Stacks of Wax December 2017 - Part 5 - Field Access Case Box 3

Box #3 time!

Pack 1:

A very patriotic entry opens up this box and its interesting cards. While the blue parallels of the base set aren't numbered, the ones for the insert sets are numbered /99.

Good enough player for the auto (although he was injured in the first quarter of the season and is out for the year), but that's ghastly penmanship.

Pack 2:

Kicker mojo!

My first Bills card so far. Throwback helmets are a bonus.

The pack's auto. He's still in the league at this point, and seems to have caught on quite nicely with the Lions.

Pack 3:

Bills content starts this one off for my second entry for them.

The Adrenaline Rush insert gives a nice flashback to the greatest show on turf era of the Rams.

And the second box so far with an auto that's getting set aside for Matt @ BWtP. Nice photo to go with it as well.

Pack 4:

If he hadn't pissed off everyone on his way out of the league, this might have been a decent pull.

And the auto. Much like with Robinson, he's also had injuries this year. Unlike Robinson, he was unfortunate enough to have them take place in the pre-season opener.

Another box where the best card may have been one for somebody else, but that Tomlinson at the start was also a solid contender.

I do expect the rest of the boxes to finally arrive later today, so I should be taking a short break from this case starting tomorrow.

Stacks of Wax December 2017 - Part 5 - Field Access Case Box 2

Time for Box #2:

Pack 1:

This starts off with a gold parallel /99 of Dres Anderson. His father, Willie "Flipper" Anderson is probably more famous. Still, this does make a practice photo interesting with a low grab.

Gold parallel pulls continue with the auto, as this one is also out of 99. Carey was released earlier this season, and hasn't caught on with a team since.

Pack 2:

A nice action photo of a defensive player starts off this pack, as this perfectly shows Aaron Donald busting through the line.

And a pre-game photo.  All-Access definitely lives up to its subset name, with this angle.

Kind of a blah auto. But at least Shaw has nice penmanship. I pulled an auto of his about a year ago in this product, but it was attached to a different photo.

Pack 3:

The All-Access subset comes through again with another nice on-field shot from outside of game time.

The auto is a nice one of a player who seems to have had nothing but bad luck when it comes to injuries. This one's heading to Matt @ Bob Walk the Plank, one of several autos I pulled that will be heading that way.

Pack 4:

That Jamaal Charles auto looks nice even without a sticker-auto attached to it.

Another auto that I don't think I'll be keeping, as this will be off to a Cardinals (and Jay Barker) fan.

There's another box. Definitely one where it was better to pull cards for someone else than myself.

Stacks of Wax December 2017 - Part 4 - Field Access Case Box 1

I'm going to work my through the boxes one box per post, with one pack at a time, and highlight the autos, interesting photos and numbered parallels as I cover all 12 boxes. I'm not feeling overly creative about what order to post everything in, so, you'll get them in the same order I opened them.

Pack 1:

A really great photograph comes out of the first pack's All Access insert set, as Barry Sanders is carried off on his teammates' shoulders after reaching the 2000 yard single-season rushing mark.

My first auto is Austin Seferian-Jenkins. I'm not the biggest fans of abbreviating an auto down to initials, but when you have a massive name that does easily reduce down to initials, you can get away with it.

And my first base parallel, with this green parallel being out of 50.

Pack 2:

Another numbered parallel in this pack - the gold ones are out of 99.

The autograph is a pretty good one. Field Access may be a sticker dump, albeit one with great photos, but that does mean some really good names can slip into the mix, such as this Jamaal Charles which combines both of them nicely.

Pack 3:

There are definitely some unique pictures in this. This shows how to make a really memorable photo of a player with a post-career shot.  I'd actually just put the base version on my COMC watchlist a few days prior, so this saves me some credit. As a bonus, this is a /50 green parallel.

On some of these, the back of the card shows where the photo came from.

And the auto. He's still in the league, now with the Ravens.

Pack 4:

I actually posted the Silas Redd base card when I busted my first, solo box of this. It deserves another spotlight.

Your auto is an interesting one as well. And it is one for my secondary team collection. Not bad looking for a sticker-graph as well.

I guess I can end this post with the obligatory MST3K video. 11 boxes left!

Will my benefactor enter and sign in, please?

I was going to start my Field Access case today, but the mail this morning had different ideas? I received an envelope addressed from the Kitchener Rangers today which had this, and only this in it:

WOO-HOO! That's going to add a lot of new names to my Kitchener Rangers alumni collection.

