Trade Stack: 2 Brew Crew

If you have one of the cards on any of my wantlists, I'll trade the entire contents of the stack to you, in return for a single card  from those lists. I'll throw cards onto the stack at intervals of my choosing (whenever I feel like it).

Card #10 and Card #11 on Stack #1:

A pair of Brewers cards! The Turang is /999, making it the second numbered card on the stack. They join these:

Want them all?

1. You make a comment on the most recent post of the trade stack staking your claim, and say what you're sending. (That's this one!)

2. You send me an e-mail providing your address.

3. I reply, giving you my address.

4. We each drop a PWE in the mail containing the promised card(s).

5. You're shipping to Canada, so remember that!

Stats on the Back

 Sure, this might look like just your typical hockey card from the early 90s for an expansion team.

But the back tells the real story.

You have to read into the biography for it, but 648 minutes worth of chaos seems to still be the one-season record, unless some obscure goon leaguer has since surpassed it. It might be the IHL in general, but he also put up 50 points that season as well. 

1991 Score provided the only NHL level card for this king. 

There you have it!

2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 6 - Hit Repack Battle

 

I picked up a pair of these in my most recent incoming repack shipment. I'm just as likely to get similar hits from a couple hobby packs, so why not just cut to the chase? Despite what it says on the outside, both of these contained only 2 relics and an autograph. They also had something else in common - each had one 'event worn' relic, and one that was listed as 'game worn'. That makes for a perfect comparison!

Event-worn:

While Sam Bradford easily has this battle won in terms of their NFL career, the fact that I was immediately able to set aside that Darboh for my next mailer to Ann Arbor gives that card the edge. It also does have a few more little nods that the Bradford doesn't - the size of the swatch and coming from a higher-end release.

Game worn:

Here's another one where all of the NFL factors definitely put things in direction of one player, but there is one intangible that switches things over. Vince Young had himself a very solid career, and is still appearing in the legends portion of base-heavy sets today. Jake Locker had problems staying healthy, and the amazement of that jersey swatch actually coming from a game-worn one is mind-blowing enough to give this one a nod in the battle of Titans QBs wearing #10. 

The autograph:

Another same-team battle. I've heard of Stedman Bailey, probably because he appeared so frequently in 2013 releases. This card might be the first I've heard of Keith Null. But he did appear in 4 games for the Rams in 2009, winning as many games over that period as I have. But even if he'd gone 4-0 as opposed to 0-4, it would hard to compete with an on-card, acetate autograph done in a less common ink colour. This card had varying colours for the autographs, but I don't really know which was the rarest. 

So, with  2-1 lead, the first repack wins!

There you have it!

The Finest in Blue Jays

Another group break goodies post, with some chrome-y cards out of 2022 Finest. After a couple years of very garish backgrounds, they're a lot more subdued this year.

This is where I'd show off some parallels to gauge whether they work better with these designs, but that's not happening, since I didn't get any base card parallels in this case. Not even a simple refractor of any of these 4 cards. 

Will the insert sets improve my haul? Well, here's some shininess.

But that's it for the non-auto inserts. I guess it will be up to the autographs to save the break. And they certainly did. It looked pretty dire at first, but then the final two boxes of the break provided me with a trio of Jays autographs.

I guess if you're getting into a break that involves a lot of rookies, you should probably expect getting some Otto Lopez content. His signature might not be the best, but it still a lot better looking than the Tylor Megill signatures that I'd get in Mets breaks.

How do you make an autograph of the same player even better? Make it a team-colour parallel! For those that are interested in collation oddness, both these Lopez autos came in the same box. That sounds horrible for someone that buys a personal box, not so much for a group break. 

As for autograph #3?

Yes! This is certainly a keeper! It comes from the Finest Moments insert set, and judging by the hint of a 1993 World Series patch, this photo comes from the finest moment in Joe Carter's career, and probably team history as well. Topps seems to be getting some mileage from that moment this season, with this post-game celebration showing up on the Stadium Club base card earlier. I've already got a Joe Carter autograph out of Flawless /10, but the specifics behind this one make it so much better.

It is hard to land a better Jays auto than this one! 

There you have it!

Oh, sweet mystery of life, at last I've found you!

 Does reminding me of The Starfighters make this a MST3K card?

YES! 

Just lie back and think of England's airspace. 

Mailbag: Jays

 Back to the TMV bubbler again!

Number one and the best for Blue Jays content was this card that dropped off of my most wanted list. Why was this on there in the first place? How could I not want a Starting Lineup card for Rance Mulliniks? 

