Pain And Pleasure With Series 1

There was a lot packed into this week.

Sunday, was the Big Game.

Tuesday, I had surgery. 

Wednesday, was Valentine's Day. 

Yesterday, I had a checkup with my PCP.

And mixed in with all of that Topps released 2024 Series 1 baseball.

It's been a mixed bag kind of week.

But at least I had coffee to carry the week and guess what...some cards too!

When you have cards and you have coffee, you know that means....some Cards Over Coffee.

*takes a sip*

Yesterday on my way to PCP appointment, I checked out on my online health portal on my phone-don't worry my wife was driving- and found out that my urologist wants me to wait until March 22nd to get the stent out. For one, the OR is booked and for two, the longer I can wait, the better chance for the stone and no other issues afterwards with needing to add another stent in.

Ugh.

That is a long time to wait and have pain for. It's been a rough three days, but I was at least able to get some sleep last night.

Hopefully that continues.

*takes a sip*

At my PCP appointment, everything else looked good and I was able to get my hernia referral sent over to the surgeons so I can meet with them. I assume that won't be fixed until an even later date. But I have to take care of things in order and the one I am dealing with right now is at the top of the list. I still need to get some PT done on my injured shoulder so I can have my arm back again.

After I was done with that appointment, I went and spoke to my urologist whose office is downstairs from my PCP about my pain and the surgery and trying to move up the date. Good news is I guess I can be put on a surgical cancellation list, bad news is I am doing all I can do for the pain.

*breathes, takes a sip*

*gets up and puts a new warm beanbag on the back*

*sits back down to do more on this post that already has taken an hour*

After my appointments, my wife wanted to go to Walmart since we were actually close to it for once. All Walmarts here are 45 minutes to an hour away from my house so when you get close to one, you go.

I wasn't expecting to get any cards, but figured I would go look anyways. There was plenty to choose from with Prizm basketball and football (two of my favorites but way too pricy), Stadium Club baseball, Mosaic for all sports and so on. 

And on the top shelf was where it was loaded with 2024 Topps Series 1 baseball. I stared at it...contemplating...my wife saw this from a distance and said it was okay to grab something. Knowing how tight finances are, even though I wanted a blaster for the Easter/Spring parallels, I went for a Hanger Box instead.

But, at least it was something and something I needed this week.

*takes a sip*

Hanger Boxes come with 59 cards. Such an odd number but a good amount. Each box has no guarantees other than some new cards from 2024.

My main want from 2024 Topps Series 1 this year is Jasson Dominguez cards, key rookie cards of hitters and the Easter/Spring parallels. Already knowing I won't get any of the parallels I want from a hanger, I was hoping for the other finds in the box.

Let's see if I did,

I pulled the clear pack out of the box and it started off well finding a Trout at the top. I haven't quite figured out if I like the new design yet or not. Maybe it will grow on me.

I didn't take all 59 pictures as that is a lot and I am not quite up to that yet, so I took pictures of key cards from the break.

(best base rookie I found, no Dominguez or Elly)

(is Ohtani tall or Mookie short?)

These were my key base cards. Looks like there are 350 base overall in the Series 1 set.

Now onto the inserts and parallels which were located in the middle of the pack. I skipped over them when scrolling through and did all of the base first, then backtracked.

Lars is a Royal Blue parallel found in retail.

I will say that the rainbow foil looks super sharp on this card design. Not too bad of a pull here.

Yellow Parallels. I think these are only in hanger boxes.

It wouldn't be a Topps product without throwing it back to an old design for one of their inserts. I despise these.

My favorite insert find was the Stars Of The MLB. Clean design with a shiny background and plenty of them in a hanger box to go around.

 

And the final key card of the box was a blueprint of McCutchen. These are meh.

Overall, didn't quite land anything I needed per say, but it was fun to rip into something new. Actually, it was fun just to be able to rip something for once.

It was definitely a week of pain and pleasure.

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

I probably won't grab anymore of these to open this year and I will be putting my focus on acquiring the cards I want from the product via pwe trade. If any of you have extra rookies or the Easter/Spring parallels call me interested!

Thanks for swinging by today and checking out today's post. I hope all of you have a great weekend.

And make sure you have your coffee ready for the next post!

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Love Is In The Air

Sometimes when there is love, there is pain. Today I am feeling the pain from my surgery yesterday. As I expected, the Urologist couldn't reach the kidney stone and I had a stent placed to help widen my ureters so they can reach the stone in two weeks.

TWO WHAT'S GOING TO BE VERY LONG WEEKS.

All I can say is imagine without too much TMI having to run to the bathroom every hour and a half, going to the bathroom feeling like you are letting go of acid while a mule or donkey kicks in you the kidneys and that's how I feel.

And I went all day yesterday without coffee. NO COFFEE is pain alone.

That changes today. Even though the pain from the stent is there, I was not going empty handed on the coffee end. Especially on Valentine's Day with an item I love.

*takes a sip, maybe kisses it*

Let's move onto something more positive, because today is Valentine's Day and love is in the air. 

