A Half And Half

 Today we have cards evenly split between baseball (yay) and basketball (less of a yay). What they have all in common - I ain't keepin' any of them....

You aren't going to be able to retire on selling these base cards. At the time though, these were a nice offering, there was the puzzle cards to put together and the Gold Leaf insert cards to "chase".

Remember when there was only a couple different insert or chase cards to look for in a set? Now you get a couple per pack - just supports the whole issue of, making everything special means nothing is special anymore.

1995-96 Upper Deck Collector's Choice basketball. CLean, typically nice offering.

Still not sure why they left the shower running to fog up those rookie photo shoots....

Some decent enough subsets, and we get Big Country who was generally a big bust for Vancouver.

We do get a Pippen card though....that's close to a Jordan....

We get to end today with part of a package I got from our friendly neighbourhood blogging friend Billy from over at Cardboard History. I had been saving some cards a while ago and sent them over, not expecting anything in return, but got a nice little package and will share some today, and some maybe tomorrow.

Hoe can you not love the uniqueness of that Gilmour card? Seeing it, I can think of a few cards now that I have with Douggie in non-uniform garb. Definitely makes for a different card.

As do the Original 6 set points cards from Parkhurst.

Still not a big fan of the Contenders cards, but will still collect the Leafs!

There nie and the ones below are not new to my collection, but many, I do need dupes for anyway for set completion purposes, and even past that - still keeping all Leafs, so happy to pad copies on with cards I already have.

A nice smattering of newer Leaf cards too. My Leaf Kadri signed jersey is still sad he left Toronto..

Thrilled with these cards, thank you Billy, and the rest, I'll share tomorrow.

Vintage Continues

 We keep it up with the Vintage set from the NHL today and some more set additions.

Very cool and brings me to 90 of the 300 card set - not too shabby.

I mean, a couple more keepers from the set here too...

Can't go wrong with a Jay and a couple new to me Leafs from this set. That's not all though...

I can't see actively collecting an entire parallel set, but I sure love collecting these cards like the Emerald Ice Young and the snazzy Zhamnov refractor (rainbow I believe). I'd rather it have the protective cover on it still as the Finest cards did for this set, but no luck there.

The rest of the cards from the lot today...

There may be an error or two from 1991 Leaf I don't have, but that's about it.

A bit heavy on the Vintage dupes, so let's look at some backs...

Very solid 70s look and design on these, except of course the cardstock on this version is much more solid than the vintage sets it is inspired by.

A good reminder why these assorted lots are so fun, two new to me sets - even if they are football.

Buffalo - about the only team I really followed at any time save for the 49ers in the late 80s. Ricky I remember from his stint in the CFL as that was big news at the time, and Faulk I know by name as a great player.

Let's end today with part of a PWE package from TCDB member Tdorsay. I've traded with Trevor a number of times before - great trader - and most of what he wanted were cards for Jeff that I pull Bruins for, so not going to share those and add the 10 or so to the pile for me to send Jeff's way. I did get a few cards out of it though.

All such goodies! George Bell is the only Kay-Bee Blue Jay, but Clark is all Serial Numbered....but but...Dave and Dmitri are golden....and Mark Whiten is just heavy hittin'! A fab five to add to the collection, which I am thankful for. I think Wendel wins though with the SN.

A Little Bit More

 We had some 2001-02 Upper Deck Vintage cards yesterday, and we get a dabbling more today, which is fine by me.

Team Leader? No Iginla IS The Flames. Dallas' team card shows their strength, a solid 4 there for sure.

I get the bright colours for the team names and background, and I do like them, but I wonder if a little more team colouring would have been a solid choice like red for the Senators instead of blue.

So Turco is on two leader cards, but doesn't get his own card in the base set. I guess it can happen with a smaller set.

Plenty more dupes this time as we see some cards that came up yesterday too.

We end with some more mid-90s NBA cards...

Well, we do get a Shaq card technically, I guess, so there's that!

Let's end today with a TCDB PWE trade with bobfetta. Some of the cards are Bruins for someone else, but these ones are for me...

