Moving past the halfway point...for another set...

Highlights:

With the 2 additional 1991-92 O Pee Chee Sharks and Russian insert cards, the 66 card insert set is now over 50% done. Happy about these from a completion standpoint, but like the Whitney card best among these. The gold and red play off well together, so the Ultra gold medallion parallel comes off looking quite sleek.

The rest
Keepers:

Yay - another new set here with 1999-2000 Upper Deck MVP hockey. Again with the red and gold copper which makes the design look nice and sleek.

I'd also like to just point out that the Corey Perry card shows nicely his time on two different teams - Mighty Ducks and Ducks...it was between 2005-06 and 2006-07 that the name changes happen.

Traders:

A ZZ Top sighting with 1991-92 Pro Set Platinum and Zarley Zalapski. I remember him best for his name and being in the Super Nintendo Classic hockey game NHL '94. I use to play that game for hours on end and to the point of being able to score at will. I should go pick up a controller and play now...I still have my SNES (as well as NES, Playstation 2, and Wii) hooked up and in good working condition. That said, I'd probably just be disappointed with how good (bad) I would be right now...

On the other hand I should probably start practicing before my son really gets into playing...I should at least be some kind of challenge...

Through 6380 cards:

Specific Accomplishments:

- Complete 2003-04 SP Authentic Basketball (90 card pure base)

- 3 Complete 2007-08 UD McDonald's Hockey Checklist Subsets (6 cards)

- 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Hockey #30 Bobby Orr (All-Star)

- 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics Platinum Hockey #64 Marcel Dionne 06/10

- 2007-08 Topps 1957-58 Variations Basketball  #112 Kevin Durant (Rookie)

	Hockey	Baseball	Basketball	Football	Austin Powers	Other
Toronto	105	9
Inserts / Var Kept	212	28
Error	14	2
Keep	1375	201
Doubles/Sell	810	85	1119	1896	250	26
Doubles Inserts / Var	75	1	74	98

Continuing with a serial dose - a Major dose

Royal Rumble last night and as much as I had a great time watching with my brother and cousin I didn't do so well on my picks. Add my three year old getting sick at 3am and could have been better. Oh well, still nice the Rumble was so open this year, made it more enjoyable - not to mention the great AJ / Cena match.





So I went all in on a huge pick up on Listia - I had to...


I love this card and it is my first dual auto/jersey card for my collection, let alone it being for a Jay. A nice Sepia parallel numbered to 75 doesn't hurt the card either. Actually, I really enjoy the base cars from this set, it does have the nice high end feel.

Had a few serial numbered cards yesterday also, and it looks like we are just continuing the trend today (though it continues to be football related...).

Highlights:

Can't say no to another Leaf - have to put it as a highlight, even with the rest of these...




In hand, the cards don't look that different with the foil shine, but they definitely scan much differently as you can see here. Very nice cards, and always exciting getting serial numbered cards, but all of these are obviously up for trade if they really interest anyone becuase they are nowhere near my collection keeps.

The rest
Traders:

A Topps Steelers hot pack! That said, only a couple of the 2004 Leaf cards I needed for the set, most were further duplicates.

Through 6360 cards:

Specific Accomplishments:

- Complete 2003-04 SP Authentic Basketball (90 card pure base)

- 3 Complete 2007-08 UD McDonald's Hockey Checklist Subsets (6 cards)

- 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Hockey #30 Bobby Orr (All-Star)

- 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics Platinum Hockey #64 Marcel Dionne 06/10

- 2007-08 Topps 1957-58 Variations Basketball  #112 Kevin Durant (Rookie)

	Hockey	Baseball	Basketball	Football	Austin Powers	Other
Toronto	105	9
Inserts / Var Kept	209	28
Error	14	2
Keep	1366	201
Doubles/Sell	803	85	1118	1896	250	26
Doubles Inserts / Var	75	1	74	98

Pack Attack - Dollarama 15 Card Hockey Pack

I picked up the following from the Dollarama on a recent visit - you can figure our why this pack based on the card showing - a Leaf insert I don't have is a good selling point for me.

Yes, even if it is Phil Kessel.

So the question becomes, do I end up getting anything else worthwhile, or is the pack a one trick pony?


So the obvious card - I like the Biography insert sets - and the fact that the colour schemes stayed similar each year.


These, I didn't need - 1991 7th Inning Sketch OHL (at least it isn't QMJHL which the Santa Lot seems to have in spades). Also, the American Score '91 sex is done and in an unopened box on my shelf (which you cam see here).


A nice variety of sets (except the two cards numbered in a row from the Action set, bottom left and bottom centre. Like the Modano Stadium Club card, which isn't surprising since putting a great player in a very good set design is usually a wonderful card to have.


The couple newer cards out of the 15. Solid, as much as I am not an Ilya fan...

Lastly, the sleeper hit of the pack:

Great card for the collection given it hits two things I love. First, in that it is an insert, but also because it is a Leaf card. Although pictured in his North Stars uniform, he was with the Leafs which is noted on the back. Gartner was a great, solid Leaf player in the early 90s, significant part of the team and a personal favourite.

Overall, well worth the dollar spent on the cards. :)

Pack Attack - 2015 Series Two Baseball

Hello, and welcome for another pack opening thanks to St. Nick. Last one actually, but at least it is a decent one. Once again, here is the pack:


Now, let;s see what we end up with...though the good news is, since I only have a handful of cards from series two, there shouldn't be any duplicates.


