COMC Challenge Cards Part 33: Stadium Scenes

A simple theme with this small handful of card being examples of which not the player, but the stadium view is the true star of the show. Intentionally, or otherwise.

This one doesn't make the stadium the star, but the cityscape behind the outfield wall the feature. Combined with the photo of Adrian Gonzalez in the on-deck circle, it almost seems like he's saying "I'm going to hit it that far. You people on the 6th floor of that office building. Open up the windows. I'm sending you a souvenir".

Staying in San Diego. You're supposed to focus on the player in the foreground, but all I'm doing is trying to read the scoreboard in the background. As well as enjoy the fact that this card is of an adult who wants to be called Scooter. If you're old enough to drink legally, you should never be called 'Scooter'.

While the photo choice for the Adrian Gonzalez makes the stadium look time, the reverse is true here. With all three decks visible, it appears appropriately huge behind Juan Pierre in the on-deck circle. Also, kudos for not photoshopping that Marlins uniform into a cubs one. Nothing should distract from the rows and rows of spectators rising behind him.

Of course, stadium shots are far less spectacular when Honest Abe's Used Cars is the background.

But to wrap things up, let's leave the used car lot behind, and instead say goodbye with a gorgeous evening shot of Rich Stadium. While Pro Set could lay an egg in spectacular fashion in its overproduced heyday, they could still make some beauties.

COMC Challenge Cards Part 32: Language fun

This was yet another card that came up when I was going through the challenges, and I immediately added it to my watch list, and then to my inventory.

This card of a player that never got above AA seems normal enough at first. But this card is a Bowman International card from 1999. That means that the card back will have the text in the language of the player's country of birth.

So, what nation do we have here?

This should be interesting. On the surface, I'd expect this card's back to be in French. It is the official language, and since he moved to Quebec as a youngster, it would make sense in that category as well.

But this is the back:

That's not French. As best as my googling can tell me, the back of the card is written in Lingala. I can't imagine there are many trading cards out there with that unique feature. At least in this hemisphere.

Titanium

Now for Part 2 of the cards from the Father's Day breaks. Titanium cases of hockey and basketball, in which the randomizer gave me the Islanders, the Thunder and the Cavaliers. All three teams picked up hits for me, and it is time to show off some of these cards.

Here were the Islanders base cards, probably all of them in the base set. Although I probably would have put Nabokov among them, I'm pleased that Cal Clutterbuck earned himself a card in a set with limited base.

The trio of autographs weren't the most spectacular, but autos are autos, and they're always an interesting addition. Anything that adds a hit to my mask binder is a good one. And I can't imagine that there are too many autographs of Joe Finley out there. So, even though this reeks of a sticker dump, I can see this glass as half full. Even though I only know of both of these guys because I have cards of them.

Off to basketball!

The base for Oklahoma City.

And a pair of inserts. Unlike with the hockey, at least I had heard of them before ending up with their cards.

As for the Cavaliers, they were probably the random result I was happiest with. With a pair of Canadians in Tristan Thompson and Anthony Bennett among the hits, I was hoping for a nice addition to my slowly developing collection of Canadians in the NBA.

How'd I do?

Nothing among the base, but it really wasn't expected here.

Here's one of my two hits that the Cavs brought me. It is interesting that despite the fact he was traded for Luol Deng, the latter has a base card as a Cav, yet this card remains a Cavaliers one. And to keep the multi-team this bright yellow swatch is from the Lakers.

Well, no Thompson or Bennett, but this is pretty nice.

Happy Father's Day!

Over at mojobreak, they busted some boxes of Panini products that included some Father's Day product. I didn't do any Titanium from either hockey or basketball this year, so this seemed like a good time to give them a shot. I ended up with the Islanders, Thunder and Cavaliers through the randomizer, and ended up with a nice 6 pack of hits.

But, I'll get to those later, since I want to highlight some of the Father's Day cards, especially since a pair of them are promised elsewhere.

But this one is staying right here with me. It is my first Houston Texans card with 2/14 baby Jadeveon Clowney, as well as my first numbered card of his. It is a nice start to what I'm sure will be a lot of cards of his that will be adding this year to that binder. 3 cards down, many more to go.