Especially when I had a Tom Henke sitting in my COMC to-be-posted box to keep it company? If the standings were determined by goofy looking cards versus wins/losses, then the Jays would won the World Series several times over in the late 80s.

Maybe this will be the breakout year for Cavan Biggio. And maybe it won't, but in terms of both volume and shininess, he did win those portions of the Jays content in this post.

And the rest of 'em! I'm not sure if that Wells/Delgado will end up in either the Jays collection or the Delgado collection, but I'll probably opt for the ladder once I start going through the binders looking for appropriate homes. Richard Urena didn't really pan out in Toronto, but he did spend parts of a few seasons with the team, and that's still enough to make him count towards the binder. That Halladay is from the Moments & Milestones set that had a couple hundred base cards for each player. Have fun building that set! 

On the bottom row, there's an always fun team-colour parallel for Joey Bats from 2013, and Adeiny Hechavarria rounds things out. He went to the Marlins in the trade that brought Jose Reyes to Toronto.

Only Mets and Miscellany to go!

There you have it!  

2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 5.2 - Hanger and a Hit

And the basketball one, which was the last one-and-done repack I had before I restocked this past week. Although, there's still a 100-card football one to do.

Sure, there might be a small nick at the bottom, but starting off with Dirk is an excellent opening card.

The group of repacks I got alongside these had a nice selection of 1981 Topps in them. And I'm perfectly fine with that. That Jim Jackson was an insert card out of 1995 Flair.

Is it ironic to get a card of Fat Lever right after getting a card of Oliver Miller? Even if it isn't, that is one of the odder repack pairings, and I must wonder if it was just an odd coincidence. 

Your hit!

And it is one of those 3-team hits! Pictured with the Suns, listed with the Knicks, swatch is from the Clippers. One of those things that just seems most likely to happen with relic cards, at least prior to them not being from any specified team, game, event or season.

Another '81! Since I did get eventually a card of Stanley Johnson that covers his time with the Raptors, I won't need to use this one as a stopgap card to cover his time with the team. Blanks might be one of the worst names to have on the back of your jersey, especially if you're in a slump.

The finale. 

Some 81s and a three-team relic. That's a perfectly fine repack! 

2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 5.1 - Hanger and a Hit

 

Here's the football one, and here's the opener. It might not be a special teams player, but a defensive player to open is a fine starter.

Your first grouping. The 2008 SP Rookie Edition that provided the Rivers is probably going to be the most unexpected set to provide a card in this repack. 

Defensive player with the ball! Great start! And Tramon Williams is among the Packers that did win a Super Bowl.

This has really been a NY Giants hot pack so far. I remembered Jeff Alm for non-football reasons, mainly the circumstances of his passing. On a more positive note, there's a Hall of Famer in Dawson in the bottom row, and I admit to being surprised that Austin has not been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. 

I guess the Special Teams mojo I wished for in the opening card just took a little longer to materialize. Because here's a Kick Returner hit! This goes all the way back to 2003 to provide a blue Pro Bowl swatch. As best as I can tell with TCDB, this ended up as the only hit, auto or mem, of Lewis' career. So that piques my interest even more about this hit. 

It doesn't really scan well, but that Shipley is a blue foil variant. Mike Grey is an Oregon Ducks alum, meaning that card will be heading to Portland in a future mailer. Two Amari Coopers in one repack? I always love that kind of oddness.

The final card. Prizm/Chrome always do a masterful job of showing how filthy my scanner bed is. 

There you have it! Basketball next! 

The Reason

 

If there's something common on releases from Topps/Upper Deck that is less common on Panini releases, it is including the player's hometown. Which means that despite having over 120 cards of the local product, Jamal Murray, in my collection. None mention the reason I super collect his stuff.

Until now.

There you have it!

Annual 2/14 Post

 As I finish yet another year on this planet, it is time for me to recap my favourite 2/14 binder cards from the past year. The rules for inclusion remain tha
t the card was first made available, in some form, during the past year, and that I have it in hand.

10.

Given that I always am scanning ahead of the drafts for potential rookie additions, this gets on the list out of missing this. I'd already had Justin Campbell in the collection off of one of his Panini Team USA cards. I didn't catch that he'd been drafted by the Guardians. I was just looking through the backs of some random base cards out of 2022 Bowman Draft from the LCS when I saw the birthdate, and then remembered "Oh yeah...". This is the only card in this post that I hadn't shown off previously, and probably the reason this edged out 2022 Score's Jadeveon Clowney.

9. 

Given my attempt to build the set, I probably should have the only entry from regular Heritage that counts towards the collection in this list. Although this won't be the only time you see this design in thsi post.

8. 

