Tip-Off Raptors

 Sure, there have been games already. But the season never really starts until your favourite team has played. For the Raptors, that's tonight. And here's their content both to complete the latest Cards on Cards mailer, and from my latest COMC shipment.

This might not be my most valuable card in my team collection. But it is definitely among the greatest. As best as I can tell (an ebay listing), this is from a 2022-23 card game set released in Europe. I shouldn't be too hard on whichever company released this. Siakam and Markkanen are practically identical twins. 

At least Vince Carter gets a nice photo on his, even if the logo doesn't match the era of the pic.

Let's switch to things far more licensed. While there's some players from the championship years here, and I love me some new VanVleet Lowry newness, that Ford Turkey Red gets the nod in this group.

That Brandon Ingram is an awesome opener, as they have chosen from a photo from the post game celebrations. The N in RAPTORS WIN is the big clue, combined with the flag are the major clues. While I do prefer the team logo as the background if they're going to wipe it from the photo, a basketball, or something basketball adjacent, also works.

Opening with Jamal Shead, he got extended this off-season. And deservedly so. Signature Class wins the best design in this group, mainly because they have two images on the front didn't reuse an image in the process. Have my standards fallen that much? The Barnes rookie on the bottom, out of my beloved Chronicles, is a green parallel. Nice!

Stickers! 

And the only hit of this post was provided by the final cards in the trade mailer. The photo choice nicely hides the lack of licensing. Martin was a pleasant surprise last season as a 2nd rounder with both the main club and the 905. I've already got one of his autos, so it is nice to have one of each.

I'd normally wrap this with a "Thanks for the trade" type remark, and while do appreciate the cards, there's still some more to show off from other orders. 

One final sticker, this one from my COMC order. While I do have one Patrick McCaw as a Raptor in my collection, that one was part of the 2019 Champions Box Set. That one is staying in there, so a sticker will be his representation in the team binder. As of last season, he was affiliated with the team, suiting up in the G-League for the 905.

This was a sportlots addition. One of those situations where I was one card away from the maximum number for shipping on a bunch of cards. Why not make the final one a Raptors card? 

CMB appears on a pair of inserts. The Instinct one gives the vibe of something I would have thought was so cool in my youth, especially the claws on a Raptors card. Whether it is as appropriate for a team without a creature motif is left up to you. The Limited Stock Legends gives the vibe of the In Action insert set out of 2024 Bowman. Unlike those, the hook portion of the design isn't die-cut like it was there. 

Finally, a nice look at the Vince Carter-inspired City Edition jersey. 

 

There you have it! Bring on the game!

I'll Allow It

 

While I'm not really a fan of signers abbreviating their name, at least Lorenzo Taliaferro gets away with it because trying to fit that onto a card would be problematic and the portion of it he has signed is large and legible. I enjoy pretty much any autograph that isn't unreadable hieroglyphics. 

There you have it!

2026 Adventures in Repacks - Part 21 - More Comfort Food

 Another three repacks from the Dollarama.

What's in these three?

I opted for this 4-pack because of the visible photo. I'm not used to seeing inserts in these, but that's a nice little bonus that will be part of my next TMV mailer.

Unopened wax in the Value Bundle.

2 appearances of the bland 21-22 design in this isn't good, but a Senators card can offset it. Somehow, it was one I didn't already have in that team collection.

Some more TMV mailbag additions in the team pack.

It is comforting to realize that the photography was bland in pretty much every 21-22 hockey release. 

And no silvering of a parallel will change that.

The 90s pack produced Hall of Famers at a 60 percent success rate!

Except for a Sens card and some trade add-ins, nothing too noteworthy here.

And the finale. Both the font choice and the foil-ness makes this hard to read, but this card is of Arshdeep Bains. With a chirp-worthy name, I sorta of expected him to have well into triple-figure penalty minutes with him silencing dumbasses throughout juniors. Nope. I don't know if I should be disappointed or relieved.

Pavel is merely stepping on the ice. Not jumping. Semantics aside, it being an alternate jersey is enough to make it noteworthy to me. 

I guess I can't escape Parkhurst in another repack. This is a bronze parallel.

Portraits. Yawn.

Everything ends with a Canvas insert. Sure, they're super cheap thanks to e-pack availability, but that is definitely a photo you don't see represented much on hockey cards - with Fowler looking like he's never held a hockey stick before and he's been forced to use one that is 10 feet long. 

The Fowler, the Mintyukov, the Verhaeghe and the Lamb were probably my favourites in all of this, alongside the future outgoing mail. 

And there you have it!

It took a year

 

But I finally have a Carolina Hurricanes card of Nikolaj Ehlers. This comes from this year's MVP release, and is from the blaster-exclusive gold packs. It's a pretty busy design for MVP, and even busier with the gold sig on it, but at least there's still a hint of full-bleed to it. 

And since I completely forgot I had this the last time I did a 2/14 hockey post, here's one more. How do you forfet about a 1/1 plate? I managed to! This is my second plate associated with this card, as I also have the Cyan one from this set. 

And somehow, I have two of the plates, yet don't have the base card of this. 

Because why should anything about my collection make sense?

