COMC Challenge Cards Part 76: The Raptors!

Coming off an almost-choke in Brooklyn last night, it is time to show off some of the new Raptors in my collection courtesy of the Challenges.

First up, the only debut in the binder. Sorta. I've got a card of Bayless in my collection, but it is one where he's pictured as a Raptor, but listed as being with the Memphis Grizzlies. This mid-season card out Gold Standard does appear to be the only one on COMC where he is both pictured as and listed as a Raptor. That still puts him ahead of Marco Belinelli, of whom the closest I can find is a card where he is still pictured with Golden State, but at least listed as a Raptor.

This was the only hit of this group of Raptors cards, and it is a first for my collection. I've get plenty of jersey swatches, but this is my first piece of court. The Northern Flights subset of 5 is entirely cards featuring court relics, all featuring Vince Carter. This does appear to actually have been from the ACC court, at least according to the back of the card, and it feels a lot smoother than it looks in the scan.

Those were the two big additions to my collection. The rest just were miscellaneous selections as I went through the Raptors portion of COMC sorting by lowest price, and picking out cards that interested me.

 

And here they are! I think most of these were in the 40 cent or lower range. I usually like the ticket design Contenders uses (this year's football was an exception), so grabbing one was an easy decision, especially since it was of someone who actually does have a selection of about 50 Raptors cards to chose from, but as of now this was my second. Whether it is called Heritage, Archives, or 1952 Style, throwback designs are always fun. I'm starting to get addicted to grabbing those cheesy Bazooka Joe comic cards. This won't be the last one from this COMC go-through. I liked Donyell Marshall's stint in Toronto, so why not add one more card of his? Finally, a card from a set I'd never heard of - Trademarks. This shiny "why haven't you cleaned your scanner glass yet?" card is /299.

And there's the Raptors portion of the COMC envelope - which should finally end the basketball portion of this.

Unfortunately, there are still well over 100 football, hockey, baseball and wrestling cards to post. With another 100 plus on the way.

Small Envelopes...Great Cards

Time to recap some cards that showed up in small envelopes from ebay and sportlots. 3 envelopes, with 6 cards between them is really too many for 3 separate posts, but just right for a single post.

Much as I like making nice new additions to my 2-14 collection, I'm not insane enough to shell out the bucks to add a real T206 to the collection. At least not yet. But, this reprint from 1983 of Tim Jordan of the Brooklyn Superbas is just fine. And if you, like me, were wondering, "What the Sam Scratch is a Superba?", you can join me in finding the answer.

"Superbas” was the nickname of the baseball team that would later be called the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers). “Superba” was the title of an 1890s entertainment spectacle brought forth by the Hanlon family. When Ned Hanlon (no relation) managed the Brooklyn club in 1899, his team was called “Hanlon’s Superbas.” Hanlon was let go as manager in 1905. The Brooklyn team would continue to be called the Superbas until 1910.

And now you know.

One more 2/14 card for this post. As much as I'm not a fan of the Contenders design this year, due to the dullest backs inaginable, I'm still going to grab a second auto of Keith Wenning for the collection. He has some on-card autos in Upper Deck's SP set, so I can hunt out a non-sticker one at some point.

Time to say goodbye to a long-time member of top 10 wanted list of a great card for my Mets collection, featuring a side arm delivery so low he appears to be bowling. It's a shame the logo is in the way, so you can't really see how far off the ground he is.

This is another one that dropped off my Top 10 list. It seems pretty generic and an odd addition for me, but the reason is hiding on the bottom. He's listed as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. While Mike Gosling never pitched an inning for the team, I'll still add him and his zero-year (tm: Nick @ Dime Boxes) card to my Jays collection.

Throwback uni!

Isn't this a nice way to wrap things up? Joe's finally grown his first mustache, and he's so proud of himself. His teammates don't even want to rain on his parade by telling him "You kinda look like Hitler.". You'd think they would at least tell him before "Photo Shoot Day."

