Checking In

With the lot checking in with a small group of 2019-20 Panini Mosaic cards, let's take the first scan to look at a familiar (to me) name.

Jonas Valanciunas is a name that stuck out going through these cards because of his tenure as a Raptor. He started his NBA career with the team back in 2012-13 with the 6' 11" Center taking the court in about 75% of that season for the Raptors.

Funny enough, he was essentially traded to Miami and back to Toronto before this. Well, the 2011 1st Round draft pick of Toronto was traded to Miami in 2009 and then back to Toronto in 2010, before it was then used by the Raptors to select Jonas in the draft.

He played in Toronto until he was traded in February 2019 as part of the trade that saw Marc Gasol come to Toronto from Memphis.

Jonas had a bump in play leaving Toronto as he seemed to excel at the start of his time with Memphis, and for Toronto, he was a solid Center, but never really lit the world on fire. A good hand and a solid career.

We get a former teammate of his as well, from the Toronto days, with DeMar on the back half of the cards for today - nice Raptor connections all around.

Vladdy and a Bo Show

 Always happy pulling baseball from the 2026 Lot - and at this point, it looks like we are getting close to the end of the basketball and football, looking to leave around 3k of baseball and hockey only cards remaining, which should make for a fun end as far as my own keeping and collecting goes, but today, recent baseball to be surveyed.

Vladdy is always a welcome sight, and adding in a few base card additions for the 2024 Topps Chrome base set build is a great pick up too. Bryant is my fave of the quartet.

More keepers today with Bowman cards of the insert variety.

Unfortunately no Jays in the bunch, but happy to get a fix of inserts.

As for how "good" these guys are, I try and give it about 5 years from the release date when it comes to prospects to be able to really comment on how they are doing and where they will end up. It's not the case for everyone (some fizzle quickly, some shoot to the moon just as quickly), but a good time frame to really know their direction.

Cards that hopefully are only making a pit stop here...

Bound to get dupes for some of them, and all good there - but let's adopt these guys out if we can!

Shiny and Inconsistent

Basketball cards with attitude today...

Mason on the SkyBox E-X 2000 set is a fantastic card in hand. The cut our player on a see-through sky background looks amazing in hand. Hadn't seen these cards before and wish there was more than just the one, but a very cool set. If I collected basketball, would need to take a look for this one and, if affordable, look to collect the set.

2019-20 Panini Status tris to draw ALL of the attention with the hyper sparkle design, but I'd take more E-X myself. The scans don't do credit for the level of shine from these sparkly cards, and with the background removed so it's just player focused, it really just becomes background focused.

Then, the backs of those same cards - leave a lot of space wasted. I mean, either do an actual picture or something, but to just let the background used photo be "there" for half the back - I'd rather not.

Speaking of I'd rather not. If I were to make any sports card set, I'd rather not mash together designs that are massively different from one another, slap on numbering so that it runs as a single base set, and make it confusing to try and put together - but that's what Panini does here with Chronicles in 2020-21. I can't even complain about the individual designs - some are good, some not so much, but to just say the cards are all from the same set? I mean, thank goodness we have gotten to the point that the name of the set, or at least enough of the name, is on the back copyright information, so I can figure it out (or use TCDB's search functions with the player name and card number), but it really shouldn't be THAT hard.

Whether I like the Revolution design or not, at least I can look at the cards and say yes - those are all part of the same base set. I know some may argue that Archives sets do the same things and are great. I like the design use, but would still prefer a single year throwback instead of using say three past designs in a single base set.

We end with a Stallion apparently, in Sochan. Sochan spent a few years with San Antonio, but made it out this past year, just in time to join the Knicks and be on the team for their NBA Finals victory. He didn't have any big role in it, but being in his early 20s and on a Championship team - that's going to be a career highlight no matter where the career goes from here.

Continued Panini

 Back to football in the 2026 Lot today, and a number of Panini sets dibbled on today...

I will say, it has been nice to see as many star cards come through this lot as there have been - especially guys like Mahomes - as I am usually expecting the big name guys, and any of their cards, to be out of these lots. I don't care from a value standpoint, but it does make it a bit easier for trade purposes to get some stars in the bunch.

There have been a lot of Mosaic set cards in football come up, and a bit of Select, like we have here today, but very few Phoenix set cards. It's not a set I am familiar with - even though it has apparently been around since 2016. Also had to look into where the set "sits" as far as being low, mid or high end, and appears to be mid-tier (feel free to argue), which makes sense as I expect sets like Score and Prestige are lower end. 

These lots allow me to grow my knowledge a little bit each day when it comes to sets and collecting, especially in areas that are not where my main interest lies, so football, definitely in that realm.

Different Optics

 Panini hits us again with the 2026 Lot today and some 2019-20 Panini Donruss Optics cards from the basketball world, and why not start out with some of the big hitters from the 2010s...

Can't go wrong with a Curry Golden State card to start. too bad there wasn't more from that year though, as we then have to skip ahead a few years...

I definitely like the design from the 2019-2020 set over the later one from 2022-23 which seems a bit too boxy for my liking.

The backs are alright, and thinking back to sets from the mid 90s like Upper Deck and Collector's Choice - not that different actually with the picture, blurb and stats. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but it's an observation!

We actually get a rookie card here, and Dalen ended up with most of the time for a few years, suiting up for the Bulls before spending some games on court for Philly in 2025-26. A decent rookie as far as pulling and where he ended up (so far).

Watch Your Language

"Junk Wax" hockey on tap from the 2026 Lot today, and we actually get some help on a set... 

I do not have a complete English bilingual set of 1991-92 Score, so the above all help with that set. There were a number of years and sets that released bilingual and English only versions, so you had to watch whether the cards were for one set or the other and sometimes the only clues were on the back. Easiest being the write up, or it could be the full position name being written out in both languages, but there have been a number of times that I didn't look too closely at first and ended up with a card listed in the wrong set.

We do get some Leaf additions, though most are a bit indirect...

Coach cards are awesome - simple as that.

The rest felt like a...

with a bunch of traders from sets I already have traders for. I guess that's the problem with the high production times of the early 90s, everyone and their mother had these cards!

Those are not even all of them - maybe about half - but gives a good representation of what has been added to my TCDB traders. Anyone needing cards from that period - happy to help if it means moving the cards out of my house!

Childhood SkyBox

 Today's 2026 Lot pulls are basketball, and a ew sets I recall from my childhood get represented. Even as a kid, I didn't collect basketball, but I did have some cross by my hands.

1990-91 SkyBox was THE set as a kid when it came to basketball. I remember these cards were everywhere. Looking back, I don't think the design is great and holds up over time, but it is an iconic set that I have fond memories of for nostalgia reasons alone.

Similar can be said for 1992-93 Fleer, though I like the design more, it's mostly a nostalgic memory that makes me smile seeing those sets.

I definitely wasn't seeing much by the mid 90s, so any 1995-96 Collector's Choice basketball I have seen was from recent years and lot purchases of old cards.

Props to a nice Lowry card, and with more 2023-24 Donruss, I tool a look and I am really only missing about a dozen cards from having a complete pure base set which is pretty cool. I think I'll be trading the cards away here and there and not as a full near set, but still cool to see almost all of it in one go.

Unfortunately the few 1991-92 Fleer cards are a bit beat up so, still nostalgic to see, but nothing worth trading so, packing material they be!