You can't tell by looking at this card, but some of the base cards in these packs were thicker than the others. Anything to foil pack searchers is OK by me. Still, it isn't like ending up with a Blake Bortles cards is a bad thing.

I did mention a couple cards on their way to others, and these will be the ones. Someone who can't get Too Many Manninghams will add this very orange card of Tim Hardaway Jr  to his collection, and someone who doesn't quite have their own card shop will be getting the Goldschmidt. That means I can finally hit the post office tomorrow! WOO-HOO! For both Canada Post and the 4 people that are expecting envelopes.

If variety is the spice of life, one of my packs sure wasn't. Still, a pair of cards of Michael Carter-Williams is nothing to complain about.

The Elite portion of this release consists of three cards, and I got two of the three. I missed only the Johnny Manziel.  For a pair of cards that couldn't use the team logos for different reasons, these both look really nice. The Manziel was the only that did have the team logo on it.

There were even a couple cards that were definite photographic keepers as well.

And a pair of hits:

This is definitely one of the more unique items to have a swatch from. This black swatch comes from the shirt worn during the NBA combine. Although it isn't a game used, it is always nice to be able to place a date on a particular swatch.

That was nice. The next one was amazing.

I saw the Avalanche logo coming out, and assumed I'd gotten an autograph of Nathan MacKinnon. I was so very wrong and so very happy to be wrong. While I'd probably try to flip the former, I'm instead looking for a nice secure case for it. This is the second really great autograph (albeit sticker ones) that I've gotten through a mojobreak break over the past month or so. I'd rank this one as my favourite above the Jagr, but I've got one that should surpass these.

Tomorrow, the Titanium goodies. And there's a really goodie among them.

2014 Adventures in Repacks: Part 37.2 - And the rest!

Another admin update as my expected package didn't show up today, so things will not go out tomorrow. If you are expecting a package to be sent, it won't go out until Friday. Two of the four planned packages are getting additions, so I just want to get all the mail out with one post office trip.

With that out of the way, here are the highlights from the other side of the repack.

Let's open with the card visible on the front of the repack (the Update pack was visible on the back). There is so much awesome here. It's a card from one of my teams, from an Inter-League game against my other favourite team during a game at Shea. Jose Cruz is sporting a throwback uniform from the Chatham Colored All-Stars. And he's laying down a bunt in that game. There's no doubt as to why I opted for this particular repack. The other 99 cards would just be a bonus.

But there were some other interesting cards among the random ones here. This is is the obligatory oddball card that seems to fall at a rate of one per side in the repack.

And among the 1990 Topps stickers that also seem to be showing up frequently is this half a Sabo that is destined for somebody who can't have too many Manninghams. I'm keeping the Henke, though.

And the now also obligatory 1992 Babe Ruth Megacards card.

And with the two packs, there weren't too many loose cards on this side. So, I'll wrap up this one with a guy who might have won an Oates look-alike contest or three after his playing days. And later on, Baba Booey look-alike contests.

Off to the packs.

My only two Mets cards in the repack came from the Update pack.

But those pale in awesomeness to this perfect Southern California photo on this card.

Interestingly, the 1989 Fleer was far more interesting.

For example, there was this piece of miscut 1989-ness.

The obligatory guys who look like my Grade 7 Industrial Arts teacher.

And this guy.

Once again, not a bad repack at all. Lots of keepers is all you can ask for, and I got that.

2014 Adventures in Repacks: Part 37.1 - Another 100 card hanger

Opening with an admin note: If I promised you a package going out today, it will go out either tomorrow or Friday. I'm waiting for a package to arrive with a couple more cards to be sent out. When they show up, I'll head to the post office.

I'm a sucker for the classics. Whether it is 15 for $1 at the Dollarama, or a hanger pack at Target with 100 cards (including a pack each of 89 Fleer and 2012 Update), I'll bust it gladly. The side of the repack with the packs was far more interesting, so I'll start with the duller of the two.

Even though this wasn't too bad.