I like the design of 2015 better than 2016 - actually probably one of the better of the last decade or so.  I also like the fact the border is tweaked for team colours - I always find this makes the cards much more attractive from a team collection standpoint. Though you get a lot of the typical photos, the set did have some nice and different ones - a good example above is the Gregor Blanco card with the slide into home.

Not huge stars for the most part, but a couple good ones with CC and...

Chipper with a Heart of the Order insert. The cards are a bit too dark for my liking, but I like the concept of the inserts.

The last card in the pack was the best to me personally - and not just for the awesome glasses...

I needed this card for my Jays collection as well, so it makes this pack a win. Much better than opening a bunch of Triple Play packs!

And then there were three...and there were three....

Three!

Checked out 401games.ca website on whim a couple days ago and BAM! Lucked out to find that these three sets had some booster packs available, and I snapped one of each up quickly. Of the three, Mirage is old enough that it was actually out back when I played - not so much for Fifth Dawn or Champions of Kamigawa. This does bring me far enough along though, that I think I will reorganize my pack binder to leave spaced for the remaining "missing" packs for ease of putting in the rest while I get them.

I'll show that off here some time later I think...

Highlights:

These nice 5 adds knock down the needs to 3 for the 100 true base 2005 Upper Deck Classics baseball set. Hoping just a matter of days before this gets locked up. Question then becomes, how many of the retro rookie cards can I end up with, and will there be few enough remaining to want to complete the full set.




Here is another awesome three - these three cards are all serial numbered to 999. I like the tint of the light blue on these and would love to see Jays or Leafs cards with it, as I think that would be a nice play off the team colours - would also work for Royals and Dodgers, or even Tampa Bay or Edmonton.

The rest
Traders:

All I was otherwise left with were traders. No real big names (ha!) just the likes of Drysdale, Herman, Anderson, Niekro, etc. If only these could be duplicates of original cards from their playing days.

Through 6340 cards:

Specific Accomplishments:

- Complete 2003-04 SP Authentic Basketball (90 card pure base)

- 3 Complete 2007-08 UD McDonald's Hockey Checklist Subsets (6 cards)

- 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Hockey #30 Bobby Orr (All-Star)

- 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics Platinum Hockey #64 Marcel Dionne 06/10

- 2007-08 Topps 1957-58 Variations Basketball  #112 Kevin Durant (Rookie)

	Hockey	Baseball	Basketball	Football	Austin Powers	Other
Toronto	104	9
Inserts / Var Kept	209	28
Error	14	2
Keep	1366	201
Doubles/Sell	802	85	1118	1882	250	26
Doubles Inserts / Var	75	1	74	94

Not just Another closer...

Before we get to the closer, first a recap of another good trade I had with Mike from Not Another Baseball Card Blog. We tend to keep an eye on each others want lists and just send whatever we can to each other every now and then. In the latest go, this is what I got...


Just two non-Jays because I am trying to complete these two sets, so good help there.


Always like getting 80s/90s Fleer stickers - I know at some time I must have had the 90 sticker...wherever it ended up going to (or on what binder I stuck it back in the day) I'm not sure.


A couple horizontal cards. Love the yound Gruber - even more than the David Price shared card.


Ok - horribly ascew scan job....yikes! I never saw much of the traded cards out and about in the late 80s and early 90s, so like seeing these now. My fave is the Frank Thomas card though. I love Frank - great player - and was happy he had even a short time in Toronto so I have a good excuse for him being in my collection.


Some nice spots filled in from the Fleer 90 and Topps 90 team sets!

Great cards and I appreciate the trade as always Mike - thanks!

Mariano Rivera was one of the greatest closers of all time - definitely from his playing period. At his height, Eckersley was great as well, but maybe not as long a period as Rivera. You could go back further and find other comparisons, but I always find it hard to truly compare different playing eras.

Highlights:

Here we have a Yellow Name variation of the Mariano base card. Not the biggest of variations, but that makes it a parallel or insert to me, so a keeper. I don't like the yellow with the colour background, but that's just me personal taste.

The rest
Keepers:

That wasn't the only 2007 Topps Heritage card in the bunch, and sine we haven't had too many, here are a number of additional adds. Randy Johnson - glad he enjoyed playing as long as he did, but his best was with Seattle in my mind, just a shame the mid 90s Seattle team was unable to scratch one World Series ring for him, Griddey and company.

Traders:

Another new set today - 2007 Playoff Prestige. We have seen a lot of 2008, but nothing from 2007 until this. It is different, but I prefer 2008 myself.

More 2005 Classics baseball for trade if anyone is interested.

Through 6320 cards:

Specific Accomplishments:

- Complete 2003-04 SP Authentic Basketball (90 card pure base)

- 3 Complete 2007-08 UD McDonald's Hockey Checklist Subsets (6 cards)

- 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Hockey #30 Bobby Orr (All-Star)

- 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics Platinum Hockey #64 Marcel Dionne 06/10

- 2007-08 Topps 1957-58 Variations Basketball  #112 Kevin Durant (Rookie)

	Hockey	Baseball	Basketball	Football	Austin Powers	Other
Toronto	104	9
Inserts / Var Kept	209	28
Error	14	2
Keep	1366	196
Doubles/Sell	802	77	1118	1878	250	26
Doubles Inserts / Var	75	1	74	91