Everything 2/14 - Expo Post #2

 I'll be spending the next however many posts working my way through the Expo goodie box. Up first as I go through singles pickups, everything 2/14!

Up first, one-and-done with Gabriel Moreno. They have the "scans like crap" issues that I had with Stadium Club Chromes last post, but these do look a little better than most years.

3 more Nolan Schanuels for the binder. Having a Rookie Debut in 2023 saluted in 2024 is odd, but it still counts as a new card for his collection. Ginter this year will be an acquired taste. It is a shame I didn't realize there were state-themed inserts this year, because I could add two new Arizona/Oregon cards to the misc. binder.

I didn't have easy access to my lists at the show, so I was going by memory as to what I had and didn't have in the collection. For football, I went 1 for 3 - only Jaxon was new. At least the Jim Kelly can go into the Bills PC.

A new face for the collection! Dominic Pilote was born in 2006, but that's still a ways to go to become the youngest member of the collection.

1/3 of the card still counts as new Ehlers content. The top card is from this year's recent Series 1 release, with the bottom one going back to 2016. 

Even with them being somewhat more common with epack, this is still my first Clear
Cut base parallel in the collection. I have others in my Sens collection from group breaks and even a couple personal pulls, but my first 2/14 guy. Future (?) Jets teammate Colby Barlow has options that aren't too costly, so there may be company soon. 

Finally, one that's been on my wantlist for quite a bit over on e-pack, probably since the early days thereof. Which would make it 2016ish? Despite not really being that expensive, I still hesitated in adding it to my COMC inventory at any point. Now, $2 later at the Expo - it is mine!

I'm still not sure why I waited.

But there you have it!

Having A (Stadium Club) Blaster - Expo Post #1

The most recent Expo was "Fine". Just middling, run-of-the-mill. Much of the hockey was geared towards Bedard chasers, so I was perfectly happy with one of my boxes being this:

A nice little SC blaster. There were no singles available for me to hunt down the really interesting stuff, so this will scratch that itch. And you're going to see all 8 packs.

Pack 1:

Is Paul Skenes the big rookie in this product? Maybe? Whatever your vote is, there he is! Loperfido was as close as I'd get to Blue Jays content in this, and he is also one of the more interesting photos in this blaster. Sheehan was the first card out, and I should have taken that as a hint. As for the red parallels, I do like them on modern players, but it seems off for legends.

Pack 2:

Not the most exciting group here photo-wise, but boy was this ever a Braves hot pack. 

Pack 3:

For anybody else that busted a blaster or three, was the team-to-team collation this limited? Two more Dodgers, and a third straight pack with a Red Pirates parallel. Tyler Black gets an almost repeat of his Update Rookie Debut card in this, but if you compare the two, the pattern is all different for the splash between the two. I appreciate the CSI opportunity on cards.

Pack 4:

My first Mets card of the box. That's a pretty great photo commemorating Mookie's happy return to Boston. The cameo from the Green Monster denizen makes it even better. As I leave red foil Pirates parallels behind, the oddness here comes from two guys with the last name Scott.

Pack 5:

Another candidate for best photo in the blaster with Harris' appearance. The red parallels switch across the state with Philly picking things up. Much as I dislike how filthy the Chrome cards make my scanner look, that's a seriously nice looking Bob Gibson card.

Pack 6:

Virtuosos of Velocity. Both those 'V' words on their own can be tongue twisters, but they combine for an alliteration nightmare. David Wright becomes my second and final Mets card in the blaster, with a photo background that almost makes it seem like a Chrome parallel. 

Pack 7:

The only pack without Dodgers content. But it kept the red foil Pennsylvania content going. And the Braves content, which at 5 cards, was still dwarfed by the Dodgers content.

Pack 8:

Dodgers. Braves. Red Foil Pennsylvanians. Sounds about right.

I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if there was some better collation among the teams. At least one trading partner will get a nice small stack of Dodgers base.

There you have it!

2024 Adventures in Repacks - Part 32 - One for the Road (Trip)

 Just a little something to tide me over and keep the space warm while I'm sorting my way through Expo content. 

One of these, to be specific. I do like the opening image of this Contenders design more than the previous one. Maybe because this one doesn't feel as compacted. Even if the total percentage of the image is probably very close.

Not surprisingly, the first hidden card being an Upper Deck provides the first interesting photo of the repack. That Jon Beason is an insert out of 2010 Topps. I'm not sure why they felt the urge to salute 1952 that year, butit is a pretty solid one to use. The fun thing about collegiate cards like Milt Bohart's is that it was the only one he'd ever get.

Another interesting photo here with one of the many Mike Williams in recent NFL times getting a smoky entrance card. At least it wasn't the Bills guy that they used the 4th overall pick on. I'm thinking those Quarterback Challenge cards are going to end up like the 1990 Bowman in hockey as I'm going through this. 

And the hit! I had absolutely no memory of Craig Steltz whatsoever. Spending much of the time on the Bears Special Teams squad is probably the reason why. Still, he spent 5 more seasons in the NFL than I ever will, and it is a nice design with an on-card auto. So all is well with this.

Here's the finale. The Trent Murphy was the card on the back.

Uh...at least I can now say there's a HOFer in this group.

A few interesting cards in the opening portion, but things really went downhill in the latter half, outside the hit, was really dull. 

Everything Else 2/14

 Wrapping up this portion of the shipment.

Let's knock one card off of my most-wanted list. This is my second Yuka Sato card, joining one from 2010 World of Sports. These were inserts in 09-10 flagship hockey, probably to add some variety around the time of the Winter Olympics. Sato and Jojo Starbuck (who can also be found in both releases), comprise the figure skating content in the collection.

