2025 Adventures in Repacks - Part 13 - Dollarama Duals

'tis the perfect Sunday for a couple baseball repacks from Dollarama.

This one is up first.

That 1996 Donruss design with the foil square just seems like it was a bad idea at the start. Depending on the photo chosen, such as with Carrasco, it looks more like a censor box than where the information is. But the Cliff Floyd out of an SI set is a prettynice one, though.

Does that count as two rookies instead of the promised single one? And they're both still around, too. That counts for something, right? 1986 Donruss in all its parallelogram windowed glory seems pretty random.

And the 2000s pack provides what is probably my first 2001 UD Legends card, although Lawton does really stretch the definition a bit. I guess double rookie cards is the theme of this repack, with another pair of guys who had perfectly respectable careers in the bigs. LeCroy is back to working his way through the minors, this time as a manager in the Washington system.

All cardboard in the second one.

The 300 HR pack is the starter here, with Juan Gonzalez being the HR hitter in question. MacFarlane's entry is from the update release. As I've said before, I always find box set cards showing up in these repacks to be a nice surprise.

My Premium insert/parallel was that Turkey Red of Corbin. Combining with the Heritage it makes for an old school feel. 

Bonus pitcher card! I'll pretend that since Nolan Ryan wasn't in uniform for this card, that it didn't count against the four.

Party like it is 1981 with the Fleer Tradition entry. That's always a solid choice to inspire (or rip off) when it comes to a newer release. 

Both fairly typical repacks, but I'll have to pick the second one based on having more cards, and also for...

Cartoons on the back!

There you have it!

Still Valued

 At least the cost of value/hanger/rack packs hasn't ballooned yet. Perfect chance to sample a couple.

Playoff time means hockey leads.

OPC gives me exactly what I expect. Basic, but clear photos. Having the players slightly break through the borders gives the illusion that there's a little less border than there is.

Only 5 years of stats on the back, though. Boo.

The SPs aren't too SPd, at least when compared to other releases like Heritage. 3 per value pack seems reasonable if you're going to do the SP thing.

The Retros are wonderfully gaudy. The team name on the bottom sorta gives a 71-72 vibe. 

These blues are 1:3 packs. They're not numbered, but I'll still be sure to include it in my next TMV mailer.

And the rest of the pack. Nothing too major in the second part, but two huge names in the first part with Crosby and McDavid really elevate things.

With the draft going on, here's some football as well. 

First card out is a legend.

The backs? Exactly what you'd expect from a modern Donruss back.

Kicker card to start the rest of the pack! You also get an alternate uniform right after that. Speaking of uniforms, you get to see who is and who isn't worthy of the photoshopped new team treatment. Marquise Brown just warrants the logo change, but Barkley gets everything. Given how the season went, the decision was the right one.

2/14 content! WOO-HOO! That great Jaxon Smith-Njigba photo certainly would have made my annual Top 10 list if I'd had it in hand before 2/14/25.

The blue parallels. They're fine, except that Marino. That might be the grainiest photo I've seen a modern card of a modern player. It looks like a screen grab from a 144P youtube video. The Butkus wasn't like this, so it isn't something they did with legends. Why?

The only insert. At least it was shiny!

Only 3 base rookies per pack, continuing the OPC trend of SPs being scarcer, but still within reachable distance. Best of all, two of them were Bills. Davis and Coleman were also the only two rookies the Bills had in the set - a nice little bonus. And a Guardian Cap for a photographic bonus too. Who needs big names for rookies to be interesting?

Here's the rest of the pack. Mike Rozier also didn't get the Marino treatment for his photo, so I still don't know what happened for his photo. Defender with the ball makes a for a rare finale. 

3 PC cards? Even with the star power in OPC, the nod has to go to the Donruss pack.

There you have it! 

Another Night Owl PWE onslaught: Everything Baseball

 Part 2 of 2.

There was only one Expos card in the envelopes, and I didn't need the small text at the bottom to know that it was an Al Oliver entry. 

There were Heritage minis in the previous mailers, it is only fitting there was more here. Hagen Danner still didn't get the dignity of his actual photo on the mini either, but at least they finally got it right with his Chrome autographs late in the year. 

Compare and contrast the classic cardboard look and feel of Heritage with the shiny foil of Prism. I'm happy with either adding to my collection.

A sticker seems like the perfect choice to start the Mets portion.

But if you'd rather have an actual card, here's a tasty Hostess entry.

Hey Jeff, your rear's done! I love that riff from the MST3K episode Hellcats. I can't show one of Jeff's cards without thinking of it. Sorry, Jeff. And Rusty Staub appearances always make me think of this quote about his learning French while in Montreal.

I don't think 'knocked me on my ass' will come up in Duolingo.

