3-1

(thanks to reader Grady M for this Jalen Brunson card)

 

Behind this guy's 39 points, the Knicks were able to overcome another double-digit deficit and take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the defending champ Celtics heading into Wednesday night's game in Boston.

They are one win away from the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. I thought for sure the Celtics would sweep 'em. But they have played resilient. 

Now they just need to finish the job because I know this series is far from over with or without Jayson Tatum.

The Grady Boxes: Box 1

A few times a year, blog reader and good friend Grady M (@gradyfishinsea), sends me a box full of goodies. He has been doing this for many years since we met on my Facebook page.

These boxes usually consist of my four New York teams, some player collections and so much shiny that I have no other choice but to smile.

I never know what is arriving and what surprises hide within until it arrives. But I do know that it will be fun.

So, when Grady sent me a Christmas box round of cards, I had a hard time waiting until Christmas to open it, but I did.

Inside of the big box it came in, were multiple empty blaster boxes full of treasure.

I thought to myself, how does one post so many cards on a blog without spamming it completely. After much thought, I sat down and decided I would show off some, yes some, of my favorites from each blaster box.

Let's take a peek of what was inside of this Rookies and Stars blaster.

I don't know what these parallels are called, but I love 'em. I would take all of these that I can.

I think I need to find one in Griffey form. That would be sweet.

I am not sure if Upper Deck just used the same photo twice or if this was in the same product. Either way, two new Griffeys for the PC.

Mahomes! I will continue to take any and all Patrick's I don't have.

I don't know much about soccer, but I saw this parallel and thought it was super cool.

With lack of opening products this year, this card marks my first Aaron Rodgers card in a Jets uniform.

Speaking of NY QB's, Danny Dimes or this year, Danny Hurts. No relation to Jalen. All Giants fans expect this year to be the last straw for him with the Gmen and I expect the same. It's too bad to, last year he played so well. But being hurt often in the biggest position in football is not a great place to be. Not to mention he played terrible when he did play.

 

And last eye-popping card from this box is of newest Yankee, Juan Soto. So far, the biggest acquisition this offseason for the Yankees. The Dodgers made many other moves. But, I don't think the Yankees are done yet.

Well, that does it for Box #1. There are more to come from this series and some boxes I show off more cards than this.

While I am also at it and have your attention, I wanted to let you know of a new blog in the blogosphere that has some fun daily content especially if you are into vintage cards, especially football. Check out daily vintage football card posts from Vintage Football Card Of The Day HERE:Vintage Football Card of the Day - Highlighting a card a day from the Vintage Football Card Gallery and please add it to your blogroll!

Grady's Giants

A few times every year I get sent a huge box of inserts, parallels and team cards from Blog Reader Grady M. Grady has been a good friend of this blog, Twitter and my Facebook page for many, many years.

He recently sent me another box of goodies that covered all of the areas I mentioned above, but for today, I am just tackling the NY Giants portion of the box.

First up, a LT Green Prizm Parallel.

Next is a Daniel Bellinger Prizm silver rookie. This is my first Bellinger Prizm card. I think this guy has a lot of potential and with Waller alongside him, they could make quite the dangerous duo.

I like Prizm and Optic Parallels, but there is just something about Select that may put it above those two products. I think it's because Select uses actual photography in the backgrounds.

Watch out NFL, a second year healthy version of this guy could be very scary.

Mosaic Green? I hate telling the differences in Mosaic but love the looks. This is my boy Daniel Bellinger again.

Glad to keep you a Giant Barkley Green Elite Parallel.

This is just the beginning show off of this really fun box of goodies. There is plenty more to come so stay tuned for that.

Thoughts on today's cards welcomed in comments.

The Latest Grady Box

It's like Christmas multiple times a year when I get the latest Grady Box.

Long time Facebook friend, Twitter Friend and blog reader Grady recently sent me the latest greatest mail day.

It was a Chewy box packed full of....

Blasters?

Nope. Well, empty packs but those boxes had plenty of...

 

Cards!!!!

Stay tuned as I try to figure out the best way to post all of these. I may post every card in the box as single card posts for the next few months or I may post some of it in chunks. I will have to think it over.

What mail days have arrived for you recently?

The Grady Chronicles: Junior Ending

We have sadly hit the finale of my Grady mail day today. So I ended it out with some Ken Griffey Jr if that's okay with you?

How about this silver Optic Mythical. It's quite Mythical isn't it?

One of my least favorite inserts of my favorite baseball player.

Can't believe I didn't already have this....

I WANTED THIS!!! So glad to have it now.

Prizm Old School base inserts and Red, White, Blue.

 

And the final cards of this mail day, well that I am showing off, is a Prizm base and a Green Prizm Parallel.

I was very happy to find these Juniors in the boxes especially the shiny ones.

Thanks again Grady for another excellent treasure dig. I appreciate all that you do for me and have done.

Thoughts on my Grady mail day overall welcomed in comments!

The Grady Chronicles: Select

Every Grady box comes with a lot of variety. Multiple sports, products, etc.

Today I tackle one of my favorite finds of the box, Select Basketball.

Around here you never find basketball cards on the shelves, so I have to get lucky to find them in other ways.

Especially when it comes to products like Select.

Derrick Rose silver and Knick colors lol. I don't know the name of that other parallel without looking it up and I am lazy today so it is whatever I say it is.

A few more of those parallels.

Blue parallels of some NBA stars

 

And we finish it up with a Luka. This was a fun surprise.

We are coming down to the final parts of this series. Stay tuned for the rest!

The Grady Chronicles:Refractors Galore!

As we further dig into this box from Grady, we start unraveling lots of shiny.

This time, we look at some Topps Chrome.

Sepia Refractors with Vlad Jr and Eloy making an appearance.

Prism refractors not to be confused with Panini's Prizm. There is an S instead of a Z.

The always creepy Black and White which makes the players seem devilish.

 

And to finish it off, the plain base silver. Which is still a favorite of mine.

More shiny cards to come in this series, coming up tomorrow is the real Prizms.

Thoughts on today's shine welcomed in comments!

The Grady Chronicles:Mosaic Soccer

We dive right in today to another part in my reader Grady M box showoff.

And when I say box, it's a heavy back breaking box filled with inserts, team cards, let's say about a medium flat rate size full of treasures. 

The treasures within cover a multitude of sports including the main four, WWE and even today's sport, soccer.

I don't know many soccer players at all as it's not a sport I watch, but once again, it is a sport I will take cards of regardless.

Especially shiny ones.

Today's shiny ones are brought to you by Mosaic.

Silver Mosaic

Green?

Every time I see a pink card, I think maybe, just maybe I should do a daily post like Collecting Cutch in October.

Some other form of silver. I am terrible at these parallels.

 

Silver again

I tried my best to capture these shiny goods without using my lightbox, guess maybe next time I should.

The Grady Chronicles:Optical Color

This new short-term segment is based on my mail day from SCC reader, Grady M.

If you enjoy shiny cards especially, tune in as I take you on this journey.

Today, I will take a look at some Optic baseball shinyness.

Pink Optic parallels. Nice Pujols.

Silver Optic Paralells.

Neon Green Optic parallels

 

And Red Wave Optic parallels. The Soto looks really sharp.

This is just the first part of many in this series of showing off the shiny goods. 

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.