Eli's Card: 2006 Donruss Gridiron Gear Next Generation

Today's latest Eli Manning is brought to you by the letters MD. That's because the nice folks over at MD Sports World sent me a little surprise RAK a couple of weeks ago.

It's sometimes challenging to find an Eli Manning that I don't have unless it's numbered or a rookie card.  MD Sports World must have known this as they sent me a need.

I don't know much about this product or insert line, but looking at the fact the product name is in rainbow foil I can only assume this is a parallel as I assume the base version of this card would be basic or basic foil.

The card numbering also may give that away as it's /25.

Thanks again to MD for the Eli card.

 

Here is a plug-in for them as a thank you to them for sending me the Eli. Their eBay store has tons of fun stuff including some more NY Giants cards I have on my radar.

Thoughts on my latest add is welcomed in comments.

My First Full 90's Rainbow

In the 90's, we didn't have 35 parallels in any set compared to some of today's products. Even the chromed products had only a couple at most. 

When I was recently checking out Burbank Sportcards Beckett Marketplace, I ran into a product I didn't know had some many parallels.

1999 Playoff Prestige SSD was a product loaded with parallels for its time. There were five to chase overall and was probably the most parallels I have seen in a product since Pinnacle Certified.

The base card, which by the way looks spectacular as is, was not numbered.

But, all of the spectrum parallels were randomly inserted into packs and numbered to 500. 

Gold Spectrum

Green Spectrum

Red Spectrum

Purple Spectrum

Blue Spectrum

 

All of the cards look spectacular side by side. Graham was the only Giants player I could find on Burbank that had the entire run.

If you want to search Burbank for a rainbow like this for yourself, check out their Beckett Markeplace HERE and make sure you use the code 15Burbank to save yourself 15%!

Thoughts on this fun discovery is welcomed in comments and if you chased any 90's parallel rainbows?

Show Me The Way:1998 Topps Stars Silver

I have introduced Rodney's Cardboard, Kerry's Cardboard, then Eli's Cardboard yesterday and today I am Showing You The Way!

The fourth major player I collect gets his own segment on Big Blue Cardboard as well.

One of my three newest Charles Way pickups from Burbank Sportcards is this Topps Stars Silver parallel.

The set comes with Base, Silver, Gold, Bronze and Gold Star Rainbow. 

The only difference between the cards is the foil used on the front.

 

And the numbering on the back. The silvers are numbered to 3999.

Thoughts on my latest Charles Way addition welcomed in comments.

Eli's Cardboard:2014 Elite Aspirations Die Cut /90

Welcome to the first Eli's Cardboard post on here.

I have picked up quite a few Eli's recently but wanted to start out with a decent one to kick off this segment on here.

Panini has been known never to put odds on their inserts, parallels or hits like Topps does, so I don't know the odds of pulling today's card, I only know it can't be easy with only 90 of them in existence.

This is a 2014 Elite Aspirations Die Cut numbered to 90. I really like the blue shine it has and any cards that match team color are spectacular.

However, I see I will need to be very careful with the corners on this one when I transition it to my Eli Manning binder.

Back of card shows one-year stats and a write up.

Thoughts on my latest Eli Manning add or the card design always welcomed in comments!

A Mosaic Addition!

You are in for a shiny Tuesday!

I was in trade talks with someone for my very first Kadarius Toney Mosaic card and the trade talks fell through as I didn't have quite what the trader needed. However, this wasn't the end of me landing the Toney. Being the kindhearted person @lordremix876 was, he ended up sending me the Toney along with a few friends as well.

Here is the Toney, it's the NFL Debut subset and a silver Prizm. These look so sharp in person!

 

Mosaic Camo Pink of Giants legend Tiki Barber.

Andrew Thomas Optic silver. Thomas is still the anchor and the best player on the Gmen's offensive line. I hope he can continue his growth this year, Daniel Jones needs it.

Speaking of Daniel Jones, a pink camo Mosaic of him. This is a big break or make year for Jones under the new regime. He has got to show something or he will be gone.

Thanks again to @lordremix876 for the newest additions. It made my week.

Thoughts on these additions or the players welcomed in comments.

Single Card Mail Day:2021 Playoff Rookie Wave Red Kadarius Toney

Welcome back to another Playoff Rookie Wave mail day of Kadarius Toney!

Hopefully by now you are not bored with these.

Today's colored parallel took a while to arrive as I am not sure if the seller took forever to ship or is USPS took forever to get it to me. It made me nervous for a little while but it's in hand and all good now.

