GQ Case Break Blue Jays goodies

I did another group break with mojobreak, grabbing the Blue Jays in case break of 2014 GQ. I didn't do badly at all, picking up a lot of nice cards for my Jays collection. While I did pick up a pair of hits, where I really was pleased with the cards came with the minis.

The Jays only had 8 base cards in the set. But they did have a mini photo variation on the Jose Bautista. And it RULES!

The only way this could be better if the lettering on the bat barrel happened to be reversed so it match the orientation of the photo. And if it were the base card so I could revel in the badass-ness of this card in all its full-sized glory.

More minis you want? More minis you'll get. Such as half the team worth of black minis /199.

And here are the regular minis. Only 3 out? I might finish this team set.

As for the base, I got plenty of those. Of the non-SPs, they ranged from 4 to 6 of each. If you think I'm picking anything but RA Dickey rocking the Canada Day variation as my favourite base card, you don't know me.

I also got a pair of Bautista SPs. Joey's the only SP among the Jays contingent in the set. You can also see that although a nice card, it doesn't compare to the variation.

Finally, the hits!

I think every case break I've seen has had one of these come out. Still, it is a nice autograph card of someone for someone who is making their certified auto debut in this year's releases. And a 2013 All-Star. #RaiseTheBar

And to go with it, a nice blue relic of Edwin Encarnacion. How can a Jays fan not be happy with a blue Blue Jays relic?

The newest, brightest card in my 2/14 collection

Yup. This card pretty much tells all the 1991 Fleer in that binder to take a back seat. It is a gold parallel from the set, and boy, does the gold stand out. As does the orange. As does the rookie card baseball. Let's just say I could use this card as a flashlight in an emergency.

2014 Adventures in Repacks: Part 25 - Part 2

So, all the Topps S2 stuff yesterday was pretty bland. Can the other packs make it interesting?

They were:

1990 Donruss
2003 Flair
2013 Heritage
2013 Gypsy Queen
2013 Archives

Let's attack chronologically.

The first card out is a PC guy!

What a great way to start off! As for the rest, no Diamond Kings in this one, but I did pull an Expo, and a few HOFers or likely HOFers.

And now, with the cards per pack being in scanner friendly numbers, I can scan all the rest of 'em!

That was a very AL East intensive pack. How'd that Philly get in there? Still, it is always fun to bust something you didn't bust at the time.

I don't like my odds on winning this trip. And now, all the way up to 2013!

A pair of rookie trophies negates the appearance of A-Rod. The Cespedes is a short-print as well.

The GQ was pretty generic. The highlights here are the insert, and the obvious appearance of the Skydome on the Ramriez card. I see you hiding in the background, metric measurements!

And the Archives stuff. Nice Tall Boy to wrap things up!

2014 Adventures in Repacks: Part 25 - Part 1

Another one of those ten pack repacks. Variety was not the spice of life here. If you liked Series 2 from '12 and '13, you'd have loved this repack. Half the packs came from those two sets. In fact, only 2 of the packs were non-Topps products, a pack of 2003 Flair and a pack of 1990 Donruss.

But at least 5 flagship packs makes it easier to split this into two posts.

Unfortunately, the cards themselves were pretty bland.

The best of the almost 60 base cards was this one featuring Cliff Pennington  rocking some 80s throwbacks. I could even trace these to the specific game these were worn. So, there's that.

Will the inserts save this portion of the repack? Getting a Blue Jay helps.

And an extra card from my favourite insert set of 2013 for my misc. awesome photo binder.

Or a die-cut!

Or a nice and sparkly card.

But the big winner was this gorgeous photo of Joe Mauer, perfectly framed on this '87 retro card.

Sure, inserts might be a bit overused in the base product, but they also saved this portion of the repack.

