will check out rest of the blogs and leave comments where applicable and move to turning my laptop on while I grab my cup of coffee to sit and blog.

This morning though, I am hoping to continue work on my football rookie card sorting. I have been tearing apart my rookie card binders for all sports, moving the good cards into penny sleeves and toploaders while also moving the lesser rookies into boxes. I have also been pulling out set needs I had forgotten about. I haven't decided if I will keep all cards in boxes or if I will stick with binders as well.

More updates on this project will be on here soon. I haven't gotten too far with it yet and want to get more done before I start a long drawn out detailed post.

I have been through roughly 10 teams so far and today I am sorting my, insert throw up face emoji, Patriots. In case you are wondering, I am not pulling out Tom Brady's left and right. In all reality there is none and more of the players in comparison to Shane Vereen. Also some set needs luckily.

*sets down his stack of cards, takes a bite of bagel, sip of coffee and moves on*

Every morning brings a variety and not every morning I have time to blog on here since most of these posts take over an hour for me to accomplish. That's also adding in breakfast time and coffee pouring breaks.

You can't have Cards Over Coffee without both elements.
 
Just to prove I didn't just snap a picture for today's post just to have something to blog about, here's a look back at a post I did last week about bagels and veggie cream cheese. Legit. Put that blue check mark next to the blog's name immediately.
 
*next sip of coffee, bite of bagel, back to keyboard*

Remember that day I spilled butter on my keyboard? Still cleaning that off when I hit some keys. That day I had a dead coffee maker? It happened. The day I had a bug in my coffee? Gross to think about again, but yeah, it's real. You read this as I do things which is part of the fun world I have created on here. I hope you enjoy it along with feeling sorry for me in some of those situations. Nobody should have their coffee ruined.

I know today's post isn't that long, but I wanted to give you a quick behind the scenes look at what happens on Cards Over Coffee not that you don't already read it. I have got a lot of errands to run today so gotta down this coffee, eat this bagel, finish these Patriots cards and start my day.

Cheers! *tipping my mug towards the computer screen, expecting you to do the same*

*smiles picturing you tipping your mug towards the screen in a return cheers and continues to finish coffee and breakfast*

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Coffee Break:2020 Topps Chrome Hanger Box

*looks at grabbing a glass of OJ for a second, nah, just teasing, it's always coffee. Looks forward to today's Coffee Break*

It was the day after yesterday's post, in real time of course, and I get a text from my father informing me that Topps Chrome has arrived to Walmart as it appeared the distributor had come and put up some product.

If you haven't read my blogs before in the past or don't remember, I am a huge chromie. It's sort of like being a groupie, but for Topps Chrome. I have bought some form of Topps Chrome since 1996, it's inaugural year, and haven't missed a year yet of ripping some form of it. Back when Topps had multiple sports, I would even dive into each sport as well. Football chrome was my favorite.

The problem with just dropping everything I was doing to make a quick trip was the fact I had just gone the day before and that it's also 45 minute to 1 hour drive away. I knew I could have had my father grab me some, which he did grab me a blaster before heading to his work I will need to trade for later on, but I wanted some now. I was acting like the girl in Willy Wonka who wanted her father to buy her everything..NOW.

So I began tearing apart the house to give me a reason to go back to Walmart (other than Chrome) to propose the idea to my wife and found a few other reasons to go- admit it, you have done this before, I know you have- and found that we were in need of a few cleaning supplies. Those supplies of course could have been picked up locally at Dollar General, but they didn't have Chrome obviously.

But, we took the trip again which felt like an eternity to get there. Though I really hate going into stores since Covid as I feel like I have to enter them like the CDA on Monsters Incorporated. 23-19!!! 23-19!!! This is only my third trip to Walmart since all of that started as I refuse to really go anywhere unless I have to and that includes the post office. Which is why my trades are way down this year.

My one worry on the very long drive over as I had dancing chrome cards above my head was those darn flippers beating me to it first and taking a long trip for nothing. Well, cleaning supplies. (insert winky face)

As soon as I arrived, I busted out of the car door making the mad dash towards the entrance and the card section. It was the scene from Jingle All The Way as Chrome was Turbo Man.

