Stars Are Good

 If we have to spend another day in 1991 Upper Deck football from the 2026 Lot, at least we get a few stars to talk about!

We get back to back two sport stars with Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson. My take on the two - both were very talented in both sports but the big difference, I think, was their attitude to their careers. As a kid, Deion always came off as more full of himself - it may have just been confidence, but Bo seemed more attractive as a child, to look up to. Sure, it may have also had to do with Bo being part of the awesome Pro Stars cartoon which was too short lived, and sure, wasn't his voice, but it wa still cartoon Bo!

What do others think of the two? I know I was a bit against Sanders as well because of the Atlanta connection and the rivalry against the Jays at the time - who was the better athlete / star?

Nice to get a Boomer too, as we round out another day from the set.

Panini Did It Right

Before the unusual of Panini doing something I like, a trade with someone I always like trading with, Tdorsay at TCDB. This small PWE saw the following come my way...

A 1993-94 Kraft Jell-O pudding "card" or panel, which is the only Toronto Maple Leaf one, so yay for a one and done on the oversized object.

As for the Hostess cards, both are in wrapper, which will remain the case, though I do still want opened ones.

Speaking of open, the Juan is the final one I did need open for the Jays set, so that's a nice box to tick as done. We also get a solid Vaive upgrade as I had a VERY beat up copy which I can replace in my team set. I don't usually replace for quality, but it was very miscoloured. Still keeping it, just as a duplicate.

A couple Jay needs and an awesome 1985 O Pee Chee WWF card. That is the one set I know I had a lot of (though they were well loved), but over the years had disappeared before getting back into collecting. Well, I have this one back now at least!

So, I may not be a fan of many things Panini when it comes to their cards, but I found something I actually REALLY like when it comes to the design on the 2022-23 Panini Contenders cards which come up from the 2026 Lot today.

If you are going to do a fake ticket style design, make the ticket mean something. Here, The section, row and seat numbers are the weight, height and jersey number. I know Panini does this on other sets like this, but nice to see it done, as the ones I am use to (thinking some of the inserts from Timmies hockey sets), don't mean anything.

Of course Panini then goes and screws it up by being all Panini-like and using the same back photo as the front, not putting on much for stats, but I guess a plus is a plus.

We actually get a red parallel of Hardaway Jr. which is pretty neat. Actually seeing junior is neat, though I'd say I remember his dad playing much more than anything now since I don't follow basketball now, but at least watched Inside Stuff regularly on the weekend as a kid. I didn't know that Inside Stuff was actually on until 2006 in it's initial run. I did watch through most of the 1990s, starting in 1990, but was out by the end of the decade.

Still, an above average offering here from Panini.

I finally fixed a little calculation snafu in the basketball total - oops. All good now though, and not doing too bad at about 19% keeper rate on the lot so far.

A Quick Set Addition

 The 2026 lot comes with a winner today. I may already have one full set, but it's a small one and a great one, so I'll be kepping this second copy as well...

The 1997-98 Upper Deck McDonalds hcokey set is a great one with the very nice and unique see through acetate cards and "ice" scheme to them. Horizontal cards with a great action shot. My only front complaint would be, the ice and Upper Deck logo piece could have been a bit smaller, but just a small complaint.

Everyone in the set is a great player and star, they got them right for the time, I think. The condition of these cards is really very solid. Sometimes with the black backs, they can get marked up and look a bit off, but not very much of that here at all.

The set has a solid goalie subset, except I'm not sure about that Patrick Roy guy being included...

They even have a subset of die cut cards - sure it's just a small cut to shape for a skate, but it still counts! May not be an overly expensive set - can pick it up on ebay for $10-$15, but a nice set nonetheless.

More Interesting and Less Interesting

We get to start with something more interesting today with a surprise package of cards from Angus - fellow Canadian sending from Ottawa. Once I am past busy season this year, will have to get something back out that way as a nice thank you for...well...these....

We get some great 90s McDonalds cards that I was missing. The 3D cards from 1996-97 and a couple hologram inserts from the McDonald release from 1992-93 when those holo cards were amazing and cutting edge technology. Unfortunately one is Rou, but I guess I am just one shy of completing the insert set, so I'll stay positive!

As for the baseball inclusions...

Wow - two surprise autos! Being drafted to Toronto, these are enough to hit my collection with these cards and they were so sparse with about 7,750 cards each, hard finds back in the 90s. I kid, I kid, but very cool cards to get, and the autos on card are really nicely done too.

Last up, Guzman as I am missing one for the Jays set. Except, I am missing an unpackaged one....and I don't have the heart to remove Juan from his plastic home. Another unopened pack is what he gets to be instead, which is just as awesome!

Thank you for the great cards Angus!

It can't all be more interesting all the time though. Unfortunately a less interesting day for my own collecting needs, when it comes to the 2026 Lot today as we get back to football...

Figure I'd show that there are some duplications which arise with some of these more "high production" years more than others. Maybe not a big deal when it's high calibre players like Sharpe though.

Another Warren Moon appearance as he seems to be popular in this lot when it comes to 1991 Upper Deck football cards - I think that's three or four that have made their appearance so far.

Same co9uld be true about Howie Long.

I guess I can't win at getting something for me every day on here from the lot I bought, but traders still be something I can turn into keepers at some point.

Adding To Baseball

Before adding to baseball, let's take a moment for hockey - specifically the end of the Leafs season because, well, it's just been horrid of late. Add on the Auston injury and it's like a final nail in the coffin to a poor season and a showing, honestly, of how the changes made in the off season, were the wrong changes.

The good about hockey though, regardless of how good or bad they play, is collecting Leaf cards, and that's what I was able to do with a small trade with TCDB member Robi1965.