3 Pack Break - 2013-14 Between The Pipes

With goalie masks as one of my personal collections, Between the Pipes is always my personal favourite for set of the year. It finally dropped last week, and I finally got around to picking up a few packs of the stuff. I'll probably be buying at least a base set at the Expo next week, although if I can find a box for a respectable price, I might just use that to try and put a set together.

1-23 is for current stars, title Stars of the Game. 24-80 is for CHL Players. Sadly, they don't include the draft eligibility on the back of these, although it does show up in the back-of-the-card bios for some. The remaining 81-150 is for retired players, or Greats of the Game as ITG calls them. 9 cards per pack, but 1 of them is a decoy/puzzle card, or a relic hit. It's probably my one complaint about the product. But, with the set dropped drown to 150 from its usual, one should come really close to picking up a complete set from an box of 18 packs.

I can't really post this as a pack break, since I've already collated the cards. But, I can hit the highlights.

For 2 packs of the three, I did end up with a pair of inserts. One a hit, one a shiny.

While not technically a hit, these are still nice additions to the personal collection and my favourite insert in the set. These fall at 1:6 packs, and are the highlight of the set for a mask collector such as me.

And an autograph as well from one of the packs. Unfortunately for me, the London Knights are one of the primary rivals of my beloved Kitchener Rangers (along with the Guelph Storm). At least it is better than the one I pulled last year of a CHL guy who had already retired by the time the set had released.

Now, the base.

There were one of these in each pack, so I'm going to highlight my favourite mask of the bunch - Mike Smith. Although since Wile E. Coyote hasn't yet captured the Roadrunner on this one, it is a letdown from his previous efforts. Although Mike does have Wile E. riding an Acme rocket, with his children hanging on the side of it assisting the famous coyote.

These are samples of the CHL cards, featuring two spectacular logos. When Sudbury switched to this look from a hideous green and yellow scheme in the late 80s, it became probably the one of the most improved jersey changes in hockey history. And now I know what a Voltigeur is without having to hit wikipedia.

Finally, some of the Greats. Calling Curt a great is probably a stretch, but his mask is spectacular.

And there's the highlights of 3 packs of BTP.

Collector's Choice 1995 - I Choose You! Part 2

Another quick post as I'm still up to my arse in COMC Challenges. I've got 130ish cards in my inventory. That should be enough for me to finally hit ship on the thing, right?

So, if you hear something about a hunchbacked mailman over the next while in Ontario, it's my fault.

Hunchbacked mailman? Oooo! Scary stuff kids! Oh boy!

Tonight's movie on Monster Chiller Horror Theatre is a remake of The Thing With Two Heads! It stars Brian Jordan, and some other guy. It doesn't matter. I'm sure it will be scary stuff.

OK. Enough with the silly. If this was a bunt, it wasn't a very good one. But, Kirt's a good defensive catcher chasing it down no matter what. If it is a fielding attempt after a dropped third strike, it is a rather rare baseball play featured on a card.

Not quite as rare, but pitchers fielding doesn't show up that frequently.

So rare, it bumps a pitcher at the plate to the back.

Collector's Choice 1995 - I Choose You! Part 1

Please excuse the lack of verbosity the past few days. I've been hammering away at the COMC Challenges, and building up credit there. And by building I mean I've got about 100 cards waiting to be shipped. The best thing is that as I learn about other subjects that I didn't think had sets devoted to them, I'm finding new subjects for the 2-14 binder. And by new subjects I mean 9 of them.

I mean, who would have thought I'd find a card of Jules Asner?

Anyhow, here's 6 cards from 1995 Collector's Choice that I got from Just Commons a long time ago.

Let's open with Scott Brosius giving a whole new meaning to "player behind the camera".

And if you don't like that, flip the card over for a nice throwback uniform.

Just a classic picture of Joe Carter - this will be a gorgeous addition to his binder. I'm trying to guess the stadium behind him, though. The walls appear green, so I'm guessing Oakland. But, that's still a guess.

