Beaten Up

We have two very different instances of being beaten up to share today....the first being a potential one.

So, I tried something different and I think I get to share a lesson, but that will have to wait. On April 1st, I pre-ordered a collector booster of Secrets of Strixhaven off of Amazon. It was sold and shipped by Amazon, and the set was to release later that month. I tried it because the pre-order price was $36 compared to what was expected to be about $50-$60, and because it was being sold by Amazon, I figure I would take a chance.

Well, first, it was supposed to be delivered on release....it wasn't, and I didn't get it until June 30th. So, if anyone cares about timing, I wouldn't count on Amazon being delivered at time of release if you pre-order.

Second, this is what showed up....

Okay, this looks good and promising - legit and proper through and through, but as I collect the unopened packs, pop this open and see our pack...

Well - not sure how easy it is to tell in pictures, but I am not sold on the legitimacy of this pack because the crimping looks all wrong. Now, it's possible it's just a one of issue of some kind, but if I were to guess, I'd be concerned it was re-sealed. On the front, the crimp below RIX in Strixhaven and directly above on the top, where the flap on the back overlaps, it feels very thick, hard and kind of crusty instead of smooth like the rest of the crimp area usually is. The colouring is even of that you can see the foil colour. I couldn't take a good picture, but if you look at the top and bottom, it's not a clean end, and at each end, the material goes into a little open looking (though tiny) loop, like the could pull the pack opening like a Ziploc bag when it should just be stuck together.

Now, with how late it was running, I figured I was screwed and going to have the order cancelled on me in the first place, so I bough a draft night bundle which includes a collector booster, so I am going to put this pack with it and when I open the Draft Night booster, will keep that pack and open this one to see if I did get banged up on the purchase.

Even if I didn't, I wouldn't buy from Amazon again for these packs. I'd rather support local game stores, even if it means paying a few dollars more as I know I am getting exactly what I want, and helping support a business I believe in. Amazon has it's place, don't get me wrong, but I won't be buying cards there again.

Oh, and the other beat up, courtesy of the 2026 Lot as sometimes the cards in these lots are a little worse for wear, and that's okay, I don't mind the packing material, but a shame with some of them...

Namath looks a bit beat up in the card itself, and the card is quite creased and dirtied, so kind of fitting. This card is one of the inserts of the Football Heroes sets from Upper Deck, which they did across the sports, inserts on past stars, which is cool, too bad the card didn't survive condition wise for me.

Speaking of past stars, 2022 Donruss here touches on a number of such players in the set - heck, I know the names for Kelly, Vinny T. Romo, Vick. Okay, Vick maybe not for the right reasons, but still. Definitely a good mixture of players from past years to add to the current year offering.

Definitely seem to be a lot of offering for the 2023 Donruss set in this lot though. Not a problem really, but will keep an eye on how complete this set gets.