Stanley

 Always awesome on hockey cardboard.

Always.

2025 Adventures in Repacks - Part 3 - Keeping my Promise

 I did promise myself I'd try at least one of those soccer repacks at the Dollarama.

And this will be the one I try!

These were the contents. Only 3 items, and also only 6 cards. Still more per unit than I'd get from a typical hobby pack, though.

Despite knowing very little about soccer beyond the basic rules, I'm actually pretty happy with the first portion. Allysha Chapman won a gold medal for Canada as part of the 2020/21 Olympics. That's quite the first card! We also get a card of a guy with a last name starting with 'X', and an AC Milan appearance. If I followed Serie A, I'd probably follow in my father's footsteps and root for that side. 

Everything coming from the same set doesn't make the second portion anywhere close to as interesting as the first. But I do get to see a different version of a Topps Rookie Cup. So at least there's that.

I'm probably one-and-done for these, but if this is all they have when I have to scratch a repack itch, I'd still try one.

There you have it!

Mascot Madness

 

The regal portraits thing in last year's UD flagship might have been their most "out there" concept for that insert set, but at least it did give an appropriate one for Gritty. 

Imagine an insert set so bonkers it makes a disc card of a minor league mascot seem reasonable.

There you have it!

Four if by Sportlots

 Another 4-card sportlots PWE, unbothered by postal strikes and US restrictions on shipping here since it originated on this side of the border.

The obligatory cool photo in the envelope. You'd think possession being 9/10th of the law would make this a card of Chris Tamer, instead of the Damian Rhodes card it actually is.

The first appearance of former NHLer Christian Thomas on a card. Topps was really thinking outside the box for Steve Thomas cards that season.

In 2025, a card from an insert/subset named "Jagged Edge" would be a nightmare in terms of trying to place it in a penny sleeve/album page. Thankfully, this is from 1996.

As for this Chris Neilsen, the reason for this card is on the reverse.

Since, just like they did with the Bowman International parallels at the time, the background write-up is done in the language of the player's birthplace. In this case, Swahili and Tanzania. I can't imagine there being any other hockey cards with Swahili as the text anywhere on it. I love uniqueness like that, and it doesn't have to be a true 1/1 to be unique.

There you have it!

Strike-Delayed PWEs

 I'm opening the mailbag today after time away thanks to Canada Post delays, and highlighting some basketball-filled envelopes from Kerry @ Cards on Cards.

The content was almost entirely Raptors content, although a small number of items from the local were also included. Even in sticker form, they're fine additions.

There's going to be a lot of stickers, and a lot of Haunted Hoops entries when I get to the Raptors portions. The shading of the background, at least for this photo, creates an especially eerie effect since it looks like a ghost is behind Jamal here.

As I switch over to the Raptors, it just crossed their newswire as I'm typing this up that they signed Eugene Omoruyi to a 10-day contract. That could make him the first 2/14er to take the court for them. While I doubt he'd actually get a card with the team out of this, it's always nice to have a first.

Here's some more stickers. These were are labeled as the European version of the sticker, so that makes them a little more scarce on this side of the Atlantic. The Murrays were also from overseas.

Yup, there's Haunted Hoops here as well. While nobody here makes their collection debut, I think this is the first appearance of the gold (or is it champagne) jerseys?

Lots of foil, parallels and foil parallels the rest of the way home. Best yet, 3 of these guys are still on the team! I was certain I had that Revolution of Siakam, but then I recognized it as coming from 2021 Revolution, and that I was in a group break of that product where I didn't get a base card of his, but did get one of the super-rare Galactic parallels.

That Poeltl just seems like a perfect photo choice for an unlicensed issue. I guess basketball makes it easier to find photos where the player's arms, or the basketball itself, is blocking any silly logos.

And we end with a great photo showing the chaos one can expect underneath the backboard. Also, a nice flashback to pandemic attendance for games.

There you have it!

2025 Adventures in Repacks - Part 2 - Something New

 

Whoa!

A new repack type at the Dollarama! They also had versions of these in soccer, joining the hockey ones. I opted for the one covering a sport I was far more familiar with. 

But I can totally see myself buying a soccer repack at least once.

I picked up two of them. Each one had 4 items in it, continuing the hockey make-up.

As always, these get shown off clockwise from the upper left. I wasn't really expecting anything too spectacular from the Heritage - '71 wasn't really known for photography.  But the Arroyo is a SP, and a Kim rookie isn't too bad on its own.

Enjoy some cartoons/trivia as well!

Stanton and Guerrero appearances? That's a pretty nice grouping of 2020s! Even Grichuk comes through with an interesting photo.

Like with the hockey, the 5-card packs can be anything. And this time, anything is pretty good for me. 2 Mets (Sasser is probably a dupe, not sure about Cecchini), a Blue Jay, a Blue Jay's brother and another interesting photo. So far, a pretty good first impression.