But does this Williamsport Bills card mean I can use a Bills tag on this post? Looks like it!

Trending in Toronto Tonight

The names of two goalies, now forever united through the blooper reels.

They make a nice couple.

Retail Prizm Basketball Sampler

I'm taking the opportunity to pick up some retail non-hockey packs while Target is still around. This time, here's some Prizm basketball. 3 packs of 4 cards each and one mini pack with red, white & blue pulsar cards.

Pack #1 opens with an interesting start with the Nater. It is always interesting to pull a card with a defunct/relocated team uniform on it. That's followed up with a pair of rookie cards, and another oddball uniform. It is a reappearance from Hoops, where Nerlens Noel, who was drafted in 2013 but injured and didn't play. That uniform is a summer league one.

And as is typical for Panini, the logo matches the era.

Other than the Canadian content with the Steve Nash, this was the blandest of the three egular packs.

But this one is more interesting, with a mix of retired and current players - one of the nicer things about Prizm sets. Classic Hornets teal!

And more fun with the logos. Despite two Pistons cards in the same pack, the logos are different, and they match the era.

No PC cards so far, but some nice ones still for my misc. basketball binder.

But here we have a nice card for my Raptors collection. A abrasively loud parallel, but since it is of a Raptor, it will be a welcome addition to my binder. Ross isn't quite performing up to the level of last season, and is coming off the bench how, but I don't care when I pull a Raptors card. And right next to it is a card for a retired Celtic, my second-favourite team. And poor Jusuf Nurkic. He might be having a good rookie season - but my interest in his card falls way behind the other two.

The bonus pack really picked things up to make it a worthy pack break, but even without, there were still some nice cards with the Larry Johnson and the Swen Nater.

Just One (Jumbo) Pack...of 2014 Bowman Draft

I thought I'd stop with one pack of this, but there were some nice jumbo packs of the stuff, so, bring on some more sketchy photoshopping!

The pack did look less crumpled that this in the shop.

Foster Griffin
Mark Appel

Tyler Kolek - Not bad. 3 cards in and I pull one of the guys on the package.
Troy Stokes

Cole Tucker - I'm guessing the 5-year old in the Philippines that was doing the photoshopping on this one has never seen an actual Pirates jersey before. Or the only one s/he has ever seen was a knock-off on the streets of Manila with really tiny lettering.
Jared Walker

Shane Zeile - With a last name like that, my first question was "Is he any relation to Todd?". But, they're continuing the style of backs in Chrome, so I had to search it out. Todd's his uncle.

See? No biography on the back!
Jake Stinnett
Reese McGuire

Michael Chavis - Chrome
Kohl Stewart - Chrome
Erick Fedde - Chrome - Shiny cards. And my perpetually filthy scanner.

Dustin DeMuth - Ice - I was wondering if he was any relation to umpire Dana DeMuth. I'm still wondering that, as my google-fu is failing.

Grant Holmes - Draft Night - At least I can be pretty certain this jersey isn't photoshopped on.

Chris Ellis - Blue Refractor Auto /150 - So, not only do I pull a nice mini within a week of sending a trade package to Angels in Order - I also pull this auto. Typical of my luck.
Grant Hockin - Chrome
Aaron Judge - Chrome
Mitch Keller - Chrome
Max Fried

Michael Chavis
Miguel Sano
Erick Fedde - Interesting collation. A grouping of Michael Chavis, a Twin and Erick Fedde both as paper and Chrome cards in the same pack.

Lane Thomas - WOO-HOO! A Blue Jay!

Jeff Hoffman - WOO-HOO! Back to back!
Brett Martin
Derek Fisher
David Dahl
Marquis Wilson
Daniel Robertson
Isan Diaz - Refractor

Ian Clarkin - Refractor - The finale of this pack might be my favourite card in the pack. Moreso than the autograph and the two Blue Jays cards. Clarkin is a 2/14 baby! At least I recognized it this time around. When I pulled an auto of his from last year, I didn't even notice the birth date on the back of the card. But, I'm ready for his appearances this time around. And is a nice shiny addition to the binder.

