From The Wing Things

 A nice PWE trade from TCDB member Wing_Things who was kind enough to trade some Leafs my direction.

Still have a few more needs to complete the Leaf team set for the 2019-20 O Pee Chee base set, though the Rookies were an insert set on the flagship release, and Ilya was the last of three I needed for that team completion.

The retro design O Pee Chee cards almost always look really good, and this one is no exception.

If instead, you like more modern flashiness, Allura has you covered too.

Erik is another one and done Leaf insert set for me with this Glossy Rookie, and the UD Canvas cards are always a nice pick up too.

The couple AHL cards were a nice bonus thrown in and appreciate. I do know some minor league Leaf collectors, so those will find a nice home, and extra card surprises in trades are never a bad thing!

I want to also share a quick pick up from 401games with the recent release of the Secrets of Strixhaven. As usual, I did the pick up packs and artifact thing to get...

If they are going to do different artwork on the packs, having them look this different is a good choice. Appreciate it, and appreciate being able to order online and specify different artwork on the packs for pick up - very nice touch and glad they listed.

As for the artifacts themselves, picked up the regular and foil versions, and nothing major to write home about with them.

I don't mind the Harry Potter-like world that this were likely inspired from, and the first set in the world of Strixhaven was a decent one, and this one looks pretty good as well. As for Harry Potter, that will be out later this year which should be quite intriguing.

Bender!

For those not following, it's been an interesting few days in Maple Leaf land. Auston is making initial comments which make it look like he may be wanting out of Toronto while shortly after, the Leafs pick up the number one pick in the draft after bringing Sundin into the front office.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Auston a Leaf for life, but the team has always been on again, off again, with putting together a real successful on ice team. I can't see them changing in a couple months, maybe in a year with some dedicated effort, but there isn't a lot in the prospect pipeline, and doing by trades and draft picks is a challenge with some aging on ice performers. I do think Marner leaving was unfortunately the first step to a big re-set, and not sure there will be enough to want Auston to stay.

Will be an interesting run up to next season, but today isn't really about hockey as far as cards go - different kind of Magic today.... 

I will be honest, when I think Bender, my preferred is from Futurama, but that's not what we get to talk about today. Today, a share a few months overdue - just took time to get to it - the crossover between MTG and The Last Airbender.

I have zero knowledge of this - never watched any of the shows or involved in any of it. So, this doesn't draw me in like Final Fantasy did or even TMNT earlier this year. It is still an MTG release and I am still going to collect my booster packs and singles, but I have no desire to open any of the product really.

I don't know how they select which releases to do the Jumpstart boosters with, but they were here for what it's worth.

As for the singles...

I am not a fan of vehicle cards or subclass of cards, or whatever you want to call them, but still a decent card for 3 colourless mana in the Warship.

I picked up the foil versions where prices remained cheap, but there are some pricey artifacts in this set, which seems to be the case in many which makes it hard to complete a set of artifact cards these days. Though I try to narrow it down and if there is just one, pluck it out where I can, but as much as I enjoy collecting, not really looking to drop $100 on a single card.....maybe in 5-6 years, I can trade the remaining MTG trade cards I have and knock one off, but for now, I pick away at the cheaper cards and have fun collecting and sharing them!

Peter Forsberg

Yup, the 2026 lot figured we needed to talk about the man because we have a nice bunch of about 20 cards on the Hall of Famer.

Peter was into the NHL for the last season of the Quebec Nordiques, so not a lot of cards which show him as a Nordique, but there is this one in the bunch. He started strong with 50 points in just 47 games that year. It is Colorado that he is synonymous with....

So much so that, once he retired after the 2010-11 season (in which he played 2 games with Colorado, having not played with them since 2007-08), you typically see him in the Colorado uniform on later cards.

He spent 8 years as an Avalanche, with over 80 points a season in all but one year (only 49 games in 1999-2000 and 51 points). Twice he was over 100 points in a season. Hard to imagine his time and Colorado without thinking of Jow Sakic as the tandem was one of the great ones in the 90s.

Two Stanley Cups with Colorado in 1995-96 and 2000-01  It wasn't until the 2005-06 season that he went to Philadelphia, the team that first signed him and traded him to Quebec originally, where he played two seasons with the Flyers before a quick stint in Nashville before a last few games back in Colorado and calling it a career.

A great player with an over a point a game average for his career and definitely someone who is a player collection type guy for many.

Glossed Over

Unusual to be able to say this, but I found a good run of cards in this lot which are all keepers as luck would have it. We hit a small run of 1980s baseball inserts which are very recognizeable, and as a kid, inserts I remember seeming so cool because inserts we more unique back then - when there may have been one or a couple different such insert sets in a release. 

