The last 15 card hockey pack of the year

Yup, last one of the Dollarama 15 card packs for the year as I have a plan for December which I will discuss tomorrow.

As for today, well, no Leafs, but a few interesting insert/parallel cards which will be keepers.



The easy one of the bunch is the 2008-09 O Pee Chee. I had picked up a number of gold parallels from the Santa Lot a few years ago, but this is a Metal parallel. The difference is that the gold are like rainbow parallels in that they have the colour tinge in light instead of just shine. Also, the gold scan more colourfully accordingly.

The first card in the bunch is a Draft Day card which is print run numbered on the back as being 1 of 10,000 - which back in the early 90s was a short run in many ways. The card commemorates the draft 0- an interesting card that will stick around with me for now.

The Schultz is an interesting In The Game insert. A nice topic for an insert being the "tough guys", though the design could be a little less loud.

The other keeper, is the reason I picked up this pack...



A single Portfolio set need knocked out of the way. The one box I debated back and forth on picking up another of at Dave and Adam's this year, was 2015-16 Upper Deck Portfolio. The reason I decided against it was because of the redemptions being expired, and that I didn't want to get a Matthews redemption I couldn't use, when the price really didn't come down enough to me, to reflect the loss of the redemption on the best cards in the box.

Lastly, the cards that could be yours...



Another Brett Hull card to go with the couple yesterday. The John Madden is interesting as it is the first card from that 2000-01 Be A Player set I have had in hand. The Memorabilia set card is unfortunately really a base card and not one of the "error" cards I have been picking up lately.

Not a bad bunch all in, except for the no Leafs part, but that's my personal preference.

A Hull of A Pack and PWE

Well, good news is this is one of the Scoring Leader insert cards I needed, and Brett's a good one to pick up.



This half pack also provided a single Leaf card which makes for copy number three of Mr. Ramage. WIll say the design at least makes sense being horizontal given the pose, so done well in that regard.



A needed Stadium Club card out of 1991-92 for the error binder - name was Normand but Stadium Club dropped the d.



Similar to the first half, less than a handful of keepers otherwise, and again, similar sets being early 90s Topps and Upper Deck.

So, like the last post, the majority of the cards are the trade bait.



A second Brett Hull card in there to make it a nice two Brett Hull hit half. The Wideman is a card, as this introduces me to Panini Adrenalyn which is a card game of sorts. I know nothing more than that, as I am not really interested, but it is something I hadn't seen at all before, so the pack gave me that, if nothing else.

I am going to stick with the sentiment of yesterday - probably not picking up another hockey one for a bit as the baseball still seem to provide more bang for my buck in set building.

Speaking of building, I got my PWE in a trade with TCDB member MMehler30 the other day, and it sure helped with my 2019 Topps Update Jays needs.



The Bowman Chrome are nice, but getting a couple more Vlad Jr. rookie cards is pretty darn nice. Here is an interesting stat - with 2019 being his rookie season, Vlad already has 2,159 cards listed on TCDB (of which I have 3, well 4 with one being a dupe). For comparison, Sandy Koufax has 3,195 cards listed.

Yeah - too many parallels and inserts these days indeed. I do really like having the few I do though, don't get me wrong, and thank you for the trade MMehler30.

This may be the last one I get

SO this 80 dollar repack of hockey cards from Dollarama is a good example of why this may not be the way for me to add to my collection going forward. Having cut down the hockey sets I am collecting, it really reduces the number of additions to the collection I get from these.

The good news is, they provide trade fodder I guess, so I get the fun of opening the pack, and also get something to trade away, just not sure that is enough compared to getting a half pack that was worthwhile.

Prime example, here are the set adds from this half...

Yup - just the three.

To be fair, there were other keepers of course like....an error card...

A Leaf card (which was showing, and the reason I picked this one out)...

As well as a few inserts/parallel collection cards...

Oh, and then all the traders...