I don't think anybody in that Rangers Leaders photo got to 300 HRs, so I guess it is Adrian Gonzalez here. Ruben Sierra is listed on the back, though. Even with the Gwynn appearance, this is probably the least interesting to me of the group. And if I'm saying that about a Tony Gwynn appearance, that's a pretty good grouping of repack contents. 

It might be a dupe, but the Vladdy is the easy winner here.

I can't stop with just one, can I?

If the 5-pack is any indication, this isn't going to be as interesting as the first pack. But at least my future outgoing mail will have some fresh toploaders.

Moises Alou is my 300 HR guy in the pack, but despite that probably being my first 2003 UD Classic Portraits card in any of my collections, I have to go with the appearance of a 1981 as my favourite card in this grouping. Unless they do some sort of Blue Jays anniversary insert set when they salute 1977, the 1981s might be the next Heritage set I go for.

2020s were a yawner in this pack.

Despite a couple nice cards in the HR pack, overall, these battle between these two weren't even close.

There you have it!

Uniforms of the Damned

 

Jacksonville may have been going for a gold look for these, but these look more of the mustard yellow that didn't work for the Nashville Predators, and also don't work here.

Blake Bortles' review was the bluntest and best.

Since I couldn't find a card where Bortles is sporting it, this will do.

There you have it!

Bills! Bills! Bills!

 It's a meaningless season finale today in New England, aside from those looking for individual milestones, but it is a perfect time to showcase some Bills content.

This is the only COMC card here - and it is a beautiful insert out of 2015 Topps Fire. When I added the Alshon Jeffery Bears version of this to my 2/14 PC, I remarked that the card would look perfect o n the wall of a young Bears fan as a poster. The same holds true for the Buffalo Bills versions of this card. Tyrod has remained a beloved Bill even after his departure, so watch the nice reception he got last week when he subbed in for the Jets in garbage time.

Everything else - just the goodies from a group break of several boxes of Prestige.

It was only a few boxes, so I wasn't expecting a team set out of the deal. But, most importantly for my collection, I did get two new Bills making their collection debut in DeWayne Carter and Javon Solomon, who were 3rd and 5th rounders respectively. I especially love welcoming in players from outside of the marquee positions.

While I didn't land a base card of Josh Allen here, he did show up in shiny parallel form. These are Galaxy parallels. 

As for the numbered versions, here's Micah Hyde and Cole Bishop making their debuts in this post. As nice and shiny as the Bishop is, they recycled the photo from his Score base card. Sigh. While I don't really mind this for rookies - there's probably a finite number of ones that Panini has access to, I'll point out that the Bruce Smith base card photo above is also a Score repeat.

At least the Bruce Smith here on the insert is a new photo For 2024, at least. I'm not looking through everything.

There are shiny inserts, too.

Naturally, those inserts have parallels as well. No complaints about a team colour matching parallel, no matter what the numbering is.

There you have it!

Some Jays, Some Mets, Some Not Quite Either

 Just a few cards today as I look for Jays/Mets stuff in my COMC to-be-posted box.

How the mighty have fallen. From being the big name, at least offensively, for the team to having the cheapest available relic at the time I went looking for one. Sigh. 

This is probably as close as I'll get to a Blas Minor Mets autographed card. While the photo is a Mets one, you'd notice a couple mentions of the Mariners on the card. Close enough for the binders, though.

The most recent run of Topps Total wasn't the best, being pretty much unavailable at the LCS. But it does provide a chance to get a few lower level members of the roster into the PC. Prior to his appearance in Update, it was the only appearance Tim Mayza made in a Jays uniform. It's the only chance I'll have for Wilmer Font (see my Most Wanted list), and the only choice I had for Derek Law.

And a Blue Jay of the Future. Maybe. Cutter Coffey brought an illegible signature to the team after joining the A-level Vancouver Canadians following the Danny Jansen trade. I added this signature the same day via COMC, so I guess I'm optimistic. Eddinson Paulino, also part of the trade, didn't have any questionably-licensed options, but maybe he'll get the Photoshop treatment in the future.

There you have it!

2025 Adventures in Repacks - Part 1 - Starting with Baseball

 Ending with one means it is a perfect opportunity to start with one.

This one becomes my first repack of 2025.

I think every one of these has had two 1989 Fleer as the first hidden cards. There is no card that can make a mesh jersey look like a good idea. It's probably a dupe, but that Axford will at least be temporarily added to my CanCon collection.

Whoa! I wouldn't expect to see a first Bowman Chrome card of Julio Rodriguez in a repack, but there's one of 'em! That Faries is probably one of the more memorable photos out of 1991 Upper Deck. Not all Spring Training photos have to be dull. 

Here's the hit. While it isn't a very familiar name, at least there's a throwback uniform involved. 

I'm not going back to check, but I've seen a surprising number of those 1990 Stockton Ports cards in these. I'm definitely in favour of any appearance of minor-league cards in these, even ones where reading the name aloud makes it sound like their last name is Ass.

Your finale is an interesting photo of a player who was certainly interesting as well.

And interesting is good.

There you have it!