3 Downs. 3 Boxes.

There is not going to be a 2020 CFL season. But why would that stop me from busting some CFL product? Especially with Tiger-Cats content in the form of Brandon Banks on the cover?

Here's the base design. Very similar to last year's look.

With purple parallels /15 not being a thing in this year's release, that means the red parallels are bumped up from /150 to /165, meaning pretty much a similar print run with there being a numbered card or hit per pack.

Golds are still there, and still numbered /50.

As can be expected, there's also interesting photography among the base cards. These were some of my favourites from Box #1.

Probably the least interesting group of hits from the three boxes, but that's still a really nice Brandon Banks swatch for my Ti-Cats PC.

A sampling of base cards from #2. If you look in the lower right corner, you'll see something pretty rare. A card for a long snapper. I'm not sure if this is the first time someone has been listed with that position on their card, but it has to be single digits 

Box 2 definitely brought the most hits. The Declan Cross is a blank back parallel. They aren't numbered, but since the /15 purples last year were one per box, and this was the only one I found over 3 boxes, I'm going to estimate the print run of these at 10, give or take. Pulling an auto of a Ti-Cat will always be nice, even with Simoni as a Group E, the most common. 

I'm not going to highlight the base cards from Box 3, since with 4 exceptions, they were exactly the same as Box 2. I'm guessing the 4 were the ones that didn't get put in the pack that contained the Edmonton patch.

That Willie Jefferson is actually a pretty tough pull. The reigning Most Outstanding Defensive Player is a Group A hit, falling 1:506 packs. I really do like the Willie J sig as well. A nice big swatch also helps take the edge of a box that didn't provide too much in terms of set builders. 

There you have it!

Just One Pack: 2020 Archives Hanger

 

Considering I was expecting nothing on the shelves at Wally World, I was happy to find anything, such as this pack of Archives.

.

Elvis Andrus in 2002 form becomes my first Archives card of 2020. I'm not the biggest fan of this design, but at least I got a card featuring Old Comiskey park and its immediately recognizable yellow railings and green seats. And Trammell is not a name that makes frequent appearances in any set with a legends portion. 

1955 should end up as my favourite portion of this set based on a pair of Mets cards in this, but I still like the Trammell/Comiskey card enough to make it my my favourite. 

Here are a pair of inserts. I don't feel like damaging my eyesight to read the odds on the pack and find out what the odds of getting these in a single hanger pack are. 

And your 1974s. Either rookies or legends in this part. The Schmidt photo seems new to me, so at least there's that. 

So, despite two Mets cards, and Dustin May's hair, the Trammell is my pick for the pack. Now if only some retail Stadium Club would appear...

Sportlots and some new Rangers

 I was adding the Kitchener Rangers alumni in my collection to TCDB at the same time I was filling up my sportlots cart, so I guess it made sense to add some here as well.

As with the 2/14 cards from yesterday, I'm going least to most, meaning I'll start with a single Matt Halischuk. Many of the cards today seem to fall in the category of "I'm surprised I didn't have this one".

Boyd Devereaux spend a couple seasons with the Rangers in the mid 90s, and was one of the better players during a decade that wasn't really the best for the team. I get three of his four NHL stops in this post, lacking only a Leafs card, of which he only saw a card in 08 O-Pee-Chee.

Hunter only spent one season with the Rangers, but a long stint is not a pre-requisite for qualifying for the binder. Part season Steve Mason counts. As does Mike Hoffman (6 games). An All-Star photo, a Franchises card, and a gold parallel does make for a nice grouping. 

I'm ending with a pair of players who helped bring the Memorial Cup to town in 2003. Eminger started the OHL season with the Caps, but returned mid-season to give the final piece they needed. Derek Roy was the team captain, and was also named tournament MVP. A 4 pack of OPC parallels, some which still exist (Retro) and some which were one and done (Micromotion) are my faves here.

And wow, those 13-14s don't get any less obnoxious with age.

There you have it!

Sportlots 2/14 Overload

 I took advantage of box shipping, and picked up a nice bunch of 2/14 additions for 3 of the 4 main sports in the binder. Sorry, baseball.

Football was the smallest portion of the incoming cards, and in a common thing with all 3 sports getting bumps, they'll all open with a single addition to the player collection with a single sticker.

Jim Kelly after getting knocked to the turf seems like a questionable photographic choice for the card, but it still counts as one of two new Jim Kelly cards.

Your big football winner was Alshon Jeffery, who with a combination of stickers, cards, Eagles and Bears moved to 115 items in the collection. All three of the stickers are from the same 2018 release.

This Byron Mullens isn't as badly angled as my scan suggests. But here's one of the few stickers in the basketball portion of the collection.

The gap between the first and second place stayed the same, with 6 new Hamilton and Muresan cards being part of the shipment. Muresan's mid-game shoe-tying is the best photograph, but that Patchworks of Hamilton is my choice for design, since that would be such a nice addition for team collectors.

The final leading single hockey sticker.

How did I not have that Score already? It is the bilingual version, but I still figure I'd have that one. The same could be said about the '89 OPC as well. That sticker is only the second Maple Leafs item in the entire collection, which seems nuts. But Poddubny is the only 2/14er that played for the Leafs and got cards from his time there. To contrast, both Montreal and Ottawa lead with 6 each. 

Milan Hejduk lead the way with 25 total additions. Here's a portion of those in a nice scanner friendly group of 10. He remains in the overall lead with 244 cards, highlighted with a SPd double diamond card in this bunch.

There you have it! There was also a bunch of Kitchener Rangers alum in there, and those make an appearance in the next post.

2020 Adventures in Repacks: Part 36 - You Can't Judge With Only One

 I sampled one of these a few weeks back. 

