Fun Names

 Just a semi-regular post featuring people with interest (nick)names that I've added to the collection, in autographed card form.

The 'name' guys don't have a binder all their own - I just put them in the regular ones devoted to hits for the various sports. Tacko Fall will instead end up in the penmanship binder with a very legible signature, even if the 'c' could use a slight curl to make his name look less like Taiko. He's since taken his career overseas, but at 7-6, he came one inch short of knocking 2/14er Gheorge Muresan out of the height lead in the NBA.

It might not be on the level of Fall's, but (Pro)vonsha Wells' signature is probably in a upper percentile in terms of quality. I mean, every letter in the name on the card appears in the signature and the last name is pretty recognizable. And since he did play in the USFL for Philadelphia, I guess that does officially make him a 'Pro' as well. 

Even with his NFL career being one game (Still one more than I'll ever play), Sultan McCullough definitely has the most regal name on the list today. Interesting use of sticker space too.

Rock Shoulders. Rock is a perfectly logical abbreviation for Roderick. The write-up on the back of his Bowman card revealed that fans often asked him to autograph their shoulders. Sadly, he didn't autograph his own on his autographed cards. Lousy, stupid specified place for an autograph.

I really need to polish my scanner bed. The mess distracts from the awesomeness of somebody named Arquimedes. He's still doing the minor league thing, and spent 2023 in the Cardinals system. I'll be optimistic I'll be able to add a clearer MLB card of his someday.

There you have it!

Christmas Mischief!

Christmas means it is time to show off the annual Christmas picture of the furry little lady in my life.

She was about as enamored with wearing antlers as you would expect an Airedale to be. But at least I can imagine all her doggy friends laughing at it when her Christmas card landed in their humans' mailboxes. I assume that some of Mischief's general naughtiness over the past month has been payback for doing that to her.

I think she's forgiven me.

ObCard: Back when I first got Mischief, I took some time off, When I did, I posted a Carter Rowney 'Day with the Cup' card when he shared his time with Lord Stanley with a very good doggo. This AHL card was the only autographed card he'd get on this side of the border. While there's no hiatus this time, I just thought this would be a nice card to go along with the DwtC card.

There you have it!

Yes, this is a MST3K Auto

 

Robert Smith made a guest appearance during episode Episode 803, The Mole People, as Howard. Howard was a gift for Pearl from Professor Bobo et al. during Lawgiver Daze. The appearance even warranted a mention on the back of his 2000 Fleer Tradition card. Howard was mute, so it was a non-speaking role.

And it prompted this wisdom from an originally-disappointed Pearl:

"What am I supposed to do with a beefy, virile, muscular, sweaty, servile, well-oiled hunk?"

What indeed.

There you have it!

2022-23 Metal Universe Box Break #2

Time to keep on set building! 

What goodies will be in the second box?

Here's a sample of the base cards, with 1 from the regular base set, 1 from the stars and 1 from the rookies. That's my first card of Kitchener Rangers alum Arber Xhekaj. So - WOO-HOO, even if it can't go into the binder since it is part of the set build.

As for the rest, I did knock out the complete 1-100 portion. I'll wait to add the rest to the wantlist until after it drops on e-pack and I see what's available cheaply through COMC.

But since I'm not building the insert sets, this one can go straight into that binder. 

Here's a one-each sampling of the other inserts that showed up in my previous box. No dupes among these, at least.

But I will show off both the Aspects card, featuring a look at the lovely scenery of Dallas and Minnesota to go along with the player. Not quite 1993 Leaf, but close enough.

Just a generic head-shot insert set. At least for one called All-Starring, they look to be using an All-Star jersey, based on the visible patch. That's almost enough to make me like it more after just one card when compared to Portraits in flagship.

Here's Jarring, which is reminiscent of the Check-It insert Score used to salute hard hitting players. If only the photo actually showed a body check instead of just a generic on ice struggle. 

Palladium was the acetate card in the box. As when 'Palladium' showed up in the all-autographed set of Clear Cut, I want Senators stuff from this, since that was their original arena name.

Cache is your generic shiny insert. I'd say 'meh' to it, but...

it also provided the big card of the box. Although this isn't as bright as the base version, this is actually a Platinum Blue parallel, being numbered out of 15. If you recall my other box, the big card there was also a low-numbered Shesterkin, that one being out of 100 (but really out of 10). Both cards were also the stamped as the first one, making both EBAY1of1L0000K~ cards as well.

There are definitely worst players to be a magnet for.

And the base card portion that definitely won't be on COMC e-pack is completed.

There you have it!

Getting Grizzly

 With Kevin Pritchard allowing me to make a Vancouver Grizzlies reference in my most recent post, I figured I'd show off the Vancouver Grizzlies cards I had yet to feature here. 

Both of 'em!

Party like it is 1971 with this 2000 entry from Topps Heritage. Heritage's foray into basketball lasted two years, covering both Grizzlies locales. So, that left one year to choose from and I opted for the player I had the least # of cards of. In this case - zero prior to this one. Looking at actual 1971 cards, it is a decent enough font used on top to really create the "this is what a Vancouver Grizzlies card would have looked like if they were around" then vibe.

And yes, Foward-Center was a position you might find on a card then.