As usual, a bunch of 1990-1993 cards, just nothing much from the sets I need, and in those, crds I need. A sprinkling of 2000-2015 cards including some In The Game cards, which are nice for being something a bit different, but nothing that "hits" here.

If nothing else, three Boston cards I don't need which I will be putting away for local collector Jeff. Once I get 100-200, I'll send him an email and pass them along.

Anyone out there that wants to be my go to sender for a specific team, let me know as it is easy enough to stick aside the cards for teams as I go and trade them for Toronto cards in return. Helps if you are find getting dupes of course, as I am.

Let's see if tomorrow will salvage the pack, and my thoughts on picking these up.

4 Years and a "half"

I am not one for milestones really, so more just a mention that today marks 4 years on the blogs and a post a day (or more) since December 30, 2015 (so not quite 4 years on that one). Time flies when you are having fun!

A big thank you though to everyone I have met because of the blog, and everyone who has read, commented or otherwise connected with me because of this. It may not have been a thought in my mind for starting this blog, but without the blog, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to interact with you. That also means a lost opportunity to find awesome homes for cards I don't collect (while getting additions to my collection I would have never had without the blog).

So THANK YOU!

You are really here for more cards though, aren't you? So let's go through half of a Dollarama pack. I don't know if this was the first half to yesterdays second half or the only half I post because the other half went poof....I'm getting a headache.

Whatever - here's about 40 baseball cards of varying interest depending on your personal preferences and tastes. :)



Of the cards that get added to the collection above, we see a quartet of 1989 Topps Traded cards. I wish the flagship Topps set for 1989 had backs that were as bright. Instead of the dreary black and purple backs, the Traded set has bright orange-red colouring which is so much easier to read, and pops a lot better in hand.



The man who could basically have been considered to have been traded for himself in 2000. Ducey was then with Philadelphia and was traded to Toronto for a player to be named later. Later that same year, the Jays traded for Morandini from Philly for a player to be names later. That player ended up being Ducey.

In reality, the first trade "names later" player was minor leaguer John Sneed - but you could argue Sneed was traded for Morandini, and Ducey traded for himself. Sounds much funnier, but either way, the Ducey trades were odd.



Many traders for this half. My fave of the bunch has got to be Bo Jackson. It is a simple pose with not a lot going on in the picture, but a great head shot photo regardless.

A Top 10 and apparently no half

Yeah, so.....somehow, I had half a Dollarama 80 together and ready to post, and poof - the whole thing went away. Some blogger issue I have never had before as I went to edit and the whole thing went poof!

I'd try recreating it, but the cards are sorted and away....so sorry to leave you handing on that one as that was not expected. I guess this is the downside for sticking the cards away as I get the scanning done. As far as what was there, a couple Jays, a Bowman insert, and a bunch of dupes, so nothing too exciting specifically. I'd still have gone through it as it was fun, as always, opening and sorting through, but oops.

It does however let me focus on the showing what I consider to be the best of the artwork on Artifact Magic cards I own. So, at least there is that.

I will show them in chronological order because I think it helps to see how the style of artwork has changed over the years. Not that one is better than the other, but a clear move from drawn artwork to more of a CGI / sci fi working.



Early sets had simpler drawings, but that doesn't mean they were boring by any sense. Though not the most colourful, the detailed work makes it very clear that this is a shield of details and horrific design with the devilish face clear as day.



Living Wall was one of the first cards I really remember for the artwork because it is simple, but effective. You get the sense of this being a close up of a wall with the smooshed flesh in place. Again, a bit of scare in the design which was prevalent early on.



This is the Magic equivalent to a painted bowl of fruit. It may not seem like an exciting subject for artwork, but the detail and design shines through so clearly, that it just looks real (and quite pretty).



Colourful, while still presenting the subject matter in a realistic (well - as real as fantasy is) way. You get the size dynamics well in the picture, and the detail even in the veins on the hand just show through so well.



