Is the Hardest Part

Still no sign of Update at my LCS, although they aren't the only ones still waiting. I'm hoping they arrive in town before I complete the chorus.

So, why not drown my sorrow in one of those cube repacks from Target?

25 cards. Two packs and a neat storage cube. I'll drink to that!

Starting with one of the visible cards among the 25. I had no idea what set this was from, other than it being some sort of Pacific subset. It's from an All-Star Preview subset.

2011 Score. A Chris Neil glossy parallel. A Sen is always nice. A parallel is even better.

2011 Pinnacle. This just a great photo, typical of the Pinnacle releases. It features Brooks Laich preparing for the Winter classic.

2011 Upper Deck. This might be my favourite photo of the bunch. It's just perfectly framed. Plekanec celebrates a goal during Winnipeg's first regular season game after their return, with a none-too-happy fan in the background.

2010 Pinnacle. Mask binder!
2011 Upper Deck Andrew Brunette.

You knew a couple of these Arena Holograms would be in there.
2012 Artifacts John Tavares.
2012 Upper Deck Jordan Eberle.

2011 Upper Deck. A great looking card of a Kitchener Rangers alum. The text on the back of the card even references his Memorial Cup winning team back in '03.

2007 Upper Deck. I've probably already got this one in my mask binder. If not, I'll gladly add one of one my favourite masks of the past several years.

The obligatory 1990 Bowmans.

The obligatory Ultimate Draft picks. You know it is a great set when a rookie card of a great like Scott Niedermayer from it goes for 45 cents at COMC.

1995 Pinnacle. This is probably my #2 photo in this batch, as Mike Rathje rocks someone's world.

Sigh. Don't mix drugs and alcohol, kids.
2010 OPC Mikael Backlund
2006 UD Tyler Aranson

And the other visible card.

One of the packs was the always enjoyable 06-07 Parkhurst, mainly due to the appearances of players you really don't see lots of in recent veteran sets. Jacques Lemaire is probably the one you're least likely to see in those type of sets.

And to wrap it up, here's some 09-10 OPC. The retro of Theo easily wins this one, despite both a Sen and a shiny.

Another nice $5 spent on some fun.

The Waiting

Whimper. The shipment of Update at my LCS hasn't arrived yet. So, I must content myself with contents of an ebay shipment.  Combining shipping, this 4-pack of hits set me back a smidge over $10.00.

My favourite is the newest player in my 2.14 binder. I knew my first card of his would have to be an auto, as there weren't any base cards of his. Just autos. He was an undrafted free agent, so the lack of base cards aren't a surprise in retrospect. He's still with the Ravens in his second year, and managed to see some action in the game against Buffalo. At least in the sense of "I heard his name several times".

Speaking of Bills. Much like Bart Simpson's Mary Worth phone, his face will remind me never to get overconfident over any Bills quarterback ever again. That said, at least it is a nice prime swatch with a shoulder stripe, and I do like how the photo makes it obvious which part of the jersey it came from.

Speaking of Bills QBs, here's one of their alumni, and probably the one with the best season since Jim Kelly retired. And that's really depressing. There's a slight hint of Chargers yellow on the second swatch. Flutie cards always remind me of how I loathe Rob Johnson, especially the fact he managed to pick up a Super Bowl ring as third-stringer on Tampa.

And to wrap it up, here's another McNair hit for the 2/14 binder. I'm still looking for a purple swatch from his time in Baltimore, but I'm still happy to add this one. It's /100.

As I continue to wait by my phone for a call about my Update Jumbo Box...

And the rest...Part 2

49 cards (or so) left in the misc. card box after putting the Pettis into a hard toploader. Let's dig in to the rest.

2010 Topps James Shields
1988 Topps Bill Madlock

1988 Topps Dave Righetti - This photo just screams 'spring training'.
1988 Topps Ruben Sierra

1988 Topps Steve Ontiveros - Put aside for a Wolverines collector.
1988 Topps Orioles Leaders

1992 Leaf Gold Preview Chris Sabo  - Again, already put aside for a Wolverines collector. The throwback look on the back totally wins the battle over the one on the front.

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Dave Parker. I love coming across cards from this set.

1984 Fleer Al Oliver. Another obvious spring training picture.
1990 Topps Norm Charlton

1994 Fleer Lee Smith - I'd completely forgotten about Lee Smith being a Yankee.
1994 Fleer Orel Hershiser
1994 Fleer Roger Mason
1994 Fleer Manny Ramirez

1996 Donruss Mike Bordick - This might be one of the worst base designs of the 90s.
1991 Donruss Mike LaValliere

1981 Donruss Dallas Green - The oldest card in the repack.
1990 Atlee Hammaker
1988 Donruss Steve Farr
1987 Topps Luis Salazar
1991 Donruss Scott Fletcher
1991 Donruss Ed Whitson
1989 Fleer Terry Clark
1990 Score Mickey Hatcher
1988 Topps Padres Leaders
1988 Score Dennis Eckersley

1992 Ultra Delino DeShields - The classic blue unis.

1991 Stadium Club Ken Oberkfell. Scanning a Ken Oberkfell card because nobody else would.

1992 Donruss Kevin Reimer - CanCon!
1988 Topps Joey Meyer
1996 Topps Robb Nen
1992 Donruss Ted Higuera

1999 Upper Deck Miguel Tejeda - A great double play turning card.
1990 Score Andy McGaffigan

1992 Donruss Alonzo Powell - Spring training again
1992 Donruss Scott Bailes

1991 Fleer Mackey Sasser. I don't know if my favourite photo is the dusty one on the front, or the "donning the tools of ignorance" photo on the back.

