CNE Pack #4 - Visiting the Planet 17 years later

Already the end of September! Time sure flies as it doesn't feel like the kids have been back to school for a month already. The last few days have been fun, so another CNE pack today, but then I will start something else tomorrow - more on that later.

The "out there" part of this pack to start...

Planet of the Apes cards out of 2001. I wish I had something to say other than that these are an interesting set of cards, but Planet of the Apes - in any version - is not a movie I have seen and not one that interests me - the original, or this one.

I will say, nicely done cards and if anyone does have interest in these just let me know.

The sleep hit of the pack...

Since I am on a wrestling card kick having picked up interest again in collecting the cards to go with my love of wrestling in general, I will gladly take a new wrestling card of our Olympic Hero. I understand why WWE cut ties with him in the 00s from a health perspective, but he had a great run in TNA before finally returning after getting himself back on track personally.

The actual reason I picked up this pack - more 2006-07 Parkhurst, including a number I needed...

As I said yesterday, really like these cards so love getting a few more.

The last couple new for me cards...


As for the dupes in the pack...


Unfortunate the darker cardboard was 1987 Topps, and that these Parkhurst cards were dupes - would have loved to get more new ones, but just means good trade bait!

As for tomorrow, I thought of a good theme for the month of October for the blog. and luckily thought of it a couple months ago, so have been saving and putting together some things to be able to post for the month. If you are intrigued - check it out tomorrow...thank you!

CNE Pack #3 - Broken Streak

First up, another trade - I like getting to start posts that way. Here is a trade with PapaG321 from TCDB (where almost all my trades happen by the way, though open to other venues if people have any favourites they would like to share in the comments).



We start with a couple early 90s Score set needs followed by a bunch of stickers from 1991-92. I don't go out of my way for sticker Leaf cards, but these are awesome because of the nostalgia. I can remember opening bunches and bunches of packs from this set back when they were new.



Once through the Panini stickers, we get some Stadium Club needs. This Stadium Club set wasn't even on my radar at the start of the year, but getting more than half of it in a box for box trade, I am well on the way with it now and will probably look to finish it in the next year or so.



We end with a couple surprise cards from Magic which I get a chuckle out of. Collecting artifact cards, Shatter is not one I like, but definitely worth sending for the laugh - much appreciated.

Anyway...well, in the first two packs, if nothing else, I was able to keep the cards basically to baseball and hockey which are the two sports I am looking for in these sets. Well, not so lucky today - but that does make for a bit more interesting set of cards!



We start with a couple racing cards. I have had a couple of cards from this set before - I remember them from last year. Not a bad set coming out of the early 90s, and at 300 cards, I would think that is a fairly good size for a racing set (but Billy can correct me if I am wrong).



Next off we have some 1990 Score football cards. No names I really recognize, but a typical Score style design for the period. Anyone interested, just let me know.

The other traders (might as well cover them now are as follows...

Some 1991 Upper Deck baseball and a 1992-93 Score Canadian hockey card. These are the dupes, I do have some keepers on the day from these sets.




Classic - look at that lack of hair on Kirk...he had so much more even in the mid 80s.

As for the last couple keepers, a couple more hockey keepers. The reason I picked this pack, the 2006-07 Parkhurst Ogrodnick as this set has some nice cards of older players.

Overall, probably the weakest pack so far, but still worth the dollar!

CNE Pack #2 - Continuing Stargell

Yesterday's was so fun, I didn't want to wait to get to another one. Another 25 cards from various sports, oh and I forgot, also one good team bag to reuse for trades - can't forget the importance of that per pack too.

I tried to avoid the obvious chunks of cards which you could tell, and wouldn't want, from looking at the side of the repacks, such as 1991 Donruss. I knew there was some here, but took my chances on this one. Glad I did.



Nice to pick up a needed puzzle piece. It wasn't really needed - I have two complete Stargell puzzles with the decimals on the back, but want to complete another to be able to get rid of it as a whole set. Also nice that the McD card, which was the one I could see on the end, and was why I picked the pack, was one I needed.



This is why the pack was worth picking up. Guy Larose was new for the collection, but three Toronto cards in 25 is a nice ration I hope to see again.



A decent other bunch of keepers - lots of 1992-93 Upper Deck hockey to go with a few more Studio 1993 baseball cards.

As for the dupes...



If anyone needs any of these, let me know.

CNE Pack #1 - Anyone need Woods?

So the Jays made the "shocking" announcement yesterday that manager Gibbons would not be back next season to lead the team. The move was expected as the team rebuilds, and the change is needed to be honest, but I will say that Gibbons did much better than I was expecting in his second tenure in Toronto.

