Finally

Finally.

That's the first word that comes to mind when I think about football season starting today. It's been such a long stretch since I last watched the NY Giants play a meaningful football game.....with a cup of coffee of course.

It's time, finally.

I am really excited about this season after how last year went and with the Giants new offseason additions.

But I am also excited to see how some of last year's guys do as well that had injury prone rookie seasons that showed some potential.

Wan'Dale Robinson spent most of last season injured but made a big impression in the 6 games he did play in going for a combined 227 yards and a big touchdown against the Ravens. He has quick shifty speed and moves which will fit great in this offense.

Kayvon Thibodeaux was banged up last season, but as the season went on he got healthy and opposing teams were starting to feel it as he racked up 4 sacks, forced and recovered two fumbles turning one of those into a huge touchdown against the Commanders (still not used to calling them that). Now healthy with a hopeful full season ahead, I can't wait to see what he can do.

 

I like to call Daniel Bellinger the diamond in the rough they found in the 4th round.  He has great hands, can block and had some big time catches last season even though his numbers may not have shown it. Of course, he also fell to the injury bug when he got poked in the eye by a Jaguars defender and suffered a fracture around the eye socket. But he came back and played well down the stretch and even though the Giants brought in Darren Waller, I am expecting Bellinger to still be a big-time weapon.

So tonight, I will have some snacks and be watching the Giants take on the Cowboys.

Let's hope they can finally beat Dallas.

Football is back….Finally.

Did I mention finally with football yet?

Kerry's Cardboard:1996 Action Packed Longest Yard

Fun inserts comes to mind when I am putting together my Kerry Collins collection.

Sure, there are plenty of base cards I could chase for cheaper, but I want to tackle the fun stuff first.

For example, 1996 Action Packed Longest Yard.

These shiny embossed background cards that fell 1:24 packs draws your eyes right in. Absolutely love it and love the football background.

 

Back Of The Card.

These are the type of Kerry Collins cards that make me smile even not in a Giants uniform. 

I will be posting another pickup soon from this set soon.

Thoughts on today's insert add welcomed in comments.

Not Usually A Leaf Fan...

I am not usually a Leaf fan....but I do love their non-sport cards.

Their sports cards are okay, I don't care for the missing logos and sometimes even the missing player faces which gets replaced with a jersey of the player. Those are ugly.

However, with their ugly there is some beauty from Leaf.

 

Like this 2023 Pro Set Leaf Gold Refractor of Jessica Alba.

 

Stunning card in more than one way both front and back. These cards were an online exclusive on the Leaf website and are numbered to 199. I was fortunate to have this one sent to me by a follower on Twitter.

Actually owning this in hand now makes me really want the Chevy Chase version for my PC. Maybe some day.

Thoughts on Leaf products welcomed below!

Another Step Closer

My collecting focus has been much better than it used to be. 

I have been able to finish up some sets, knock down some want list cards and keep with my main PC's of NY Giants and Non-Sports.

Which is a huge improvement from where I was. I think not having much money has helped me put my focus on things that matter most to my collection.

 

My recent mail day was this 1996 Topps Turf Warriors Dan Marino which brings me another step closer to this set. I have for the most part knocked down all of the key players in the set now.

It's a fun set with a felt background and player in the forefront. These fell 1:36 packs in 1996 Topps.

But, finding the other needs hasn't been easy so far.

I am hopeful I can complete this still, but it may take some patience.

TV Week

In the 90's, cards were offered in all forms.

They were in cereals, they were on boxes, they were food issued, in newspapers and were even free in magazines.

It makes me wished I had hoarded my magazines and not tossed them.

But, can't go back in time yet.

*come on DeLorean*

Recently when searching for Seinfeld cards, I discovered TV Week-the magazine that talked about your favorite TV shows and had guides to I believe-offered cards in their weekly magazine. Not sure if it was every week the cards appeared or how they even were included, but they were because I have proof!

Upon my research, I found out that Seinfeld has one but that was way out of reach for me with most running up in the $70 range. It's probably considered the rookie card of Seinfeld since it came before the 2011 Topps American Pie release.

So, I looked at a few other shows I wanted instead that were more in my range.

Like Home Improvement. Absolutely died laughing at this show every week. Tim Allen did a great job with his character along with the supporting cast.

And how cool is this to see a fan mail address, wonder what it would get me now if I wrote to it....

I was hoping once Last Man Standing ended that Tim would revive this show again but so far, nothing.

The next show my parents wouldn't let me watch, for some reason horror was okay but not Rosanne.