Magic does inanimate objects well, and here is another example. A simple petal, but the design of the power/light rings around and emanating from it, as well as the background light bursting away adds to the impact of what is simply, a petal.



Again, it's the detail in the artwork sometimes that really draws me in, and the detail on the skull design while still making it obviously a cage - just so well done and the space well used as you even get good detail on the chains.



What is one thing better than a big brute? A big brute who gets a nice sunset behind him and a nice glow from it gentle across the ground behind.



If I had to pick one artwork I like best, this would be it. This is an updated design from earlier ones which just focused on the round stone itself. Here you get a mountain which is a head, which has been milled down to mid-forehead. It doesn't need to be colourful at all, the realism of the mountain while encompassing the face is just done so perfectly.



It may be a joke set, but the artwork isn't a joke - it's bank of for a mad scientist, down to the wild look, colourful wires and baubles.



Lastly, the fountain here itself is great, including the reflection and look on the muck, but also, the detail in the background forest view and even the dragon head design - all well detailed and bring the picture to life. You can picture this being an actual place, and that is exactly what the design should be going for.

There you have it - 10 of the best artworks on the artifact cards that I have. May not be the only thing I was planning to post about today, but there you have it....man, that's going to bug me...boo to blogger (though I am sure it was probably my own doing..).

Dupes shouldn't be this quick

I swear that this is literally the other half of the 80 card pack I started yesterday. I bring this up because, there are a few doubles of cards that came up in the first half.

How many you ask? Well...see if you can guess and I'll let you know at the end.



Just the single Jays add - not a dupe from yesterday, but the third copy for the collection.



Not sure on the insert/Donruss King cards if the Donruss King is my card needed for the Donruss King set, or the extra for the error it is, but either way, last copy I need.

A good day on the set adds though...



An excellent bunch - my fave is Thigpen just chillin' in the dugout - just as coll, calm and collected as you would expect from a closer

The dupes...




Hey - nice Cano if nothing else, and Gypsy Queen cards are always good.

So - did you count them up? 8 cards. Out of 80 baseball card, there were 10 that were dupes within the same pack.

Yeah, not really acceptable at all. I know $3 for 80 cards isn't much, but I still wouldn't expect that many dupes in the same pack.

Maybe try our luck again in the next couple days?

What's in a name?

I know people can have quite strong opinions on licensing for sports cards and whether they collect all cards, or just licensed products (ie. Topps baseball and Upper Deck hockey).

There is definitely an advantage to licensed products and the ability to produce better designs, but I don't go as far as just collecting licensed cards, I will still collect the Panini and Donruss cards of the world.

That's why I picked this $3 pack of baseball cards up at the Dollarama - one Jay that was showing, even if it wasn't a licensed card.



Josh Donaldson Panini Pirzm. Licensing aside, it is a nice solid card and nice look in hand as well. I understand why Josh was pushed out of Toronto basically, and happy he has personally done well this past season, but would have liked to see him stick around longer.

Oh yeah, and Jimmy is the other Jay from this half (3rd copy of it I have now I believe).

Luckily there was more than enough late 80s and early 90s cards that I got to keep a bunch on my slowly build sets.




A solid bunch of cards from the late 80s right up to 2015 - another few hundred of these packs and I might luck out into completing all these sets.

Traders...



A shame none of the 1990 Upper Deck fit into my needs there, and no Expos that I know a home for.

A pretty weak half other than the Josh card, so we will see if there is better tomorrow.

Last for today, a quick PWE trade. Well, quick to post, but this one took it's time in the mail as it was coming from Hawaii and Hilochef, and the packages tend to take a few weeks to arrive.



That Donaldson refractor looks amazing in hand. I haven't had one in hand before but can see why some really like the refractors. A rainbow page would be pretty sweet. Lordes and his rainbow foil is nice, but just doesn't hold up to the chrome refractor for shiny look.

Appreciate being able to add these to the collection though and big thanks for the trade Hilochef!