With the Campbell, I completely whiffed on his draft pick. My google searching lead to my knowing that Jaden Shackelford was a 2/14 baby before the draft, even though it didn't appear that he'd be picked. He still signed with Oklahoma City, and is in the G-League, and he still got quite a few cards in unlicensed NCAA sets, many of which use this photo. He still hasn't appeared in an NBA game, but when it comes to the collection, I don't care about such trifles. 

7.

Another card with a 'Draft' theme to them. Barlow is the youngest member of the collection so far, being born in 2005. This salutes his draft into the OHL, but since he's projected as a high pick into the NHL draft this upcoming off-season, more cards await!

6. 

The Sutters might not be the most famous family in hockey, but they probably were the most abundant. This card salutes his playing a game where his uncle Darryl was the coach of the opposition at a game in Calgary, but it could just as easily have saluted the number of Sutters that played in the NHL, which was 9 at last count. 

5.

Ever since I noticed her name on the WNBA rosters matching up with her birthdate a few years ago, I'd been scanning the release checklists hoping Kennedy Burke's name would be on it. It finally happened with the 2022 Prizm, and it comes with all the parallels that you'd expect out of Prizm. This is one of the three cards I've acquired, specifically a Premium Box Set parallel, numbered to /99. I also like that despite this being her first card - it doesn't get described as a rookie card. That always looks ridiculous.

4.

There pretty much has to be one Jim Kelly on the list every year.

3.

I love obscurity in the collection, and this one certainly hits that sweet spot. This sticker, and its parallels, are the only items available out there of Meshaal Barsham. He doesn't have anything associated with his regular team. Qatar isn't exactly a guarantee to qualify for future tournaments, so this might be his only appearance in the collection. And that's perfection.

2. 

An easy way for a card to move up a list is for me to pack-pull it. Not only was this blue parallel pack pulled, it almost perfectly matches the team colours of the Winnipeg Jets. Ehlers did get a nice number of cards this past year, but this combo was enough to make it my choice of his cards, since I limit this to one card per person. 

1.

Like with #2, there's a pack-pulled parallel in the #1 spot. While this one isn't a colour match parallel, it does hit a team collection parallel, with the Buffalo Bisons being the Jays' AAA affiliate. I figured that this would hit the #1 spot when I pulled it. I briefly considered placing it a little further down the list after Moreno's trade to Arizona, but figured that he was still in the Jays system when I pulled it, so it will remain in the #1 spot. He's still a Blue Jay in 2023 Series 1, dropping Wednesday, so I guess I'll see what happens in with my 2024 post.

But I still have a year to plan that.

There you have it!

2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 4 - Dollarama Catchup

 Time to reach in the soon-to-be-restocked repack box, with this time resulting in a few pick-ups from Dollarama. 

Here's the contents. I generally just grab whatever is within closest reach, but with a Sens card visible on one of them that I didn't have, I'll make the slightest effort to stretch.

Even if Matt Murray's time in Ottawa wasn't the most memorable, I'll still welcome it. 

The photos in behind it were really strong, with a nice pair of horizontal cards that both use that orientation nicely. The Friesen photo is pretty unique as well. 

The next group was as dull as the first was interesting. Corriveau never played a game with the Blues, or any NHL team for that manner. That's an airbrushed London Knights OHL jersey he's sporting. 

And another solid photo to end it. Pinnacle is what I imagine we'd get if the Canvas inserts from flagship ever became a stand-alone set. 

While SP Authentic opened the first repack, this one has the retail SP version.

There's some star power here with the second grouping, and a set I don't see that much of in repacks, with 1996-97 Donruss providing the Lefebvre.

That Leafs jersey card was part of a subset in 1991-92 Platinum to highlight the jerseys that Original Six teams sometimes sported during the season for the 75th Anniversary. 

I don't know if this is a goal celebration card, or just one where Gerbe is complaining to the referee about being knocked into the net, but it is the most interesting card of a very dull group.

Off to the Surprise Bag, which is now down to just 3 items. But at least I get some toploaders to use when my next bubblers go out.

They fibbed to me! I not only got 4 cards instead of 3, but 2 rookie cards instead of just 1. Or 4 rookies instead of 1. Either way - BONUS! Of the four rookies shown, only Yakushin didn't have too lengthy a career on this side of the Atlantic. Timonen is the biggest success story of the group, with a 16 year career, and probably the only one in this post to get a shout out from President Obama. 

Timmies card! Timmies card! Food issue! WOO-HOO! And even if they are early 90s cards, there's a pair of Hall of Famers in there too.

With the Timonen/Cote and some of the nice photos in the first repack, that was a really good grouping of cards! 

There you have it!