They were OK, but I felt I should give them another chance. I just grabbed the first two from the hangers. It just so happened both had a Senators alum the visible card.

Dzingel left Ottawa for Columbus as a rent-a-player, and then signed with the 'Canes. That brought all-star Anthony Duclair and a couple 2nd rounders to Ottawa in a pretty good trade for the Sens. The gold medallion parallel is out of 07-08 Ultra, and the Howard is a double diamond SP.  OK.

The black parallels were the second most common parallel out of Parkhurst in 2016. But the real interesting cards were in the middle. That's the second of the ITG McDavids I've pulled from three of these, confirming my theory they've migrated from Walmart repacks to Dollarama ones. That Stat Leaders card of Alfie? That's a new one for his PC, and becomes my 497th card of his. I'm awaiting a Sportlots box order, and that will push me over the 500 mark shortly.

There you have it!

2020 Adventures in Repacks: Part 35 - And now, some Hoops

 I'm writing this almost a week in advance, with the Raptors having just forced Game 7 against Boston. So any comments that are shown to be incorrect on the 15th have an explanation.

Here's another 20+1 hit hanger. The football one was really good. How will this compare?

Right behind it is a slightly thick base card out of Marquee. It faked me out that the hit would be immediate. There's a couple drawn cards after that. I'll give the Wilkins the nod since it does show a reel behing the Human Highlight Reel. 

I don't care how many times I see that card, I still wonder what Thomas did to Doc Rivers to get him to do that. The vertical background perfectly matches Perdue's motion, making for a nice parallel look. Throw in a retro look for a fun addition of a Raptors alum.

And here's the hit. On-card autograph? Nice. It is initials only, but the IV is a nice addition. Baldwin was first rounder, but never really caught on in Memphis or later in Portland, and has been in Europe the past while. 

A Grant Hill rookie card and an appearance from Vince Carter? This is a pretty good repack.

Platinum looks strange release, as the name would imply that it was a higher end, shiny set, like other Platinum-named sets but the actual cards in this repack, the Lewis and the Williams, would have more of a retro feel. But they're still nice. Patrick McCaw was starting the middle portion of his 3 seasons, 3 rings when this Hoops card dropped. 

And that's it! I think I like the football one more due to the variety of the cards, since this one had 4 dupe sets. 

There you have it!

2020 Adventures in Repacks: Part 34 - Some Week 1 Football

I'm still working my way through the "From the source" repacks that I picked up a couple months ago. With the NFL starting up, and most teams with their first game in the book, here's a repack that does promise me a hit to go along with the 20 cards.

Here were the cards right behind the Rivers. Will Shields might be the best name ever for an Offensive Lineman. It was like they knew from minute one that is what he'd do when he grew up. Will spent his entire pro career in Kansas City, and has been inducted in the Hall of Fame. 

A Heritage-ish issue highlights the next 4 cards. Not the most flattering photo for Ricks though as he's being tripped up. Great Prestige design on the Johnson, with him busting through on one part of the border. That Lelie though. Busy, and unreadable silver on brown. 

Considering I was expecting a photoshoot worn swatch as the relic, it was nice to get one that was supposedly game-worn by someone with several seasons worth of experience at this point.

As I often say when it appears on a card - I miss dirt infields on football cards. The Fenerty also has a nice bonus:

CFL stats on the back!

Much like with the Claude Lemieux posted in the hockey repack, it really seems odd with James in the Arizona colours, despite playing 3 seasons there. The McGahee has him listed with the Ravens, but I'll still call this a Bills card. The 1985 black border design, mixed with the team colours for the team name, has aged wonderfully.

And what a wonderful card to end the post with. Not only a 2/14 card, but a 2/14 card I didn't have! Card #87 of David for that collection.

That was a really good repack. Even the junk wax cards, which were at a minimum, came through with something interesting. A 2/14, an interesting hit, and some interesting photos make me wish I'd maybe ordered a few more of these. Maybe next time.

One Card Only: A Good Aim

 

Not everybody has one.

2020 Adventures in Repacks: Part 33.4 - A Hundred Hockey Hanger

  

2019 UD - Shea Weber - The most recent card in the repack. Along with one of the better photos contained within.

2016 Parkhurst - Adam Lowry

2002 ITG - Bill Guerin - Two Guerin photos, one transaction.

2017 UD - Jake Guentzel

2004 Francises - Bob Stewart - Not only a Franchises card, but a Golden Seals card as well!

2009 ITG - Nazem Kadri - Does a card featuring a Rangers alum on one of their rivals count towards the collection? Of course!

2003 UD - Scott Stevens - There's not doubt here on this alum card entering the collection, especially with an appearance of Stanley!

2006 ITG - Gillian Apps - Ladies content, and a third-generation hockey player as well.

2004 H&P - Gilbert Brule

2006 Hot Prospects - Marc Andre Fleury

2004 Franchises - Doug Favell - A mask binder certainty with this mountainous entry. 

1990 Bowman - Allan Bester

1990 Bowman - Dean Kennedy

1990 Bowman - Al MacInnis - Rangers alum #3. And much like with the Lowry, how was this a collection need?

1990 Score - Joe Mullen

1993 Leaf - Anaheim Mighty Ducks - There's no city image on the back of this, just a write-up to welcome the new franchise.

1993 Parkhurst Emerald - Uwe Krupp

1991 UD - Brian Rolston

1994 Parkhurst SE - Chris Therien

1991 Parkhurst - Peter Ahola

1991 UD - Jim Waite

1992 Parkhurst Emerald - Randy McKay

1992 Pinnacle - Mikael Anderson

1993 UD - Derek Plante

1992 Parkhurst - Lonnie Loach - We end this with a name that is just fun to say out loud. Try it!