2018 Pro Debut Box Break

Better a day late than never, right?

After busting the pack of this last weekend, I'm not going be repeating stuff from that. So, the only true base design I'm going to show off is this photo variation of Gleyber Torres, which come in at a rate of 1:100 packs.

Both of my green /100 parallels were of pretty good players, with both going in the top 10 of the draft. I didn't even realize the Beck was a parallel until I started collating the set, due to the green matching with the A's team colours.

And another top 10 pick on this /25 parallel. I really killed it with this portion of the break getting numbered cards of half of the top 6 2017 draft picks.

Leaps & Bounds seems to be this set's insert set designed for the sole purpose of making more cards of the big prospects.

Fortunately, the Promo Night uniforms insert set returns.

Let the hit parade begin!

Here's the first of the two autos. Chris was a 4th round pick of the Angels, but has yet to see any action this season due to injury.

The first rounders make their return on the second autograph, with an orange parallel of Nick Pratto.

This might be one of the few sets where the relics are more interesting than the autographs. Would you rather have a piece of a championship banner or a plain white swatch? My only complaint is the card doesn't include a photo of the banner itself. The Spikes are a Cardinals affiliate, so this will likely be jetting its way to Kerry @ cards on Cards.

It wouldn't have been a hard to do so here. Tim Tebow did sport the Buddy the Elf jersey for a game, and there are several photos of him wearing it. So, why just a generic photo? But, this is my first Tebow hit. So at least there's that.

And there you have it! Back to the mailbag tomorrow!

One Card Only: Anticipation

I'll hopefully be busting a box of Pro Debut later today. So, to get ready for that box break, here's a Fragments of the Farm relic from last season:

I doubt I'll get anything as unique as this in my box, but there are mascot relics on the FotF checklist this year as well.

Bills! Bills! Bills!

Whether it was from my COMC box, or in-person pick-ups, I've got a nice collection of Bills cards to show off.

Bruce Smith is always a good way to start off a post, and it is nicer when it is an appearanceof Collector's Choice, and that's enhanced even more with it being a Players Club parallel.

3 Bills. One card.

Patrick DiMarco didn't get an actual card where he's pictured as a Bill, but the logo is there, and that's close enough. This obnoxiously gaudy card is from Unparalleled. Since this seems to be his cardboard debut, this is listed as his rookie card by Panini. 2017 was his 6th season in the league.

At least this card is from the guy's rookie season. Yao Yihno...Matt Milano had a fumble land right in his hands last season for a touchdown.

Here are some more draft pick cards, fast forwarding to this season. Harrison was a third round pick, while Ray-Ray went to the Bills-Bills in the 6th round.

I have been sending a lot of cards from Panini's Boxing Day releases to my trade partners. It is only fitting that I kept a couple for myself. This was one.

There's still room for Bills cards from last year's releases. I usually grab the cheapest one, and in a rarity, the NFL level auto was cheaper than his NCAA cards.

Numbered Freddie! He was the highlight on some really questionable Bills teams, and even picked up a 1000-yard rushing season in 2009. He also picked 1000 yards on kick returns that year, becoming the first NFLer ever to make that 1K combination. Not bad for an undrafted player.

And that deserves some material for my Bills hit binder. And some ink! This card is number /20 (4/20! HYUK!) because it is a 20th anniversary (of Absolute) parallel.

It is a close tie between this autograph and Jackson's as to which was my favourite new one for the binder, mainly because they both didn't have too many certified autographs available. Steve was a Special Teams beast for the Bills during the early 90s.

And that's a whole bunch of Bills cards.

New 2/14 Faces

A COMC package showing up always means a pile of new cards are on their way into my 2/14 collection. While there are some familiar faces in the most recent package, there's also a bunch of new names. Here they are:

Vintage! That's always a great way to start a post, as we go all the way back to 1954 with this Bowman card. Joe Koch was a 4th round pick of the Bears, but never played in the NFL. And check out that old Bears logo!

Here's the back of the card. The 36 completed passes is no longer the record, and it isn't even top 50 at this point. #1? 45, and it is held by 2/14 baby Drew Bledsoe.

USA! USA!

This isn't as patriotic, but since this one was released 2 years after the previous release, so I don't feel as creepy adding this card as I did with the previous card. As an interesting bonus factoid, Aiello is currently playing at Wake Forest, the same school that Joe Koch attended.

With Upper Deck releasing a CHL set this season, that means there's another possibility for 2/14 folks to show up. McShane is draft eligible this year, and projections have him going from the late first round through the third.

Dumont-Bouchard moved from the QMJHL to the OHL this season, and had a cup of coffee with the Kitchener Rangers. He was performing pretty well before the injury bug bit him. This jersey is from his QMJHL days, and comes from a Drummondville Voltigeurs jersey.

Last, but definitely not least...

I never thought I'd be hunting down an autographed card of Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling. But here I am. I better end this post now before I have the overwhelming urge to shill some CDs or call 516-922-WINE.

