A Slow Go

Yes, building the 2024 Topps flagship set will be a slow (but fun of course), build. The 2026 lot continues to help with it though.

Kirk, is also a slow go - man us one of the slowest runners in the majors. Is it a problem? We'll, at times it doesn't help, but it's not the only aspect of the game. I like the intangibles he brings and he is solid behind the plate, so as much as we do see jokes about his lacking speed (and it will never be a strength to him, but appreciate his effort to improve it nonetheless), he definitely deserves his spot.

Speaking of spots, these deserve and get a spot in my set build...

More keepers than not - I can get behind that!

Traders for those looking...

Boo to Hernandez for the 2025 trauma he provided...

Nice with almost 70% of the lot being "my" sports. Not sure if I will be seeing another lot purchase like this any time soon. The person I bought from before seems to have disappeared and any lots of over 100 cards seem well overpriced. I will keep looking though...besides, plenty left for this lot still.

Stars Now From Before

 Sets adding cards in currently releases of past stars is nothing new. It adds more cards to a set that people might chase, so I can understand the draw and reasoning. I also don't mind them doing it as it does provide new cards to look for id you PC such a player....

Aaron Rodgers should already be one of those players. I kid - kind of. I think it won't take long for him to appear in sets beyond his playing days, and I expect it to last a while. Maybe not to Brady levels, but probably close. Mahoney will be on that list eventually too, but will be a little while for him yet.

Beckham Jr. is another name for that list too.

Marcus Allen too - though his CFL time out does his NFL time. (Edit - scratch that - I am remember his brother in the CFL).

We end with Steve Young throwing his hat in the ring as well.

Could Have Been Worse

 Let's try another of these Dollarama packs today...

First, let's see what's included...

Red sleeves I can give the kids and....I swear, that pack of lands better not be all basic lands...

Well, with two lands that create colorless mana, I actually will keep those. Thankfully just two basic lands as I wouldn't be impressed if they were all basic penny lands (well, not even a penny).

I see a white theme to this one, which is cute, but does nothing for me. The rare is a 50 cent card, so about what you would expect.

This reminds me of the packs you could by 5-8 years ago - I think it was 10 for $1. Nothing to write hone about.

At least I get one artifact from the bunch though, so overall, $4 for the fun of opening and about $1 worth of cards to keep. Still, a fun go if nothing else as it could have been worse.

2024 Bowman

Another baseball set to add to the list of sets I wouldn't mind completing because of a good start provided by a lot purchase. This one does seem rookie card picked over, but atleast my Jays are here... 

I like the design and nice to get a number of both stars. There are a number of duplicates (roughly 3 of each card were in the stack today), but here is a showing of what I am keeping to start the build on the 100 card set.

The stars like Judge and Ohtani are here in force, just most of the rookies are missing - definitely someone speculating and "dumping" the rest of the base cards.

Freeman and other reminders of last year...boo...

A great start with over half the set, and as long as none of the rookies blow up and become super expensive, I might be able to finish this one!

Pro Set Platinum...

A nice reminder today, that Pro Set Platinum wasn't just for hockey....there was a football set as well... 

No surprise the look, front and back is identical to the hockey version, and like the hockey version, I could get behind the uniqueness of the set for the early 90s as there was nothing similar to it at the time.

Actually, also the first cards from the 2014 Topps set that I have ever had in my possession. It's actually a really nice design - though I might change to not have name foiling on the front.

At least a number of the names are ones I have seen and known from Elway before to Gronk and Kelce here...

Young and Marino as well - very nice. Still not a fan of the draft pick sets, but at least a name I know with the throwback inclusion of stars.

For a second I thought the Ahmad may be a variation because of the nickname, but apparently not, that's just part of his name on the card. Not a bad variety here - and the Select cards are pretty nice too - Burrow and Tua being nice pick ups too.

Not a bad bunch given I don't collect football.

Help For The Future

 The 2026 Lot adds today are Topps base related....

Wouldn't mind seeing more 2013-2017 Topps sets in this lot, just hasn't been too much of these so far. As for 2019, there has been a bit, but happy to get adds for the flagship and Oepning Day sets. 

2024 Topps seems to be in fair numbers in the lot, and here we have a number of Future Star cards which is nice. Sometimes these get pulled like the rookie cards when someone goes through the lots, so good to get them here. My favopurite card of the bunch has to be the shower card though, great shot and use of the vertical card design. Actually, next one is a good use too...

Stroman looked so promising for Toronto, but the bitter split which probably could have been avoided early on, was not a surprise by the time it was done. The card here looks great, and he had some great games for Toronto, a shame it couldn't work out better here.

The rest of the cards today, all for trade...

Other than a single random 2013 Bowman insert (which I just happened to have), we get the bunch of 2019 Topps cards, including the very nice sprawling Springer.

Auto-Matic

 A single card share from the 2026 Lot today, so you know it's a good one...

The card is a little beat up with a couple indents, but that doesn't bother me - it's staying in my collection and the condition is fine enough. I have some base cards from the set, but this is the first autograph. On card autos are so much better than sticker ones, and that shows here. It also matters because it's cool to know, the card itself was what was held and signed by the athlete.

Stu was a tough guy back when such a role really existed - or the end of the time when it really existed as he played from the late 80s into the early 2000s.He played for close to 10 different teams and had over 2,000 career penalty minutes. Can say he wasn't on the ice for his scoring abilities as he had all of 39 points in 729 games.

Very cool pick up in the lot, and does pique my interest on seeing whether we may see another autograph or two, or if this happened to be a one-off.