Listia Randomness

I keep trying to work my way through my Listia credits, but still have about 14K left. Eventually, they'll be at zero, or close enough for buying purposes.

But, the meantime, I'll add some cards to my various PCs.

This is my favourite out of the bunch, an on-card autograph of Amir Johnson. It comes from Court Kings, a set I love for its Dick Perez-ish garish backgrounds that give me a flashback to the Diamond Kings of the 80s. I don't know if Amir will be a Raptor come the beginning of the 2015-16 season, but this will still have a welcome home in my Raptors binder. And that's all that matters.

There are two Rogie Vachon relic cards in this set. One features his famous double crowns Los Angeles Kings. The other is this one. I'd be disappointed, but this one has him on the Bruins, so I can add this to my collection of them, which is nice considering there are not a lot of cards out there with him on the Bruins. There is no indication of which jersey in particular this swatch from, but I'll just pretend that it is a Bruins uni. At least the swatch matches the photo.

And finally, a manu patch for my Expos collection. Interestingly, the swirl portion of the card with the names on it as die-cut cardboard, even though those portions still appear on the patch.

And there you have it. 3 different types of hits. It is like I opened a Jumbo Box of Series 2.

Hockey Goodies from Too Many Manninghams

Time to (mostly) wrap up the trade package with the hockey portion.

The big additions to my collection were to my masks and Sens/Alfie collections, so I'll lead with the odd card in the envelope - a new addition to the Gaborik portion of the 2/14 collection. This is a 10th anniversary card, numbered to 1994. They also brought this look back for last year's SP Authentic, but not numbered.

On to the Sens portion of the collection. And my 4th Alfredsson plate, and my 3rd plate used in the production of this GWG card. I one away from the complete set, and any desire to complete the rainbow is reduced by the fact I'd likely pay a really, really, really stupid amount for the final plate.

Thankfully, though this is the second Rookie Anthology plate of Spezza, my previous one was from 12-13 RA. This is from 11-12. Whew! Temptation halted. Still, two nice plates for two different binders.

Off to the mask binder, starting with this pre Cujo mask of Curtis Joseph. The Cujo motif was a couple years off, but this is still nice and a trip back to a simpler time.

And finally, off to the autos for the masks binder. The big highlight here was this classically simple mask from former Winnipeg Jet, with a photo so clear you can see the paint chipping.

And here's an auto from someone who would be a Senator in the future. ITG always does a great job with their stickergraphs, making the design work with the eventual sticker instead of just slapping it on to a random spot.

And to wrap it up, a series of autographs of Future Stars. Not really, but their were a pair of Senators draft picks in this mix. Jeff Glass is rocking the Binghamton Senators uniform on his card, and Ryan Daniels was also a Sens draft pick. Sauve spent several years bouncing back and forth between the AHL and NHL, and as for Bryan Pitton.

He might have been given the worst rookie card of all time.

Which amazingly I don't have a copy of.

And that wraps up the trade, except for a trio of cards for Canada Day. Thanks for all these so far!

Basketball and Football Goodies from Too Many Manninghams

Continuing to work my way through the envelope. I was going to do the hockey today, but with the CFL season starting this past weekend, it seems like a good idea to do football today. And since I didn't have a lot of basketball in the envelope, I'll throw that in as well.

Starting off with a new card for my burgeoning Celtics collection with a  manu-ticket relic. If that makes sense. Forte had a short NBA career, but is still active playing overseas since 2005.

As always, my 2/14 collection got a boost, adding a pair of hits. This is my 2nd autograph of Mullens, and my 8th relic of Rip Hamilton.

The late Steve McNair moves into a solid second place with 29 total cards with these additions, gaining a 5 card lead over Drew Bledsoe and David Garrard.

Speaking of David Garrard.

I think Dennis sent a card of the wrong former Jaguars QB.

And to wrap it up, some cards of former Bills. Yes, this might appear to be a Clemson card, but since Spiller went to the Bills, it goes in the Bills binder.

Darn, my collection has a lot of TJ Graham in it. But he's still a Bills alum, and this is still an addition to the hits portion of it.

And here's the other Bills relic. This actually (supposedly) a game worn patch from Lee Evans. Lee is another mainstay of my Bills collection. Mainly due to additions from trades w/ Dennis.