When I finally got to the section, I couldn't find any at first. Once again that sunken heart of disappointment came in, then I spied one single hanger box sitting on the top shelf. I snagged that faster than the one Boston Cream doughnut in a Dunkin' Dozen box. I felt like a kid at Christmas.

So we finished up our shopping and I walked out of there feeling like a boss carrying around my proudly found box of Chrome. Which by the way, I didn't expect to have to pay $15 for. When did prices go up?

I made it to the car, sanitized my whole body like it was essentials oils, then began to rip.

*takes a happy sip of coffee, then moves onto telling the results*


Every 2020 Topps Chrome Hanger box has five packs of 4 cards. Topps Chrome always has stayed with tradition of four cards per pack. Each hanger promises a 5 card preview pack of Gallery which I assume is a Walmart version. Appears there is one with a five card Topps Update preview as well. As I said above, the hangers are $15.98 now. Insane.


Here are the pack offerings, wish me luck! (yes occasionally I will carry my backdrop for cards around. I don't have an obsession...)

The highlights from the break are the following,


The first pack yielded a Bryce Harper base. There is something about the smell of chrome that just makes you happy. Just like the smell of coffee.


Chrome refractor of Carlos Correa. It was back to back with his base.


Prism refractor of Pablo Lopez. Marlins or not, I live for the shine.


Elvis Andrus purple refractor numbered to 299.

 
Brendan McKay Freshman Flash. Nice looking insert


You know what, I can't stand this insert line in the base Topps, but when you add chrome and refractor shine to them, that's where it's at. Beautiful cards and another McKay.

Before I move onto the Preview Pack, I am sure you are wondering where are any pictures of rookies from my break. Well, I didn't get a single one. NOT ONE. Which says a lot for the product as I am sure rookies will be tough to find which will only drive the product even more.

*takes another sip, moves onto the preview pack*


I really liked Gallery in the 90's, but this newer versions of it I haven't been as much of a fan. It also seems to be the one and only product that sits on shelves for awhile too. My Preview Pack though was fire with talent and gave me a couple new PC cards for my Judge and Trout PC's.

Well that does it. Nothing too spectacular, but I enjoyed the rip regardless. Topps Chrome will continue to remain one of my favorite all time product lines and I feel blessed to had been able to open one of this years looking at many collectors posts and tweets claiming their stores are cleaned out.

Ratings (ratings based on 1-5 🍵)

Design 🍵🍵🍵🍵
Photography 🍵🍵🍵
Inserts 🍵🍵🍵🍵
Hits Not applicable
Price 🍵🍵🍵
Value 🍵🍵🍵 

*breakfast time. takes a sip of coffee, glances over post one more time before hitting publish*

Saturday, August 8, 2020

FLIP'd Off

*gets pumped up looking at the pictures taken for this post, should have played Eye Of The Tiger as well, takes a sip of coffee, then moves onto blogging*

Let me explain a little something about where I live, there are little to no collectors here. I could hit up yard sales with sport cards in the listing and buy them at any point in the day without worrying about them being sold before I got there. I could walk into Walmart a week after a release came out to buy whatever card brand I wanted to. Prizm basketball, my Walmart had tons of it when it hit retail shelves. I could/should have opened more than one of the hangers which is all I opened of it. I wasn't a least bit concerned about never having something to open occasionally when I made the 45 minute to hour long trip.

That's before Covid hit.

Then out of nowhere, you can't find anything here anymore.

I think I would be much more excited if I knew that it's because the hobby is coming back and is thriving in my area, but, that's not the case. The flippers have arrived folks. Cleaning off every single shelf of every kind of product.

I know this because my father goes to Walmart religiously every day and has seen them. He has also seen/heard about a few guys who will stalk down the distributor to grab stuff before it even hits the shelves at ALL local Walmart locations. He has even heard about people fighting over product from some workers at Walmart he knows. He even talked to the distributor once who said they had to switch times they were coming because they had people waiting for them. I haven't seen any of that first hand as I haven't been to Walmart much since Covid, but the few times I have gone the shelves have been dry to the bone with product and have been slowly overtaken with Jack Links products since demand is stronger than the supply.

Here was a recent look at my Walmart shelves (and the Jack Links where cards used to be)

There is two blasters of 2020 Topps Series 2, two Panini basketball sticker books (no stickers) and four packs of 2019 Score football.

