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!

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!

Legends Of New York

Unpopular opinion....I like Joe Buck.

So, so many of you complain about him, but when I hear him call a game, it brings me back to a glorious moment in my life.

That moment, Super Bowl 42.

The game that will forever be my favorite Super Bowl. David (Tyree) vs Goliath. The 18-0 Patriots who beat the Giants in the regular season finale to go undefeated, came into the Super Bowl just walking all over the people while the Giants found a way to the Big Game.

Then they found a way to win it.

With 1:15 left in the game, Giants down by 4 needing a touchdown and needing five yards on third down, Eli dropped back, avoids being sacked a few times, somehow stays on his feet and just whips the ball up there for the taken. There was multiple Patriots in the middle of the field and somehow, someway, some special teams WR named David Tyree jumped up in the middle of them, caught the ball, held the ball against him helmet with the great Rodney Harrison trying to pry it away and brought the ball safely down to the ground without dropping it.

I could play that over and over again in my mind.

Four plays later, Eli tossed up a beauty to a wide open Plaxico Burress for the Giants game winning touchdown.

18-1 Patriots....18-1.

This years Plates and Patches product has a Legends subset card of David Tyree who made that heroic play that led to a Giants win (and of course the play is pictured on the card). There is a series of colored parallels that I have considered chasing along with this one.

It wasn't just the play that made that game memorable. Beating the hated Patriots and watching the game with my father which I hadn't done in over 20 years made that game one that I will always remember. Even when I get too old to remember anything else.

That game meant more to me than the one the same two teams played four years later.

Where this guy, Mario Manningham, somehow kept his feet in-bounds by a fraction of an inch with two defenders around him for a gain of 38 yards in Super Bowl 46 that set up Giants momentum as they went for a Game Winning drive.I must also note the throw by Eli was superb. It was only where Manningham had a chance at it. Both catch and throw on that play was memorable.

The Manningham autograph to commemorate Super Bowl 46 is also in this years Plates and Patches product. Both cards were graciously sent to me by my friend Valley Of Cards unexpectedly.

Big thanks to him for these two additions to my Giants PC. If you haven't checked out him yet, please do so. He has some great stuff for sale at great prices on both his eBay shops and his website. Find them all here, website, eBay store 1 and eBay store 2.

NYG PC Spotlight 86:2008 Playoff Gridiron Gear Rookie Gridiron Gems Relics Mario Manningham

Mario Manningham

Relic Card

Card #D 14/25

Card Number 228

I should also mention that this card and the rest I will be posting this week and last week are brought to by Wes. Wes, the man who sends the big ole heat mail days!

Big Blue Monday's:I Will Take 'Em!

Well, that was a very long Bye Week without football, but I at least got to see the Redskins and the Cowboys both lose during it so that was all solid to me. Today the Giants face the SF 49ers on MNF and I don't have a feeling either way on how this game is going to go.

I do have Odell and Saquon on my fantasy team so at the very least I am hoping for big time performances by them. But, it would be nice to see a  win as well. I know other fans just want them to lose to get a top draft pick, but who wants that? I want to see wins. I don't care about drafting for next year. Any fan who roots against their team to lose so they can get a better draft position simply isn't a true fan.

Speaking of Giants fans, @Brent3323 is a fellow one as well and did a "fire sale" with his Giants cards recently. I couldn't buy, but we did work out a great trade that benefited us both.

Lorenzo Carter is increasing his playing time. Now I finally have my first rookies of him. Need to find an autograph now.

Evan Engram has been a disappointment so far this season so hoping he will pick things up in the second half of the season.

Sterling Shepard has played well at times and Wayne Gallman hasn't looked as good as last years version. Not sure he makes the team next year.

Victor Cruz and Landon Collins. I can't believe the Giants actually considered even trading Collins at the deadline. He's the guy you need to build that defense around.

Saquon! Three more gets me closer to 40 total cards.

The Shep. I haven't seen these Majestic cards before.

More Shep this time in shiny jersey card form.

Davis Webb isn't a Giant anymore but it doesn't stop me from adding more of him as long as it's in blue.

Same things for Akeem Ayers. I like first time autographs for my collection.

Tyler Sash had some up and down seasons but that's what its been like for the Giants at safety besides Collins.