A solid bunch of Leafs of which my faves have to be Auston and Eddie the Eagle. That said, the Jason Allison Rookie Update is the real winner as it's the last pure base card for the set I needed.

Great little trade, and as always, much appreciated!

Keeping It Vintage

 As I oft say, I really do like vintage cards, even though I don't specifically collect them - mostly because of the cost as generally (not always), vintage commons seem to be more expensive that more recent cards. I can't even say current cards - I mean, boxes now, you pay about $1 per card.

No thank you.

Let me get my hands on 1985 - 2015 cards at a penny each in a nice assorted lot, and I'll be happy until I have them all (which will never happen).

So, when I get a solid bunch of 2001-02 Upper Deck Vintage, you know I am going to gobble those up and keep working that base set.

Helps that it is a manageable 300 card base set. Rookies only take up the last 30 cards - I can say that I expect none or few of those as rookies does seem to be a thing generally missing through this lot.

I like the way the team checklist cards are done, just highlight the big names of the team, and gives you a good recollection of the team as a whole. Colorado had a pretty solid 4 there...even if one is Roy.

The colours are so bright, and the thick cardstock - just really like the feel for these cards.

Teemu as a shark - no thank you.

As you can see, the cards are done in the base set by team order - basic but does the trick.

Leaf content:

Transition time - and I mean that from times between me really loving the Leafs as a team. I will always be behind them, but Mats and Cujo were the "old guard" shortly here after, and the new crop of Leafs - the ))s Leafs were okay, but I just wasn't as behind them.

Only a few dupes in the bunch today...

Collecting Flair

 No - not talking about Ric or Charlotte, but instead, 1994 Flair baseball.

With the bunch today, I am giving in and adding the set to my "collecting" list. I mean, the cards are so beautiful, and the thick cardstock, and glossy, and about the only issue I have with the front is the foil and script name being harder to read than it needs to be.

The double photo front can be a problem sometimes, and doesn't always work well, but for these cards, they almost always work pperfectly.

As there were a few dupes, let's flip those and take a look at the backs...

No write ups on the back, but full stats, done so as to minimally interfere with the photo, and a team logo placed well enough out of the way also.

I don't know - just all comes together well for my liking, so, let's keep at them!

Oj...the rest of the cards from the lot today, just some basketball...

A solid bunch overall though, so I'll take it!

Updated for pulling the prior Flair cards into keepers, and with about 20% of the set done now.

Extra Extra!

 I shouldn't be so excited about a day where I only have two base card additions coming from the 50 cards out of the lot of cards pulled today...

but, I love me McD cards, even if they are doubles I don't need. Over triple, or more...

That is a lot of Smyth'ers!

Also, if I didn't have a set before, dupes of the Hometown Pride just to make sure I got there.

Next up, a set I am not sure we have seen at all before in this lot, or if we did, only a couple cards - some 2001-02 Topps Heritage...

Definitely some good looking cards, as is the acetate Ice card as well.

For trading purposes, if I am going to see some other teams show up, Bruins are a good one at least!

Legends of the Game

 I was hoping I'd get to a good day like this for pulling cards from the lot.

1998 Sports Illustrated Then and Now is a set which focus on, you guessed it, stars of then and now. It's only 150 cards, and with a subject matter of highlighting a bunch of stars of days past, it's right up my alley for sets I would collect.

I mean, not going to otherwise have a bunch of cards of some of these players.

The style of these photos give the cards and old time look, even though the cardstock is thick, and the cards are glossy, which makes them nice in hand, though a bit off putting from the subject matter.

Still, more than happy to add so many greats in a nice set that I am now over 50% complete.

The base set isn't just yesteryear stars, as we have the Place in History subset and then stars of Today.

You are taking your chances a bit on the stars of today as they are mid career and may not end up on the same footing as the legends from yesteryear. Brady Anderson is a good example having had one amazing year, and some good years, but not Hall of Fame caliber (in 2008, he didn't get a single vote on his first and only ballot).

We get two Toronto additions, though Jose will end up in the set build most likely, if I can get the set completed.

As for the rest...

One dupe from the Sports Illustrated set, so here is the back. Have to love those full stats, and a decent little write up.