1994 Upper Deck Ozzie Smith - Turning two, again.
1985 Topps Checklist #1
1987 Topps Jim Acker
1992 Score Billy Ripken

2010 Topps John Maine - Another Met!
2010 Topps Luke Hochevar
2010 Topps Ryan Ludwick
2010 Topps Kevin Slowey

2010 Topps Mark Rzepczynski. The only Blue Jays card in the repack.

2010 Topps Albert Pujols. A good base to wrap up with.

I got 3 posts out of this, and some interesting cards. Money's worth on this repack? Most definitely!

And the rest...Part 1

Nothing will ever compare to the awesome that was Gary Pettis' little brother appearing on his card, but I'll try to salvage some more interesting goodies out of the repack. 50 misc. cards, 4 packs and a bonus. I'll focus on the latter of the two here.

The bonus in the past was a Twinkie-stained 1976 George Scott Hostess card that went right into the binder. This time?

It's shiny. But it isn't really a close competition with the Hostess card.

2012 Topps Series 1:

A pair of Blue Jays. A great photo. And a sparkly. Not too bad. The pack also had a Jeter, and a turning two card of Trevor Plouffe.

2011 Bowman Draft Picks/Prospects.

 At least I've heard of a couple of these folks.

2010 Topps Chrome:

Although no marquee players popped out, X-Fractors are always nice.

2008 UD First Edition Update:

And to wrap things up, a pair of Beltrans, a surefire HoFer and a great picture which gives me my only excuse ever to scan a Yuniesky Betancourt card.

Depending when I get my hands on my Topps Update box, the random 50 will probably be posted tonight.

Repack awesomeness

A trip through Target netted me another baseball repack. I've bought these before. 50 misc cards, 4 packs, and a bonus.

I'll get to the packs, the bonus and the 49 other cards later. But one of the 50 cards actually made me give a fist pump when it came out of the package.

YES! The famous "I'll send my little brother in to pose" card! AWESOME!

Is it strange that the first thing I did after scanning this piece of cardboard was place it in a hard toploader?

That's a rhetorical question, but the answer should be 'No'.

Thankful...for 4 new cards in the 2/14 binder

How's that for a holiday segue?

Opening with an oddball in more ways than one. Firstly, it's a rare appearance of a fight on the front of a card. The only ones I can think of that feature fights on the front are a Phil Roberto from 1973, a Dan Marouelli referee card where he's breaking up the brawling, and Chris Neil's UD flagship card from last year. Secondly is the set itself. It's from a Czech set from 2000. Looking at the images at COMC, there are a bunch of shots that you wouldn't see on this side of the Atlantic. There's a bloody Tie Domi. Yet another fight card, this time with Petr's teammate in Vincent Lecavalier. Or Jozef Stumpel getting a face full of glass.

The back of the card even gives the date and source of the picture. So, I can trace the photo to this game, where Petr came up a goal short of a Gordie Howe hat trick.

Here's the newest member of the binder. Fred Carter joins Bernie Geoffrion in terms of being the only the second person to have cards in the binder as both a player and as a coach.

Plus, that "Mad Dog" cartoon on the back is bad-ass.

And here is a new auto to wrap up this posting. It's my first hit of Marceaux, who never made it above AA, and it is my second overall. There are others at COMC for less than $2.00, but I opted for the one with the best logo on it. Jamestown Jammers > Florida Marlins.

Now, it is time to spend Turkey Day the way every Canadian should - watching the Final Sacrifice MST3K episode.

In which things return to normal in Buffalo

Namely, a three-and-out followed by a punt from this guy.

Sweet. Nourishing. Retail.

I actually behaved myself this morning when I went through Wal-Mart. Instead of listening to the siren's song of the blasters in the card aisle, I limited myself to one hanging value park of Prizm hockey. 3 packs with 4 cards each, and a WM exclusive with 3 Blue Pulsar Parallels.

And here are the Pulsars. It pains Sens loving me to admit this, but the Blue Pulsar works really nice with the colours on the Reimer. As usual, the scanner makes them look a little more garish than they are in hand.

One of the cards in the pack was a green parallel. I guess pulling one for a rookie is better than a random base card. Barring an injury or trade, he'll probably spend the season in the AHL.

These were the only two mask binder cards among the base. I've expressed my love for Smith's Wile E. Coyote mask before.

No Senators in this pack, but there was a Bruin. The second year card of Krug is probably the most desirable one among the non-rookies.

I also pulled a Kitchener Rangers alumni for that PC.

This was the only base rookie that I pulled.

And the rest!

Not too bad, and if I had more money than common sense I'd actually go after the pulsar base set.