So, just hockey to go! Probably tomorrow. Unless something shiny distracts me in the mail.

Just One Pack...For Now...of 2015 Stadium Club

I'm a little late to the Stadium Club dance this year, but it is more appealing than last year with the cards at a lower price point, which might make me grab a few more packs as opposed to just random singles.

But, just one pack to start, picked up at the LCS this morning.

And here's my first card of 2015 from Stadium Club. Definitely no complaints out of this. A nice full-bleed photo that perfectly uses the horizontal medium for this card.

Wow. A non-reused photo on the back as well.

And another perfect horizontal card.

A photo so clear, you can see Luis has an arm like a professional wrestler. I wonder why that was...

Let's see. Top of the 8th inning.Yankees with a 2-1 lead, and Frazier circling the bases after a home run. Looks like this game to me.

Here's a black foil parallel. These fall at a rate of 1 per 8 packs. The black actually contrasts better with the background than the base silver.

And these three wrap up this pack.

But, there were a few random Stadium Club cards sitting in the boxes, and I picked up two more.

While hockey cards frequently feature a player and a row of high-fives, it isn't that common in baseball, hence why I added this Zach Britton to my collection. And that Lorde-inspiring George Brett photo can join 1991-92 Pro Set hockey #340 in cards that can be traced to a well-known song.

But, there's one more. There was a small # of Archies cards out as well. I passed on them, since I'm expecting an envelope or two filled with ARchives that should do significant set damage. But, I still looked, and for 50 cents, added this:

Doesn't look like much at first...

But this is one of those evil, evil SPs. Since I didn't get any on my box breaks, I figured I should have and add at least one to my collection. And at that price, how could I pass?

Baseball Goodies from Too Many Manninghams

Time to recap yet another trade envelope from Too Many Mannighams. It was a nice mix of all 4 sports I collect, and it does have such a mix that I can split it over several posts hitting all the sports. First up will be some of the baseball portion of this, save for a trio of cards that will be perfect for a Canada Day posting.

Time to start shiny with a new addition to the Joe Carter collection. I wasn't collecting too intensely at this time, and assumed this card was some sort of parallel from the Crash the Game series. Nope. This card that would be an SSP Orange Cracked Ice today is the base of the Joe Carter, with the only parallels being the games to crash. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

It might not be a super shiny refractor, but this is my first 1993 Finest card.

Back to the shiny with these contrasting Vlads for that collection. As nice and reserved the Hot Commodities card is, the Power Players is as loud as it appears.

Up next, a trio of Mets cards, and they're also  all over the place. Acetate. Autographs. Shiny. The Mejia is /150.

Time for the relics! It gets to be somewhat of a challenge to add new relics to the baseball portion of the 2/14 collection. But these fit. Kelly Stinnett is starting to become a doubtful addition though. While his earlier cards do list his birthday as 2-14 (along with baseball-reference), while Wikipedia and some of his later cards, such as his great 2006 UD card, list it as 2-4. But, I'll still consider it a 2-14 card if the card either doesn't list his birthdate or has it as 2-14.

And here's the big baseball winner. This is easily my best patch in the Carlos Delgado collection. At least in terms of colours. A four colour patch, a two colour swatch in the middle (there's a thread or two of orange hiding under the left side of the die-cut Y and another two colour patch to wrap it up. It is #d to 20, and is my lowest numbered Delgado card.

And that's just a third of the package or so. More over t he next few days.

Just One Pack...of 2015 Score

I haven't seen any of Panini's NCAA products or 2015 Bowman at my LCS, so Score it is. Here's the contents of a 12 card pack:

And my first 2015 football card is...

Earl Thomas! Actually, a really nice welcome to the 2015 football card season in terms of photographs. A very unique picture in the rain. I found last year's pretty dull, so this is a better welcome to the set. Even though I will probably build Topps yet again.

A re-used photo on the back, but still a nice colourful look.

Kyle Fuller
Justin Forsett
Terrance West
Benny Cunningham

Fred Jackson - WOO-HOO! A Bills card!

Terrance West - Sophomore Selections - Gold Parallel. It is a Terrance West hot pack! Gold parallels in this product aren't numbered, but at least these are inserts as opposed to part of the actual set, which was an annoyance for the team collector in me.

