Nicknames Past

Here's a nickname that just wouldn't fly in 2021, even if it was just the groundskeeper. It was probably at least questionable in 1979.

And yes, this qualifies as a Mets card, even if it is a minor league card. 

Why wouldn't it?

Set Building

Time to return to the COMC to-be-posted box, and I'm showing the highlights from the 2006 Parkhurst portion of this package. While it did not knock my wantlist down to zero, it was still pretty close.

The fun thing about this set is that the entire checklist is of retired players, and other people associated with the game. UD tried to do something similar with Volume 1 of Chronology, but the enjoyment was not really there with a far tinier base card checklist, and a price associated with a higher end release.

Black and white photographs add to the vintage feel from the set. I love this grouping, especially since the presence of a #5 behind Bathgate on his card makes it very likely that these photos could be from the same shoot.

Nordiques content!

Here's a few more from the slightly-SPd high number portion of the set. 

I certainly had some methodology when I laid out the scans for this post. Start with a broadcaster, and end with one also. There aren't too many sets I can do this with. And while this technically isn't a set builder, I couldn't resist an inexpensive, somewhat oddball of an auto.

There you have it!

Weird, Wild, Stuff

 

The name Dino and the word Rhino look like they should rhyme, but they don't.

Mailbag!

 A trio of PWEs from Kerry @ Cards on Cards are the subject of this opening of the ol' mailbag.

It might not be a Bills card, and it might not even be a licensed NCAA card, but I'll still considered this Josh Allen card to be a Bills card for that binder.

Since Trail Blazers content is a part of my mailers sent westward, it is only appropriate that some Raptors content heads my way in return. Aficionado might be the least numerous of the 16-17 product in my Raptors  collection. Can't complain about a new Siakam rookie.

The Mets content was not big in numbers, but this was all about the quality, not the quantity. Pete Alonso appears on a photo variation from 2020 Update, with Syndergaard's card being a /99 photo variation. 

The big volume winner was the Blue Jays portion of these PWEs. I'm not going to give a detailed look, but I guess this is the complete team set out of Heritage Minors. The Lansing Lugnuts did not survive the minor league franchise purge of this past offseason as a Toronto affiliate, but is now an Oakland affiliate.

This isn't the complete team set from Series 2 of Turkey Red, but it is not less welcome. Yamaguchi has already been shunned by the team after one season, and is now with the Giants.

This might look like an ordinary Andy Burns card.

But in the era of never-ending parallels, this one is an advanced stat parallel.

Horizontal randomness!

 

And here's one more appearance of Vladdy to end this. He's looking a lot different in this photo than now, showing up for spring training about 40 pounds lighter than here. It appears to have turned out pretty good for him, with some great numbers so far in the Grapefruit League this season. Hopefully, this translates into the regular season.

There you have it!

Series 2!

 

Fresh off the presses and fresh from the LCS!

And the first card I see is a Sens card! I couldn't ask for a better start!

And here's Drake with some of his teammates. My box did lack the Chris Tierney to complete the base set.

While I didn't land the coveted Young Guns rookie of Tim Stuetzle, the box did contain this sweet addition to my Sens collection. I've got a couple outstanding redemptions from Artifacts, this is my first pack-pulled card of their rookie star. These Fluorescence inserts fall at a rate of 1 every 6 boxes, and of course there are the parallels. It is especially nice that the team colours perfectly match the background, even if I think they wanted them to be more orange.

Here's some of my favourite base card photos in the set. The Labanc is probabloy my favourite, with the dejected Jimmy Howard in the background after the LaBanc goal. Also, the issue with dinged corners that plagued Series 1 is there still, but didn't appear nearly as bad.

Here's the Young Guns content. A couple decent names here with Cozens and Suter.

The Nuge provides the French lessons in this box.

Vous lisez la carte!

And here's a photo variation as well. It is casual and super boring, but at least it stands out as a photo variation when collating. Plus it is more exciting than the Bregman variation I got from Topps S1.

Here's some more Portraits inserts. Still as bland as ever. 

At least the Canvas inserts give you some interesting photos.That Reilly was the other Sens content in the box.

Your O-Pee-Chee update content. Interestingly in terms of the checklist, Stutzle is not part of this set, and Ustimenko is also the only guy named Kirill. Maybe they'll show up in Extended.