The Dazzlers look so much better in hand, and the orange Campbell is fantastic. Definitely goalie heavy here, and that's alright with me. The turqoise 2023-23 Artifact cards are pretty nice too. Definitely a big improvement over the bunch of 1991-92 O Pee Chee cards I sent away in exchange. A trade I would happily do any day!

Oh, and the checklist - wrong version was sent, was supposed to be the 2024-25 version, but no worries, wasn't a big deal so I didn't bother with correcting on that one. It happens!

As for baseball, a good day of additions from the 2026 Lot today as we have a bunch of 2024 Topps flagship set cards show up. I don't have a bunch, but it's on my list for slow building sets, so let's take a look!

We do well today actually, 26 keepers out of the 36 cards, with a couple obvious duplicates here being part of the cards on the trading block.

Always extra nice to get a Jays pick up or two - Bassitt being a nice addition. Happy we continue to see stars and not just a run of the "not so star" cards.

Sweet - Ohtani. Actually, that photo is beautiful and the swing looks so effortless for the man. May have been a bit nicer if he had made it into a Jays uniform, but I gather if that happened, Vladdy Jr. wouldn't have been kept with the team so, I guess I'm happy enough we got Vladdy to stay instead.

Even better than a Jays card, a Jays card with the entire team! Loved that these cards are in the set. I know, it may be hard to recognize and see all the players in the picture given the size, but having the full team picture on a card is fabulous.

A great, above average, day of cards from the 2026 Lot, hopefully more will follow!

Newer Football

What it says, is what we have from the 2026 Lot today - some 20s football cards from various Panini related sets.

I do not do a good job of keeping up with my football these days. It's hard enough to keep up with baseball and hockey, I can't take on more sports and retain my sanity. So, I can tell you some of these names ring a bit of a bell...

but it's big Ben that is the one I really can say yes, I remember him playing. Goes to show how far behind I am on keeping up. Still, I could complain about Panini brands, but for football, it is essentially the best option out there in many ways. Having some consistency across sports in comparing to the basketball cards - I can get behind. Still wish more than one photo would be used on the cards when looking at the backs, but Panini doesn't want to hear me continue on about that.

The 2021 Score brand shows a little more life and colour - I could almost get behind this set....if I cared more for football. Nice to get some Bills though as those tend to be easier to find a new home for.

Lots In Few To Show

 A quick post today and not much to show because the 2026 Lot brought a bunch of 200 cards from 2023-24 Upper Deck Allure, and since I now have the full base set, just a show of the few keepers, which we have already seen, but happy to show again...

Just a couple more copies of my Leaf cards, but also, tracking the dupes, we have a second complete copy of the 100 card pure set with all of the dupes that have shown up. May have taken a while to see the first Ovi, but there were three more here. I look over all the cards and there is a second complete set - though I am not going to sell it as such, just all put to the traders for anyone interest. Still, a nice outcome to add to this lot.

More Of Everything

A second showing of 2023 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions as this set tries to temps me to collect it, with over 50 of the 100 pure base cards now on my trade list.

A few duplicates in the bunch, but many new cards from the set showing some more different personalities from different sports. Zalatoris is a name I do know from the tennis world, as is Couples, so good representation there.

Peraza is a name that broke through a bit with the Yanks...

Wasn't expecting to get a surfer card, but here we go! Gold medalist does provide enough cred for getting a card in this set.

I can't say I knew of Nakken before this card, but apparently became the first woman to coach on the field in the MLB, doing so for San Fran in April 2022.

Interesting that we get two Zalatoris cards within the same base set. Not sure why, but at least the completely different look from the earlier card.

Not too shabby a day of cards here, but still holding out on whether I should move this base set to try and collect it.

Hockey Additions

 Here's a good add for the middle of March - some nice hockey additions coming in from the 2026 Lot.

2023-24 Upper Deck comes back with some more new to me base cards - all from the last of the three set releases, but brings the set completion up to 172 of the 750. I am guess I may not be seeing any Young Guns in the lot as they would be too easy to pull out and sell separately, or have made it to the collection of others before these cards got to me, but I do get some great looking masks on goalie cards in this base set.

I mean the Andersen card above is really good...and even Vsrlamov too.

Not too shabby for additions today, not quite half but close enough I'm happy with the success rate. Besides, the traders are here for your viewing pleasure in case I can help with your set needs as well...

Ingram even showing off his mask a bit too - very nice.

Good Problems

Well, the 2026 Lot throws a bit of a curveball today. I don't like keeping track of multisport or mixed sets, and here we have one of the big mixed sets - 2023 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions. It is a 150 card base set - 100 pure base cards and a 50 card subset on top of it.

I don't expect to collect the set, so split the cards up for tracking based on the subject material, if you were wondering, which will be reflected in my tracking at the end.

That being said, let's see who we have here...

It is cool to see names you wouldn't otherwise getting cards in a more mainstream release, like Sharapova for Tennis. It's also a place where you get the odd rookie card, which the set nicely notes on the front in case you were wondering.

I do expect fottball and basketball will likely dominate, with a bit of baseball in as well, but let's see.

No stats on the back, just a solid write up of who the person is. This is definitely a preferred way to go to me because the stats would be so different for each depending on the sport, so I like the way these will look consistent across the set. The colour scheme is nice to, but as a Jays and Leaf fan, I may be a bit partial to blue.

Nice - track and field getting some love as well.

It also appears the set was kind enough to group the horizontal cards together as well - so maybe this set wouldn't be too bad in a binder....

but I am still on the side of "no" for personally collecting it at the moment...we will see how much of this set shows up I guess - I could be persuaded.