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!

More Updates

Back to being able to keep some of the cards I am pulling from the 2026 Lot, we have baseball today. 

2023 Topps Update is a solid set and I have been working on the build, so happily add 6 more to that work today. Might be the only keepers on the day, but puts the set build over the half way mark, and being a relatively new set, should be one I can push along well with trades on TCDB.

Some solid trade bait came through as well...

Stadium Club cards look amazing and move well in trades, and although I am trying to build the 2023 Topps Holiday set as well, as luck would have it, these three were just not needed. Actually, there was a bunch more 2023 Topps Update as well which just happened to be duplicates...

As were the 2024 Topps flagship cards today...

No Jays to lighten the blow, but a few keepers still works fine for me. Better than the past few days of lot pulls.

Not My Score

 Baseball or hockey and these would be great, but football just leaves these all as trade bait.

Warren Moon sighting - amazing how much we still see of the man since he playing days were decades ago. Goes well with the use of the 90s colour scheme vibe for the lower end Score set.

Similarly can't complain about a Barry Sanders card coming out of the bunch - nice!

The 2022 design is much better than the 2023 design, but the few 2023 cards here are pretty darn solid with McNabb, Purdy in duplicate and Favre. Still, a pass for the cards today from me, but maybe some baseball tomorrow will help change up my luck.

The Word

 Basketball cards from the 2026 Lot today, and all from the 2020-21 Panini Mosaic set. Have had a few cards from the set previously, but about another 40 to add today.

I don't actually have a lot to say about this set - I mean, it's Mosaic, and keeps with the look and feel. The design isn't significantly different from other years of Mosaic. Not a great or underwhelming card or design, just there.

Some throwback stars in the set is fine, and I appreciate that they are trying to spread the word....and what is the word, well the Larry Bird is the word.

Any time I see Larry, I am reminded of two games. I remember playing Dr. J. Vs. Larry Bird as a young child in the 80s. It was released in 1983, and there was a sequel of sorts in 1988 when it became Jordan vs. Bird. These were amount my first video games to have played and were the tip of the iceberg when it came to what video games were to me as a kid. These games were the gateway games, like Atari or Commodore 64 to what became years of Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and on from there.

Fun times. Horrible graphics (great for the time), but fun gameplay regardless.

Rough Timmies

 The condition of the cards through the 2026 Lot has been great, usually there is a bit more "rough around the edges" cards which end up just being packaging material. I am guessing it may be how these cards were received, but the Timmies cards here are generally in rough shape, though a few good enough to keep.

Hard to tell with some of the cards, but some have creases or rough enough corners that the card is splitting, and for me, I know there are many much better quality out there, so I am not going to bother keeping filler cards and will just reuse them as packing material.

At least the Bruin will be passed along elsewhere.

The Laine, Linus and Brock cards were good enough condition and needs, so I did get a few cards out of the ones today, but the last ones were too rough...

Grinding on all corners on all cards for whatever reason so - nothing to keep on these, and a bump in our packing material numbers from the lot. Still, this has been the vast minority of cards, so not complaining as there are bound to be some cards like this in a larger lot purchase.

Face The Rainbow

 Happy October to everyone - the months are flying by this year. Three months left in 2026, and I'm am thinking about how we might just get this 2026 Lot done and cataloged in the year, which would be great. I have a bunch of other things in line for the blog, and am having fun with it still (otherwise, I wouldn't be doing it), but curious to see how the rest wraps up.

Today - we get a nice batch of 2023 Panini Illusions which have a nice psychedelic look.

Well, the scans are a lot rougher than how they look in hand, so in hand, definitely better. The real base set is only 100 cards, so a decent number here for share and trade. I will say, the foiling for the name isn't easy to read in scan and isn't too much better in hand.

Classic Panini with the big background photo being a close up of the full smaller photo on the front - not sure if this is a good idea or not. In some ways it works and the images don't fight each other for attention the same way, but I do like variety.

Nice enough cards that have a higher end feel, just not going to be on the higher end of my keepers....any takers?