Yup. It's that photo of Kahili Blundell again. 

With this grouping, there are no real volume kings this time around. The closest is Tyler Adams with these 3. But, as a young player with a lot of cards available, there will be a lot of opportunities to add new cards. He's got 5, and with the soccer portion being so sparse (Edinson Cavani leads with 6), he'll likely take the lead shortly.

What cards are my favourites? The ones that add an uptick to two rows in the old spreadsheet at the same time. Most of those are football ones that include Drew Bledsoe in some manner. Here he's paired with Jim Kelly in a couple franchise history issues. Still, my favourite double-up is one that doesn't even count as one - the 1995 Collector's Choice card where Jeff Dellenbach snaps the ball to Drew.

Start with a Most Wanted drop-off, end with one as well. This SP'd insert features a manu-patch of a state that became such on February 14, 1912. Oregon is the other. I only want cards that salute the state itself in the collection, not its teams at any level. 

My collection. My rules.

There you have it!

2/14 Hockey

More goodies out of the 2/14 portion of my to-be-posted box. I've already recapped baseball content from my latest incoming COMC mailer. Hockey is today, and in an effort to get the rest of the stuff posted before the Expo this weekend everything else appears next post.

It would entirely be a cheap-because-of-epack post, if not for this outlier. A relic of perfect-match (year/date) Viktor Kozlov. I kinda miss the chance at getting a hit out of a lower-end product like MVP or flagship at reasonable odds.

Ah, Josh Pillar. The one with the worst penmanship in the collection. At least I don't have to be worried about a horrid signature ruining this perfectly good Exclusives parallel card.

No team variety in the new Colby Barlow content. But at least 3 of the 4 cards have unique photos. Also: Prospectus Momentous? That's really, really corny. These are all from the 2023 Team Canada release, meaning these were rather cheap due to people looking to recover anything at all from their Bedard chases.

As usual, when I'm getting hockey from the e-pack COMC cheapness, Nikolaj Ehlers leads the way in terms of volume. The Platinums are Matte Pink and Sunset parallels respectively, with the Allure being a red rainbow. The Metal Universe is an e-pack exclusive as a Spectrum, with the MLB being the silver signature version. Speed of the Game, is the only insert, out of 21-22 Credentials. 

There you have it!

2024 Adventures in Repacks - Part 31 - Dollarama Catch-Up

 Today, just a pile of Value Bundles from Dollarama that I've picked up over the past month or two. To be precise, there were 4 in this pile.

Repack #1:

Its contents.

As usual, the 5 card was all over the place. That Quick will be a new addition to the mask binder. I'd be more excited about that reverse retro jersey on Yegor's card - the Devils/Rockies mash-up, but I'd grabbed one from a dime bin at an Expo before.

Not just one HOFer in that portion, but two. Makarov went in a year prior to Selanne. Still, the best card here is the Myers, thanks to the Kelowna Rockets and their Ogopogo jerseys. It's them or the Sudbury Wolves as my fave across the CHL.

Two appearances of 21-22 UD flagship? That makes for a pretty dull 2020s pack.

I'm not going to scan the whole Pro Set pack. But here's one card that features Kelly Hrudey getting a face full of Chris Govedaris' hindquarters.

Repack #2:

That box was the perfect size for the Tre Ford patch/auto I pulled last month.

I'll forgive getting two cards of the same player when the third card is a Sens card with a great photo.

Only one HOFer in this pack, but it is of the finest player to have 2/29 as their birthday. Also, that's actually a pretty solid design for SP Authentic - a nice diversion from the super basic design with next to zero colour in the background.

That's a sweet grouping of 1990s cards. Any Gretzky appearance is great, even if there are probably about a million of those cards out there. That Ellett is a food issue card too, being available in packs at McDonald's at the time. Both horizontal cards also have some nice photos too. I haven't busted too many of these where the most interesting portion of the repack is the 90s one.

Repack #3:

Another box. I assume I'll find a slightly bigger card to use this particular holder as a home at some point.

The 5 card pack became a 6 card one. The Ryan O'Reilly was actually an Update card inserted into 2018 S2 flagship. Back when OPC was an early-season release. 1993 Leaf means the back gets scanned, just like with baseball. Sens content too! 

Here's the 1000pt pack, which also included a bonus card. That bonus might have been the extra 1000pt player, as both Pavelski and Bourque would reach that plateau. 

Not only is it a dull 21-22 entry, but Aho is done dirty by having an unflattering expression on his face. Was this the only bland photo of his sent into UD? 

Despite the extra cards, probably the blandest in this post.

Repack #4:

The first one had 1991 Pro Set, as does this. But this one is the French version.

2020s brings no 21-22 content. I already like this pack. That great photo of Stutzle is also pretty nice. Even if it is a dupe for my Sens content, the photo with no part of his body touching the ice can still make for a nice photo for my miscellaneous collection.

1993 Leaf, and not much else here. That's not going to come close to the 90s pack from repack #2.

T

2010s provides another dupe of a card I know I have elsewhere - Antti Raanta with the Arizona version of his Lucky Luke/Rantanplan mask.

The Pro Set opens strongly with the first two cards both being candidates for my Kitchener Rangers alumni binder. I'll have to actually open my binders to check, and having to do so inspired me to finally get around to adding non-hit content to my tcdb collection. Also: More Gretzky! I'm guessing that photo isn't just from the same game as the Hrudey earlier, but was probably snapped by the same photographer.

That was a lot of fun, for not too big of a price!

There you have it!