Puck Drop

 Sure, the season has been underway for several days now. But, since the Senators don't start until tonight, the season hasn't really started. I'm waiting until now to show off some new Senators content for that binder.

Am I the type of weirdo to spend COMC credit on a card featuring an event-word jersey of a mascot? Yes. Yes, I most certainly am.

I am also the type of weirdo to follow it up with a sticker purchase.

OK. I guess we can move on to the cards featuring actual players.

While just randomly going through cards on COMC looking for interesting images, and came across this. I grabbed this one because it looks, for a second, like Volchenkov is sporting Cooperalls.

Timmies cards! Even better that one of the cards is of a Tim!

Sparty wasn't the only pers...thin...entity to make 2 appearances in the COMC mailer. There were also a pair of Griegs, including a Champ's card, which in actuality came from Extended.

But the winner in terms of volume is, as seems to happen often for Sens posts, is Daniel Alfredsson. I know that sticker is a Red Wings one, but it just seemed better to include it with this group instead of as part of a miscellaneous bunch of hockey content. Plus, it will end up in the Alfie binder anyhow. Also, for some reason known only to Pacific, that relic at the top is actually a base card in that set. 

There you have it!

2026 Adventures in Repacks - Part 19.4 - Repacks in the Mail

Finally, the finale of the most recent TMV mailer, with more repacks!

As before, 5 packs, and 5 loose cards from 2021 Absolute.

Repack #3:

The packs. 

And all the contents. It just turned out perfectly that the first card is a Bills one. Those Artistry cards are something else, connecting with my love for garish Diamond Kings-ish backgrounds. It is a challenge to tell, but the Pacheco is a yellow parallel. I'd call it more bronze based on the foil, but I don't name them. Kicker card, spooky version! We have Cam Smith to end it with proof that foliage on cards isn't limited to just Wrigley cards.

Repack #4:

Only the S-A-T is a true repeat this time, although some are Sage Lows vs. Highs.

Best card in this post? It has to be from a dude named Zipperer. And he signs his SAGE autographed cards "K Zipp"?  How could I not immediately add his card to my COMC inventory? But other than that, there isn't too much of note in this group. The Rachaad White is a nice combination of garish and goofy. And Stephen Davis is the yellow parallel didn't scan like one. 

Still, fun  to bust!

There you have it!

The Mets COMC Content

 Appropriately for this past season, I'm not feeling creative about titles for this Mets post. But it is only a small handful of items.

This 1982 Fleer Stamp seems pretty random for an acquisition, but there is method to my madness. Back in the spring, I got a bunch of these stamps as part of a package from Dennis @ Too Many Verlanders. The Jays content in the mailer was complete, but since the Mets portion lacked Mookie, I waited until I completed the team set to show the rest of them off.

So, he joins these 9 stamps to finish the team set.

The only other Mets card in the shipment was this. A Nick Plummer autograph. Someone who appeared in a handful games 4 years ago, and that was it for his MLB experience. But, that's still far better than my non-existent baseball career. And he did get a couple HRs out of the time, and did have some wise-arse use the Super Mario theme as his walk-up music, so there's that. And the first name in his autograph is legible. Another bonus!

Since I can bear to admit there were only two Mets items in a mailer that had over 200 items, here's one that I'll consider a Mets item. AEW's mega-heel MJF's Mets fandom is enough to not make me hate him.

He even had a Mets-themed entrance video, which also had an eternally-true statement from Taz on commentary. 

So that's how I shoehorn a wrestling card into a Mets post.

There you have it!

My Latest MST3K Autograph

 Time to show off my newest autograph from a MST3K'ed movie.

From "Village of the Giants", where he played Fred, it is Beau Bridges. It is my second autograph from one of the people in that movie, joining someone far more famous for an 80s hit, Toni Basil. He was still active as an actor too, having been in the cast of the new Matlock series. VotG does hit that sweet spot of not being a terrible movie, so you're paying attention to it as well as the riffs. It was also the final Bert I Gordon movie to be shown on the SOL.

There you have it!t

May I Never Mature

 

If your last name was Butts, why would you name your child 'Randy'?

Time to Defend

 The Kitchener Rangers' defense of the Memorial Cup starts tonight with a home game against Owen Sound. Given the cyclical nature of the CHL, and them going all-in last season, there is a little chance of that happening. Still, there's always the greatness of last season to make a fan upbeat.

To celebrate the banner(s) being raised tonight, here's a whole bunch of Rangers alumni cards.

It is an easy decision to open with these two Nick Spaling items. He's returning to the team this season, having moved from player in the late 2000s to an assistant coach this season. He was a part of the team when they won the OHL championship in 2008, but the team lost to Spokane in the Memorial Cup finals.

I'm a bad Canadian. I've never once bought a pack of cards at a Tim Hortons to go alongside with my donuts. For shame.