If you want a modern Grizzlies card, you're probably looking at an autographed card, retro jerseys notwithstanding. Considering that Reeves played every one of his NBA games for Vancouver, it makes sense he shows up in these cards. Looking through COMC, several others have shown up recently with Grizzlies autos, such as Felipe Lopez, Mike Bibby and Byron Scott. So there are other options. 

I'm just disappointed that his signature has deteriorated from my first auto of his that I acquired years ago. Although signing 20 cards for a high-end set is probably more suitable for a nice sig than signing hundreds for a mid-range one. 

There you have it!

2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 36: The Usual Basketball

 

Let's leave the basketball behind, and now show off stuff from one of my usual hanger and a hit repacks.

They might be early 90s cards, but there's star power here from that time with Parish and Robinson. Marbury does provide a big name from recent times. I'm not sure if 1990 Fleer Update is really a theme, but the most recent one of these, and the ones to come really had a good number of cards from that set in there.

Topps Ten, which that Arenas comes from, was a strange set that gave base cards to the Top 10 in varied statistics. That's one way to pad your set with stars. I looked for the Raptors content, and all they had Chris Jefferies, who got into the set by being the #9 Small Forward drafted. Those were some really, really lean years.

And of course, I added the Jefferies to my COMC inventory.

Because something is wrong with me.

And my hit is a WNBA relic? YES for obscurity! Even if Summer of Love is a super cheesy name for an insert set. The relic isn't even summer-related, since it comes from the 2ball competition during NBA All Star weekend. Which makes it from the winter.

And Manute Bol appearance makes for a good repack. Kevin Pritchard would go on to be the first ever Vancouver Grizzlies signing. He'd play zero games for the team, and this would be his only active NBA card of his career.

Also, Dick Harter. Dick Harter. As with Dick Wood last week, I hope I never, ever mature.

And the finale. They must have not thought much of Harrison Barnes to use a photo where a courtsider is far more enthralled by their smartphone than the game.

There you have it!

Remember ALF?

 

He's in my collection! In 2/14 form!

Since Arizona became a state on 2/14/1912, any card that specifically salutes it counts. Even ALF ones.

Four if by Sportlots

 Another PWE of cards from Sportlots, coming in at the happy 4 card limit before pricing goes skyward for shipping.

I don't really super collect cards featuring special  patches, but figured this one was interesting enough to add. This wasn't a memorial patch, but instead salutes Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov, who were seriously injured in a limousine accident when the driver, who had a suspended license, fell asleep at the wheel.

It is also visible on the reverse of the card.

On a more cheerful note, here is a very orange addition to my Canadians in MLB mini-collection. 

I don't know if this card provided the best look at Colorado's City Connect uniforms among flagship's cards, but a glance through COMC images at the time sure seemed so. 

And finally, an interesting photo. With how Jose Castillo is perfectly positioned with Hank Aaron's bat behind him, the photo almost has the quality of one of those Upper Deck multi-image cards from the early 90s. Almost. Either way, it does give an unexpected cameo by Aaron on a modern card.

There you have it!

2023 Adventures in Repacks - Part 35: A Basketball Repack? At Wally World?

 YES! Let's dig in!

How bad it can be? 

Well, only one of the packs was a licensed product. That includes ProPicks, which is so bootleg I can't even find the product at tcdb.

Despite the 80s local-yokel police set quality to this set, at least the first card out was a 2/14 guy! This is my 4th Jaden Schackelford card, only one of which, a Prizm Draft auto, features the logo for his team. Bonus! This is a foil parallel too!

Does this Scottie Barnes card count as a Raptors one? Of course!

A guy (nick)named Boo, and another (nick)named Boogie. That should count for something. Right? And I got both this foil parallel and the base card of Boogie! 

So maybe they weren't as bad as I made it seem.

A flashback to the cardboard fans era in the Donruss pack. At least there's that, and a green laser parallel. 

Nothing super spectacular among the Bowman University contents, but unlike with baseball releases, 3 of these 4 have played in at least one NBA game. Martin is the only exception here. Even with the logos wiped, the colours are distinctive enough to show that a pair of these were Kansas Jayhawks cards.

Landing a numbered parallel from the Finest pack probably would have been nicer if the players had been in uniform in the product. But it was still a 1:29 packs card.

The first card was from a Topps Chet Holmgren themed release. I like how they completely wiped Gonzaga off his jersey, but not his teammate's.

Here's the hit. It might not be a well-known player, but the look of the card makes up for the obscurity. The portrait portion of the card is acetate - something that might make me actually interested if UD used something similar with their Portraits insert. And I get both an autograph and a relic! WOO-HOO!

Next up - shininess! 

And then some Chronicles. The Donruss and the Optic card are black parallels, and I repeat what I thought when I pulled one from an actual Chronicles pack - the Optic Black parallels look like it should be a far scarcer parallel than they are. Just a super classy feel to them. 

And some Donruss to end - but some solid star power here with Paul, Mitchell and Fox. 2 De'Aaron Fox cards among the fifteen - does that make it a hot repack for him!

When even the junkiest of the junk cards are interesting, it is a fun repack!

There you have it!

Maturity

 

is overrated.