Worst of the Worst

 In an era where autographs are becoming lazier and less legible, this might end up as one of the worst, at least when it comes to 2/14 folk.

The best thing I can say about this is that there is a dot where the 'i' would conceivably be. But given the rest of it, maybe the pen slipped. He was a draft pick of Minnesota, but doesn't appear to have gone that route and is now playing for the University of Saskatchewan. Canadian University sports! Where you have a great chance of seeing a player in your class! 

For the sake of his professors/markers, I hope that all his exams are Scantrons. 

Let's throw in a few numbered cards...

and a relic from the same set to expand his appearances in the collection to 6. 

Although I do admit any misgivings about his signature quality doesn't stem any desire to add more cards of his to that 6.

There you have it! 

Gridiron 2/14s

 This time, it is a bunch of 2/14 additions of the football variety that were either in my latest COMC shipment, from Sportlots or ones from the previous COMC shipment I had yet to show off.

I finally have a photo of JSN in Seahawks colours to show off. This is from one of Panini's sets out of the National, and while the colours are super-nice to have, maybe I should have added a card where he doesn't look like he's surprised to be there.

Jaxon isn't the only player to get his first Seattle card in my collection. Tyreke Smith also had only Ohio State Buckeyes appearances prior to this as well. He didn't get too many cards last year, spending it on IR. But he finally got into a game this year - before getting released and resigned to the practice squad. Still, he's as important a member of my collection as Jim Kelly.

Speaking of...

Here's a bunch of his cards from Sportlots. A nice # of junk wax era "I thought I had that one!" cards.

Here's a few horizontal entries. Given the height of some of the hair in the family portrait shot, I'm surprised that one fit.

I'll stay at the QB position with 5 new David Garrards as well. Even with 108 cards in the collection, it still feels like a low amount given the longevity of his career. That's probably to the QB star power ahead of him in Kelly, McNair and Bledsoe. That's not a bad group to be in 4th in.

I just realized that I've had three OSU alums in this post. But I'm thinking that after the game from this past Saturday, I'm not worried about offending a Wolverine-loving trade partner with this.

Finally some shininess! In the form  of an Orange Disco Prizm parallel. And then I get him actually in Packers colours during a game, even if it is the same photo used on his Select cards. 

A pair of autographs to end this. Sure, Mack Wilson's signature might not look like much. It might not parse very well. But his is many times better in all facets than the one I'm going to show off next post. I mean - at least this looks like it could conceivably be a signature.

There you have it!

Redeemed!

 It is cheaper in the long run to have redemptions sent to my COMC account, especially since Panini started using FedEx and putting the book value of them on the shipment. Free shipping isn't when customs is involved.

So, here's a pair that showed up in my latest mailer from them.

Both are out of Chronicles, and this one was about two years in the making until arrival. The White Sox spot in 2021 was very Yermin Mercedes intensive, I used a group break to add some cards of his to my 2/14 collection, while also getting whatever else to go alongside it. It was a good break for getting on-card autographs from the Origins set for me. As nice as that super-colourful Stiever was, this just looks like such a classy entry. It feels just wrong to jailbreak this from its container.

Speaking of jail...

At least this was a random group break and not an individual purchase.

Next time I'm just selling the redemption and running.

2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 32: Nothin' But Some Hits

 Back to my repack box, and it is another three hit repack. While these generally provide 2 relics and auto, this one mixed things up with 1 relic and 2 autos.

Only one relic, and its a pretty interesting one. A pro-bowl swatch, and of a player without a lot of cards and a position that gets little hobby love. I'm probably the only person that is happy about such a hit - and it is probably more interesting, at least to me, than either of the autos.

Maybe they decided to not consider this to be an auto since the penmanship is so questionable. But at least I can recognize the Js. Or what are supposed to be a couple Js. Maybe he thought he'd be wearing #77 and signed that.

And autograph #2! It might be only his initials, but at least the initials are identifiable as actual letters, and  the jersey number is identifiable as such as well. Even with the abbreviation, he makes nice use of the sticker space as well. If you're not going to spell out your full name, at least do this.

Nothing major, and the best of the hits may have been the relic, but there you have it!

Say, Could you Introduce me to Shari Belafonte Harper

 The wit and wisdom of Tom Servo

Her appearance in "Being From Another Planet" makes it a perfect card for stateside Turkey Day, and the newest autograph in my "people from MST3Ked movies" collection.

Everything Else

 And now, every other single I grabbed at the show. Or at least the ones left after I packaged some up to get sent out to my usual partners.

This was all that's left in terms of hockey content. I just love this photo because John Lilley looks fucked up out of his gourd on...something. This is definitely a case of "I'm so glad this guy got other cards over his career". 

Quarter box Johnny Bench? Fine by me!

Quarter box random traded cards? Again, fine by me!

Archives was fresh on the shelves a couple weeks back, so let's add some sweet legends content to the ol' binders. That's an impressive sideburns battle between Gibson and Brock. 

Vladdy! He looks like he's going to unload a throw against some poor unfortunate runner that thinks they're going to advance a base on a mere fly to the outfield.

