Baseball Miscellany

 Might as well wrap up the rest of the sportlots mailbox package with the baseball stuff.

This one had been on my wantlist for a long time, intended for the 2/14 binders. After waiting around way too long for it to show up on COMC so I decided that I'd finally get it from an alternate source. It might not be as artsy as other Gallery releases, but that set is finally making an appearance in the collection.  I guess Yermin's 2021 card might give it company later this year.

I'm sure all the players  photographed in such fine attire wish these sets weren't overproduced at the level they were. It makes burning all the evidence so much harder.

Obscure Mets card alert!

Topps Fusion was Panini Chronicles before Chronicles was even thought of. Keppel would only be a Mets minor leaguer, and he'd wait until 5 years after this card to make his debut, in 2006 for the Royals. 

Obscure Mets deserve obscure Blue Jays as well. Scott Burrell would be a top prospect, albeit in the NBA. He'd play for some Jays minor league affiliates, but would play in almost 400 NBA games, mostly with Charlotte, but also winning a championship as part of the 1998 Bulls. So, probably the right decision on his part. 

I received the Mets/David Wright version of this in a trade with Night Owl, might as well add the Toronto version as well.

Propaganda poster card. Movie poster card. Either way, they're interesting new additions to the Jays collection.

Another card that was on my watchlist for a bit, one of a handful of cards that featured Tim Raines Sr as an Oriole. All 4 games worth. 

Jim Fanning approves!

And there you have it!

2022 Adventures in Repacks - Part 12 - A Sucker for the Classics

 Dollarama Hangers! * 3!

Metal Universe as the starter here! This might be my first true base card from that set. 

Junk wax behind it, but there's a Sens card, and a helmetless in-game photo from the time where that certainly wasn't the norm.

It is a Scott Thornton hotpack! The repack I showed off yesterday provided my first Pulaski Mariners card, and this one gives me my first PEI Rocket card. 

The final is filler for a future Ann Arbor mailer.

A patriotic start to #2!

If the previous pack was Edmonton Oilers intensive, this one is pretty deep in San Jose Sharks content. The Karlsson is a retro insert out of 2019-20. I'm really surprised that his trade out of Ottawa worked as well as it did for their rebuilding, and as poorly as it did for San Jose's "let's go for it now" attempt.

2020-21 UD flagshap sets are really going to morph into the new 1990 Bowman. It will be harder to find a repack that doesn't contain them in some form.

The finale. Meh.

Your final pack - I really just grabbed the first 3 I saw that didn't have a flagship card on the front. So, Parkhurst! 

One of the most enjoyable things about these is coming across cards of players  I have zero memories of. Steven Guolla is one such player, despite being a Senators draft pick, albeit in the supplemental draft, in 1994. The Don Barber is also interesting, namely because that he's with the Nords on the card. He'd play two games for Quebec. Long live Pro Set! 

Each of these repacks contained a 1991 Pro Set card of an Oiler. While that Ray Emery is a really nice mask binder card...

It isn't the best card for that binder when this one shows up on the back. I rarely look at the card on reverse on these repacks, so this was a pleasant surprise when I took a look at it. This is technically an insert from 2012 Fleer Retro, so even the set this was from was unexpected. Anyhow, a nice shiny finale to this, with a bonus of it being a binder hit.

There you have it!

2022 Adventures in Repacks - Part 11.4 - The Big Box Finale

 Time to wrap up the repack, and the box.

Not the most interesting way to start this, but this is what you expect out of Bowman, especially a veteran card.

Horizontal-ness and a Mets card highlight the first group, even though I can't imagine not having multiple copies already of that Cecchini card. 

3 Blue Jays cards! WOO-HOO! Jason Dubois is the most obscure of the three. He was a Rule 5 pick by Toronto that was returned to the Cubs, never playing a game for Toronto. Rich Thompson matched that - being traded to the Pirates before playing for them. At least Rios suited up for them, Mets content as well. Dicky Gonzalez did at least play for the team, appearing in 16 games.

Also! Switch pitcher mojo! Play at the plate! What a solid group of 8!

The plethora of repacks had to end with something, and these are the final ones. A decent enough grouping, but despite the PC team content, a minor league card wins our yet again, with my first Pulaski Mariners card!

And there you have it! 

2022 Adventures in Repacks - Part 11.3 - The Big Box Finale

 The other side!

We have Ginter leading  the way on this one.

To contrast the earlier Wes Helms card, that's what I expect from a Stadium Club. At least the photo is in-game. Other than that, this a pretty bland grouping of cards. 

