The Wes 30 Part 2

Coffee is ready, cards are nearby, and laptop is fired up. Let's get to some Cards Over Coffee. Hope you have your coffee brewed and in hand as well.

Today marks the final part of my 2023 Christmas mail days on this blog, I will catch up on other parts you won't see on here on Big Blue Cardboard. Hope you are following that or at least have it on your blog reading list or you will miss out!

Without further ado, let's get to the cards from Wes. Here are the Top 15 cards, excluding NY Giants ones from Kerry Collins, Charles Way and Rodney Hampton that you will have to read the other blog to see. Let's just say for each of those players, there are some big time RARITIES in there.

But, there is some wicked cool stuff here too. Let's check it out.

*takes a sip*

15. General Draven autograph. Signed by actor Alistair Petrie

   

14. American Idol relic of Anwar Robinson. Still hoping some day for a Carrie Underwood auto but these relics and autographs from American Idol are still pretty cool. My wife is a big fan of the show.

 

13. TI relic from Ant-Man and The Wasp!

 

12. I told you I like the Country Music relics, but I am blown away by the Autograph Silhouette versions. Really nice-looking cards. Would love to build this set.

11. Ego relic from Guardains Of The Galaxy. Ego is played by Kurt Russell.

10. My first Spiderman relics! Woooooo!! Great additions to my Marvel PC.

9. This card is really mesmerizing in person. I am not sure what others are in this set, but I may need to check it out. The card is lenticular and spectacular.

    

8. Indiana Jones 1/1 sketch! I was a big Indiana fan so this is a cool addition and my first card addition from the movie series.

7. Star Wars 1/1 Sketch!! (picture got deleted for some reason and didn't have time to upload again)

 

6. Aaron Judge Quad Relic. My only Judge relic.

5. I don't own too many NY Giants 1/1's in my collection so when I get one, I am amped!

 

4. Martin Sheen in-person or TTM autograph.

3. This is my very first one of these and it's beyond what I expected. 90's inserts at their best. Shiny, die cut, super cool. Easy choice for one of my favorite cards from this mail day.

 

2. Speaking of cool 90's inserts, falling at 1:44 were Total O. Very cool acetate card. I haven't seen one up close yet until now.

1. The legendary voice of CNN and Darth Vader, Mr. James Earl Jones. He has been on my autograph want list a long time.

And there you go. 

Thirty amazing cards. But there was at least another thirty in top notch NY Giants cards along with a ton of others that could have easily made these into a Top 100 list.

As always, a big thanks goes out to Wes. Cannot repeat thank you enough.

With the end of the Christmas mail days, I have some new ideas for Cards Over Coffee including some new segments, some returning ones and maybe the return of The Cards Over Coffee Hall Of Fame.

Hope you will have your coffee ready for the upcoming posts.

Have a great Thursday as well!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Unfinished Cup: 2023 Donruss Rookie Sweaters

Coffee is really hot this morning, but I am ready anyways for a new post on Cards Over Coffee.

I will let the coffee cool down for now.

With each holiday season since 2020, Panini has released a second Donruss product and renamed it, Donruss Holiday. For the most part the football product is the same exact same product, the only big difference is each blaster comes with an Optic Red/Green parallel and a Rookie Sweater.

For some reason or another, probably my passion for the holidays, I became obsessed with the Rookie Sweaters and began trying to chase down the master set every year. 

The master set includes 42 regular swatches and 8 dual swatches.

With the way finances have been, I am off to a very slow start to the 2023 Rookie Sweater set.

Fortunately, I was sent a RAK on Twitter, can't find the name in my messages anymore, and got at least the set started.

Here is what I have so far,

Kendre Miller

Stetson Bennett

 

Josh Downs

And that's it. So, three down, thirty-nine more to go. Plus, the eight duals.

If any of you have any of these I am missing, please let me know. You can keep track of what I am looking for on a spreadsheet HERE. I don't expect a lot more adds to this, but you never know what I can pull off for trades.

Well, my coffee has cooled down finally and I can take a sip. I need to get breakfast ready and maybe start preparing the next post which will be the final Christmas post. You better be ready to see what Wes sent me in the Top 15.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Worth The Wait Part 2

Coffee is ready, dentist appointment is done-no cavities- and I have some cards to show off finally.

Without further ado, let's do some Cards Over Coffee.

I hope this post was Worth The Wait for you guys, I know I have been biting my time to show this one off.

But, here we go. 

This is a follow up part to the first half of my mail day from @90sNicheFBCard. There is actually a third part to, but you will have to read and check out Big Blue Cardboard to see that part when it's posted.

Today, it is strictly baseball heavy and I know there are plenty of baseball card readers out there.