Da'Rel Scott made appearances on cardboard and that was about it.

Same goes for Owamagbe. Off the field issues cut him from the Giants fast who don't deal with that. Well, except for Odell but he is a different being.

Jerrel Jernigan PC gets a nice addition to it. I liked Jernigan on the Giants. He showed some serious game towards the end of his career which at the time I thought was his lifting point to make the team. Oh well.

Two more Wayne Gallman autograph additions. Origins with its nice look but terrible 00 jerseys.

I liked this sharp card!

And to end this mail day, Super Bowl 47 hero Mario Manningham who made that incredible sideline catch. I still don't know how he did it. Both the throw by Eli and the catch by Mario were spot on.

Thanks to Brent for the new Giants adds!

Well Big Blue, I am staying up late for you tonight. Please give me a reason for watching.

Playing Catch Up

I am still playing the catch-up game when it comes to mail days.

Out of the blue, I went from an empty mail day list to a full one. The sad part is, it's quickly emptying.

In the meantime while I try to think of a way to refill it, here is what I recently recieved in.

Up first, this sick looking Davis Webb jersey card from @JGfan24ever. This has gotta be one of Panini's better looking memorabilia cards. Nice layout, design and love the team color around the outside.

 

Thanks Michael for the great card! 

My next mail day comes from a fellow Giants fan on Twitter @StephenJFurlong. He saw my want list and offered up the card I needed just out of kindness. Gotta love this hobby we are apart of. Not only did he offer up a card off from my want list, he also threw in some extra PC fun.

1999 Absolute SSD Brett Favre base. Yes, base! Whatever happened to base cards being so creative??? Now it's simply just cardboard.

Look at the back of this card. Superb!

A dual refractor of the main guy in today's post, you will need to read on to see it and Troy Aikman. Great looking card. I miss Topps having the football license.

A new Rodney!! Cool looking to. You can definitely tell this one is from the 90's. Looks like Rodney was guest starring on an episode of Saved By The Bell.

Next is a Brandon Jacobs relic. Being both Giants fans we both appreciate a card like this. I have other Jacob relics, but didn't have this one. Loved how this guy ran. So powerful.

Now onto the main course. The autograph is a tad faded, and I mean a tad, but still a beautiful on-card autograph of Mark Brunell that will knock it off of my want list. If you didn't know, I was a big fan of watching Mark back in the late 90's and the Jags were my second favorite team.

 

A big thanks to Stephen for his kindness and generosity. It is much appreciated! 

The final mail day in today's post is from A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts who I just pulled off my first trade with. He had posted his hits from some recent Golden Age breaks that he had dupes of so I inquired and we traded.

Along with the main trade meat, he also threw in some sides.

Eli Manning running the audible on the front of this Score card.

Mario Manningham rookie I didn't have. I mentioned earlier how I missed Topps NFL products, well that goes for Upper Deck as well. Look at this card. This is the way premier photos should be used.

This Kevin Dyson Leather football die cut from the iconic 1998 Playoff Contenders product. Dyson was the main guy in the Music City Miracle play in the NFL playoffs Vs Buffalo in 1999. He was also the guy who was tackled one yard short in the Titans vs Rams Super Bowl. Of course now he is still making an impact for kids as an assistant principal in Tennessee.

I love these cards and will take any of these for my 90's PC. So keep that in mind.

 

Jayne Mansfield pop up. She may had also been a pop up in Playboy as well. She was one of the early playmates, was in theater, film, and TV. She was also a nightclub singer.

 

Mary Pickford was born in the late 1800's and was an actress and producer into the 1900's.

 

David Pollock on-card autograph. He was best known for his role in The Bad News Bears as Rudi Stein.

 

Thanks Jon for the cards. I will hopefully get yours out to you soon. 

I still have more catching up to do with mail day posts and mail days in general. At least it's not the kind of catching up that the Patriots had to do versus the Falcons, I am at least not that far behind.

Step Back, I Ripped One

Yesterday, I got a Holiday Blasted by Baseball Card Breakdown in my mail box. It was awesome to say the least.

I took the pics of his Holiday Blast on my table with the colorful Christmas table cloth in the background to give it that Christmas feel. I also didn't crop them well on purpose so it shines the holiday spirit through.