Numbered Willies! It is really hard to tell since the foil scans horribly, but that McCovey is /99.

Finally, a pair of relics to wrap things up. Sure, this is a Brock Osweiler patch, but it is a really nice Brock Osweiler patch.

The grand finale for singles is a card that hits a sweet spot. An oddball item. That's not a jersey swatch from the draft, but the hat he's wearing. Oddities like that can be the best thing about relics, especially when they're not game used.

And that's about it. Except I do have a box of 2023 Chronicles to show off, but I am going to wait a few days to show off that content. Because after 8 straight posts, I think I need a break from that. 

There you have it!

Expo 2/14s

 The other theme of my acquisitions at the Expo were taking a chance to add to the 2/14 collection, and they received a bunch of newness.

Such as this Milan Hejduk, which is from a day when shiny cards were base cards and they didn't scan horribly. 

Even if it was from a quarter box, I'm not sure which guy I was more surprised to see a parallel of - Calle Johansson or Sean Hill. Calle is an Emerald parallel from 1995, with Hill being a Stanley Cup Super Team parallel from one year prior. 

The best thing about all these Erik Nystroms is that I found 2 of each them, One for me - one for the mailer to Ann Arbor. The Score is a Glossy parallel.

MVP! It wasn't just for Kitchener Rangers alumni!

And that can lead into the only numbered hockey card I added to the 2/14 collection. 

And the only hockey hit I got was one that I thought I might have already had in the collection, but decided to pull the trigger on anyhow. At least I could add it whenever I made my next COMC submission. But that's no longer an issue since this wasn't a dupe.

I may still need a card featuring JSN in Seahawks gear (although I won't when my next COMC shipment arrives), but these will continue his rise in numbers in the collection. He's at 18 already, and with an auto, a relic and a couple cards numbered to 50 or fewer in the collection, it is definitely a solid start even without a pro uniform.

There might not have been a lot of player variety when it came to adding relics to the collection, but 5 new football hits are still 5 new hits. Especially when it is all about the numbers.

And I got one new auto as well! His 2/14ness has made me the only Ethan Small super-collector on the planet outside of his family. I'm absolutely fine with that.

Less competition.

There you have it!

One And Done

 This is just one of those days I feel like showing something off, but not feeling too chatty. 

So, this was the one basketball single I picked up at the Expo.

Not a Raptor. Not a 2/14 guy. But a Rony Seikaly autograph. 

NBA Jam mojo!

Hockey Miscellany

Excepting the 2/14 content, which I have yet to show off, and what you've already seen, here's the rest of the hockey content I grabbed for myself from the Expo.

It may have taken almost two years, but here's the grand finale for the 21-22 O-Pee-Chee set. There's no better feeling for a a set builder to add the final card into a set. This was also the only card in this post that didn't come from a 25 cent (or less) box.

You know you're getting old when you see a card with that name on it, and you immediately start wondering if it is Jarome's kid. And yes, he is.

Just an insert of one of the, if not the, greatest women's hockey players ever. And that's now Dr. Wickenheiser to mere mortals such as myself.

Even if this doesn't feature the classic blue jerseys, at least there's a fleur-de-lis.

Awesome photo alert!

I'm not a Simon Gagne collector at all, but for 25 cents, how could I pass on a card of his numbered to 200 copies? I don't know if Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond is the longest name that's ever appeared on a hockey card, but it certainly has to be contending.

A bunch of 25 cent mask binder additions. Those two die-cuts in the middle are both blue parallels /850. The Pavelec is a sticker insert. My fave mask in the bunch is Antero's - a sharky update to the gangster themed mask that he started while he was in Philly.

And there were a lot of alternate/retro throwback photos in Series 1. So I wanted to get at least one card for each team. Combining it with the ones I found in the packs I've busted, it looks like I've got at least one of each. If I missed one, there's always e-packs!

There you have it! 

Team Collection Additions

 Aside from the Kitchener Rangers alum, the rest of my team additions were all over the place. And here all of them are.

One Jays card. That's it. One. But it is an O-Pee-Chee!

More Mets content than with Toronto. Yay for avoiding the hometown premium!

A couple numbered cards. 2014 Classics is a really underrated design, hurt by the fact Topps also did the pennant design with Heritage early in the year. That Parnell is a 'snow camo' parallel, out of /99.

I really need to make getting a Piazza autograph a New Year's Resolution. Considering how horribly I've failed on my resolution to get a Drew Bledsoe autograph, I'm not sure how successful I'll be on keeping it.

A couple Bills hits. The Manuel autograph is a SP variation, but it is still EJ. It is amazing how he might not even be in the Top (Bottom) 3 of questionable Bills QBs in the era between Kelly & Allen. And the less said about the team after their salute to the 2009 Grey Cup - the better.

A couple random Sens. While I do have a lot of Spezza cards in the PC, that might be my first Binghamton Senators card of his. 

Staying in the minor leagues, here's the finale for the post. He was a 6th rounder in 2020, but has spent much of the time over the past couple seasons injured. But he's still playing for the team, so that's room for optimism. 

There you have it!