Everything Baseball - Expo Post #5

 Another post, another sport.

Even if the photo doesn't show his face, you can't go wrong starting the post with a Jackie Robinson. At least you still get his iconic jersey number.

Sometimes, you just see a card that looks super classy and isn't too expensive that you just have to add, even if Carlton Fisk doesn't really hit any PC. 

Yeah, it is a reprint. But, it is a reprint of a guy (nick)named Peanuts. As always, why wouldn't I add something so great?

Usually when I grab Cardinals cards, they're meant for a future mailer to Cards on Cards. I did pick up something that is probably currently in postal strike hell. These are too much fun not to keep. Same for Lowrey.

So far in this post, there have been 3 Cardinals but only 2 Jays. But that first one is an O-Pee-Chee, so that counts for about 10.

Mets content was a little higher, and its all over the place. The Kranepool is very well-loved, but it is an OPC card. Vintage. Buybacks. Chrome. A little of everything.

That Dempster would be a contender for the most oddball card in my Canadians in MLB collection. And if you flashback to the Tyler Black card I posted in my Stadium Club blaster, you'll see that although they are two different photos of the same Gatorade dump.

Some Ginter legends on inserts that don't really fit anywhere else.

Doggy cards! Since they're Ginter cards, I'm calling them baseball for the purposes of this post. How can I pass on some cards of some very good doggos?

I had a hockey pack I'd never before busted in that post. Let's do it here as well with some 1991 Swell! 

And here's the contents of that pack! It's nice to see a few names like Staub, White and Houk that, outside of buybacks, haven't made appearances at all in recent products. Even the usuals, such as Wagner, appear on photos you haven't seen used over and over and cards. 

There you have it!

Everything Basketball - Expo Post #4

 Hoops this time!

Sure, this is a Wilt Chamberlain checklist card out of early Upper Deck. It's a nice drawn entry for the collection, and considering my love for these types, an easy pickup. But the Harlem Globetrotters appearance elevates it even higher.

From one legend to another, here's the Human Highlight Film on an insert from 22-23 Donruss. Highlight Film? How quaint. Still, Human Sizzle Reel sounds really lame. And probably what more than one high school hopeful calls themself when sending video to recruiters.

Some days, you just need a shiny Dayton Flyers card in the ol' collection. 

And sometimes, you just need to get an acetate card of a guy with a name so long they have to reduce the font size on the card. 

When you have a lot of colours on your jersey, getting a colour match parallel is easy!

I thought this might have been a dupe, but decided to take the risk. Turns out I the one I already had was the base one and I already had the silver. Any new Vancouver Grizzlies content is welcome in the collection!

Finally, some Raptors. I went 1/3 for dupes in my football 2/14 additions. Here, I went 3 for 4, as only the Siakam was a dupe. That DeRozan in /299 for the only numbered card. It may not be licensed, but Chrome makes a nice return to the NBA as I pick-up my first card in-hand. I do have some Rip Hamilton stuff at COMC from this set that are technically mine prior to this.

And yes, he's called Rip on the card. YES!

There you have it!

Strike!

 Canada Post is on strike. So I'm taking a break from Expo posts to exhort people not to send me anything until it is resolved.

Ob card: Here's someone who called a lot of strikes over his career.

And since it is a Conlon card, it deserves to have the back scanned and shared as well.

There you have it!

Everything Hockey - Expo Post #3

 

Now, just the hockey stuff I picked up. While I did grab some stuff bound for elsewhere, this was surprisingly small for an Expo haul with some PC additions and some "I like this" additions. 

I'll open with the latter of the two. While a shorter term team like Tampa Bay doesn't have a huge array of jerseys to choose from, I'm surprised they opted for that for their reverse retros. 

It's a Leafs card, but this is far nicer looking alternate/throwback jersey card. At least in terms of the actual jersey. The shininess wasn't needed. 

Misc cool insert!

And just a random cool card of a legend.

I put the final touches on the 1-100 portion of the base set of 17-18 Ice not that long ago. I'm perfectly happy calling that the set, especially with there being decreasing print runs as the 101-200 portion climbs in card number, with the final being the biggest stars and also /99. But the chance to add a few misc cards from the numbered portion into that set? I have to take advantage!

Just some base additions to my Kitchener Rangers alumni collection.

Even if Givani Smith only spent one half season with the team, his cards still qualify for addition. This was another one on my wantlist over at e-pack. Smith's career so far has seen him bouncing around the league, either with trips to the AHL and then with other franchises. He's now with the Sharks after a short stop in Florida.

There's a little more variety than just base among the Sens content. Even the Eaves was an insert, appearing as an Update in that season's Series 2. The Triumphs insert just seems like a very basic moment to salute. A tying goal? The Sens would eventually lose that game 6-3. Did they want to do a Brady Tkachuk insert but that was the only photo they could find? 

A parallel and insert I picked up on the cheap end the PC portion. According to my TCDB listings, I have 4 Leevi Merilainen cards. Only one isn't an Artifacts rookie or parallel. Variety! Also in three, that's my third Erik Brannstrom auto. He came over as part of the Mark Stone trade, and that really didn't pan out, and he's now in Vancouver.

There were sellers there with various packs at $1 each. I rarely go into a Tim Hortons, so I confess to never having busted any of their annual packs. Until now.

The packs seem to always contain two base cards, and an insert/parallel. It looks more purple than red, but that Suzuki is a red parallel. 

There you have it!

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!