2018 Donruss - This Belongs to Someone Else

Today we have a hanger box of 2018 Donruss which I picked up from Dave & Adam's last year (I have absolutely no cards from the base set before we crack into this). As soon as I started going through this box...



All I could think is that I accidentally picked up a box that belonged to everyone's favourite sports card blogger Night Owl.

To cut right to the centre of it all - 60 cards, and not a single Toronto Blue Jay card. With 60 cards, once you get rid of all the inserts, etc, there are 46 base cards. With a 275 card base set, that isn't enough for me to want to collect this set. Typically I would consider it if I am getting more than 10% of the base set, which I meet in this case, but I just don't like the design enough to care about the set. That said, wo we are left with keeping inserts, short prints, parallels, Diamond Kings because they are always awesome and error cards, but while I go through, let's count those Dodger cards.

To be fair, there are (including short prints) 20 Dodger base cards, and only 6 Blue Jays base cards, but still.

First up, let's look at the keepers...



I love Diamond Kings - but this design is not one of my favourite. So much wasted space.

Dodger Count - 1.

Next up for keeps, the short print base card variations...



The name variations aren't a big deal, though I Frank Thomas is one of my "if I did the player collection thing, he'd be one" guys. As much as I like the original 1982 design, the re-do in the subset is okay, but not mind blowingly pretty or anything.

Dodger Count - 3



I am a sucker for Sparkle & Shine (that was a good song by the way), and the 5 promised holo green parallels are pretty nice on an otherwise meh design.

Dodger Count - 4

Going through the base cards now, which are all up for grabs...



Verdugo brings the Dodger count to 5, while I like the Snider card out of these.



Wood is Dodger number 6.



Nice to get the Trout Diamong King and regular base in the same box.



I will say, I like the subset of star cards, represented in the bottom row here. Also, Mantle is always a great pick up.



The end of the base set includes all the 1982 retro designed cards, and Dodgers 7 and 8 in Bellinger and Kershaw.

If only I were a Dodger collector.

You will notice I didn't go over my normal scoring as I had to figure the best way to do it, since the odds aren't really |per pack| and Donruss didn't provide such figures. What I think is fair reflection, since we don't have any inserts really or serial numbers, is reflecting the usual 3 points for need/keep cards, and 1 for others.

As such, we end up with 88 points for the 60 cards - much lower than it would have been if this were a set I decide to collect, but that's fair again I think as the box then overall, just isn't as worth while for my collecting purposes - but as always, was fun for the rip.

1)	2018 Diamond Kings Baseball	6.0400
2)	2019 Topps WWE Women's Division Blaster	5.6825
3)	2013 Triple Play Baseball Box	3.2588
4)	2017 Panini Chronicles Blaster	3.0000
5)	NHL Championship Collection	2.8818
6)	Dollarama 80 Card Assorted Baseball Pack 2	2.5432
7)	Dollarama 80 Card Assorted Baseball Pack 1	2.4578
8)	2017 WWE Then Now Forever Hanger Box 1	2.1190
9)	2017 WWE Then Now Forever Hanger Box 2	1.7857
10)	2018 Donruss Hanger Box	1.4667

Would have been middle of the pack if I decided to collect the base set though.

Wheeler Dealer

The last pack out of the NHL Championship Collection is Parkhurst circa 2016-17, and is a definite Blake Wheeler hot pack.



These red parallels which fall every three packs are by far better looking to me than the classic Parkhurst green. I appreciate the history behind the green, but just like the pop of the red better.

Speaking of Wheeler...here are the base cards...



Yeah, they actually came out of the pack right beside each other. The photo work is typical for the set and mundane, but at least Murray looks like he may be eyeing a play.

A bit of a whimper in ending this box.