When Gibbons was first announced as manager, those who remembered his first tenure, were greatly disappointed and not looking forward to it. Gibbons hadn't really found himself during that first tenure, but happily, was a much different and better coach the second time around. So much so, that likely for the current generation of Jays fans, he will be remembered as the manager that did really well with the team, taking them to the playoffs twice. Personally, the best Jays manager will be Cito Gaston, but Gibbons has made a case for himself to be in the top few.

Anyway, today I get to share the first of 28 packs that I picked up at the CNE about a month ago. These are typically 25 random assorted sports cards for $1 - well less with how many I bought.

Best case, I end up with a couple cards for the collection, and maybe some new baseball or hockey cards to otherwise hold for set building (for now).

Worst case - an opportunity for trade bait that may interest people out there.

Today's pack, I picked up because of one of the cards showing, even though it was a card I have no intention of keeping - it just looked really nice.

2016 Goodwin Champions Tiger Woods. This is the first card from the multi-sport set that I had seen, and it looks quite nice, so I thought - why not? Can't do much worse, and since the other side showed a baseball card, couldn't be all cards I wouldn't need.

It actually was quite a good 25, as there were a couple Toronto cards...

Not new, but still good adds. It's funny because the guy puts a bin of Toronto Blue Jay and Toronto Maple Leaf singles which are heavily overpriced for most as it is $1 per single, and most of them are base cards from various sets, including "junk" years. It annoys me because the same cards are in these packs at times, and it is clearly a way to try and mark up cheap cards because the show is in Toronto. I can understand the second point because there would be demand, so ask more, but on cards like these? No way.

There were a bunch more 1991-92 Parkhurst cards that I didn't have yet...

There was also a bunch of 1993 baseball, all of which was new to me...

Hey, getting a nice Studio Griffey Jr - a great little pickup!

As for the cards for trade (other than the Woods card above):

As you know, I don't collect minor league stuffs, and only had the one other duplicate come up.

Lastly, unfortunately, one of the cards had a couple bends so...packing material!



You can't see them in the scan, but around the big F.

I would say that is almost a perfect first pack, many keepers, a couple Leafs, and a nice "other" with the Woods card.

Tie a bow on it

A quick post today to share a PWE from 49ants. Bowman is a brand that is not one I have an abundance of, so this was a nice group.

Here we have some 1992-93 Bowman...



The interesting card to me in the bunch is Myllys as this was a card after he was a member of Toronto, but hadn't played a game, so they have a picture of him with San Jose - interesting enough. More interesting is the fact, he never ended up playing a game with Toronto, so the card says Maple Leaf on the back, but he never suited up for them.

Still a Leaf card by my criteria, so into the collection, but a coll add too.

Much thanks to 49ants for the Bowman Leaf help!

A raddie big baddie

Only three more artifact cards in the second half of the 100 Magic card Dollarama pack, but a new one that I really like...

That's one big bad guy. Great for the mana cost, but hard to have to ensure 5 creatures to use to "man" the vehicle. Still, could find a way to use so quick casting small creatures to do it. Still will always prefer the Colossus of Sardia, but not a bad runner up.

The other couple artifact cards...

Not nearly as exciting, and already had one of each, but nice adds nonetheless.

As for the rest of the cards, not too much of interest to highlight, but a couple cards so I'll highlight the earlier and later cards as usual.


One of these card looks a lot different than the others...

The card middle top is from 1998's Portal Second Age. The Portal sets (there were three) were very different from the rest of the sets, but personally, I really like them. The first Portal set is based on Chinese mythology, specifically the Three Kingdom. For any of you that played the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games - that's the same mythology. So you have cards of figures like Lu Bu and Lie Bei as well as Cao Cao.

It was a very interesting tie in, but the portal cards are generally harder to find (and more expensive past the commons).



Again, surprised to see more 2018 cards. I am a bit surprised to see Shatter. That's a card I remember from the revised edition back in 1994. I know the reprint some cards, but still reprinting 24 years later - wow! The art is much better these days, but I don't mind the old classic more cartoonish at times artwork.

A little fabrication

First - a quick trade showing which helped to finish off another set...yay!



No - not 1991 Fleer - these are error cards for that collection, but that set has been done for a while. Instead, the two 1991 Leaf cards finish of that set for me (yay!). A big thanks to whoisrob at TCDB for the small PWE trade to finish off the set!

Yeah - that is what I was hoping to write. I then went through the set (which I swear I did a while ago and entered correctly on TCDB, but lo and behold, I don't seem to have two other cards, and since I am missing two, a third is in really bad shape, so I want to replace it as well. I guess this set will be a deferred success....

