Ginter Sampler

Going full bore with Heritage means some sets had to be sacrificed. Instead of the joy of putting together the 2014 Topps flagship, I had to pick up a factory set instead. At least I could collate the 660 card set within. Another sacrifice would be Ginter, but I could still pick a few packs of it.

In retrospect, it was a shame, since I really liked the design this year, and there are a couple of cards that will be on my way to the Top 10 list at some point, namely the card with Roy Halladay as a Blue Jay, and the Wold's Capitals card featuring by old hometown of Ottawa.

But, those I'm sure will come eventually. Today, the highlights from the 5 packs I grabbed at the LCS.

Leading with a hit is kinda cheating - but it when it is my first Votto relic for my Cancon collection, I'll cheat and lead with it. I guess I could wish it were a red relic, or even a white one for a nice patriotic contrast, but that, as always it nit-picking.

Since everybody loves the minis, here were the 5 I got. All are the standard backs, (such as they can be for the Komodo Dragon card), excepting Cespedes which is a Ginter back.

Blue Jays content was restricted to this one of Encarnacion, but that's a pretty bad ass looking picture of Edwin.

I did end up with a pair of Mets cards, though. I'm always happy to come across cards of Piazza as a Met, especially since his past few appearances in modern sets have been in Panini products.

I did end up with a pair of high # SPs.

Among the base, here were the only 3 non-baseball cards I pulled. Considering I've busted packs that were entirely non-baseball in the past, that's a decent ratio.

And my favourite card in terms of photo choice was this Bob Feller. That's likely because this photo didn't look at all familiar to me. A quick scan of COMC images shows that this one appears to be making its first appearance on a Topps card, although I'm sure there's some high end card where this image appears on a /5 base card.

Here are the pastimes inserts I pulled. It's very blah in terms of interest in the subject matter but the design is nice.

I didn't pull the Ottawa World Capitals card, but did get Tokyo.

And to wrap it up, a pair of Air Supremacy inserts. Those would have been beyond cool when I was 8. Now, they're still pretty nice.

So, there's likely my only venture into Ginter for 2014.

Just one pack...of 2014 Prestige Football and my First 1/1 Pull

My original plan today was to post a sampler of cards from the few packs of Ginter I picked up at the LCS today. And post a taste of the packs as a Ginter Sampler of sort. I kinda regret going full bore on Heritage since the Ginter did have a really nice design to it. But, I made my bed with Heritage, I'm still sticking with it. So, with Ginter on mine and everybody's mind, I'd join the masses in posting their cards from that set.

However, I also opted to grab a pack of the new Panini Prestige football.

And I pulled what will likely be my best pull from one of these Just 1/2/3 packs things I've been doing. To remind you, I've pulled autos of Jorge Posada, Graig Nettles and Manny Machado from GQ, Archives and S2 respectively this year while sampling packs.

Here's the pack. It's definitely not the most colourful design of the year.

But the cards are nice and colourful. It is hard to tell with the yellow being the upper colour, but that is the Chargers logo behind him.

This one pack of Prestige netted me more Bills cards than the multiple packs of Score or the jumbo pack of Bowman. The logo in the background shows up much better here than on the Rivers. And hey, it is a Bills card. This is automatically my favourite football pack of the 2014 releases so far.

The good thing about this card is you can't tell how badly I need to clean my scanner. And now, what will probably be my pull of the year:

Yes. This is the first 1/1 I've even personally pulled from a pack. Since the name apparently wasn't part of the Cyan plate, it is Ryan Tannehill. These can be a crap shoot at to how much of the design shows up, but I think I did pretty well here with the Dolphins design. Even though as a Bills fan, it is not one of my favourite teams. I've gotten a few black printing plates in trades/purchases, but this is my first one that is any other colour.

Here's the back in all its 1/1 glory. I'll call it trade bait for the next week or so for any Dolphins/Texas A&M fan that wants it. Otherwise, I'll ebay it.

It's kinda moot after the 1/1, but here's the rest of the pack. Other than the RC logo, there's no difference in the design with these and the veterans.

Back to back Cardinals.

The team logo design really pops nicely on teams with the darker colours.

And this one gets wrapped up with this card.