2018 Adventures in Repacks - Part 21 - When in Doubt...

Pick up a couple hanger packs!

Mikko Rantanen
1990 Bowman - Tony Hrkac
1991 Pro Set - Brian Mullen

1992 Ultra - Vincent Damphousse - This design has aged quite well.
1991 UD - Stephane Richer
1990 Score - Hubie McDonough
2001 In the Game Signature Series - Sergei Berezin

2005 Ultra - Jamie Lundmark - Open-ice photos look nice when presented horizontally.

1992 Parkhurst Emerald Ice - Steve Yzerman - A major namem, even nicer that it is a parallel.
1994 Parkhurst Missing Link - Brian Cullen
1990 Score - Paul Coffey

1996 Choice - Saku Koivu - Another nice horizontal photo.
1992 Parkhurst - Russ Courtnall

1993 Leaf - Vladimir Malakhov - Must scan back of '93 Leaf...
1991 7IS - Todd Wetzel

2017 MVP - Vincent Trochek - Start with a 2017 card, end with one...

A little too much 1990 Score for one 15-card repack (the McDonough was the Canadian version), but a few nice keepers, especially the Koivu and Yzerman.

Ward
1990 Bowman - Adam Creighton
1991 Score - Ronnie Stern
1990 Pro Set - Daniel Shank
1991 Topps - Garth Butcher

1993 Leaf - Steven King - Again, I have to scan the back of any 1993 Leaf I pull.
2001 In the Game Signature Series - Steve Webb
2000 UD - Daniel Cleary

1993 UD - Vladimir Malakhov - Of the players I could have seen myself getting cards of in each pack, Malakhov was not the name I thought of.
1990 Score - Mike Liut
1991 Parkhurst - Dave Volek
1991 OPC - Geoff Smith

1991 Platinum - Mark Tinordi - This hasn't been the most exciting repack. I'm scanning this card because you can see Brian Hayward's famous 'shark' mask in the background.
1991 7IS - John Vary

2015 Platinum - The only visible card that wasn't 2017.

When the highlight of a repack is something in the background of a photo, it is a pretty dull one. At least I needed the Ward for my unofficial set-build of 17-18 UD.

One Card Only: White on Black

As usual, Black Diamond cards scan terribly, but this is my first autograph of Colin White, who made his debut in this season's releases. At least the auto pops nicely with the design.

Saturday Pack Sampling

I hadn't really had much of an opportunity to look around the LCS lately, but at least got the chance to bust some of the new releases. They also had some SP Authentic, but since I'd gotten a sampling of that from the group break earlier this week, I opted for these two.

I think the football came out before the baseball, so I'll start with that.

The base cards. It looks like there's 8 of them per pack, with 3 being current players, 4 being retired retired players and 1 being a rookie. Here's the pack's content from the first category. Sherman is easily my favourite in this pack, since football cards with a defensive player holding the ball are nice rarities.

The Legends/Retired base cards. The greatness of the black & white photo is offset by the fact the guy's lasy name is Wehrli.

Your rookie. If these were not short printed at this level, I could see myself trying to build this set. But, with this being 100 cards and there being 14 packs per box, I couldn't justify it.

Insert #1.

And the autograph. Given that most sticker autos tend to be NCAA guys in early releases, getting one of a veteran is a pleasant surprise.

Since the backs do have an old-timey vibe with a random factoid related to the player, I figured I'd highlight them as well. Also, note that Wehrli's name is spelled correctly on the back of his card.

Off to Pro Debut, which opened up nicely with a Blue Jays card.

Sadly, there isn't a mascot insert set in this release. But a couple do make appearances in the Ben's Biz set, giving a random look around the minors. Chompers is the mascot for the Harvard Yard Goats.

And the rest.

Since I'm not too crazy about Heritage this year, I might pass on Heritage Minor Leagues and pick up a box or two of this to put the base set together.

There you have it!

2018 Adventures in Repacks - Part 20 - Similarity

The most recent pick-up a pair of Dollarama Surprise Bags was interesting.

Both contained the exact same pre-bust content. The same two types of packs, along with the same two types of repacks. Not much for variety, but it will make for easy comparisons.

Premier's release was loaded with photos from the alternate jerseys from that season, which means that even if you won't get anything valuable from it, you'll get some interesting cards. A Gretzky and a Crosby in the same repack? Nice. Brian Lee was the only Sens content from this break. Dupuis was the glossy parallel in the Score pack. There's a couple Kitchener Rangers alum in this, as well as proof it wasn't just 1991 Fleer that brought the yellow.

More anniversary jerseys in the second pack. The real interesting stuff are the two horizontal cards in the lower corner. Although Fleury's Penguins career was already under way at this time, this is a nice way to add his Cape Breton Screaming Eagles mask to my collection. And that Granato is quite the interesting photo choice.

Both were a lot of fun to tear into, but the MAF/Granato push the second of the repacks into the lead in this battle of very similar competition.