Month: August 2016

2016 Subway Series – New York, NY

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As a baseball fan with a family split down the middle of Yankee and Mets supporters every year there is an event that allows us to temporarily settle the dispute of who is better.  The New York Subway Series.

NY Subway Series

I’ve posted in the past that my parents are big Mets fans, and my sister’s family and my wife and I are Yankees fans.  We all go into this series with a lot of big talk and put downs, but at the end only one group of fans can be left standing.

The four game series started on August 1st at CitiField the home of the Mets.   Game 1 went to the Yankees (yay). Game 2 to the Mets (boo).  Games 3 and 4 were now a nice Subway ride away in the Bronx at Yankees Stadium.  Game 3 went to the Yankees, and finally game 4 went to the Mets.  A 2-2 series tie was a little disappointing my family was left without bragging rights over the other.  What a rip off!

Thankfully the great people over at pennycollector.com put together a special limited edition pressed penny set commemorating the 2016 Subway series.

2016 Subway Series Blog

The first penny has an image of both Yankees Stadium and CitiField with the team logos.  The second coin has an iconic New York City Subway train and says Subway Series with the team logos.

Now sort of semi-related to these coins is another special design that was included with this set.  To celebrate Famed New York Mets Catcher Mike Piazza being inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame a coin was created with his image.

2016 Mike Piazza HOF

All these coins were really cool and a great addition to my Baseball coin collection.  As far as I know these coins were not available at either New York team stadium and can only be purchased through the pennycollector.com online store.  These were listed as having a very limited number available so get yours before they are all gone.

2016 MLB All-Star Game – San Diego, CA

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For those baseball fans out there we are fully into the second half of the season and getting ready for the mad dash to the playoffs that will be here before we know it.  But before all that we got to enjoy the 2016 MLB All-Star Game.  This year the events were held in San Diego California at the Padre’s home field Petco Park.

2016 MLB All-Star Logo

The last few years the fantastic people over at pennycollector.com have issued a special pressed coin.  Usually the machine is only available at the All-Star weekend events and a very limited number are available for purchase from their online store which is how I was able to acquire this years version.

2016 MLB All-Star Game Blog

The pressed penny has a nice design of the 2016 All-Star Game Logo.  In the past there have been additional designs for the Fan Fest but I was unable to find out whether they were also available this year or not.

It’s been awhile since the game played so this should hopefully not be a spoiler for anyone.  The home run derby winner was Giancarlo Stanton who plays for the Miami Marlins.  The actual All-Star Game was won by the American League with a final score of 4-2.

Also included in this purchase was the new 2016 Baseball Booklet.

Baseball 2016 Booklet

The booklet includes a special pressed penny as part of the cover and I have a close up view of it below.  I don’t actually store my penny collection in these booklets but have just continued to collect the booklets regardless.  I always enjoy the great cover art work.

Baseball 2016 Booklet Coin

These made a great addition to my baseball coin collection and always enjoy getting these special All-Star coins each year.  Make sure you pick yours up as they are in very limited supply.  Good luck collecting!!

Frozen Fractal Gifts – Hollywood Studios, FL

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With all the recent changes (ahem closings) going on a Hollywood Studios the park in my opinion has really become a half-day visit.  My family is not huge thrill ride fans so two of their major attractions hold little to no appear for us right now.  So all that is left is Toy Story Midway Mania and some stage shows.  But in the world of pressed coin collecting they have managed to keep their large overall number of machines still available and continue to add more.  For example the latest new machine here is located near Echo Lake and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and is call Frozen Fractal Gifts.  I know I know another Frozen store and as you may have guessed this machine has all new Frozen designs available.

Frozen Fractal Gifts Blog

At this time I have completely lost count of how many unique Frozen coin designs there are available but I’m sure it’s around 1,000.  At least it seems like that number.  Now as much as I’m over the whole Frozen thing these are still cute designs and any new pressed coins in my option are more than welcome in my collection.

Unlike the other super-multi design touch screen machines this coin set is not a numbered set.  The designs are all of very familiar faces but just in case anyone out there really wants to know the images are of: Anna, Else, Anna & Kristoff, Olaf & the Little Snowmen, the entire Frozen Cast, Anna & Olaf, Elsa & Olaf, and finally Sven.

Whether we like it or not it seems that Frozen is here to stay for a while longer.  I would anticipate this machine will be available for the foreseeable future but you just never know.  Make sure you pick these up for your ever-growing Frozen coin collection.  Plus you never want to pass up an opportunity to use the cool new touch screen machines.

Five and Dime Store – Disney California Adventure

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For collectors on the west coast be on the look out for a new pressed penny design available at the Disney California Adventure park.  The machine is located in the Five and Dime store.  Note I said pressed penny (singular) meaning only one of the designs has changed.  The original design that was located here was of Luigi’s Flying Tires which was a ride located in Car’s Land.

Luigi's Flying Tires

This ride was like a huge air hockey table, you would ride in oversized tires floating on a cushion of air bumping into each other.  The attraction originally opened back in 2012 but recently closed in 2015 to make way for a new attraction Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters.

The back story of this ride goes as follows.  Luigi has invited his cousins from Italy to Radiator Springs for a dance festival being held in the tire yard behind his Casa Della Tire Shop.  This ride has guests loaded into various vehicles (Luigi’s cousins) who all have a unique look and dance moves.  The vehicles then move and spin to Italian music but due to the magic of Disney Imagineering the cars never crash into each other.

Now back to the penny.  So when the Luigi’s Flying Tire design was removed it only made sense to replace it with a new Rollickin’ Roadster design and that’s exactly what happened.

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Above are all three of the designs available at this machine.  The two designs on the left are the same as they were previously: Radiator Springs Racers, and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.  The new penny is located on the right.

IMG_9727

Here’s a close up of the new Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadster image.  I would have loved to see three brand new designs, but shouldn’t be greedy we did just get 60 new coins over the last year because of the Diamond Celebration.  But this is a nice new addition to the collection, and on a side note if you haven’t visited Car’s Land do yourself a favor and check it out.

Cars Land

This is definitely a place that transforms you right into the movie.  Remember to keep your eyes open for penny machines you never know where they will pop up.  Keep on Collecting!!