So here is the red which matches parts of the Giants away uniform. Looks really sharp. You can tell the differences in parallels for these by looking at the sand color.

Back of the card as well which also tells us it's a Prizm parallel.

So far, I have the following, Base, Blue, Die-Cut, Pink, Purple, Red, Silver, Gold /10, and Touchdown 1/1.

Here they are all together, and yes, I forgot to showcase the blue on here, but check it out below.

Don't tell me you don't think these look cool whether you are a Giants fan or not.

I actually have at least one more on it's way and more updates to come. If you see any of these I don't have, please let me know. I am hoping for the rainbow, but I never get my hopes up for that.

Thoughts on today's addition and my rainbow beginning is welcomed in comments!

Father's Day

My father wasn't the best role model or someone you would brag to your friends about, but he did the fatherliest thing a father could do and that was spending time with his kid.

A lot of my childhood memories come from spending time with him.

Whether that was playing backyard baseball, football and basketball or playing a football game on a Sega system we would rent from the video store or watching NY Giants football together. I would also go to his work and take tours and get home from school and go watch him play softball. We also spent a lot of time enjoying the sport card hobby we had together with sorting, looking up values in Beckett and planning our next pickups.

Moments were being made every minute we were together.

I ended up following in his footsteps for the music he enjoyed, the teams he rooted on, the talk-to-anyone jokingly personality and some of how I collect cards. I took on what I considered were the good traits from him.

Even though I took on some of his card collecting traits, I also began my own collecting journey as well. Despite being a big time NY fan, he never actually collected any of the New York teams or players, but I do.

One of those players is soon-to-be Hall Of Famer, Eli Manning. These are my latest additions from a multiple websites,

(20/20 eBay 1/1!)

(my first Shockey/Eli dual relic)

 

The final card which features Super Bowl 42 with the Eli escape and Tyree helmet catch, is another connection between my father and myself. It marks the first time we got to watch and celebrate a Giants Super Bowl win together and what a way to do so.

Even though our lives are busier now, that Super Bowl was actually the last game we watched together, he still finds a way to spend time with me with daily phone call or Facebook messenger check-ins. Most conversations start and end with cards, but there are discussions of life as well.

Happy Father's Day dad. I don't think you will see this, but if you happen to be looking up cards and do, I hope you enjoy this.

Also, Happy Father's Day to the rest of the fathers, stepdads and fatherly figures out there. Have a great day and take some time out for yourself today. But, also remember why you are being celebrated today and celebrate with them as well.

Rodney's Cardboard:2021 Illusions /25

Welcome back to the latest installment of Rodney's Cardboard.

Today, we will be kicking off a streak of Rodney Hampton Illusion adds. Well, are they technically Rodney's? They are to me.

The player featured on here is Saquon Barkley so technically it is his cards, but Rodney is featured in the background.

From what I have found information on, there are five cards to be chased. I don't know if there is more as this checklist is completely messed up and confusing.

Here are the ones I know that exist so far, /35, /25/ /10/ /5 and 1/1. If there is any others outside of those, that information would be new to me.

Today's card is the /35. As you can see, the main part of the card features Saquon.

 

But there is some faded Rodney in this card along with his name on the back as well.

Your thoughts are welcomed on the lastest Rodney Hampton add in comments.

Is This Really Worth $50?

My Mother-In-Law has always been great to me, when she finds something at yard sales, antique shops or at Walmart that she thinks I would enjoy, she will buy it.

She has picked me up boxes of cards, baseballs she thought were signed, stuffed animals featuring my teams, and even lunch a few times. Whoever turns down a hoagie?

Her latest buy though has me scratching my head a little as I am wondering how badly she overpaid for it.

Two weeks ago, my Mother-In-Law went to an older gentleman's yard sale and was looking around when she found a picture that was hidden behind a stack of books that stood out to her. She thought I would enjoy the picture as it featured two Yankee legends, so she asked the man how much and he said $50 as it's a rare piece. He also told her they were no longer printing anymore of this photo from the negative so it could only go up over time.

She then purchased the item and called me to make sure I was home as she found something amazing for me.

I immediately jumped to some big card purchase, so I rushed home as I was out running errands at the time. Who needs groceries with today's prices anyways!!

I was at home well before she arrived, so I waited like a dog by the door whose owner was coming home soon.

Upon her arrival, I peeked out the window and saw no box of cards and only a photo she carried in.

That's when she handed me this photo and told me the story behind it. The photo features Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth in a photo I hadn't seen before. It looks pretty cool, but for $50?. Not sure that cool.