Have you ever just saw a card and immediately fell in love with it? Like you needed it and can't live without it?

I had that recently and I am sure you have as well.

When I saw this 2023 Leaf Pop Century Proof Walk Of Fame Kaleidoscope 1/1 of Chevy Chase, I knew I needed it for my PC of him.

The front of the card features like a star/space appeal that my lightbox couldn't even fully capture it's beauty.

The back of the card has a guarantee and a shiny appeal. I didn't undo the Leaf sticker to look closer at the back. My hobby OCD wouldn't allow such things.

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

Before I close out today's post, I wanted to wish my wife a Happy Valentine's Day and that I love you. I am never sure which posts she reads or doesn't.

As for the rest of you, I love reading your guys comments and your input about this blog. So, I guess you can say I love you guys!

I also wanted to remind you of the Coffee Card Hall Of Fame voting and that it needs you guys to nominate cards in. Details on this again can be found HERE. I may add this to every post from here on out for a reminder as I will forget about this too! Haha!

Hope you all have a great Wednesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Cheer Up Mail Days

I can't believe it's almost been a week since I last posted on here, but that's what happens with life sometimes. 

We all know life comes first.

And we all know my life has been rough so far this year.

On Thursday last week for my urology appointment for my kidney stone, I found out my Urologist wasn't going to be available on Friday for surgery as she had the day off. So, I was given a few options including letting it go the weekend and trying to pass it on my own and if I didn't I would have surgery early this week which is the option I took. Sadly though, nothing has passed, which means I am heading into surgery tomorrow morning to get it removed or have a stent put it so they can remove it in another surgery a week or so later.

I have had this procedure done many times and it's not as fun as it sounds. I am absolutely dreading it. Even though they always say the dreading is worse than the doing, I just know how this will go from past experiences.

Ugh.

At least I have my coffee and a strawberry/banana muffin to pair with it along with some cards to post about to keep me distracted until then.

So, let's do some Cards Over Coffee.

*takes a sip, bite of muffin*

I actually didn't have any cards for today's post originally when I was forming it, but then on Thursday after I got home from my appointment, I found two surprises in my mailbox that instantly brought a smile to my face.

First one, is a mail day from Grady M who has been a long-time reader of all of my blogs. At first glance this looks like four blaster boxes, but it's better than that. Grady has shipped me all of his shiny inserts along with any team player cards to me for years and packs them safely this way for shipping. It's like opening up a treasure trove of fun. I haven't fully dug through it all yet, but I plan to when I am resting from surgery and will post some cards along the way.

When time permits.

My second mail day was from the generous Dennis from Too Many Verlanders Blog who surprised me with a bubbler of goodies. I will not be showing off all of the cards here, as most were NY Giants and those get posted on Big Blue Cardboard (make sure you are following that blog and have it on your blogroll) but I will show off some here.

A new Jasson Dominguez for the PC. I am still looking for more and can't wait to get some 2024 rookie cards instead of five years of prospects.

 

My boy Junior! I recently announced how I am deep diving back into adding Griffey's again and hope to come up with a PC number at some point of how many I have.

The final card from the portion I am showing on here I was extremely giddy for.

 

Ruben Rivera Circa Rave parallel /150. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEE IT. There is nothing greater than late 90's inserts and parallels. NOTHING.

Thanks again Grady and Dennis for cheering me up. You guys are some great friends and I really needed this.

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

I am not sure when I will feel up to posting again. All depends on how tomorrow goes but I am hoping it will be sooner rather than later.

I hope all of you have a magnificent Monday and not a manic one.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

The Shoebox Delivers Part 2

Coffee is brewed and hot. Cards are ready next to me, and I am ready for a new Cards Over Coffee.

As promised with Part 1 of the magical Shoebox trade I did with my father, I said I would reveal what key/fun cards were in the trade in a series of posts.

I finally took a few minutes this morning just to snap the pictures I wanted for my baseball part of these posts and I am ready to go with this next installment.

So, let's kick it off and see some baseball cards.

*takes a sip*

There were actually a lot of baseball cards as opposed to other sports in the shoebox. I cannot show off everything that was in there as most were incomplete base sets, so I am putting the main focus on the inserts and parallel cards I discovered instead.

There were roughly 100 of these Collectors Choice stickers in there. Not sure if there was a complete set or not, but there were plenty of duplicates of each player including my main man Griffey.

Roughly ten of these were included in the box with Gary being the best player in the group.

There was plenty of Gold Medallions found from a variety of years. This one is from 1998.

1999 (I posted Jay because we have roughly the same kind of hair cut)

2000.

There was probably about 25 cards for each year. I made sure to double check for Platinum medallions, but there were none. Curses!

There was plenty of these though, 1998 Bowman International Parallel. About 50 to be a rough estimate. 

I thought this was a really cool looking insert concept with the black/white and colored side taking a look at the future and the past. We need more creativity like this now-a-days. There was roughly 6 to 8 of these in the box and these fell 1:6 packs.

