2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 4 - Dollarama Catchup

 Time to reach in the soon-to-be-restocked repack box, with this time resulting in a few pick-ups from Dollarama. 

Here's the contents. I generally just grab whatever is within closest reach, but with a Sens card visible on one of them that I didn't have, I'll make the slightest effort to stretch.

Even if Matt Murray's time in Ottawa wasn't the most memorable, I'll still welcome it. 

The photos in behind it were really strong, with a nice pair of horizontal cards that both use that orientation nicely. The Friesen photo is pretty unique as well. 

The next group was as dull as the first was interesting. Corriveau never played a game with the Blues, or any NHL team for that manner. That's an airbrushed London Knights OHL jersey he's sporting. 

And another solid photo to end it. Pinnacle is what I imagine we'd get if the Canvas inserts from flagship ever became a stand-alone set. 

While SP Authentic opened the first repack, this one has the retail SP version.

There's some star power here with the second grouping, and a set I don't see that much of in repacks, with 1996-97 Donruss providing the Lefebvre.

That Leafs jersey card was part of a subset in 1991-92 Platinum to highlight the jerseys that Original Six teams sometimes sported during the season for the 75th Anniversary. 

I don't know if this is a goal celebration card, or just one where Gerbe is complaining to the referee about being knocked into the net, but it is the most interesting card of a very dull group.

Off to the Surprise Bag, which is now down to just 3 items. But at least I get some toploaders to use when my next bubblers go out.

They fibbed to me! I not only got 4 cards instead of 3, but 2 rookie cards instead of just 1. Or 4 rookies instead of 1. Either way - BONUS! Of the four rookies shown, only Yakushin didn't have too lengthy a career on this side of the Atlantic. Timonen is the biggest success story of the group, with a 16 year career, and probably the only one in this post to get a shout out from President Obama. 

Timmies card! Timmies card! Food issue! WOO-HOO! And even if they are early 90s cards, there's a pair of Hall of Famers in there too.

With the Timonen/Cote and some of the nice photos in the first repack, that was a really good grouping of cards! 

There you have it!

 

Group Break Raptors Goodies

The first NBA cards of the 22-23 season dropped, and let's see the goodies out of the case. One change from last year is the Tribute cards are not SPd, meaning I ended up with a healthy number of these. The font looks really off for this salute to the 1992 set, but at least it kinda gives you the idea of what these might look like for a team that wasn't around at the time.

Here's the base design. Pretty much what I'd expect from this, and pretty much the names I'd expect to see. Even though I'm slightly surprised that all the names shown here are still around after the trade deadline. But only slightly, since some of the proposed trades really didn't feel like a proper return for some of the rumored departures. And hey, I'm welcoming Christian Koloko to the binders, and it looks like Ron Harper Jr will have to come from some NCAA release.

Fortunately, Koloko isn't the chase player that Scottie Barnes was during his rookie year, so at least they'll be cheaper dates this season.

The backs - typical for the release. B&W. 

Purples are just one of the many parallels in the product. That Vince Carter Tribute card would look spectacular with this version, even if the shade isn't the perfect match.

This was the only other parallel I got from the case - a Gravity parallel /75. I would have loved it if these parallels were only used for photos where the player is off the ground. Alas, no.

As I expected, Scottie Barnes was the star of the inserts. I'm happy the City Edition with the dino logo makes an appearance in the set this year, although I'm sure there will be better looks hiding among some of the late 21-22 releases. Prime Twine needs to go away and choke on its own puniness. 

Start with a retro player, end with one. It's only fair!

There you have it!

COMC: Raptors Goodies

 Another Raptors post! And there's yet another one to come next time. Today, it is a handful of cards that I personally selected from COMC.

First up, here's a card commemorating a specific game, a record-setting one as well. In the game listed, Fred VanVleet put up 54 points. That is not-only the Raptors one-game scoring record, but also the record for the most points in one game by an undrafted player. The court paint job also matches the scheme used in Orlando that night, so good for Panini for seemingly using a photo from that game. 

The extent of DJ Wilson's Raptors experience was 4 games. The chances of there being a Raptors card of his are nil. So, in my effort to get at least one card of someone who played at least one game for the Raptors instead is this card that won't be making its way to Ann Arbor.

Armoni Brooks played in 13 games for the Raptors. He actually debuted with Houston the previous season, but didn't get any cards until last season, some with Houston, some with Toronto, most of which are autographed. If someone is going to debut in my binders, it might as well be with a hit.

As always, post-Raptors Kawhi cards are always welcome, especially when they feature the pair of trophies. But since any of them will likely feature some sort of mention of their run to the championship, any of them will do. Long live the memories!

4 cards only this time, but there you have it! 

Mailbag: Raptors Goodies

 I'm returning to the Too Many Verlanders mailer today, and today, the basketball goodies that don't feature 2/14 babies show up.

Let's throwback to the earlier days of the team, both in terms of a card from that time period, and a card that flashes back to that time. Any appearance of the classic dino jerseys is a fun time.

Shiny parallels! 

Bruno Caboclo never developed into the Brazilian Kevin Durant, and was eternally two years away from being two years away. But his cards still have his charm in the collection, and one can't really expect every late pick in the first round to develop into a Siakam. 

If it weren't for that game used letter of Alfredsson in this mailer, this would be the game-used highlight of the package. While that's obviously a Knicks swatch used on this card, and I'm not overly certain where it comes from on their jersey (the lack of orange is throwing me off), but it really does look like the type of swatch that should accompany a card in a release called National Treasures.