Even though it isn't someone I really wanted one of, it is hard not to get excited about my first actual 1/1 pull from a pack. And now I have one more 2014 Bills card that I had prior to picking up this pack. I guess that's worth letting the Ginter goodies wait until tomorrow.

Raptor Fan Benefits 2

Much like the first time, this is the time to show off some of the goodies picked up when I grab the Raptors late for a discount at mojobreak.

A mixer didn't bring too much to me, but it did get me a nice on-card autograph with a film cell of Dwight Buycks. They're quietly turning me into a super-collector of the guy, despite the fact he didn't exactly log a lot of minutes this past season. Still, he's a Raptor, and I'll collect his cards while he is here.

And that's about it, aside from some base cards from contenders. As a team collector, I always love that they send the base, even though sometimes you end up with piles of them. My favourite of the bunch is easily the Kleiza with the Remembrance Day camo uniforms.

But, a case break of select netted a nicer stack of cards.

I was really hoping that this one was live, as it was the one I was really hunting for as a completist. Nando came over at the trade deadline from the Spurs, so it would be nice to get a card where he'd at least be listed as a Raptor. Unfortunately, he has signed to play in Russia next season, so I'm not exactly optimistic that this will be fulfilled. But, much like the Cody Ceci hits, I'm going to wait this out.

Here's a pair of numbered cards. Both are numbered to /99. With the Raptors returning to their dino uniforms on occasion next season, it is nice to get a card that is paralleled with the classic Raptors colours.

And several copies of each of the team base cards are also nice.

And a base insert.

So, support a team that nobody else cheers for! They're cheap group break dates!

COMC Challenge Cards Part 38: Hooray for Hollywood!

And with this post, there's nothing but baseball cards (and a card of Bam Bam Bigelow) left in the COMC box.

Technically, this one is a baseball card, coming from a Donruss Leather & Lumber set. It's their Fans of the Game inserts, and features TV personality Jules Asner. Why would I feature a card of her? Jules is a 2/14 baby. She's one of three new faces for that binder in today's post. There's also an autographed version of this, but I'm not shelling out $40.00 for that.

Much of what I was doing when hunting down new possibilities for this binder, I went through a bunch of lists of people born on Feb 14th, then looking for people who appeared in shows or movies that were likely to have cards for them or their characters. Hence, Simon Pegg, aka Scotty from the recent Star Trek films makes his debut in the collection.

The same method also added me this card from the Gremlins set from 1984. Much like with the Pegg, I was looking for a card that featured the performer as opposed to the performer. Zach Galligan didn't get a solo card except for cards featuring his character. So, a card with him alongside Phoebe Cates is the one that enters the binders.

Finally, the 2/14 binder gets its first person from the Hollywood realm with a second card. Lois "Moneypenny" Maxwell makes her second appearance. Taking a cue from Topps, this is the exact same photo as is on the front of her other card.

And now for something non 2/14 related.

I'll confess that my greatest guilty TV pleasure of the century was CSI: Miami. So cheesy, sleazy, and loaded with predictable stereotypes. Don't know who the guilty party was? Just bet on the greasiest guy in the ugliest shirt.

So, with that said, I grabbed an autograph associated that show.

One on-card from one of the regular lab techs (it was either this one or Sofia Milos, and this one was cheaper). And both probably appeared in the same # of episodes.

So, that's it except for the baseball stuff from COMC. And Bam Bam Bigelow.

COMC Challenge Cards Part 37: The Basketball

Only 4 cards here. Perfect for a morning post.

I tried to do this without any reference to having penmanship of a God, but every attempt to do so came off as a cop out. But he does have really nice writing.

Richard Hamilton's penmanship is not God-like, but it is my first autograph of this 2/14 baby. It is a sticker, but I'll have an on-card one of his shortly.

I'm starting to become a collector of David Thompson cards, just for the retired cards that feature classic Denver Nuggets logos on them.

This is one of those cards photos that blow your mind so much, you're not sure if it should qualify as a "WTF" or "This photo rules!"

COMC Challenge Cards Part 36: The Hockey

And now, some of the hockey cards that I've got through the Challenges. Namely, the ones I haven't shown yet, making the box temporarily free of hockey cards. Until I hit ship again.