Now, I don't remember the 1983 All-star set from original release since I would have been only about 4 at the time (1983 All-stars being in the 1984 set of course), but when we get to the late 80s, yeah, those were neat to get. However it worked out, any I had as a kid must have gone away, as I still really have a small number of them from each year for the most part, but that's why I lucked out with needing all of these.

Unlike today where you have 100+ card insert sets trying to pick up on every potential rookie that may possibly be an average or better player in the bigs, the set picked one per team, and those picked turned out pretty well for the most part. Closest to Toronto in the first bunch would be Randy Myers who spent part of his career as a Jay.

I'd take the '87s and '88s over the '89s here, except Junior. I mean, have to stick with the Jays, even if he didn't turn out quite as good as everyone had hoped, he still had a fine enough career and a decent start with the Jays playing for them in 1989 and 1990 before a few more seasons with California, Florida and Detroit, ending his big league run after the 1994 season.

Oh - and for those who enjoy microvariations - different printings means there are either one or two asterisk beside the copyright line on the back of the cards, so you have a reason to collect two of each card! Definitely a thing, as a kid, I would have never noticed or cared about, but now....I wouldn't mind at least having both versions for Junior and any other Jays.

Licensing

May the 4th be with you. That's the extent of the Star Wars talk today....sorry....

Happily, more baseball from the 2026 Lot today, and a reminder of how licensing can impact the look of sports cards, and for me, whether there is a higher likelihood of collectability. 

2019 Bowman looks all fine and good - fully licensed, decent enough design, and all base cards here, but a set I am not personally collecting - but just a simple choice on it. Then we have 2019 Donruss. Sure, I will keep the one variation card for Martinez which is an alternate photo, but nothing too spectacular, but the fact that we don't have any team logos, etc all washed out of the photos - it definitely impacts how much I like the cards and set. It looks like a bunch of guys playing in a beer league...playing in fancier stadiums, sure, but beer league attire.

I can appreciate the attempt, and nice to see Max a few years ahead of his Toronto stint, but nothing more here for me really.

I forgot I was actually working (slowly) on the 2021 Bowman base set, but Gaarcia is a nice addition to that set build for me. As for the 2023 Topps - nice to get a bunch of future stars labelled cards, but nothing I am working on collecting here.

That Cal guy ended up doing alright though....

Overproduced But Not A Problem

 I don't know why people complain about the overproduced era. Sure, the value isn't there is the cards for the most part, but the nostalgia is good and strong. A couple sets which have been completed and build for a while, but still nice to see...

1990-91 Bowman is not a pretty set, and is everywhere when it comes to repacks, so it doesn't get a lot of love, but it is a fine set which would probably get more love if it wasn't for the saturation factor.

Still happy to get a couple Leaf cards, and though they may joint the other 9-10 copies I have the cards, I won't care for them any less.

Of course 1990-91 Pro Set gets similar attention, though the quality control all around on the set makes it more lovable I think. I mean, so many error cards add to the intrigue with the set. I think I am still missing a few such copies of error cards, and I see a lot of this set.

Definitely don't need the Leafs to complete anything, but for the collection itself, a win to get a handful more here (almost). We also get some cards from one of my favourite subsets - the team logos.

The simple front design is all that's needed and a nice summary of the franchise to date on the back - a great set, and I'd even put it into an insert set instead of a subset, but that wasn't nearly as regular a thing back in 1990-91 compared to today.

Over 700 cards kept and near 3,000 traders so far....

BASEball

Before the 2026 Lot - we have a neat trade pick up from TCDB member richardd2764....a complete set of 12 cards and box of the 1991 The Colla Collection which is all about one guy...

A 7,500 print run means there are probable 5,000 of these sets left if you consider the attrition of time. Focused on a star of the early 90s Jays success - just before the big success.

Interestingly, only the first card has a serial number for the set (1921 for me), while the rest do not. We get a number of close ups of Robbie in action and posed form.

I wasn't expecting the box would be flattened and set with the trade, but it was, which makes this even more cool as it is a truly "complete" set. A good start into a day of baseball on the blog.

A nice run of baseball cards today that remind me of the BASEball lot. Not a complaint, just an observation.

Yes, I am still working on 1991 Upper Deck and Junior Felix prior to his Jays days, and Bo's dad are both cards I needed - thank you! I am not worrying about hologram variations for my set....that's too ADHD for me.

Love the park cards, and the fact I needed Atlanta is even better. The middle row actually are all needed for the Opening Day set build too - nice!

The 2022 Topps Chrome offering is one I have some of, but not working on, so these are all nice trade bait...

Except for the maker of the Springer Dinger - George stays with me, a second copy for the collection.

Not too bad so far, but would love to keep on the baseball roll.