The Toronto Raptors' king in this post is Norman Powell, a perfectly solid member of their championship team. He's shown here on a magenta plate of his 20-21 Optic card, although this item itself is so much thicker than a full pack of Optic this has to have been inserted in a National Treasures release. He was probably already in Portland (or maybe even Los Angeles) by the time these could be pack-pulled.

And here's a signature of Powell. I would think an insert set would describe more along the lines of a lay-up or dunking photo versus a jump shot, but at least his feet do appear to be off the ground, which isn't always a guarantee in these. I've added the tie-dye parallel of this earlier from Panini Points. Collect the rainbow! 

There you have it!

2/14s from COMC - Part 2

 After yesterday's post only football (both gridiron and pitch) and hockey remain.

Throwback uniforms are a wonderful way to start any post, even though it forces me to admit that I didn't have this card in my collection already. Which was a mistake I rectified as soon as I realized this card existed.

Even if the options are limited to cards commemorating his time with the Patriots, I'm still really happy to see Drew Bledsoe making more frequent appearances in sets. Still, how about a Bills card, or even a Cowboys card for some variety?

It might be parallels, but Jadeveon Clowney was the only NFLer in the box to make multiple appearances. 

My complete lack of knowledge of soccer has me grouping all three of these guys together. All 3 of them can be found in recent World Cup releases, so there are plenty of chances for me to add more of them to the collection. Cavani is currently the leader of the soccer portion of the collection with a whopping 6 cards. 

I can't recall if I traded my way to this on e-pack, or just picked it up via COMC. Given that it is available for 35 cents at the latter, probably that. But I'll never discount my willingness to do something stupid with my money.

Yesterday, Len Gabrielson was the biggest addition with 5 cards, but thanks to the 'cheap because of e-packs' quality of these, it is very easy to stock up on the Ehlers stuff for the collection. 

Also, these 6 cards push me pass the 3500 total overall in the collection with my 2/14 collection now at 3505 total cards across all genres. I doubt I'll reach the 4000 total by next year unless someone drops an absolute bomb worth of soccer cards on me, but maybe I can set a realistic goal of reaching that total before my years on the planet reach 50. 

That's feasible, right?

2/14s from COMC - Part 1

There was a lot of 2/14 content in my latest COMC mailer. Enough that I'm spreading it out over 3 posts. I've already shown off some the newest faces in the collection. Over this and my next post, it will be time for the more familiar faces of the collection. 

Somewhat surprisingly, I still haven't added any 2022 entry to the binders yet, whether his base card from Topps flagship or any of his hits from Panini releases. So, the extent of my Yermin additions in this post come from an Overdrive parallel from Chronicles. 

The King of the first post is Len Gabrielson, who moves up to an even dozen appearances with some sweet, sweet vintage! The first 3 are from mainstream releases (Floating heads!) but the bottom two are a little more obscure. The B&W is from a 1969 Milton Bradley game, while the other is a Sports Collectors Photostamp, also from 1969. His 1965 OPC card is the last major card of his I don't have, and I've also put his 1990 Target card on my wantlist. 

Hunter Barnhart provides the only hit in this post, with an autograph out of 2020 Elite Extra Edition. He's been fighting the injury bug so far in his career, with only a single appearance in 2022 so far. But that has no influence on any desire of mine to acquire as many of his cards for the binders as I can.

Topps returned to basketball releases with 2021 Finest. It consisted primariy of retired players in their street clothes. Boring, but at least it did give me a chance to add a new Gheorge Muresan card to the collection, seeing as any card counts. And yes, cards of former Raptors will also count for that collection. 

It might make for something different when it comes to the photo, but that Ultra card really looks like one that should appear on a Chris King card as opposed to an Edney. I don't have any of his in my Grizzlies collection, so that would have solved one problem.

Rip Hamilton remains in the lead of the basketball portion of the collection,  moving to 92 with these additions. I probably should push him over the 100 mark sooner rather than later, but I just find it kind of bland with there really only being two players, him and Muresan, that have a significant number of cards available. 

And since there really was no other place to put this, here's a manufactured patch that counts towards to collection. Since Oregon became a state on 2/14, cards devoted to the state do count. There's also an Arizona manupatch, but it looks like these inserts were shorter printed for more recent statehoods, so it is a little costlier than this one. 

There you have it!

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Good Idea: A set with an autograph card in every pack.

Bad Idea: Knowing that every card will have an auto'ed parallel, and using photos with dark uniforms. 

Another Chronicles 21-22 NBA Pack

 

Just another example of a pack I've had lurking around for a bit, but just have been too lazy to scan some of the contents of and post. 

Absolute provides the first card of the pack, and an example of how small the font can be when necessary. 

The important thing for me - how many Scottie Barnes cards were in the pack. And there were two of them. The Marquee is a new one for me, but the Essentials was a dupe. 

Shifting to hanger pack exclusives, here's the 4 Scores.

But the Fun Facts are more interesting to me as usual. Even with 2 of the 6 cover boys represented among the Scores.

Here's the green parallels. BONES!

And here's a sampling of some of the sets represented among the designs. Like with the football release, the Playbook design really looks good with the full team colour border, so it might be favourite among the sets seen in this post. Luminance was kinda blah this year.

But there you have it!