The Canvas cards have been a highlight from the past few years often coming up with better photo choices than the main set. For this one, this is a really good choice for a card for his debut season with the Senators. An intro shot, with his name in the background. Nice. He had a bunch of nice cards this year in later year sets. The OPC had him in the retro unis, and there was a nice celebration shot in Score. UD's base was the dullest of the bunch. What are the odds with that?

And the second of the two Canvas cards was a 2/14 member of Gaborik. Marian moves into a tie once again for the lead in the 2/14 category alongside Milan Hejduk.

Moving off the canvas, and on to a new card for my Rangers alum file. He spent more seasons with the Panthers than with the Bruins, but it is really hard for me to picture him playing with Florida.

"Welcome to the NHL, kid! Here's your rookie card! Sorry that it has a picture of you falling on your arse. Look at the bright side - there's only 150 of them out there."

Look on the bright side, Jaroslav. Your card still isn't as shameful as this Jason Arnott.

Here's another zero year (tm: Nick @ Dime Boxes) of Jacques Lemaire. You can thank this story at Puck Junk for the story behind the card, and the reason I picked it up. That's a respectable job of 70s airbrushing, though.

Cooperalls!

And wrapping up this with yet another mask binder card. It is only my second of Valiquette's Spider Man mask, and I'm not really the biggest fan of the comic/movies.

So, just the Hollywood and the basketball cards to go, leaving nothing but baseball in the box.

COMC Challenge Cards Part 35: The Football

Most of what I purchased in the COMC go-arounds so far falls into the baseball category. In fact, looking through the 70 or so cards I have yet to post , about 50 of them are baseball, with the rest being from the other sports, or Hollywood type cards (mainly new 2/14 faces).  So, the next COMC challenge posts will see some of the goodies from those categories.

So, football goes today. Tomorrow, who knows?

Every time I see this sweater, my thoughts jump from "Wow. That is a hideous garment." to "Wow. I want that sweater and would wear it every moment of my life." The latter thought occurs more frequently, and would probably be the winner.

Of course, a couple Bills were part of this grab. There's probably more Bills among the 88 cards still in my inventory, but I'll gladly show off this card of Thurman Thomas.It might not be like 1993 Leaf with this background, but it is still a unique look.

And here's one of the Interstate parallels, which feature novelty license plates on the back from the player's home state.

I'm not to sure about this one, though. OH NOOOOO!

Hee hee! Dickey!

Hee hee! Craphonso!

Why yes, I am 7 years old. What's the problem?

After picking up one of his cards in a repack and learning of his early passing, I wanted to add a hit of his to my collection. I don't quite understand my reasoning, but having such a bizarre want after picking up a repack isn't exactly a first for me. So, here's a sticker graph and an event worn relic of Mr. Adams. I guess bizarre wants aren't such a bad thing when you've got a pile of cash in your account.

I bought this one because the penmanship was interesting, and the number on the card didn't match the one on the sticker. He's dead too.

On the upside, there are no more football hits in this box, so I don't have to feel morbid with the rest of the cards.

COMC Challenge Cards Part 34: Canine Cards

Today, some cards with a decidedly four-legged feel to them.

I've blogged in the past about the Airedales that have been a part of my life. They are the reason behind the first two cards today.

Had I not added the 1949 card of Red Barrett to my 2/14 collection through the challenges, this card would have been the oldest one in my collection. This one is from 1950, and is in incredibly good condition for a card this old. This card came from something called "Quaker Oats Challenge of the Yukon: Dog Cards". Free with cereal I guess, which makes this card's condition even more spectacular.

And here's the back of the card. My Charlie has incredible watchdog skills. In fact, whenever he barks out the front door, most of the time the whatever was out there has completely disappeared from view. I guess he inspires Usain Bolt like speed.

And since he is a Charlie, why not a card from UD's Looney Tunes set featuring their Charlie Dog. On both the front

and the back, behaving not much different from my Charlie. Except his Skippities and Scamperties are more often done with a football in his mouth as opposed to a baseball.

Let's leave the Airedale behind and go to 2013 Heritage Minors for this card. This might be one of the strangest choices for a card to end up as a short-print in a set, but I couldn't resist. Sadly, Chase passed away just days after his official retirement as bat dog, and before this card was released.

The back is pretty interesting as well.

And supposedly, this is a St. Bernard. Who am I to argue?