I Have The Only 1 (of 1)

With the excitement building around this year's NY Knicks team, I figured it was time to add something to my Knicks PC since it has been a long time since I have done so.

Now, I don't normally just collect any Knick. Most of my collection focuses on 90's players I grew up watching.

One of which I actually PC in Allan Houston.

So, I took to the bay to try and find a cool card that I could add. It didn't take long before I discovered one and an affordable one at that.

I know many complain about Leaf Trading cards and their lack of licenses, but where they lack in licenses they make up for in creative designs.

 

Like this one that is not only signed but is a die-cut shiny standout 1 out of 1 card.

I know the obvious miss here is the lack of the word New York on that jersey, but my focus is more on the overall look.

I think this is one of my more favorite Houston cards I own now.

My hope is that this new addition will serve as a good luck charm and help the Knicks make it to the Finals. Cleveland is a tough team and just took down the number one seed. This will be an intriguing matchup for sure, one that I can see going six or seven games.

In comments today, let me hear about your favorite 1/1 card (if you have/own one)

Prepon This Mail Day Post From Dennis

 

Christmas may be over, but posts about my mail days from Christmas are not.

I received quite a few mail days overall around Christmas, with some being from trades, some being from RAKs and some being my usual Christmas gifts from yearly collecting buddies.

To kick off this New Year, my blog posts are going to be playing catchup on all of those mail days which begins with todays from Dennis over at Too Many Verlander's blog fame.

Every year, Dennis hits up quite a few bloggers and maybe even former bloggers with his excellent Christmas mail days. Mine, as with any mail day I get from Dennis, did not disappoint.

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This is a Gold Medallion from one of the top running backs in NY Giants history.

I can't remember, but pretty sure I claimed this card and

this one as well for my 90's PC. I never turn down a great looking 90's card regardless of who the player is.

Speaking of that, this Bernie Williams right here may have been one of my favorite cards from the entire mail day. This is from 1998 Pacific Paramount and I definitely need the Griffey like this now.

Kadarius Toney isn't one of my most favorite former Giants players, but he was still in blue if even for a short time. The Prizm green is a super shiny cool in-person card.

Plaxico Burress however is one of my favorites. He is also the one I believe helped lead Eli Mannings career and definitely was the reason the Giants made a run in 2008 and beat the Patriots in Super Bowl 42.

Allan Houston will always rank as one of my favorite Knicks all time. I think this may be an in-person or TTM autograph? Not sure if this one is on his checklist. I haven't had the chance to check either.

The next two cards Dennis must have seen on my all-time want list.

My very first Ike Hilliard autograph. I don't know how I didn't already have one since Ike played for the Gmen so long ago, but I didn't. Now I do and he can be crossed off.

 

And Laura Prepon who most may remember as Donna Pinciotti in That 70's Show. That's the main reason I wanted to have this autograph. This goes in the non-sports nostalgia pc part.

There you have it. Another great mailing by Dennis. Thanks again.

This is just one of many mail day Christmas posts I have to come. So, grab your coffee, hot cocoa and get ready for a long ride to see some really fun cards.

Cracked The Top 10

 It has taken me awhile, but finally cracked the Top 10 with my Allan Houston PC on TCDB.

I am still miles from reaching the Top 5 and apparently there is actually a Houston PCer at number one, so not trying to compete here. The goal here is just to collect what I can of my favorite Knicks basketball player.

So I am on the lookout for others I need still since there is plenty to chase.

Moving Up!

I am moving on up in the Allan Houston rankings on TCDB. With tonight’s latest card add and a few others I have or will finally crack the Top 10 as a collector of Houston on the site once I take a second to input them.

This card isn’t anything too fancy, it’s just a Crystal Ball subset card from 1996-97 Fleer basketball.

 If I had made this card, I would have added a nice layer of rainbow foil in the back. But that’s just me, I like shiny.

Yes. You could say I am the character from Moana and I would be fine with that.

Thoughts on my latest Allan Houston add and if you have any extra Houston’s kicking around, welcomed in comments!

Houston's Cardboard:2000-2001 Bowman's Best

 

Shiny cards, base or not, always attract me when it comes to PC cards.