So, when I got older, I began watching it and really enjoyed it.

I even enjoyed the revival of the show when they brought it back on ABC, it felt like it never left and it was fun how they included "today's times" into it, until they fired Rosanne for a few comments made. I didn't watch a single minute of The Conners. 

Other than the Seinfeld one, I would love to add The Simpsons and The Nanny ones. Maybe someday.

Thoughts on these cards and if you have any in your collection welcomed below in comments.

Two New Toomers!

I don't think any of my other PC's have grown quite as fast as my Amani Toomer one has teh last few months. I have been adding some cool, cheap numbered cards for now.

I still haven't moved up a lot on TCDB in terms of Toomer stats, but also have a few more to add as well. It will take a long time before I can be in the top running.

Here are two of my lastest adds,

I love nothing more than a relic card that spells out a name or team name. On top of that, GAME USED!! This Fabric Of The Game Team Name is numbered to 99.

The Next Card is from 2000 Fleer Focus. Kind of a boring parallel in comparison to others at the time.

Draft Position cards are numbered to 204 or at least the Toomer is.

A couple more pickups are on their way including one in a trade. Thoughts on these adds welcomed in comments.

DA CHAMPS!

I am sure a lot of my non-Giant fan, Patriot fans or non-football fan readers are sick to death of me talking about the two NY Giants Super Bowl wins of recent, but I can't help it. Those were two of the greatest sport moments in my life.

In 2015, Topps celebrated Presidential Celebrations at the White House by putting in a case hit insert. I had never heard of these before until my Twitter friend @clrshonuff told me about them.

When I saw the checklist, I noticed that the Giants had two cards on the checklist, both are from the two Super Bowls I keep talking about.

The cards feature the head coach and the president at the time along with the players in the background.

 

This is Super Bowl 42 with George Bush. I actually picked this one up for $1.

And then this one, the tougher of the two, landing at $12, was my latest add a couple months ago.

Thanks again to Chris for the heads up on these.

Thoughts on these adds or thoughts on these types of inserts welcomed in comments.

Rookie Cards?

Rookie cards are a driving force in the hobby. It's what most collectors seek including this blogger. 

I like to have at least one of each player's rookie card.

But that doesn't just go for sport cards for me, it goes for non-sports as well.

How does one define a rookie card for non-sport though? Well, it's really hard and requires a lot of research.

Most non-sport rookies, like with some sports not named baseball, is their first appearance on a card or on a Panini Sticker. So any film, TV show or something called a Top Trump counts.

Top Trump? Is that a nickname for a former president?

I had no idea what a Top Trump was until I did a little background check on them. Come to find out it's a card game that's been around since 1978. These games cover TV, movies, books, boats, and even musicians which is where I found today's rookie card.

Rhianna is not only a chart topper, but she is also a billionaire businesswoman. 

Here is the back of the card or front? Hmm..the other side of the card? Let's leave it at that.

I have made a list of other Top Trump rookie cards that I need and hope to add someday under my wants list. Most are singers that have some meaning to me. Rhianna is simply a star and has a few hits I enjoy, I also remember a few times joking around with the umbrella song with my wife.

Thoughts on my addition and if you have ever heard of these cards before welcomed in comments.

If you are curious who is on my list of other needs, here is that list,

2015 Top Trumps Katy Perry
2015 Top Trumps Taylor Swift
2015 Top Trumps Miley Cyrus
2003 Top Trumps Avril
2003 Top Trumps Beyoncé
2003 Top Trumps Eminem
2019 Top Trumps Jennifer Lawrence

If you have any of these, please let me know!

Have a great Thursday!

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.

Hyatt

This past offseason, the NY Giants saw a weakness and they fixed it.

Not only did the G-Men bring in a plethora of WR's and offensive weapons for Daniel Jones, but they even drafted a couple. One that has really shown a lot of bright spots so far in training camp has been 3rd round WR Jalin Hyatt from Tennessee.

With my budget tight, I haven't really bought much of anything for newer football which has slowed my collection of new Giants rookies for my collection.

Usually by now, I have a decent sized collection, but what you are about to see is all I have.

 

Thanks to a local friend I was able to add these three Hyatts to my Giants PC. Really wished I could add an autograph, but not at the current prices. These will have to do.

I can't wait to see this new Giants group of weapons hit the field. Hopefully they can tear it up and put up some points. I think if they do, this guy could have a major impact with it.

Thoughts on my latest adds, Jalin Hyatt or your teams' draft picks welcomed in comments.