Up first, some new Yanks including a custom, something shiny and a Godzilla I didn't have. Also included in this group is a new David Wilson rookie. I believe Strata had two designs for rookies that year and this is the version I still needed.

 

Next group, one of my favorite pics in the Odell "The Catch" done in my favorite product, Chrome. A salsa dancing x-factor in Cruz, an Andre Brown rookie and an Eli Triple Threads that's numbered.

 

Then onto a couple Giants hits that I didn't have. New Manningham and new DJ Hall autograph. I think I only have one other of his. Both are rookies.

 

And finally, my first rip card. I haven't ever pulled one or bought one even though I have always wanted to. It actually may be on my hobby bucket list.

I haven't decided whether I would ever rip one if I got one, probably not as that would totally dig into my hobby OCD and the mystery can be fun, but I it would be fun to at least have one.

I did however get to have an opportunity to rip a custom rip card thanks to Gavin. Even though that was tough to do in more than one way with that hobby OCD and the fact that he sealed these up really well.

 

But, I did get into it so let's take a look:

Here is the front:

 

Here is the back /25 as he sent out 25 packages. I have seen some of the others pulls from within so I knew it had to be good.

 

(inserted here was a pic of the ripped contents but my blog decided it didn't want to upload it)

 

And I was right.  A custom mini magnet of the man, the legend, KGJr!

 

A big thanks goes out Gavin for this sweet mail day and for my first fun rip experience. You definitely have one of the most creative minds in the blogosphere.

 

I have begun setting some stuff aside for you down the road. You just never know when I will mail it :)

Autograph Of A Super Bowl Hero

So we continue my trade recap with 90's Niche Football Card blog for Day 6 I am showing off a new SPA addition of a NY Giants Super Bowl hero.

If you don't remember, back in Super Bowl 46, the biggest play of the game came from someone I think most forget about, Mario Manningham.

Mario made an incredible sideline toes in-bound catch on the game winning TD drive for the Giants in the game. It was also his catch that saved the game and kept the drive alive when the Giants were backed up with under 5 minutes to play.

So I definitely didn't mind adding his SPA auto to my collection. I didn't have it and I am a fan of SPA which I still consider had the best/most valuable/most seeked rookie cards on the market.

Not Anymore

With big moves in this years NFL Free Agency, especially for my Giants (WOOOO HOOO), I got to wondering if other collectors react the way I do when it comes to a player leaving their favorite team for someone else.

I stop collecting them.

Sometimes it's not easy especially if they were ones who played a major role on your team or helped them to a championship win. I had that situation recently with Mario Manningham who left the Giants for the 49ers after he made the incredible catch in Super Bowl 46 that helped lead the Giants on that game winning drive. But something about him in this uniform.....

 

I just couldn't do. Mostly because it wasn't blue. I kept all of his Giants cards, but his San Fran ones were treated like San Fran ones that get tossed in the by-team box. Luckily he didn't last long in San Fran, returned to the Giants only to never see the field again. At least he ended with them.

So how many of you continue collecting a player once they leave your favorite team? Or do agree with my method?  Comments are encouraged!

Epic Trade Mail Day From Project Pedro Part 3: The Giants Touchdown

Part 3 and the finale of my mail day is broken down into four parts with three sub-parts. Yes, four. Today I will kick it off with these Giants and then turn it to Giants player focus tomorrow for parts 3A,3B and 3C to cover all 38+ autograph and memorabilia cards. I will publish all three sub-parts tomorrow so pay attention and don't miss out because there is some really cool stuff.

First up, is my very first YA Tittle memorabilia card. I find actual legend worn material much more exciting than the rookie premier worn items. (you will see this Greg Jones twice but I only got one. It was the only way I could take this picture without a reflection)

 

 No that isn't Odell, that's Ramses Barden. The guy never turned out as they expected. I was hoping he would had been the next Plaxico with his height but never panned that way.

 

 Some great autographs here. My second Nicks rookie auto, my second best Contenders auto in Mario Manningham and the Giants future in Moore and Nassib.

 

To end this part, some sweet swatches especially in the Nicks and Bradshaw. I really like the Andre Brown auto-patch as well. Really wished he could have done a bit more and kept playing.  

 

This is just the kickoff to the New York Giants portion of this trade. Plenty of greatness to come and no better way to show it off than to show it off on Game Day.