Let's kick it off with this beautiful Double Relic autograph of Dave Winfield.

I am probably one of the few collectors out there who actually likes the manufactured relics more than a plain colored jersey card.

I always liked Robinson Cano, this is my first autograph of him.

Nick Nelson is a Philly now, sounds like it's a good thing looking at his stats. Yankees traded him off to make room for prospects on their 40-man roster.

 

Gleyber Torres autograph! This will replace the one I traded off. I regret doing that, and even though this one is not in Yankee uniform, it's a rookie one so that's cooler.

And the final card in this post, not final card overall as there will be some cool cards posted on Big Blue Cardboard and there were also many others I didn't post here, was a BIG SURPRISE and wasn't a part of our trade.

It was shocking. It was beautiful. It was like that instant first sip of coffee in that morning that takes you to heaven.

It was my first Juan Soto autograph!!!!

Yes, I am as blown away as you are. Try not to spill your coffee.

I think Bryan sent it because he felt bad I waited so long for the mail day even though I was fine with it. But, I believe he sent it because he is a good friend with a big heart.

Thanks so much again Bryan!

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

This mail day was so worth the wait. There was so much fun in the box and a lot of cards I didn't either remember or recognize as a part of our trade. And of course, finishing out the package with the surprise Soto autograph is never a bad way to end.

I think we are on our way for our newest trade, and I bet this one will also be worth the wait when it's completed.

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Finished Cup: 2021 Donruss Rookie Sweaters Single Relic

It's late, I am up watching what I am hoping will be an Eagles loss in their game vs the Bucs with a sore shoulder. So, since I am not sleeping yet, hopefully I can sleep with my shoulder, I thought I would put up a quick post on here to try and continue to catch up with Christmas mail days.

I am also doing this without coffee, it is late. That's the only reason. When have I ever posted Cards Over Coffee without coffee?

Today's mail day post helped me finish a set I have been chasing for two years thanks to the generosity of Twitter pal, @TyRecino.

Ty is always checking in with me on Twitter to see what some of my needs are for my Sweater sets chases. When he found out I was only three away from completing the 2021 single relic set, he said, it's completed now as he picked up the final three cards.

I waited until Christmas before I opened the package up, as I did with every package that arrived around that time.

Inside was a trade we did (I will be posting this on Big Blue Cardboard), an Eli Manning surprise and the final three cards were the set ones I needed.

First up, Justin Fields. He had an up and down season mixed in with some injuries.

Tylan Wallace who made that unforgettable overtime punt return touchdown against the Rams this season.

And Javonte Williams who seemed to had been lost in the Denver offense that used multiple running backs. I will never understand that Denver offense this year and why they benched Russell Wilson. I am a Wilson fan, I hope he can come back and play somewhere else next year and prove Denver wrong.

And that does it. Set complete. Now I need to tackle the dual relic set for 2021 that I don't own a single card of yet.

Thanks again to Ty for the help and the few other goodies he sent as well.

I hope everyone has a good night's sleep, hopefully I will to. I just took some ibuprofen. 

Maybe a new post tomorrow if I can find time as I have a cleaning at the dentists.

*Coffeeless Card Blogger Out*

I Got One, Pulled A Hit!

Coffee ready, bran muffin in hand (I am 40, you need extra bran in your diet at this age), and laptop and cards ready. You know what that means, it's time for a NEW post on Cards Over Coffee!!

One of the things I was hoping most for this Christmas, was some products to open. ANY.

Especially new football product.

Every year I hunt down new Giants cards from products and try to get one rookie card of every player, but 2023 was tough financially and 2024 is heading down a worse path so far. 

My 2023 football collection is lacking guys like CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Bryce Young, Bijan Robinson, Puka Nacua and others. Not something I usually face at this time of year as I usually have my rookies all set. But now that Prizm has released I kind of like to get those rookies first, but would take any from any product to start out with. The Prizm rookies will be added to my Most Wanted list soon along with some rookies I need as well from baseball and basketball.

Now that I got that out there, I was lucky enough to open up one blaster from the Mrs this Christmas of new football product and felt pretty good about it.

I didn't pull any of the rookies I listed above but did pull some decent stuff. Or at least in my opinion.

 

A couple new Giants cards for the PC. I get excited about pulling PC cards even if they are just base.

Diamond Parallels. Nothing too great there, but always enjoy the look of the look of the Prestige parallels.

The GOAT of all-time running backs. Nobody will ever beat Barry, if only he hadn't played for a franchise that never won a Super Bowl for him.

Georget Kittle insert.

One doesn't quite fit with this receiving trio

Was a terrible ending to this game, but we got them back in the playoffs where it mattered more.

Shiny! I need the Barkley like this.