And with autographs as well. Only three of these guys have cards outside of this set, with Adam Mascherin and Connor Bunnaman having releases in Leaf, and Elijah Roberts getting an entry in this year's Team Canada World Juniors release.

A few have been drafted in the NHL, with Luke Opilka going to the Blues, Connor Hall to the Penguins, Mascherin to the Flyers and Bunnaman to the Panthers.

But I don't know who gets the thanks for it specifically, so thank you to the sender, and could you please sign in and get your well-deserved credit?

Stacks of Wax December 2017 - Part 3 - Crown Royale Box 2

Here are the highlights from the other box of Crown.

Pack 1:

After not getting a large patch when busting my box of Prime, I guess Crown decided to make up for it with a pair of beauties. While yesterday's was event-worn, here's a game-worn patch to make up for it in all its 4-colour glory.

Pack 2:

The only base parallel I landed was this ruby parallel. Tanner Pearson was sort-of a Kitchener Rangers alum, as he was their stick boy before starting his on-ice career. When the Kings won the Cup, and he had his day with it, the Rangers dressing room was of the stops.

Pack 3:

A vet autograph! Sovereign Sigs could get sticker-dumpy at points, but at least he's still active in the league at this point. 

Pack 4:

And the final hit is my second Patrick Bordeleau sticker autograph. That's not the best ending to a box, but I won't complain with the other quality hits.

There you go! The other package is currently stuck in UPS hell, so I'll probably start on the Field Access sooner than expected.

Stacks of Wax December 2017 - Part 2 - Crown Royale Box 1

Time for the first hockey box of the Black Friday busting. 4 five card packs, each one with a hit.

I don't plan to show all the base cards, but here's your sample, one bound for my collection of Kitchener Rangers alum.

And the card backs. Typical Panini. McDavid beat Landeskog for the youngest captaincy by 20 games when he was named Captain by the Oilers.

And now the hits, in order of opening.

Starting off with a stickergraph. At least Tennyson is still playing in the NHL (although he was recently sent to Buffalo's AHL affiliate in Rochester).

Now this would have been an amazing pull when this was released. An on-card autograph combined with a silhouette design and a nice patch piece from the front logo? Amazing! As the former #1 struggles to stay in the NHL this card is now more aesthetically pleasing than a potential flip for $$$. I don't think I could have told you he was now with the Avalanche. And I'm just fine with that as the collector I am.

Now here's another Rangers alumni hit! Much like the previous hits, he's been bouncing around as well, and is now with the Wild. Much like with Yakupov, I doubt I could have told you that.

And one more Rangers alumni hit! A great box for that PC! At least here I could tell you the team he's currently playing for without having to hit hockeydb.

There you go! One more box of this to go!

Stacks of Wax December 2017 - Part 1 - Strata!

Last year for Black Friday, I took a year's worth of Challenges and selling at COMC and turned it into a $1000 gift certificate for the site, with the goal of getting a pile of cards to bust during the time. For 2017, I did the same, and picked up a pile of cards. The highlight being the Prime box I posted a few weeks back, and a case of 2015 Topps Field Access.

I also got a few other boxes to go alongside that, and I'm going to post those over the next week or so and then get to the case.

I actually busted two boxes of this earlier in order to work on the base set. Combining this box with a 4th busted earlier, I'm still more than 40 cards out. Off to my wantlist with that!

A nice, shiny ruby red Carr highlighted the first box, and this should pay for both of these boxes easily.

It also came with this, a redemption that was still valid, and surprisingly for Topps, still not fulfilled.

The second box highlight was already shipped off to, and already posted by, Matt @ Bob Walk the Plank.

Finally, the most recent box.

The boxes typically have 6 of these gold parallels, and this was typical. The Megatron is actually a dupe.

The /50 sapphire parallels are 1:220 packs. Josey's been in the CFL the past few years.

And the die-cuts, featuring two repeat customers from the gold parallels. Collation!

Starting the hit parade is the base version of the Clear Cut Auto Relics that started this post. Another appearance for Logan Thomas, who is now with the Bills, and a tight end as well.

This might have been a good pull for the time, notsomuch now as his career seems to be questionable after an injury. Still a nice patch though.

And the biggy! This shadowbox card is thick. Thick enough that it was the only card in the entire (usually 6 card) pack. This is a beautiful card in hand, with the auto looking really nice on acetate above the second image of Lacy.  But, since Eddie is an Alabama alum, this has been put aside for a fan of Jay Barker, especially since the HRX I'd promised him seems not to have ever come through.

There you go! Crown Royale hockey next!