There were two Big Shots. These fell 1:4 packs and look great. Ultra nailed it with the insert designs.

Double Trouble inserts. These were the only two in there and fell 1:4 packs with 20 cards in the set.

 

And then what I considered the best finds of the baseball cards if not the entire box, 1:8 pack odds Kid Gloves. Embossed insert with a glove background speaks baseball to me. It also speaks that I need to chase this 12-card set now. If any of you have any I don't have pictured here, let me know!

This sums up the baseball cards of the shoebox. I still have NY Giants which I will post on here, Football which had some really cool finds and basketball with some sneaky fun discoveries.

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

I hope all of you come back and see what's coming up next in this series! I am not sure when I will get to posts with so many appointments and possible procedures coming up, but I will get to it when I can. My urology appointment is currently set up for Thursday, but I have PT on my shoulder tomorrow. And if all goes well,I will have surgery Friday on the kidney stone if I cannot pass it before then.

I hope all of you have a great Tuesday. Remember to tell your loved ones that you love them any chance you get.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

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*

The Shoebox Delivers Part 1

January is finally over with. I am still here and that's a blessing.

I am hopeful that February goes much better.

I do have coffee in hand so that's got to be a good start.

*takes a sip*

Before I kick off today's post, I wanted to give a shoulder update since I was able to get into my MRI and follow up ortho appointment a week early.

Good news is, no tears, the broken piece must be healing, and no surgery required. However, there is a deep bruise under my rotator cuff that is causing my pain and will take a while to heal. I will also be starting PT on my shoulder tomorrow to get the mobility and strength back. Overall, not bad news and I will take it.

 

The other good news is not having to wear this anymore and giving my arm room to breathe. It has helped also ease some of the other pain I was experiencing.

*takes a sip and gets ready the first post of the month*

As I said in yesterday's post, my drafts are running low as I haven't been getting a lot of incoming mail days.

What I didn't remember was that I pulled off a massive trade with my father in-person back in October I never posted. How dare I! 

Especially since it was awesome.

As always, my father was looking to add some rookie cards to his collection that he needed and, on my end, I was just looking for something fun from 1995-1999.

He dug deep into his closet and found a big shoe box full of random cards he got from a friend that didn't mean anything to him, but knew they would to me. I don't even think he checked out what was in there.

Because there were stacks and stacks of pretty decent stuff, which may have made this the best trade we have ever done.

I don't have the individual photos taken yet, but I will. For now, I will leave you with this teaser tray full of cards. I also made sure the best of the best wasn't showing leaving you wanting more...like me when I finish a cup of coffee typing one of these posts.

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

If you had a rough start to your year, I am hoping that your February goes better. Remember that there is only one way to go if you have had down month and that is up.

I look forward to sharing the results of this trade with you guys as well. There is a nice variety from multiple sports.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

A Happy Ending

January has been a rough month for me personally, however this blog has been thriving this month I am happy to report. It's taken awhile, but hopefully this blog will only go up from here.

So, I have my coffee ready and hoping to end the month on a HAPPY note.

*takes a sip*

The problem with posting almost every day and not having a lot of funds is that I am running out of posts in my drafts.

I didn't have a lot of options to end this month on and figured it was time to use up one of my posts that's been sitting in drafts for more than a month.

So, I introduce you a happy ending, no not one of those you dirty minds, an adult Happy Meal ending to the month.

In December, McDonald's brought out a sequel to their very popular Adult Happy Meal they released in 2022. This time instead of the Cactus Plante Flea Market, they have brought in Kerwin Frost (I have no idea who that was until Googled), to help assist in this years design.

Instead of the throwback McDonald's characters of last years, I pulled a Grimace I still have, this time they brought back the McNugget buddies to redesign them.

When you order the meal, you can choose between a Big Mac or 10-piece nugget, get fries and the toy of course which is the reason why I bought the meal.

You whip open the box to see this. Then you eat the food before it gets cold because the only thing worse than eating cold McDonald's food is drinking cold coffee.

And like when I pull an insert in a card pack, I saved the toy for last to see....

Three pieces to put together. Fortunately, it doesn't require rocket science to build like some of their toys do occasionally. I can't handle that.

 

I pulled the Don Bernice who according to McDonald's website is an "experienced fashion designer who creates all the outfits for the Buddies in Frost Way". To me it's either Don King or my preschool teacher who I am leaning more towards it being. That has got to be Mrs. B who had me take a nap when I didn't want to. I can recognize that face she made.

And before you say this is a card blog, why post about McDonald's toys....

 

I present you the Don Bernice rookie card.

Got you there, didn't I?

It's a pretty cool collectible I plan to hold onto. I hope they come back with another Adult Happy Meal next year. I really dig this idea and nostalgia.

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

I just wanted to take a minute out to thank those of you who come by and read this blog when I post and for making this the best month on Cards Over Coffee. I hope you guys enjoy the hard work and time that I put into the blog and every post.

Hope you come ready with a fresh cup for the next post.

Have a great Wednesday.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*