Such as these two cards. They seem on  the surface like junk wax standards. But, this is a similar verse from the last time I busted one of these. These are two shiny, glossy Topps Tiffany cards. These might turn from something I'd be surprised to find in a repack into something I'll now expect to find in a repack. Maybe not, but I ight take a closer look at the late 80s Topps cards that show up.

2 parallels deserve on more, as this Topps Gold of Larry Walker was also on this side. I've paired with the only other Expo there.

There were no Mets cards on this side of the repack. The closest I came to a Blue Jays card was this Draft Picks card of draft pick Tim Crabtree. He did actually reach the majors, which is pretty good for the typical odds that you get from these type of sets. He played a few years in Toronto, then spent a couple years with the Rangers.

This is another card I found interesting. Firstly, it's the glossy parallel. Secondly, this was Dorn Taylor's only major league level card. It is always fun to come across those types of cards.

Interesting photos are the highlights of repacks. The runner-up for the best one on this side of the repack goes to this Harold Reynolds bunting shot.

But it really doesn't come close to this photo from Shea featuring Jerald Clark twisting out of the way of an inside pitch.  You know I really love the photo on the front of a 1993 Leaf card when I have no interest in showing the back of the card.

You'd probably think that this Bazooka card would be the oddest in this section of the repack. You'd be wrong.

This was.

And to wrap this one up, a really nice rookie card to pull out of a repacked product. And I'll end up with an even better one on the other side. Which I'll get to later this week.

COMC Challenge Cards Part 31: Canada Day Cards

Back to the ol' COMC box, and this time a pile of cards with some sort of Canadian feel to them. And this can distract me from the Spezza trade.

Let's open up with a Bowman International issue from 2012. I really wanted to add one of these to my collection of Cancon, and decided to grab whichever one was the cheapest in the bunch. Since Axford was cheaper than Votto, I added the pride of Port Dover into my library. Although I wish that they had used provincial flags instead of the maple leaf in their later Hometown parallels. Wouldn't, say, a Russell Martin card look nice with a Fleur-de-lis background?

Secondly, it is time for a new card for the 2-14 collection. The fact TV shows and movies with a rather geeky audience tend to get cards gives me the opportunity to find new members. In this case, it is a cast photo, since I couldn't find an individual card. The 2/14 baby in question is Enrico Colantoni, who portrayed the father on a show I never watched. He's also one of those actors that falls under the category of "Hey! It's that guy!", as he could also have been seen in Just Shoot Me, Flashpoint, or Remedy. As well as guesting on Person of Interest, CSI and Numb3rs.

I did have other options, but really wasn't going to shell out $60.00 for an auto relic from ebay.

And before I move over to baseball, here's another addition to my slowly developing collections of Canadians in the NBA.

But the rest of this post is baseball. Mel Rojas kindly points that out for us. This is an interesting photo, at least, and it might be the last time I post a card of the guy who, if he wasn't my least favourite Met ever, would certainly be up there.

I'll stay in Montreal for a second card. This was another one that popped up during the Challenge portion that went immediately went onto the watchlist, and was added to my inventory at first opportunity. A painted card of Pete Rose as an Expo? That's a sure keeper for me.

More Expos content! Here's a nice goofy item from the Bazooka release, celebrating Brad Wilkerson hitting for the cycle, and adding a little bit of trivia with the French Canadian term for hitting for the cycle. While on one of my annual trips to see the Mets playing at Le Stade, I got to see Eric Valent put up a Carrousel of his very own.

And this seems as good a time as any to post my first certified autograph of the guy I saw put up the cycle. Sadly, he doesn't seem to have any cards where he's pictured as a Met.

Staying with the American teams, but switching over to Toronto, here's Rich Gale. The Welcome to Exhibition Stadium in the background on the scoreboard makes this an obvious Toronto photograph.

If it is early-mid 90s Fleer card, you've got a 50/50 shot on it being gaudy. I'm fairly certain that this card could light up a small room in beautiful 90s neon if I hooked up a battery to it.

And let's wrap up this Canada Post with a hit out of Triple Threads. I got an autograph of Joey Bats last year from the Dimwit GQ case break - now I've got a relic to go with it. Jose didn't have a lot of relics, but he does seem to be getting more of those. Either way, a few bucks for a nice blue relic 2/18 was too good to pass on.