Tradin' With Tim

As I posted awhile back, I am buried in mail days and needing to take about a million pictures. Someday I will get there, if it's only a few pictures at a time.

Today's is one of the oldest mail days I have been sitting on to show off and it's from my buddy Tim, aka, @CardpocalypseNC.

We recently pulled off a trade, well, somewhat (more on that soon) and he sent his end to me first. As for his end, I have no idea what he wants quiet yet but being the great guy he is, he is patient on his return.

For now, I will show off my end of the trade. 

Obi Toppin Rookie from Hoops.

Quickley yellow parallel from Absolute Memorabilia

Some Gmen!

Outstanding Giants sticker.

Metal Universe!! I will take all I can get.....

Especially when they are this cool!

Tim has always been great about set help chasing for me and once again helped this time with my 1995 Ultra Gold Medallion chase,

This was help for the second series. I am also chasing the first series.

A couple new Griffeys, of course I chase Griffeys with eye appeal first.

Anna K cards. Can't complain about these.

Megan Rapinoe. I didn't land her in my box break, so Tim passed one of his dupes along.

I have another card to show off, but that will wait for another day, another....blog?

Thanks again Tim for the trade and I am looking forward to the next one.

Rodney's Cardboard:1997 Pinnacle Inside Gridiron Gold

The first Rodney of the New Year comes thanks to my friend Tim @CardpocalypseNC.

Today's card is not an easy one to find. In my almost five years of collecting Rodney, I have only seen this one twice. Once I missed, a second time I wasn't going to. Which is where Tim came in with the save.

These silver foil cards are die cut, with a gold foil touch and fall 1:63 packs or in Pinnacle Inside terms, cans.

 

The back is the same other than the parallel name.

Thanks again to Tim for the help.

Have a great Sunday!

Saturday's In The 90's: Metal

 

There's not much I am going to say about today's post as the pictures of these cards speak for themselves.

I was reminded back at the end of 2020 how awesome and amazing the Fleer Metal sets were from 1996-1998 and that reminder led me to seek out any and all of the cards I could get my hands onto regardless of sport.

My buddy @CardpocalypseNC and I pulled off a trade where he included a good amount of Fleer Metal cards.

So, even though my writing in today's article is short, I think the images will say enough.

I could stare at these all day. I can't wait to add more.

Thanks again to Tim on the Metal cards and my apologies for taking so long to post about them!

Giants Cardboard:Rooting Them On

  

It's always hard to watch the NFL Playoffs when your team is not in, but I usually find a player or team I root on. A lot of the time these players or teams may have former Giants on them or are simply players I collect or enjoy to watch.

This year there is one team in each conference I am keeping my eye on.

In the NFC, Tampa Bay is slowly rolling through the playoffs and beat the Saints yesterday. Yes, they are led by one of the greatest QB's to ever play the game but my eyes are on Jason Pierre Paul. 

Pierre Paul was drafted by the Giants in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft and played 7 seasons, won 1 Super Bowl and played in 2 Pro Bowls for them before they traded him in 2018 to the Bucs for a third round draft pick and a swap of 4th rounders. Seems like a loss for the Giants in that trade and was the beginning of their house cleaning and downward spiral. JPP had a big first year with the Bucs recording 12.5 sacks something the Giants could have definitely used with their lack of QB pressures until this year.

In the AFC, I am rooting on the Chiefs. Actually, I am rooting on the Chiefs to win it all. It would be okay to see JPP win another title but I don't think it would be to see Tom win another as he has enough. I am a big Patrick Mahomes fan but I also like the Chiefs defensive coordinator Spags as well.

Steve Spagnuolo, was hired in 2007 to be the Giants defensive coordinator by coach Tom Coughlin. The season started out tough for his schemes but once the players bought in, they bought in. He led that defense to beat the undefeated Patriots team in Super Bowl 42 in which he sacked Tom Brady so much Tom forgot what game he was in. A couple years later he earned a job as head coach of the STL Rams that didn't go well. He then bounced around different teams before returning to the Giants in 2015 where he led the Giants to one of their worst defensive outputs in team history before the 2016 turnaround where they ranked 10th in the league.

When the Giants began their house cleaning job in 2017, Spags was apart of it. He became the Chiefs defensive coordinator in 2019 and turned their defense into a Super Bowl winning one.

My hope this upcoming weekend will be that the Chiefs and Bucs prevail and set up a Super Bowl where I can just sit back and not care who wins.