It might not feature his wonderful wind-up, but casual Hideo still makes for a great card. With Ordonez and Alfonso, this really seems casual poses is the theme of this grouping. 

Thanks for the goodies Night Owl!

Another Night Owl PWE onslaught: Bills, Bills, Bills

 Yet another pile of PWEs from Night Owl means another two posts filled with goodies. The Bills get this post, and baseball gets the second one. Simple!

This beautiful entry starts it off, and I love that an obscure Bills alum gets featured on such a great card. But it is a Stadium Club entry, so that's to be expected. The partly overcast skies of Orchard Park have never looked grander.

The Kelly Konundrum: Do I count this as a Bills card or a 2/14 card? This time, since it is technically not a Bills card due to licensing, it is a 2/14 card. Sometimes, the choice is an easy one.

I remember when Action-Packed was about as high-end as things would get. It is still nice when I come across them.

WOO-HOO! I found some coveted Stripe versions of Wild Card cards. Thurman Thomas provides some star power as well.

Kicker card! Tyree Jackson never played a minute for the Bills, but I do like that he played with the University of Buffalo before his brief pro journey. Peterman. Ugh. Usually when they put a running back legend on a card as a Bill, it is Thurman Thomas that (deservedly) gets the nod. McGahee is an interesting choice instead.  I do appreciate occasional variety.

If they're looking for more random RBs to make appearances in sets, I'd love to see Antowain Smith show up. Of course, people who pull his numbered parallels will be upset, but I'll be more than happy to take advantage of their misery for pennies on the cost.

I'm not sure as to why, but anything pre Pro Set/Score for football just seems like it should be categorized as vintage. Maybe it is just way too many bad 80s Bills teams getting memory holed. That Moulds shows why the team logo is always the best choice if you're going to wipe the background of an image.

Just baseball to go to wrap up another trade.

There you have it!

2025 Adventures in Repacks - Part 12

 With tariffs sending the price of wax sky high on this side of the border, there will probably be more repacks being busted as opposed to boxes for the future.

Such as this one, even if I picked it up last fall as part of a repack restock. Cool starting photo from Heritage!

Chili Davis' crouching entry is the perfect usage of that '89 Fleer design. It looks like he's struggling to fit into the photo window. Mills is from an Update set, and I always find it interesting when boxed set cards show up in these.

2/14 baby John Marzano! It's a dupe, but I have to at least acknowledge random 2/14 appearances. Minor league cards are welcome for their oddness, even if Heathcock did reach the bigs and got a handful of cards out of the deal. This also produces a couple back-to-back appearances. My last baseball repack had a Thad Bosley aappearance, while my last of this specific style had Griffey Sr.

Here's the hit! It's a Met, and a Met that was banned from baseball for PEDs. That definitely makes it a perfect example of Mets fandom.

Yount brings the star power to the post-hit portion of the repack, with Pedro providing a 'moment of impact' photo.

But the back of the card provides an even more interesting photo. Looks like it was dad-bod day at Jack Murphy Stadium as well.

The finale in all its unlicensed glory.

The hit was an on-card Mets auto, and there were a couple interesting cards from the junk wax era with Davis and Guerrero. Throw in a minor league card and a 2/14 guy, and that's what I want from a repack.

There you have it!

Mailbag Wrap-Up

 Although most of the recent Cards on Cards mailer was Raptors, there were a few other goodies contained within.

The content was entirely basketball in the previous post - not so much here, but there were another 3 cards for my Jamal Murray collection. He's due to have company in terms of local content in the NBA next season. Kitchener's own Will Riley is a projected draft pick in the middle of the first round.

Two of the five 2/14 MLBers to appear in games so far this season had cards in Series 1. Nick Pivetta will likely be in Series 2. The other two, a pair of rookies in Brad Lord and Logan VanWey, have me keeping an eyes on the more rookie-laden sets of later in the year. But at least I've got two out of the way, with umpteen parallels still available.

The Celebration insert commemorating Alshon Jeffery's bowling-themed celebration is a contender for the most unique photo in the 2/14 collection. How did I not have this card already in the binder? Maybe it was just an accounting error on my part.

4 Jays. 4 Mets. The Mets bring some variety, but at least I get to experience 3 different seasons of the most generic insert set there is. And a nickname variation. I remember being excited about Cespedes. It taught me to expect something really discouraging after the Soto signing.

By a third, the Jays win the numbers battle, with this /799 parallel. Third place is good enough to get an extra appearance. As it should!

That Josh Allen Celebration might be far blander when compared to Alshon's entry. Still it is a new entry to his PC. Red, white and blue is not only patriotic, but is just perfect for a team-colour match parallel. 

There you have it!