Ty Montgomery  - Here are the rookie cards. No photoshopping or close up shots needed here. OTher than the college uniform and the logo in the upper corner, not much difference between these and the base. Plus, highlighting a Packers draft pick gives me a chance to link to this:

WOOOOO! PACKERS!

Jamison Crowder
Tony Lippett

Andrew Luck - Franchise - Another insert set.

 Mike Evans - Sophomore Selections -  The base of these are so much nicer (or at least less loud) than the parallels.

PWE Catch Up!

A pair of PWEs made their way here courtesy of Shoebox Legends, and I figured now is as good a time as any to show off the highlights.

Most of what showed up will be on its way to my Mets binder, but there were a few others for other teams. My favourite non-Mets card was easily this Santa Hat rookie card of Gabe Pruitt. Sure, he only spent parts of a couple seasons there, and he's number 2 on this unflattering list, but he still got the ring! And he can thank Sun Yue for keeping him out of the #1 spot.

Just one Blue Jays card in the envelopes, but I don't have much 1990 Classic.

And Vintage is always welcome in my Expos collection, even with airbrushed caps.

But it was the Mets that highlighted these envelopes. Shane noted on the envelopes that these seemed to be needs as per my zistle list.

As long as I can tell it is a Mets card, there is no such thing as vintage that is too well-loved.

I couldn't recall what set this was an insert from, but a quick look at COMC lead me to 2014 Opening Day.

But the big winner in terms of PC was the Mike Piazza portion. With about 20 cards between the envelopes, getting 3 of the same player stood out. There's an ice variety of photos among them as well. Although the uniform isn't one of the most loved ones in Mets history, I have to vote for the orange jersey as my favourite in this bunch. And it isn't the most traditional pose that you'd see on a card.

So, thanks for the PWE! I'll keep my eyes peeled for Whalers!

Redeemed!

It took just under 6 months (entered this on Boxing Day), but this:

Has become this:

I love getting autos not using the Latin/English alphabet, and this Kanji one is no different. Wang had yet to receive a Topps card, so this is also nice in that regards.

Sampling Series 2 - Pack 2 of 2

And now, my second, and likely final pack of 2015 Series 2.

Jordan Walden

Jon Lester - I'd bet this one isn't photoshopped!
Wade Miley
Alex Rios
David Ortiz

Alexei Amarista - The words "Fly" and "Right" appear on what looks to be a pop fly to shallow right. Perfect framing!
Kevin Framsden
Tsuyoshi Wada

Tuffy Gosewich - Baseball needs more people named Tuffy.
Jake Smolinski
Sam Tuivailala
Carlos Frias
Desmond Jennings
Yankees Team

Marlins Team - The photo choices on these team cards are quite nice throughout the set.

Josh Beckett - A nice final base card for Beckett. Even if there is a checklist on the back.
Clayton Kershaw
Cardinals Team
Xavier Scruggs
Wade Davis
Kolten Wong
Darin Ruf

Maicer Izturis - First Blue Jay card of this pack.
Brad Ziegler
Collin McHugh

Insert time!

Jose Quintana - Gold 708/2015 (Strangely, this card doesn't have any gloss on it. Ebay 1/1!!!!~!~!~@!!!!)

Hunter Pence - Stepping Up

Hank Aaron - Highlights

Mike Piazza - Heart of the Order

Mike Moustakas - A nice photo on this SP variation.

Kevin Hart - First Pitch
Call Your Shot - LX9V4VVS can win you an auto relic if you're more American than I.

Edwin Escobar - Career High autos. I guess this Ontario jumbo box that I got this from should have been sent to New England instead of here.

Taylor Hill

Emilio Bonifacio - Bunting!
Stephen Vogt

Matt Harvey - My first Mets base card from this set. But 'Future Star' three years after his debut?
Brayan Pena
Zoilo Almonte
Marco Scutaro
Drew Stubbs
Angel Pagan
Ryan Raburn
Corey Hart
Hector Noesi
Billy Butler
Marcell Ozuna
Kyle Hendricks

Jeurys Familia - And my second Mets base card wraps it up.

That SP was really nice, as was the auto, but it still doesn't come close to the Pumpsie buyback in pack #1.