But this one starts off strong with a minor league card, and one that features a pretty nice look at the Durham Bulls logo. While the other side had a nice number of appearances of 1988 O-Pee-Chee, this was the only one that appeared in the second half. Tim Flannery makes a second appearance in the repack, even though 1988 Donruss isn't as interesting as 1982. Or his most interesting 1988 card. 2003 Team Heroes is a set you don't see much of in repacks, which makes for a nice appearance, even if calling Almonte a Team Hero is a stretch.

Looks like there's more than 50 cards in this portion as well. Another minor league card, someone turning two, a  HOFer on the second row, and some faux-vintage on the bottom. That Dwight Evans in the middle isn't too shabby either. A fun scanner bed full of cards!

There you have it! 

2022 Adventures in Repacks - Part 11.2 - The Big Box Finale

 What's on the other side?

Looks like it is a logo-less card leading the way here, but at least this didn't require too much photoshopping to wipe the logo.

This side of the repack really didn't scrimp on the 1988 O-Pee-Chee content. We even get some classic "Now With" content. That Wes Helms seems so bland for a card under the Stadium Club umbrella. The framing on the Kruk makes him look appropriately stocky.

Even the name power on the O-Pee-Chee cards is solid - there's the second Hall of Famer from that release to show up. Vintage might not be Heritage, but it is still a nice little design. Manager card! And neither of the players on the Prospects card ended up as a one-and-done type, with Russell even getting cards 25-ish years later as the Pirates manager, 

Looks like there was a bonus card on this side. Sure, there might be a Mets card in this group, and there might be a Blue Jays card in this group, but with that sliding catch by Ordonez, and an appearance of the Great Lakes Loons, they're battling for third in this grouping.

There you have it!

2022 Adventures in Repacks - Part 11.1 - The Big Box Finale

 

The final repackage of the big box that Dennis @ TMV sent late last year. The advertised, but not actual, makeup of 100 cards is  perfect for a 4-post series.

Let's start with a better look  at someone who would go on to provide Blue Jays content for the collection.

O-Pee-Chee content! YES! Even though that is offset by the appearance of Felipe Vazquez, one of the worst people to appear on a card in recent memory. There's one that I definitely won't be adding to my "To Be Donated" boxes.

1982 would provide the oldest card in this repack. A pair of cards out of Heritage sets and the Expos appearance are the highlight for me here aside from that.

More 1982! It might not seem like much now, but I think if busting a repack-like product back in 1990, and coming across a card that was 40 years old in it, I'd be elated. The Strasburg looked a little different thanks to the NL logo on the card, and it originates from something called 'Factory Set National League All-Stars'.

There's the first quarter!

Beautiful (Game) 2/14 Cards

 Another COMC mailer, and this time, soccer was the star of the sporting world.

Just for the rarity of them, adding cards of sporting ladies are one of my favourite things to  do for the collection. Erica Skroski plays for a team called Gotham FC, which just makes me think she's going to get kidnapped by The Penguin in trade for the ransom of a diamond-studded umbrella.

With Erica being the first woman soccer player in the collection, I might as well scan the back of the card too.

Every player in this post is making their debut in the 2/14 binders. Sander Berge's 2 Prizm cards make him the only one with 2 entries.

Chronicles! Still a lot of fun even if it isn't a sport I collect outside this PC. These are both parallels as well, with Weissman being an Xtra Points Purple Astro parallel, with Garcia being a more obviously-named Orange parallel.

Of course stickers count!

A few more miscellaneous cards.

And because I am eternally immature, I do have to point out that the number of the Dezotti card is 69. Nice!

There you have it!

My Precious!

 

After complaining about his lack of 'traded' cards with the Raptors, my wish to see one of his cards was finally granted by the Donruss release. Sure, he's still in his Heat uniform, and the design isn't really the best. You've got the intruding lines which people tired of in 2021 Topps' releases, and the parallelogram window really gives you too much border.

But still, I have a card of his as a Raptor just in time for the playoffs starting tonight!

I really don't want to do a 'one card only' post, so here's something to accompany the single:

I really would have felt like a sap if I landed a card of his in this pack. Thankfully, I didn't. But what else was in there.

The cardboard fans of Sacramento start it off. Other than that, all the photos are pretty generic basketball card photos, except for the joy of seeing Russell Westbrook 'presenting'.

Things get a little more interesting as we move into the second batch. A collector in Portland will note that there is a pair of Oregon Ducks alums the show up back-to-back in this. I really like the photo on the Jarrett Allen, since the player protecting the ball isn't a common theme on cards when compared with flashier shooting photos.

Nice star power at the end of the veteran base with Giannis and Booker. That's also a beautiful view of the Suns' city jerseys on Ayton's card. Even visiting teams in Sacramento get cardboard fans on their cards.

Rated Rookie! Scottie Barnes! YES! And there's some bonus CanCon with the Primo.

Finally, your parallel and your inserts. Joe Harris isn't the most exciting player to land a parallel of, but at least it is shiny. 

There you have it!