While the Fluorescence is probably the big card from this box, but there was a hit as well. Fairly basic one-colour swatch, but a hit is a hit. 

And there you have it!

2021 Adventures in Repacks Part 11 - Another One

 

Let's do another one of these! 

Here's a better look at the opening card. A nice intense photograph from before the snap.

Here's the first batch of cards. Two kicker cards are enough to make this interesting, even if they're junk wax era cards. The back of the card does list Ridgway's great nickname - Robokicker. Throw in a couple solid designs from Prestige and Contenders, and this is a decent start.

Not quite as solid with this group of six, but that's a pretty solid photograph on the Stadium Club, as it just shows him satisfyingly walking away after stopping a Browns rush, with Kevin Mack on the ground looking like he's just wondering what happened.

And here's your hit! Since the Chargers never sported red, I'm guessing the Merriman is from an All-Pro jersey. Which at least makes it kinda unique.

A football card of a player better known for his exploits on the basketball court highlights the final group for me. Also, we get a bonus card for a future mailer to Ann Arbor, and a reminder of the time when League Leader cards were a thing in football releases.

And we end with a rookie parallel. More specifically, a factory set red parallel. A perfectly acceptable way to end a perfectly acceptable repack. 

UD Series 2 drops tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have something to show off then.

 

Redeemed!

 

It might take a year, but it does look like Panini is still sending out hockey redemptions. If this is 99/99, does this mean this was the last one they had in stock? While Rookie Anthology was really good to the John Gibson portion of my Rangers alum collection, this was actually my first on-card autograph of the bunch, joining a trio of sticker autos. I also landed the true rookie from his Titanium /36 from this product as well.

And receiving this does make me slightly hopeful that the Tarasenko Rookie Selection might still be a thing.

High-End Weekend

 

This box had been staring at me at the LCS for months now. I decided that I was sick of Lord Stanley's mug, and decided to go for it. Until they debuted National Treasures as one of their last releases, this was as high-end as Panini got.

The box fibs by the way. There were 11 cards in the box, not 8. And Dominion is a hinged box as well! Classy!

Here's the base card. Lots of foil, as you'd expect, but we still get some team colour in the design this year. Future releases would be pretty much all foil on the front.

A rather hieroglyphic signature from Evan Brophey (is that when your brother wins a trophy, tm MST3K) on the first hit from this box. Under Panini's perpetually-odd numbering system, this is considered a base card. 

Dang! This got interesting fast! Hamill might not have had the strongest NHL career, but this is a spectacular patch. It comes from the lower portion of the chest logo from their alternate jersey at the time, with a hint of the bear's foot. While I doubt this was really game-worn as it claims vs event worn, that's still a beauty of a patch.

How do you top that? Howzabout an on-card Jonathan Toews autograph. I was somewhat of a magnet for Patrick Kane autographs at one point (landing one from Synergy, Rookie Anthology and through the UD redemption raffle in a short period), so it is nice to get one from the other Blackhawks star of the 10's. Even better - this ruby parallel works so perfectly with the red jersey. Parallels that match the team colours are always the best parallels.

This box has been so great, that a two-colour Patrick Roy seam/swatch is underwhelming after the past two cards. With Lord Stanley on the packaging, it is appropriate to land a card that features the Cup in some form. 

The blandest of the hits in this. At least it isn't a plain white swatch. 

Back in the patch game with this Tom Barrasso patch. The best thing about this card was that you can look at the photograph and see that this patch comes from one of the 2 T's from that style of jersey. A great box for patches in yellow, black and white.

It is about time I got back to some autographs, and here's a signature from a Hall of Famer to welcome me back. This is proof you didn't need to have a creepy paint-job on a mask for it to be pants-crappingly terrifying. 

Here's another one of those base card/autographs. Based on the alternate jersey in the photo, and the fact he's still in the league, this is an easy winner against the Brophey. You can see a hint of Amishness that his facial hair would become.

One last relic for the box. And to make this Mike Richards card even better...

the back references his time with the Kitchener Rangers. He'd be the first player to add an Olympic Gold medal and a Stanley Cup to his Championship resume.

Just a plain old base card to end this.

Autos of Giacomin and Toews, along with a couple beautiful patches and even a PC hit. Glad I took the chance with this.