The item was created by The Bearly Collection Of Rare Negatives.

It's not a company I had ever heard of either. Of course I don't buy a lot of photos anymore as I store all of that stuff in totes since I currently don't have the space to display it. Maybe someday.

She then wanted me to do some research on the photo and find out if she overpaid for it and I did, except I couldn't find any information or another photo like it on eBay at least.

That's where you guys come in. Let me hear your thoughts. Did she overpay? Get a deal? 

And also let me know if you have you seen another like this? Own a Bearly Collection photo yourself? 

Hit me up in comments below!

Genesis

I must apologize right off that if you clicked this link hoping to see a post about Phil Collins songs, this isn't it. I do enjoy listening to I Can't Dance, Land Of Confusion and Hold On My Heart.

Today's post is about my first Mosaic Genesis parallel thanks to a trade with @NekBone860.

I have been wanting one of those parallels for a while as they look really sharp from what I have seen and when I saw that @NekBone860 had one from my beloved Giants, I needed it. 

Luckily for me, @NekBone860 and myself have a long history of trading and quickly worked out a deal.

Along with the centerpiece of the trade, I also landed a couple more Golladays.

Swagger insert Prizm parallel

Silver Prizm base card parallel

Mosaic Mosaic base card parallel

And now onto the biggie from the trade....

GENESIS! Giants blue against the Genesis background is stunning.

Glad I finally have one of these! I have one more of these than Golladay had touchdowns last year. Let's hope for a better 2022 season for him.

Thanks to @NekBone860 for the trade and hope we can do another soon.

Thoughts on my newest addition is welcomed in comments along with your favorite Genesis song.

The Pope Has Arrived

When I window shop on eBay, I always run into the funnest (still not sure if this is a word) cards that weren't even a part of my shopping.

One of those cards popped up in the past couple of months when I was window shopping for presidential relic cards from the 2009 Topps American Heritage set. 

I immediately added the card to my watch list as I didn't have the funds, which is how it works for me with most cards I want.

Luckily for me this time, I fell into a situation of winning a contest on Twitter and was able to bring the card home. The contest was from @GloriousMattB who would purchase a card on eBay under $25 for the winner. I was chosen because the card was so unique.

This Pope Benedict XVI card fit my non-sport card collection, my Yankees collection and my unique relic collection all in one. 

The card showcases the Pope and features a swatch of authentic Yankee Stadium Wall.

 

Back of the card gives the usual gibberish. If Panini wrote this card back, it may have said this wall relic is not from any specific Pope event, not Pope warn, Pope touched, or even from Yankee Stadium.

These relic cards weren't terribly tough to land like some cards in the set as it fell 1:33 hobby and 1:135 retail packs. Some of those tougher to find relics are the ones I really want with pieces of the White House. That's pretty cool!

If you are curious about the Pope and Yankee Stadium connection, it's from when the Pope did his U.S. tour and held a massive mass in 2008 at Yankee Stadium. I guess you can say this is a moment in history on this card.

Thanks again to Matt for the card. It's a lot funner (yes blogger keep red underlining this word as a misspelled word, but I plan to keep using it) to actually own the card.

Thoughts on my latest addition and if you have seen or heard of this card before welcomed in comments.

A Fun Trade Concept

In the world of "values" and worrying about every nickel and dime, it's nice to see someone break outside the box and trade in a unique way I haven't seen before.

Yes, I have seen plenty of mystery trades such as people posting cards to be claimed and you sending back a surprise from their PC list, but to have a trade that is just send back whatever you find equal, is interesting and fun.

I was tagged in this fun trade thread hosted by @tonyaces by a fellow Giants fan that spotted a card he thought I would enjoy. Of course, he was right.

Along with that card, I found a couple more I needed for my collection as well.

I traded off most of my Jasson Dominguez collection regrettably, so I am now trying to rebuild it. This was a great piece to start with. I must also apologize for posting a non-Giants card on here.

I don't know what these parallels are called in Rookies and Stars this year, but they are pretty stunning. This was the card that the fellow Giants fan tagged me for and was the one that started my claims. I was not going to say no to this one regardless of Saquon's future status with the Giants.

And my final claim was this die cut parallel of Daniel Jones. I didn't find much Select, one hanger box last year, so there are lots of Big Blue gaps in my collection.

Thanks goes out to @tonyaces for this fun trade thread and I have got to gather your return cards still. I may have to steal your idea and use it too. I liked it that much.