THAT IS IT.

It's ridiculous. I know probably some of you reading this right now will probably exit this post because you are one of the guilty ones doing this, but, hear me out from a long time collector. I also know some of you are thinking it's about time someone said something. 

Save some for the little people.

I know I have seen those posts across Twitter, save some for the kids, blah, blah, blah. And every flippers response would be "You would do the Same (as in buying out the shelves)." Or "It's my hard earned money, I will do what I want with it."

My response would be, "I would not do the same since my intention is to open only (its all about the thrill of pack ripping with me) and I could never afford to clean off a shelf." and then "Yes, it is you're hard earned money and you can do what you want with it, but there should be a line to draw with it. You wanna buy three blaster boxes, open one and flip two. Okay. I am fine with that. That means you left some hanger packs, hanger boxes and a few blasters for the rest of us. But, you wanna take a display of every new product the second it hits the shelves with only intention of making money, sorry, I am not a fan. Even the Grinch left behind some stuff when he was robbing the Whos. There has got to be some kind of Card Collector Rule Of Conduct that would back my case."

*takes a sip of coffee, feeling flip'd off*

Fortunately for me, my wife could see my frustration since it had been months since I had physically gone into the store (and the pictures I was taking of it) with the card section and she also spotted the $2 off coupon on the front of a Series 2 blaster box and told me I should grab one.

I wasn't going to turn that down. Who knows how much longer these last two blasters will be on there for. So I grabbed one and thankful that I did. Because it was a good one the flippers left behind. I look at it as a box that flip'd off the flippers.

*smiles like Stephen King behind his cup of coffee, then it morphs into an IT smile before continuing on*

Look at Mike Trout's face, he knows the flippers were coming back to grab this box and the other one as well. He wanted to swing them away.

Let's take a look at how I did,
Normally I wouldn't feature a Yu Chang rookie card as a highlight, but when you pull the base and then

the base Sp at 1:26, you do it.

Normally I would have started off with this. BOOM. First pack into this box had it. I have no intention of selling or flipping it. I have been wanting one for my rookie collection and now I have it. I have also heard these are not easy to find though not being fully announced as an Sp.

Oh look, another solid pull. Vintage /99 and a tough 1:283 odds of finding it. This blaster is rocking so far.

These inserts drive me nuts. I think these should be bonus filler cards and not considered an insert.

I didn't get one of these in my previous blaster (one I had to trade for). Kinda cool.

THE YAAAAANKEEEEESS WIN. ALWAYS WIN. Nice PC card here.

Pete Alonso inserts. I just stick them into my player PC.

Another Yankees find with Severino. Pretty happy with all of the new Pinstripe finds.

A few rookies among this group, great! (I do wish they would just bring back this as a product and not as an insert. Especially since the checklist is 100 cards deep which would be enough for a base set)

Mike Schmidt chrome. Can't go wrong with this one.

And now time for that one-per-blaster medallion. My first one was Bo Bichette and was numbered.
 

This time it is....
 
BOOM. Aaron Judge. Awesome PC piece. Now I just need the Gleyber to go along with it.

That was a lot of fun. I live for the thrill of the pack rip.

*feels really satisfied like I had eaten a Snickers*

I am not sure how retail outlets like Walmart can slow down people from taking an entire shelf of product, but I think it's time they do. They could put a limit on them, but who says flippers won't find other ways to clean off the shelf. I am sure they would. Retail outlets could ask for more product, but that just means flippers take more and not to mention, distributors only get what they get.

For now, I would guess things will continue to be this way. I just gotta hope that my father can time it right with some products so I am able to trade for them and be able to open something newer.

I waited a long time before writing a piece about my feelings on flippers because I know it's a sensitive subject as I know flippers do have their role in the hobby I am very passionate about. It's just that to me. A hobby. It's not a money grub, I don't sell cards at all. I think that's another piece on why flippers bother me some. I am all about buying something, collecting it, trading it, sorting it, etc. The hobby part. Not money. Money is the root of all evil as it's stated in the Bible, "1 Timothy 6:10 has it as: For the love of money is the root of all of evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

Greed is never a good thing and it's hard to see it happening to my hobby and every day I see it causing strife between collectors which is never a good look for it or any newbies/kids wanting in. Just remember that.