The GOAT of WR's. Nobody will be Jerry either.

And the biggest surprise came in the very first pack I opened,

 

An autograph! Not sure who Jay Ward is or the odds of pulling an autograph in the product, but I always get excited when pulling something unexpected. It's as great as someone bringing you a cup of coffee you weren't expecting.

Thanks to my wife for this box.

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

I have decided as I typed this, I might do a post as directly on my Most Wanted list. I don't think anyone ever checks it and maybe one of you has something I might need from it.

But, first coffee. Well, first I need to finish up on these Christmas posts. Still a few more to go then posts will be fresher than my newly poured cup of coffee.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

How Do I Let Her Down Easy?

I know my mother-in-law's heart is in the right place, but it's been really tough opening up presents from her the last few years.

Don't take this the wrong way as I know it's not about the presents, I know what Christmas truly is about, but continuing adding stuff to my already packed card room that I don't care much for, puts me in a spot.

I always tell her thank you and that I found some good cards in there as I know it's about the thought, but.....

I can't continue to keep stacking junk wax sets especially since most I already have. 

  

This year's addition was a 1988 Topps baseball set. I have already gotten this one from her a couple of years ago and already had one myself before that.

So, this will take up shelf space and be something that I will probably never open and look at.

Knowing this now, what would you do in my spot? How do I let her down easy on getting me anymore of these? Do I tell her the truth? Do I just continue taking them and deal with it? Do I try to lead her elsewhere? Do I tell her just grab me a cup of coffee and I am good?

Let me know in comments how you would approach this.

Hope everyone has a great Saturday, it's Wild Card Weekend in the NFL, and just because the Giants aren't in doesn't mean I won't be watching! I will be spending my NFL time rooting against the Eagles and Cowboys as expected.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

The Wes 30 Part 1

Coffee is hot and so aren't the cards I am showing off today, so let's get to a new Cards Over Coffee shall we?

Every Christmas since I have known him, Wes formally of Jaybarkerfan/Area 40 blog, sends a box of explosives at Christmas time. Well, not real explosives, just mind blowing, jaw dropping cards or as he usually calls it, bombs.

So, don't show up to my house FBI if you are reading the word bomb here, you won't find bombs, you will find a man in his underwear with a pile of cardboard at a table on his laptop sipping coffee. Okay, maybe not the underwear part, I just wanted to make sure you were reading.

*takes a sip*

Wes always sends so much cardboard that I usually don't post it all, not that I don't appreciate it all, but it's way tooooooooooo much to post.

So, instead, I am splitting it up. There will be some NY Giants posts on Big Blue Cardboard featuring some 1/1 Rodney Hampton love along with a few other players, and on here, I am doing a countdown of my favorite Top 30 cards. Which that alone wasn't easy, I could have done many 1A, 1B and 1C kind of cards, but I just stuck with the 30 the best I could.

Let's kick it off with 30-16.

#30 1997 Score Complete Player Brett Favre. 90's insert with some shine is always a win.

#29 Santa Claus under center. This card has been on my want list a long time.

 

#28 Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe Platinum parallels. I couldn't put one ahead of the other.

27.1998 Presss Pass Kick-Off Die Cut. 

26.1998 Topps Gunslingers Steve Young. Look at this beauty!

25. 1994 Upper Deck Holojam Reggie Miller. Despite my hatred of the player, holograms are always winners. Give me all of them!

24.1993 Pro Set College Connections Drew Bledsoe/Mark Rypien. The original Cracked Ice.

23. A new card towards my set, as I said earlier, holograms are always winners.

22. 2020 Panini Stickers Blue Foil Patrick Mahomes /299. Love me some Mahomies! I still side PC him.

21. 1998 Stadium Club Chrome Refractor Steve Young. They sure don't even make these like they used to.

20. 2017 Leaf Patch Auto of TY Jones. Not any player I have ever heard of, but it's a nice swatch and autograph.

19. 2014 Panini Country Music Tom Gossin

18. 2014 Panini Country Music Barry Knox. I don't know what it is, but I just like this product. Both 18 and 19 have no meaning to me other than that. Wonder how far I am along with the autograph set if I was to look since I have quite a few from this product. Hmmm...

17. 2019 Topps Allen And Ginter Autograph mini Burton Rocks. Sports attorney, agent and writer. Sounds like the career I would want other than being a coffee inspector.

 

16. 2018 Topps Star Wars Galactic Files Reborn Barion Raner Autograph. I am not familiar with this character from Star Wars, but a Star Wars auto is a Star Wars auto and it's a new one to my collection.

And that's it for this round. I will continue my countdown with cards 15-1 next time and it will be quite an ending, so I hope you have your coffee hot and ready for that one.

Til next time!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*