A Story on Cardboard

 

Just a single card today, but you do really get everything you need from the card. The play. The description of the play in question, and its impact on the game. 

Poor Eric Davis though. Posterized on both front and back.

The Rest of the Baseball

 And the 2/14 baseball portion of my latest COMC mailer wraps up. There's still football and miscellaneous posts left to go.

First up this wonderful slice of brightness out of Leaf Perfect Game. To be even more precise, this as 2022 Leaf Perfect Game National Showcase - Just Minors Gems Autographs - Lime Green /10. I didn't know if should have used this with my post highlighting minor league cards, or with the major league post. It's really neither. Nathanael Coupet has a first name that just dares you to misspell it. Fortunately, he abbreviates his name in the auto and everything is legible, so it is a good card.

He's now with Georgia Tech.

Here's the other one that really didn't fit into the major or minor league category. It is of another player who has gone the NCAA route, playing for Oklahoma State. While the autograph doesn't compare to Coupet's in terms of legibility, at least there's a holey swatch included. 

That's gotta be Kane! He's not coming through hellfire and brimstone, but through the Cubs system, making it to AA in 2026. 

If I wanted a solo card to salute Tyler Clippard's time with Cleveland, there's this Topps Total entry. And nothing else. Any port. Storm. And all that. 

Time to get back to some brightness, and this Chrome Light Blue Sparkle entry sure brings that back to this post.

It is Yermin Mercedes taking the title in terns of volume when it comes to COMC entries. He gives the joy of being a one month wonder and the amount of cards a manufacturer pumps into circulation as a result, with no consideration for future success. I guess the same can be said for the Christian Hackenberg portion of this collection. 

But there's sportlots content too! I finally used this as a chance to add a bunch of base cards I probably should have added into the collection ages ago.

But I did throw in some cards from less mainstream releases as part of this shipment too.

Shiny cards, too! With 45 cards of Clippard, I'm somehow his top collector at TCDB.

Two Topps Total cards in the same post! YES! I also have a card of Mike Gosling in my Blue Jays collection. His final mainstream card has him listed with the team, although he never played a game for them. But here, it is the late Brad Halsey that makes this a 2/14 card. And also a 2 Brad post.

My collection still lacks a Mavis, though.

There you have it!

Only You

 I was considering using this as part of a 2/14 baseball post.

But something this batshit needs to stand on its own.

Yet it isn't even close to being the most bonkers card in this set that I own.

Mailbag: Everything but the Raptors

 I'm opening the mailbag today, and it is a Cards on Cards mailer that has been collecting dust the longest out of what I have in there. Most of the content was Raptors stuff, but I want to save that for their regular season opener. There was still other stuff to show off, and this post accounts for everything else.

There was still non-Raptors basketball content in these new Jamal Murray additions to the collection. I must point out that I have 163 cards of his in the collection, yet only a single one of the other local product in the NBA - Will Riley.

There really is no logical way to shift away from the Jamal Murray content into anything else in the envelopes, so here's a couple Bills entries. 

The gridiron does offer a logical move to the 2/14 content in the mailer, with 4 new base cards of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. After last season's success, even his basest of base cards are going to be commanding a decent value in the bins.

This Hobby Rip Night of Brooks Lee is a lot more obscure of a card than those base JSNs, and it segues into the baseball portion of the mailer.

The Mets content provided the only hit content of this with that Baez autograph. He's now in the Cardinals system. In fact, none of the players on the Panini cards are still affiliated with the team. Although both Acuna's and Sproat's teams are still playing into October. Still Mets binder worthy, though!

I usually like to end with the hits, but the best card in this wasn't the hit. It was even that numbered "Platinum Toile Cream Rose Gold Refractor" /75 of Matt Chapman. It is that bunting card right in the middle there. The O-Dog! Laying down a bunt! Hell yeah!

And there you have it! Thanks for all these goodies, Kerry, and keep your eyes peeled for a PWE on their way as of this morning.

Puck Drop

 Sure, the season has been underway for several days now. But, since the Senators don't start until tonight, the season hasn't really started. I'm waiting until now to show off some new Senators content for that binder.

Am I the type of weirdo to spend COMC credit on a card featuring an event-word jersey of a mascot? Yes. Yes, I most certainly am.

I am also the type of weirdo to follow it up with a sticker purchase.

OK. I guess we can move on to the cards featuring actual players.

While just randomly going through cards on COMC looking for interesting images, and came across this. I grabbed this one because it looks, for a second, like Volchenkov is sporting Cooperalls.

Timmies cards! Even better that one of the cards is of a Tim!

Sparty wasn't the only pers...thin...entity to make 2 appearances in the COMC mailer. There were also a pair of Griegs, including a Champ's card, which in actuality came from Extended.

But the winner in terms of volume is, as seems to happen often for Sens posts, is Daniel Alfredsson. I know that sticker is a Red Wings one, but it just seemed better to include it with this group instead of as part of a miscellaneous bunch of hockey content. Plus, it will end up in the Alfie binder anyhow. Also, for some reason known only to Pacific, that relic at the top is actually a base card in that set. 

There you have it!