It probably also doesn't help when there are influencers out there saying that cards are an investment.  Just remember those Jose Canseco rookies you are still holding onto for your retirement. It's a hobby guys and gals.

Invest wisely.

*final sip of coffee before deciding on breakfast*

Before I close, hot tip, if you do live near me and are checking out the card section, cards aren't hot anymore. That's why there are none. However, Jack Links products, oh yeah, those are where it's at. You should go grab a few or shelf full of that stuff before it's too late :)

Monday, August 3, 2020

The Card Pyramid

*woke up too early, sits down turns on the laptop, forgets coffee, goes to get the most important part of the morning, goes back to sit. Realizes he didn't turn the laptop actually on, he hit the caps lock button. Actually turns the laptop on, takes a big chug of coffee and seems ready to go*

It's another Monday morning. Which usually is a drag for most folks but I don't mind them. Except when I get up too early, then it becomes a drag. Like today may be.

Even though I ate a very late supper, I am already hungry this morning so I will grab what I call my complete meal.

What's in a complete meal?

Let's see,
First you start with the bottom of the food pyramid with your bread. In this case, it's a lightly toasted blueberry bagel. Which the blueberry part covers the next part of the pyramid with your fruit.

Up next, the greatest stuff known to man, Philadelphia Veggie Cream Cheese. This gives me both my vegetable and my dairy.

So I spread the veggie cream cheese on the blueberry bagel, top it off with Coffee with Hazelnut creamer (the cup I already poured this morning) which covers both the Meat/Nuts part of the pyramid and the sugar part and we have a complete meal.

I also know now what you are thinking as well, isn't veggie cream cheese gross on a fruit flavored bagel? Well, I will tell you not at all. I have also put it on a Cinnamon Raisin before. Don't gag too much before you give it a try!

It may sound like an odd pairing, but sometimes the most oddest pairings bring out the greatest things.

*sips some more coffee, takes a bite of his bagel, then another, and maybe another. Then moves onto the card portion of this post*

Another odd pairing is thinking about football players being featured on anything but a football field. You know what though, it works and it works marvelously.





My recent 1998 Fleer Metal additions tells me this. The Fleer Metal cards for 1996-1998 are some of the most unique base cards out there.

Especially the 1998 ones.

Let's take some football players, put some unique background scenes that is based off from the teams location or name that sound obscure but makes them a masterpiece. Who would have thought this genius idea would pan out and be as popular as it is today still.

There were 200 cards in this base set that featured a ton of great scenes and included a few Hall Of Fame rookies.

Let's take a look at some of my favorite cards in the base set,













Barry Sanders with a Lion, pure cleverness.

The rookies on the other hand, don't have such unique backgrounds but instead are out of this world. I mean literally out of this world.



I know one thing, the Peyton Manning and Randy Moss were nailed perfectly with their play because it was out of this world. Two of the greatest to ever play their positions.

However, Ryan Leaf should be shown with a pile of money in the background for what the Chargers spent on him to be their leader. Or maybe a watermark of Peyton Manning's head to show what could have been. I will let you guys decide on that one.

Football players and unique scenes, looks like a well balanced card to me that would fill up a Card Pyramid.

What's a Card Pyramid you may ask? I can see the expression on your face.

A Card Pyramid is similar to the food pyramid. Each section of a card set, base-insert-hits, has it's own pyramid and then has an all together pyramid to make up a product.

An individual pyramid, such as these Fleer Metal cards, has base design as the bottom, player checklist as the middle and back design for the top. Which the Fleer Metal has a well balanced pyramid. A full Card Pyramid would have three parts to make it well balanced. First would be a great base set, followed by unshakeable inserts then topped off with hits. Being a 90's collector, hits are like the sugar to a food pyramid. Not necessarily needed, but nice to have once in awhile in small portions. Though I may have more sugar and hits then I need sometimes which adds a little bit more padding around the collection/waistline.

*finishes up first bagel, moves onto second then takes a sip of coffee to finish up this post*

The big stack of Metal cards isn't a full set. I am still lacking roughly 30 or so cards to completion. I hope to have these wants posted soon.

In the meantime, give the veggie cream cheese a try on a fruit bagel and hope you have a well balanced meal and card pickup today.