I lost track of how many Allan Houston cards I have now, something I need to update on here, but it's well over 100 and last I checked I was in the Top 10 of Houston collectors on TCDB. It's where I keep track of my Allan Houston cards since I can't find a checklist to transfer to my Google Sheets. I will never be the top collector, but maybe can crack the Top 5 which is a goal I set for myself.

Houston's Cardboard:1996-1997 Fleer Metal Metallized

 

The joy of Fleer Metal. That etched foil goodness and wacky designs makes it appealing to everyone's eye including those who may not have grown up in the era when these were created.

This is one of my first Allan Houston Fleer Metal adds and hopefully won't be the last. It has been way too long to remember who I traded with to land this but thanks to them now.

Houston's Cardboard:1999-2000 Fleer Mystique

 

Shiny Houstons are always the first cards I want to add to my Allan Houston PC. In my last trade with @CardPocalypseNC I was surprised with a stack of Houstons in my trade package. All of which will make an appearance with this segment.

Fleer Mystique was a fun product in the late 90's, but I do remember one problem with it. Sometimes the foil on the card would peel up. Hopefully I can store this one in a great place so it doesn't.

Cardboard Catch Up

 

If you had read the title of this post too quickly, you may have read Cardboard Ketchup. Which sounds like a unique marketing idea whether it's putting cards in ketchup bottles (think cards in cans like Pinnacle Inside) or making homemade ketchup with the labels to the bottles as iconic cards of the past but that's not what this post is about.

I know you have a sad look on your face right now but hey, I am still showing off some cards so that's gotta make things better, right?

This summer I went from having nothing to post about to way too much to post about and not enough time to do so. I have upped my trading a little bit, had some surprise mail days and even a RAK or two. Today's post is showing off a couple of free cardboard mailings I had.

The first mail day comes from @NamathSeaver who was nice enough to pass along the Oakley you saw above and these two new Allan Houston cards for my PC.

 

I haven't added to this PC in quite some time after my funds left out of the door like an angry woman and slammed it shut behind their exit. So it was nice to add a couple and now I really need to update my PC on TCDB of Houston.

Thanks to Gary for the mail day!

The next mail day is courtesy of @nekbone860 who joined in on my newly added RAK Friday on Twitter. You just list what your PC is, people will respond and send you a mail day for free. All that is asked of you is if you get a mail day for you to pick someone else to forward it on to.

@nekbone860 hit up a variety of different PC's for me,

I

With 90's inserts, non sport and NY Giants.

Thanks to @nekbone860 for the mail day. Hope you enjoy the one I sent you as well.

I still have much to post about and hopefully at some point here I can get caught up again.

7 Day Trading Card Challenge Day 4:Favorite Basketball Card

My buddy Tim over at Cardpocalypse, has created a 7 day Trading Card Challenge which has taken the blogosphere by storm.

There is a good variety of topics to cover throughout the challenge so are you up for the challenge? I am.

So let's take a look at Day 4 of the challenge. Favorite basketball card.What hasn't been announced fully, is that I am PCing Allan Houston big time right now. He was my favorite Knicks player growing up so I will take any and all that anyone has to trade, well, as long as I don't have it.

When it comes to basketball, I actually have quite a decent collection I could have chosen cards from, but I took the new PC and my favorite card from it instead.

 

Allan always made it rain just like this 2019-2020 Pink variation of the Making It Rain from Spectra. Hooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuusssston for three. Yes! I can hear Marv Albert's voice in my mind. He was one of my favorites to listen to and the NBA on NBC in the 90s was also epic.

This card is almost an eBay 1/1 with jersey number.

I will have further updates on Allan Houston over on Cards Over Coffee at some point. So please go follow that blog.

This has been a fun challenge so far, let's see what I will show off for Day 5.

Last Weeks Mailings

It's Friday again, that's crazy to think about.

I don't know about you, 2020 has been crazy, but the days are flying by. Which is a good and bad thing. I hate to see life flying by, but I don't mind seeing 2020 come to an end before anything else happens.

At least I always have cardboard no matter what 2020 throws my way.

Recently, I pulled off another trade with @CardpocalypseNC who always brings the fire. And this time, brought some set help fire.

A ton of Red Siege needs. TONS.