15 Packs, 110 Cards, 317 Points.

1)	2018 Diamond Kings Baseball	6.0400
2)	2019 Topps WWE Women's Division Blaster	5.6825
3)	2013 Triple Play Baseball Box	3.2588
4)	2017 Panini Chronicles Blaster	3.0000
5)	NHL Championship Collection	2.8818
6)	Dollarama 80 Card Assorted Baseball Pack 2	2.5432
7)	Dollarama 80 Card Assorted Baseball Pack 1	2.4578
8)	2017 WWE Then Now Forever Hanger Box 1	2.1190
9)	2017 WWE Then Now Forever Hanger Box 2	1.7857

So far, a couple months into the year, and this one hits middle of the pack as far as the boxes/packs go that I have opened so far.

Something separate that has been a big winner, is the awesomeness of baseballcardstoreca. I've received a number of great packages and have another to share today.



We start with some solid Jays content. Most of the Jays are newer, but do get one nice 80s Sportflics with Gruber.  Oh, and as it took me a bit to find, the Wells is a 2001 Tools Traded Reprint. Never seen a card from that set before.

Into the 2010s, we see a number of Dickeys. I think he looks most pained in the Finest (my first card from that set), and most identical in the bottom two.



We get a couple more Dickeys here and a few EEs as well.



The hockey portion had a few General helpers, but also completed a few team sets...



The second half of the 90s saw the real start to getting many sets each year. Here we have the rest of Donruss Canadian Ice. How can I not get a full team set since it is so patriotic.



Keeping the Canadian feel, we also have a Leaf set. I like the design here more as the blue fits the team while the white of Canadian Ice looks more like dead space.



We then end with the entire Leaf Preferred team set of my preferred Leafs. Another solid design and three team sets knocked off from the second half of the 90s. Awesome and many thanks to baseballcardstoreca....so check out www.baseballcardstore.ca.

O Pee Chee Insert

2015-16 Upper Deck is one of the flagship sets that I haven't had much collecting in, so not on my keeper list of sets. Inserts yes, and this one is a solid one.



A stud of a player, he has been tearing it up this year with the Rangers. Add to that this being a retro O Pee Chee rookie, and that's a solid insert.

As for the base cards themselves...



No surprise - a solid design again, and some alright cards here with the highlight to me being MacKinnon. Not a lot to say otherwise, but just the quick pack today.

One left from the box tomorrow to finish it off.

14 Packs, 100 Cards, 305 Points.

Today, also want to do a quick Christmas share as I have it going into the collection now - and it is the thought that counts. My in laws know nothing really about sports cards, but know I collect and every now and then pass on a small stack they likely pick up at the Value Village in town. This typically means junk wax that is over priced, so it can be hit and miss. The chunk of cards this time was all 1991 Upper Deck baseball - a set I am slowly collecting, and need plenty from, so this pile ended up doing just fine.

Only one Toronto card...



But with the terminator, a bunch of adds...



And not too many dupes...



1991 Upper Deck is such a nice clean design and solid set - will have to finish this one off one day.

One more share - because I have time today, and don't know when to tack these on otherwise. I don't do much on Listia anymore but did pick these up as a way to do something with my credits...



The Magic card is a new add from 2008 Shadowmoor, while the Lucien is a 5th copy, but was cheap. Yeah, not likely to do much on Listia these days so don't expect to see much more from there any time soon.

Platinum Parallel

I am in no way collecting 2014-15 O Pee Chee Platinum. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty set, but with a mere four cards a pack, and not being a product I wanted to drop money on, and not much as far as desire on the cards involved, just not happening.

They are pretty cards. Heck, best card of the 4 in this pack from the NHL Championship Collection box is a nice rainbow - after taking a few minutes to try and sort through the different parallels.



Nice scanned colour scheme with the Sharks, and Hertl isn't too bad a pick up for a rainbow card (which fall every 3 packs).



Best of the base, a nice rookie in Ekblad. While the others...



Solid again, but no Leafs so not an overwhelmingly good pack for my own collecting.

13 Packs, 92 Cards, 286 Points.

Misrepresented and Great Scott!