Following that up with a completely random addition to my Mets binder. Yes, Joe. That's a bat.

I'd still rather see this than a close up of Otis' face.

Posing with a lucky Upper Deck contest winner. Very Meta.

And one of the classic odd cards from the set.

Newest cards in the 2/14 binder

A beautiful Sunday morning seems like the perfect time to show off the 6 latest additions to the 2/14 collection.

Opening up is a new player in the binder, and my first soccer guy. There were a good number of soccer guys that I came across with the always helpful search of "Born: February 14" and soccer, but they were insanely priced soccer stickers. I'd rather have a card, and this one fortunately came in at far cheaper. It is Kevin Keegan. I don't follow soccer at all, but he does have a very extensive wikipedia entry, so I guess he's a pretty big deal, especially if you cheer for Liverpool.  Anyhow, he's yet another new face in the binder, and I believe the 9th new name in the binder for 2014.

From the newest name to a definite oddball addition. A Brewers set from Miller brewing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the team?  Why not? It's yet another unique addition to the binder. I don't care how obscure the set is, if there's a 2/14 guy in it, I want the card. This is my sixth card of Cocanower.

It is always fun to add a shiny parallel to the collection. Takashi Saito was tied for second place in terms of baseball entries, but he now has 15 cards to move into second place. That's only temporary, though, as I'm waiting to hit ship on a large order from COMC. Who knew that my past as data entry temp would come in handy?

The final baseball addition is also a Mets card. This is my 13th Stinnett.

I haven't really counted the vintage cards in the binder, but I'm sure Dan Lewis would be in the lead if I did in terms of that. He has 3 1960's Topps cards, and I've got one of each with the addition of this 1963.  He also has a 1964 Philadelphia issue, but the only ones at COMC are graded. And $16.00.

The only hit of the purchase was this relic of Richard Hamilton. I guess the fine folks at Fleer cut corners when it cane to swatch glue as that isn't a seam - just a loose edge. I do like the fact it is a red swatch - one not often seen on Pistons cards.

And, in case you think I'm not willing to add stickers to the binder. I am. I'm just cheap. These were far cheaper than the soccer ones, and both are on their way to the binders.

696 total binder cards.

Playoffs?

Despite coming up short in Game 1 of the playoffs earlier today, I'm still happy with the Raptors performance in 2013-14. Considering all the talk at the beginning of the season was along the lines of Riggin' for Wiggins, I'm elated with the playoffs and the division title, even if it was in the Atlantic.

But, this does seem like the perfect excuse to post some of my new Raptors cards on their way into that binder, all additions to my plans to acquire at least one card every Raptor ever. As best as I can tell, I'm two short, and they're both in the Top 10 list on the sidebar.

If I'm going to include cards of coaches in things like this, I might as well also include one of the someone (something?) that has been there from the start. He (She? It?) isn't in the usual attire in this card, but that only adds to the charm of this card. I believe that the Topps Total sets were the only one to include cards of the mascots.

While The Raptor has technically never played a game for the team, he (she? it?) isn't the only one that has a Raptors card, but never played for them. Both went to the Raptors in the expansion draft, but both were gone before the inaugural season got underway. While Wingfield latched on for a few seasons in Portland, Jennings never played another game in the NBA. Zero-year Raptors (tm: Nick @ Dime Boxes)

To round out the list, there were also guys for whom their only Raptors card was a hit. DJ Augustin played only 10 games for the Dinos, and was released after the Rudy Gay trade. Still, Panini stuck a sticker on a photo with him in a Raptors uni and called that a card.

Pietrus played 6 more games than Augustin, and found himself as a Raptor in this year's Totally Certified set. He's one of 3 players in NBA history born in Guadeloupe, and with 10 NBA seasons, the most prolific as well. So, there's some nice trivia to go with this hit.

And finally, Marco Belinelli played 66 games for the Raptors, but this was as close as things got to a card of him as a Raptor.