And look at that, the white slime relic was sent by Tim which finishes up this extremely tough and rare Ghostbusters Slime Set for my Master Set.

And the last card this Game Breakers set help of Bobby Humphrey. (later on I realized Tim helped my RJ Barrett PC with a Panini Sticker)

Big thanks to Tim for all of the set help. I have started your next pile already!

My next mail day came via Cards On Cards who passed along some NBA love.

My boy John Starks. I always forget he didn't always stay with the Knicks as he went to the Warriors and the Jazz. To me, he will always be a Knick.

And Allan Houston, my latest PC chase. I am pretty sure the Rookie Sensations card I don't have

Big thanks to Kerry.

And the final mail day is a tease of a mail day. It may have been one of my greater mail days all year so far. Not that all aren't great, but this one hit close to heart/nostalgia.

The Diamond King brought the fire. But, hate to say it, well not really, the only way you will see what's in here is if you go follow/read Cards Over Coffee. You can check that out, HERE.

Thanks to The Diamond King on this trade. I will be trying to send some cards your way at some point.

I had a great week of mail days, I hope the streak continues!

Players Of My Past #1: Allan Houston

Here is another new segment I have created on here. These will be players I grew up watching or enjoying in the 90's. Along with a short discussion about the player, I will feature my Top 5 favorite 90's card of each one. The posts will cover all four major sports.

ALLLLLAAANN HOUUUUUUUUUUUSSSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That name rang loud and proud in my childhood growing up. The NY Knicks were the greatest, can't say that now, and I spent every Saturday they came on NBC watching them as a die hard fan.

When I wasn't playing football or baseball outside with friends or myself, I spent time shooting hoops on my garage makeshift backboard and hoop. Besides trying to channel my inner John Starks, I was always Allan Houston. He was my favorite Knick at the time.

And having a favorite player means I have favorite cards of them from the 90's and here they are,

I always liked this Stadium Club design. So crisp and clear.

Jammin! Great photograph and another favorite Stadium Club design I enjoyed. I am sure this moment on the court had me standing up and screaming.

Upper Deck cards always had a special place in my heart. This had to make the list.

Houston drives the lane....yes! He does it again!

 

And I chose this card simply because of it's 90's appeal. It literally screams 90's.

Allan Houston was signed by the Knicks in 1996 via Free Agency. He spent nine seasons with the team and was known for his three point shooting. Something I worked hard on and was good at as well. Knee injuries started to plague Houston in the 2000's and he was forced to retire after consecutive seasons of injuries with it.

I didn't get to watch the last few seasons of his career as the NBA started to bore me after the turn of the century, the game started to change,and the Knicks devastating loss to the Spurs in the finals in 1999 didn't help me either.

In Allan Houston's career, he averaged 17 points almost 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game.

In the last few years, I decided I wanted to chase autographs of the Knicks team I grew up watching with Starks, Houston, Oakley, Johnson and Ewing. So far I have Houston knocked down thanks to my buddy Shane and that was honestly the first one I wanted so I was pretty happy with that.

Shane's Box Of Madness

This was kind of an off year for me and @ShaneSalmonson over at Project Pedro Blog. We always pull off multiple big trades a year but this year for some reason or another, dragged out a year long trade. Yes, year long.

But, we finally got the deal done and mailed our pieces out.

My end just arrived roughly a week ago and  it was packed nicely and packed full.

Shane even threw in some supplies. Awesome!

I won't be breaking down the entire box as I am working on multiple sorting projects going into 2019 and I will touch base on those soon. But, I will showcase some key cards from this massive mail day and show others as I go along with my sorting projects.

First up, Shane was lucky and went to this years National which is still a dream of mine to do. The Panini pack contains my boy Saquon! Not sure if I will open it to take him out or not.

For years Shane has been trying to unload all of his basketball cards and I have taken a few with each mail day. This time I grabbed his stack of Allan Houston cards who was one of my favorite Knicks in the 90's. The other two, Patrick Ewing and John Starks.

Here are a few highlights from this stack,

(one of my favorites)

And one more card I wanted was this rookie of Tim Duncan. Loved this set.

Well, this is just the beginning of a few pieces from this mail day I will be showing off. More soon!