That was great to get - even if the set isn't complete yes, but I had a bit of a hankering for a walk through some Magic cards, and hopefully an artifact or two, so I picked up one of the 100 cards for $4 packages from Dollarama, which is one of the few close places left for me to get cards from which is why I am getting through so many items from there lately.

Anyway, similar to baseball, we can take a look at half today and half tomorrow, so for those not overly interested..see you in a couple days, but feel free to stick around and see something a bit different than the usual sports cards.

As usual, let's start by looking at the artifacts that I can add to the collection...



Five out of fifty isn't too bad for artifacts. The Fabrication Module is pretty interesting - a good use of excess mana for putting energy counters on the card.




I figured I would show the earliest cards out of the group, which are not that early actually. Usually there are a few cards that are pre-2005. The Stromkirk Patrol isn't too bad, maybe a bit high on mana for casting, but the counter ability can build it up pretty quickly.



I wanted to include the group for the rare card here - Oath of Jace. Not an expensive card by any mean, but nice to get a rare regardless in the repack. For a single mana, Cartouche of Zeal is decent for getting a little boost and haste.



The most recent cards actually come from 2018 sets which are nice to see, but a bit surprising. I don't expect the most recent sets to be in these, but must be pretty quick turn around for the repack companies getting the cards and repacking them.

Not a bad first half - but we will see if it is the better half than tomorrow...

Emerald is the best green

Before a hockey repack, we have a trade delivered pack. Fellow Canadian andyroy3 and I did a PWE trade for about 30 cards which worked out really nice in sending a few more cards away from me, and in return, finishing a set for me!




I got a box of 1992 O Pee Chee Premier baseball a while back and got a good chunk of the set, but still needed almost 20 cards in the 198 card set. I figured at some point I might finish it, but hadn't gone out of my way to do so. Well, worked out here that I got all I needed to put this one to bed. The Jays also mean I have a full Jays team set as well.



These cover most of the 1988 Donruss cards I still needed. I have one other trade in progress which, if it works out, should get me the rest of the set to finish 1988 Donruss as well.



The package ends with a couple 1987 Lraf cards (another set that I am getting fairly close on - about 10 cards left on it I think) and a few much more recent Jays cards for the collection. Roger in a Jays uniform is always going to feel wrong though, but the Delgado die cut is pretty cool in hand.

Big thanks to andyroy3 for the help in completing a set!

Today we have a 15 for $1 Dollarama hockey pack to explore, and it seems everything is turning up emerald. Okay, not everything, but two cards at least.



With no Leafs in sight, these 1992-93 Parkhurst parallels are the best of what is here today. Grant Fuhr is a solid one to pick up. In some ways I wish these were the base cards since the only difference is the emerald Parkhurst logo.

The worst of the pack...

No, not because of the player as Bondra was a top player for a few years, but because this card suffers from significant benderitis. It will have to meet a fate of being packing material as it is unfortunately not good enough quality for me to keep, and not one I would trade.

The keepers...

2000-2001 Upper Deck Ice - first card I have from the set, and man, I really REALLY like the design with acetate cards and the see through portion of the card. Definitely the best of these card as far as I am concerned given it represents a new to me set.

Lastly, the traders...

The usual suspects and a 2013-14 Score card since I do have more than half that set. It will likely make the list of sets I will actually try and complete, once I get to the point of breaking down set goals...maybe for the new year...

Listia Catch Up

First before Listia - I found I had a completed set I didn't realize - 1990-91 Pro Set hockey. With all of the errors, I had a couple cards in the error binder instead of the full set, and I much rather be just looking for an extra copy for the error binder, so just like that - poof - a 705 card set is done! Not sure when I got the last card....

Anyway, it has been a few weeks since sharing some Listia card wins with you, so why not do that today.

First up...

Is it an overly exciting card? No. Is it a card I needed? No. It was however a card that cost me the equivalent of 4 cents, and is a Blue Jay....on that alone, easy pickup!

Some wrestling card pickups for less than a dime each...

I wasn't a big fan of TNA around 2008-2012, so didn't see much of these wrestlera, but now is a better time than any to pick up a bit of knowledge. Madison Rayne actually is part of the Mae Young Classic this year going by her first name Ashley.



All these were quick back to back auctions from the same seller and all came together. I like the heritage design which goes back to the old 80s design. I really wish I held onto those old wrestling cards, but maybe I can pick up some this way as well....fingers crossed!

As you can see, focus lately on Listia has been more on wrestling - fun getting into it again with cards, and these seem to be more prevalent on Listia now, so it works out well.