As for the Giants, there seems to be some hope. They have a young nucleus, a good head coach and I feel just a few players away from a playoff spot.

Their biggest issue is not having enough offensive weapons with their two only bright spots being

Darius Slayton who was drafted in the 5th round of the 2019 NFL Draft has put up decent numbers with 98 receptions for 1491 yards and 11 TD's in just two seasons. He also has a lot of chemistry with QB Daniel Jones. If he could have stayed healthy in 2020 those numbers could have been higher.

The other bright spot is Super Star RB Saquon Barkley who was drafted 2nd overall by the Giants in the 2018 NFL Draft.

His rookie year was astounding and he was amazing to watch. He put up 1,307 rushing yards, 721 receiving yards and 15 total (11 rush, 4 rec) touchdowns. He looked unstoppable.

A high ankle sprain in 2019 lingered throughout the season but he still managed to put up another 1,000 yard season and had some impressive runs.

In 2020, Week 2 against the Chicago Bears he tore his ACL ending his season. He ended with 34 rushing yards on the season as it was a rough start to begin with. I think if he had stayed healthy, the Giants may have won a few more of those close games they lost later in the season when the offensive line started to gel.

I am looking forward to the 2021 NFL Season. I say this every year that I feel the Giants are a team on the rise but it took til this year to actually feel it. If they can build more offensive pieces around Jones to go along with these guys next year could finally be the take off year I have been waiting for. Maybe for once I will actually have my team to root for in the playoffs.

Thanks also to @CardpocalypseNC for this Giant mail day.

Thanksgiving 2020

It's 2020 folks, will Thanksgiving be more like Halloween and should we be aware of a zombie turkey that will attack us in our sleep, stuffing that will explode when your pour gravy over it or potatoes that won't mash, a pumpkin pie that is actually mincemeat pie or will there be any form of normal for this holiday?

I would say with this year, you just never know.

I know for myself, the holiday won't be the same. The usual family gathering thanks to good ole foe Covid won't be happening with family afar in Boston and Nashville. I am also this years Thanksgiving host for the first time in over 10 years and just doing an inner family celebration.

Just because things have been rough, it doesn't mean there isn't plenty to be thankful for.

First off, I want to thank you today for coming to read today's post. I am thankful to have readers such as you to take time out to read my ramblings.

Secondly, I have all of this to be thankful for,

• I am thankful first of all for a loving and caring God.
• I am also thankful for my wife and family
• I am thankful for having food on the table and a roof over my head.
• I am thankful this year for my health which up to this point has stayed par.
• I am thankful for this blog that gives me an outlet to share my hobby since I don't have collectors nearby.
• I am definitely thankful I haven't caught Covid.
• I am thankful for the great people over at Burbank Sportscards. Which by the way you can save 10% on your orders at their Beckett Marketplace store by using code 15Burbank.
• I am thankful for great hobby friends both in the blogging world and on Twitter. I am thankful for you all, don't take it the wrong way that I am about to point some out, as I am thankful for you all once again. But, I am extra thankful for great friends like Wes, Grady M, Stephen Furlong, @90sNicheFBCard, @CardpocalypseNC, and @ShaneSalmonson who have helped me in many ways and hopefully know I got their back as well.
• I am just thankful for life and waking up each day is a blessing in itself. I love life.

Third, I am thankful for like Julie who lets me pick their pockets. Hope that didn't come out wrong.

In my latest claims from Julies pockets that are always full of variety I hit up a bunch of different collections,

90's inserts

Kellogs 3D cards that I just can't say no to now

90's parallels

90's die cuts

Great looking cards

Non Sport

"Rookie Cards"

If there had been some NY Giants cards there I would have tackled almost everything I collect. So thanks again Julie for allowing me to pick your pockets. If you haven't checked out Julie's blog, A Cracked Bat: Baseball Cards and a Hot Dog I suggest you do so! Fun name and blog.

I hope everyone is thankful for that last part even in the lesser than great days. Everyday is a blessing to be alive and it's best to be a blessing to someone else today. They will be thankful for it, I promise. Even if it's simply just saying hi or a simple smile. We can use even the simplest of blessings in a year like this.

Sending my wishes that everyone who reads this has a Happy Thanksgiving, eat food til you can't move, watch football, and make moments happen. Enjoy your day and if you are thankful for something, let me know in the comments. I look forward to reading them.