Thoughts on this form of trading and my newest pickups is welcome in comments!

Toney And Salsa

A couple of weeks ago, I had three solid football numbered cards up for trade on Twitter looking for something for my collection in return. I was looking for Big Blue or non-sport.

It took a few days, and a few offers before one of the cards caught someone's eye and before what they had in return caught my eye.

@flickavic, a Washington Commanders fan (feels weird writing that out for the first time), saw my 2021 Illusions King Of Cards /149 red of Sean Taylor and knew he had to have it for his Washington collection. He also knew he had to get rid of some of his Giants cards since they were a hated rival which was a win/win both of us.

The three Kadarius Toney's in this trade I already have multiple copies of, but I was okay with that.

Base Card from Prizm Draft

Crusade subset from Prizm Draft

Score rookie

Becuase this final card was the one I had my eye on the most.

 

2014 Topps Triple Theads Patch relic /36 to the words of SALSA of Victor Cruz. The L is the actual patch swatch on the card while the rest is plain jersey. If anyone remembers Cruz, Salsa was the dance he would perform in the endzone after every touchdown he scored. 

I always thought the relics that were designed like this were the best instead of a square. I can't wait to see what Fanatics does with Topps football when the time comes and if they bring back a brand like TTT.

Thanks to @flickavic for the trade. Hope we can do this again.

Thoughts on my mail day welcomed in comments.

Monday Morning Shines

I have been putting myself out there more for trading since the pandemic. It's an adjustment from the change of the overall hobby landscape for myself. Without trading, I won't be seeing many cards make their way to my mailbox.

The results of putting myself out there more has been very beneficial for my collection as I have added some cool cards I didn't have before.

One of my recent trades was made with @stevenweeks1217. Not only did it haul me in some NEW Kerry Collins, some set needs and some fun 90's inserts, but he also had a few Giants I needed for my collection. You can see the rest of my goodies on Twitter I hauled in this trade. 

I plan on bringing back the Kerry Collins Cardboard segment back at some point and it will be on here breaking down my newest finds. I will do Giants uniform only though to stay TRUE BLUE on here.

Anyways, let's move onto my small haul of Giants from this trade.

I don't remember having this Skybox Premium Ron Dayne as I don't have a lot of Dayne. I was on hobby hiatus in 2000. What a terrible time to have taken off to with Brady in the mix!

The next card is this 2008 Topps Chrome rookie refractor of Mario Manningham. I still to this day am amazed by Eli's throw and Manningham's catch in Super Bowl 46. If you haven't seen that one, do yourself a favor and head to YouTube.

 

The final card is stunning, there is nothing like these 1994 Finest refractors. Today's refractors don't come close. I had the base Meggett but not the refractor until now. 

And in the package was this surprise tattoo,

 

I will use this on my binder cover, but unpeeled.

Thanks again to Steven for the trade, I hope we can do this again.

Thoughts on my mail day welcomed in comments!

Single Card Mail Day:2021 Playoff Rookie Wave Silver Kadarius Toney

10 Days ago, I posted how I fell in love with this year's 2021 Playoff Rookie Wave and how I was going to chase what I could of them especially in Kadarius Toney form.

Well, today is my latest add to my chase with a few others on their way as I type this. Unless USPS loses it.

The one today I am posting is what I consider the first parallel in the series with a silver. I think the parallels for this set make the design stand out even more.

 

Back of the card. The only difference between this back and the base back is the word Prizm printed on top of Panini.

So far, I have the following, Base, Blue, Die-Cut, Pink, Purple, Red, Silver, Gold /10, and Touchdown 1/1.

I will continue to update this chase as I go.

Thoughts on today's card is welcomed in comments!

More 2021 Playoff Adds

This year's 2021 Playoff football product had six NY Giants in its base card set excluding the rookies. I had already found the first three in Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram but was missing the final three until today.

After opening a couple of fat packs, I was able to piece the other three together,

Lawrence Taylor who possibly is the greatest defensive player ever.

Darius Slayton who had great chemistry and played amazing his rookie year has dropped off some. Hopefully he will continue to be a Giant and pick up his game this year.

Final card I needed was the Giants big offseason add last year in Kenny Golladay. He didn't quite do what the Gmen had hoped but maybe this year with new coaches and a new look on the offense things will be different.

I am still in need of a couple rookies, all of the inserts and all of the parallels except one card. It's not easy to chase all of them as a team collector but I will chip away what I can when I can.

Thoughts on today's additions welcomed in comments.