So today, we very clearly have a pack of 2013-14 Upper Deck Series 1. Here is a scan again of the package if you don't believe me.



Why do I bring this up? Well, it may not be a set I am collecting, so my care here is for Leafs and inserts. No Leafs, but here is the front and back of the insert...



Appreciate getting one of these as they are every 12 packs, but the back of the pack clearly says series 2, as well as being 2012-13 Upper Deck...huh. Not sure what happened there, but so be it. Just thought it was an interesting issue on the card.

As for the base cards, here they are without further ado...



Another solid design for a flagship set by Upper Deck

12 Packs, 88 Cards, 280 Points.

On a separate note, Jeff Scott - a reader and local Toronto guy, was nice enough to reach out again regarding some cards he's offloading as he pairs down his collection. He offered the cards up, and what I am planning to do once I go through them, is catalog a separate for sale collection with them on TCDB and simply work in, when trading, that I get back some Boston hockey cards for him. Since he is so close, when I have a bunch, I can meet up with him or otherwise get them over to him.

At a glance, I expect there are a few thousand cards to go through, and as the next couple months are my busiest work wise, I think this will be a May-July project, with the hopes of having a health stack to him later this year.

Sorry Jeff for not getting into them sooner, at least for showing on the blog, but I will try and get some of the stuff entered over at TCDB sooner and see what I can do!

Victory Luck and Brassard

As usual with these packs, I try not to really look at what the inserts are until I need to, just to keep a bit more surprise. So, with this pack of 2009-10 Upper Deck, I wasn't expecting this...



Probably not a name big with America sports followers, but I was the right age growing up, and following the Olympics that Brassard was a big deal. Also introduced many Canadians to the moguls (which, unlike the name may suggest, are not fuzzy little forest creatures - moguls sounds like such a thing). If you don't know, think of the moguls as doing a straight downhill ski, except there are bump the entire way, except a couple breaks where there are jumps.

The other insert...



Sweeeet. Love the Leaf content, and new card for the collection too.



A great pack for new base adds as well, as these were the new ones. The Malkin is a great shot, even if it is horizontal.

Lonely dupe...



I'd say this was the best pack so far.

11 Packs, 80 Cards, 261 Points.

Also for shares today - more baseballsportscardsca love!



We start with something recent I mentioned as here is the final card from the 6 card insert set out of 2012-13 Score, "The Franchise". A great add and nice insert set to have knocked off.



Speaking of knocking off, these three cards provide the single Jays cards in the respective sets. These are the first Silver Slugger and Homerun Heroes cards I think I have ever had in hand...now only about 30 years after the products were out.



Other wrap up items - we have some last cards out of Toronto team sets with some 1993 O Pee Chee Premier and the American purple bordered 1001-92 Score set.



Not to fear - lots of other Leaf goodies of course. As much as I really like the higher end feel and cards of Leaf Limited and Summit - that Ed Belfour Beehive card with the blue border is really nice. I think the colour just makes it pop nicely.



I really should have more 1989 and 1991 O Pee Chee cards. I don't know why, even at the time, it was the Topps versions I ended up with a lot. Being in Toronto, I would have thought it would all be O Pee Chee in stores.

The Robbie Flair is much better in hand, the shiny background doesn't scan as nicely here as it actually is in hand.



Some great variety in Jays here. A pretty mini with the 2016 Diamond King, otherwise - I am not a fan of a couple of the designs, specifically the Stanley Circa Thunder which is so 90s with all the colour, and the later Fleer Game Time design which doesn't do much for me with the excessive bordering designs.

Lastly,



Well that was unexpected. Didn't think I'd see a Magic card come along my way, but definitely a solid add as this is a card from Apocalypse circa 2001. The symbol (mid right of the card) being silver means it is an uncommon.

Wouldn't make my favourite artwork list, but a new one for my collection of artifact cards, and another golem artifact too!

Another awesome package of cards from baseballcardstoreca!