You have to turn this over to realize this card features Wendell Young. He was the only player to win the Memorial, Calder and Stanley Cups. He was joined by Mike Richards as the only other to accomplish the feat, with both winning the first part of the trio with Kitchener. 

Here's the latest result of my taking advantage of e-pack cheapness to add a pair of Jeff Skinners to the collection.

Dominik Kubalik started his career with enough success to warrant a lot of appearances both in base cards and inserts. 

Usually when I do one of these, I usually decide to go through their sportlots inventory and just add a bunch of cards of a random PC player. Here, that's Radek Faksa. Considering how he's played all his career with the Dallas Stars, it is nice to get a couple that aren't Dallas cards, even if that Texas card technically is associated with Dallas.

See, there was a reason I mentioned Mike Richards earlier! This was part of a trade I had when I unloaded a patch card that didn't really hit any of my PCs. I guess I could complain that the Flyers swatch isn't immediately obvious as one, since it would look so much better in orange. 

The other major card in the trade was this John Gibson. In spite of what it says on the card, this isn't a rookie. It's a flashback card from 19-20 Clear Cut (a one-card only encased release) done in the style of the 14-15 Ultimate design. Gibson's rookie release season was the previous season, so I do wonder why it isn't in that design. I'll probably end up freeing this from the magnetic case in favour of the binders.  

And that's a recap of alumni.

2026 Adventures in Repacks - Part 19.3 - Repacks in the Mail

 I'm back to it with a the football repacks provided in the TMM mailer. 

While there was more variety in terms of the repacked content in these ones, that doesn't end up being true with these first two. The same packs. The same type of inserted cards - 2021 Absolute Retail. Among these and the next two, the only constants over every repack were Score-A-Treat and the '21 Absolute.

There's SAGE content in the repack. And not even that sweet spot of strangeness of cards like that Ronnie Hillman or Brett Smith. So, while I will can everything, I'm not going to do individual comments, because what can I really say about generic unlicensed stuff?

I might have to replace my scanner sooner rather than later, since that Maxx Crosby in the first post was a bright yellow parallel. Sage also looks to have done the one-per parallel thing, with Silvers showing up there. Thankfully, CJ Stroud waited a week to reach the Next Level against the Bills. 2002 SAGE are delightfully hideous. There was probably some kid who pulled that McCarthy card and thought they had the future of the Vikings in their hand.

Oops.

 

Teddy Bridgewater: Backup Listener is probably my favourite ad featuring a football player. Justin Fields was the non-scanning yellow parallel here. A shame, since it would have looked nice with it being a "Now With" Steelers card. For those that like odd collation, two of the three SAGE packs saw me get both the base and the silver parallel, for Kayshon Boutte and Evan Stewart. Given the jersey, I guess that Elway counts as a colour match parallel.

Nothing too noteworthy, but still a fun break! That's all I ask for!

There you have it!

Bills! Bills! Bills!

There may have been games already, but the season doesn't really start until your favourite team kicks off. So, to celebrate that, here's all the Bills cards I've acquired through either COMC or sportlots.

I had this card on my wantlist at the side for a bit. While I would have been happy with any version of this card, getting a parallel in one of the team colours was even better. Damar's on-field return was better, but this sufficed.

Mitchell Trubisky spent 3 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, in the role of "If Josh gets injured, we're screwed". But, he did play all but the first snap in the 2025 finale, beating the Jets, and getting this Instant card out of the deal. That was his only Buffalo card. 

I don't know if Andre Reed would consider this particular photo to have him appear Photogenic, but this is a really great photo choice.

I had the Josh Allen from this insert set show up a month and a half back, and lamented that it wasn't from this game, when he scored his passing/receiving TD on the same play. I already had this one on the way, and it does cover the joy of that snow game, so I'm halfway there.

There is a Panini Instant card out there. Hint. Hint. Card #185. Hint. Hint.

And here's one more snow game, on the road to losing their first of four straight Super Bowls.

Here's an odd one. It looks like regular Prestige, but was actually from a standalone release with 6 cards. It looks to be connected with some type of medical facility. But, I have managed to acquire 5 of the 6 cards in the set, including the extra card linked. I just need the Sammy Watkins to finish it. Again, hint hint.

The grand finale is some new faces to the collection from 2025 releases. And half of them are still with the team as the 2026 kicks off. It took Christian Benford until last season to get cards, 3 years after the 2022 draft. Such is the life for 6th round defenders. Is Sean McDermott the first Bills coach to get a pack-pullable card outside of Marv Levy? Does that 'Updated' Joey Bosa count for the collection despite the actual card on the bottom. And now I have a Brandin Cooks card if I ever want the warm interception memories.

But hey, new season and new opportunities for disappointment!