A New Face for The Sens Binder

Fresh off World Juniors Gold - Curtis Lazar.

The orange parallels are from a 3-card bonus pack in 2014-15 Black Diamond.  I got this from picking up the Sens in a mojobreak mixer. I did have a redemption card for the Senators in Artifacts, but this came first.

The break contained two boxes of Black Diamond. So, with 6 cards in the two bonus packs, I ended up with a Senator in each one of them (alongside base cards of Greening and McArthur, and a dual diamond base of Bobby Ryan). After watching some other Black Diamond breaks, it seems the bonus pack doesn't use the same odds as regular packs - so you've got the same odds of a single diamond as a quad diamond.

Despite these being nice cards (and the Lazar orange paid for the Sens slot in the break), it still counted as a skunk. So, I got a bonus hobby pack. 2010-11 Black Diamond.

Despite there not being a hit in the bonus pack, I still did pretty well. A quad diamond card of someone who is still in the league (always a plus with any rookie card a few years after the fact) and a base card I didn't have for my 2/14 collection. Any appearance of Milan Hejduk in any pack I bust is a plus!

COMC Challenge Cards Part 75: Bills! Bills! Bills!

Why not have a Super Bowl week post filled with cards for a team that hasn't seen the playoffs for 15 years?

Bruce Smith takes me back to the era where they were contenders though, with this insert out of Prestige.

I do like the fact that back photo isn't reused from the front, but it isn't the most flattering choice. If you didn't notice that there were tiny snowflakes in the picture, it almost seems like Bruce is crying.

Staying with Prestige 2014, here's another insert from that set, this time with Sammy Watkins as the subject. I'd be upset that he isn't photoshopped into Bills colours, but it does fit with the draft board theme that he's still in Clemson orange, even if it is logo-free.

And the last card from 2014 in the COMC box of goodness, my first Sammy Watkins relic. Even his basic one-colour relics were going for around $7 a few months back, so adding a decent sized swatch for $3 was nice.

Travelling back one whole year, here's yet another insert - this time of Thurman Thomas from Topps' flagship in 2013. I have the Bruce Smith from this subset - might as well add the second Bill that was a part of it.

The only other hit I picked up was this sticker auto of Aaron Williams. It isn't pristine penmanship, but with more than half the letters being legible, I'll gladly call it among the better handwriting examples in my Bills collection. Even if it falls apart as the first and last names end. Aard Willil?

The rest just consisted of some Bills cards that were in the 30-35 eant range.

The two Fred Jacksons were part of a shopping spree I picked up. The others? I didn't have any Da'Norris Searcy cards, and that card and its parallels were the only option. And I liked the design on the Lee Evans. Simple as that.

9 cards more done. There's now actually some wiggle room in the box!

2015 Adventures in Repacks: Part 4.3 - Just The Packs

No competition here as I just show off every card in the repack I haven't shown off yet.

This was the oldest pack in the repack. No SPs here, but that Stan Musial insert is a pretty nice card. And I like the manager card of Washington as well. Not too bad, and it is a Heritage set I didn't get too many cards of, so it is still nice.

A shiny refractor and a throwback uniform. No complaints here either.

Although this Heritage is pretty bland. No SPs for trade bait, but a Mets card saves it.

I'm really tempted to skip on building the base set of flagship again this year, and just pick up a box of Opening Day instead. Maybe I'll wait and see how the SPs fall with Archives, since I like the sets they're saluting this year.

And to wrap it up, here's the GQ with the best pull in the repack. The red Ibanez is numbered to /99. Of course, this comes about a week after sending a care package to Angels in Order.

That's not the only time I'll make that lament this week.

Another repack scanned and posted. I'll try to stock up on these before Target checks out, leaving me with only hockey repacks at Walmart and Dollarama.