A Grizzly Beginning

 SO today we start a hobby box I splurged on during Christmas sales.

Though it was released just this past August, Kross and Scarlett were gone from the company not long after. Actually, there have been a number of "cost cutting" or COVID related releases since this product was put together, so a number of the stars here are likely not to be with the company, or not be with NXT anymore given the whole NXT 2.0 rebranding.

A bit annoyed going in as, with the numbers, you get at most 5 base cards per pack, so can get 90 of the 100 base cards, so no chance at a complete base set anyway, and I am still pulling a pack aside for my unopened pack collection - Finn stars here.

Imperium was the UK group de jure and had a great run in supporting WALTER....er....Gunther now in NXT, or whatever you want to call him.

A double shot of Fantasma and his Cruiserweight run.

Base cards end with Riddle who was up to the main roster just weeks after this and has been finding his place, especially with a good RK-Bro run.

Each pack has two of these We Are NXT insert set cards which act as roster cards. I like them, but there are 62 in all, so won't be getting all of these either.

Last up...

Well, the box guarantees 2 autographs a box, and here's one. That's a really nice on card signature. James has had a good run in the Grizzled Young Veterans tag team, and happy this isn't even just the base auto, but the purple parallel - extra cool.

Now to see if the rest are nearly as good...but first...a trade!

Amagee - first time trade partner on TCDB was kind enough to trade the following to me...

Love logo cards - even holograms - and have a majority of the 1991 Upper Deck ones, so needed a second Toronto one in case I get a whole set of them.

The electric diamond Shawn Green is nice too. I use to not have any Electric parallel cards - I now have half a dozen in this set alone, all thanks to an awesome bunch of trading peoples on the interwebs!

The other interesting take away - I didn't realize there was a French version of the 1991 Ultimate Draft set until I got this Yanic. I was better off not knowing that.

The Stadium Club hockey cards get my set down to under 15 cards left, so getting close.

The 1993-92 Score cards give me reason to make a public service announcement. Please watch for language on cards. I mean, Canadian hockey cards of the time, were bilingual, whereas American cards were just English. It's easy looking at the fronts, to not know which it is, and if you don't know, you may not even look at the back. These were supposed to be American versions but wore of the Canadian variety. Does it bother me here? Not at all - happy with either, just took me a minute to rearrange things on TCDB.

I hate when a somewhat Montreal card finds a way to sneak into my Toronto collection. Silly "signed with"....boo!

We end the bunch in a Frakas!

Dwindling Returns

 I should know by now - just buy the cards you want, it's cheaper than buy (re)packs. It's still fun opening the packs, but with only two cards I am keeping from the cards here today, just hits home a bit, that maybe I shouldn't buy these Dollarama repacks anymore. Or at least for a while until the make up is different, but I suspect these are going to be gone or you get less for the same price given card markets recently.

Anyway, I would probably be better of buying cards from 401games for exactly what I want, but still - let's see what we get.

Nice to reach back and get one card pre-2000 with the Urza's Destiny Capashen Standard.

Interesting to see a showcase are card in the repack (the last card - bottom right - in the above). Just a way for Wizards of the Coast to pinch a bit more money out of collectors by having more "rare" cards.

No luck on the Eldrazi card fitting my needs...

Another Prying Blade as there was one in the first half, which gives me three altogether, so all good there.

and a second keeper with the Ballista Charger

Definitely not as good as yesterday, and a bit too repetitive on some of the cards being similar on both sides, but they do at least warn you such can happen. Hopefully some of the packs I still have are a bit better, but at least I got two keepers today, better than none!

Not Spoiled, But Foiled

 It's a good problem to have, to have a bunch of stuff aside to open for this blog, and I am thankful for it. Today (and tomorrow), I'm going to go through another of the Dollarama 100 assorted Magic card packs to see if I luck out on any artifact additions, and generally anything cool in the pack. Today, left half first!

I don't know if the doubling up of the cards is on purpose or not, but I can say, I expect it to happen more with newer cards. The cardstock is so much more thin the last 8-9 years, that two cards together, just seems more likely to happen compared to the old card stock that was thicker.

Seeing Cancel here, also brings up one point - some cards sure get a lot of reprints. I can understand the ease and need, since rules for playing Magic look at newer sets or cycles only, being the legal cards you can play. SO if they want a card to say around and be playable, it needs to be reprinted regularly. Cancel has been in almost 20 sets at this point.

I have my play set of 4 Prophet of the Peak cards, so no help there.

Prismatic Lens is a keeper. Frostwalla seems to be a regular in these repacks.

The first card here, the Totem, is foil and my first artifact foil actually from the Ixilan set, so that's a neat pick up. Prying Blade is a keeper too.

Prismite is a regular in these as well, so no need for this one as I have 4, which means, just 3 keepers from this half. Could be worse. I am going to try and make an effort to see what I can trade away with these Magic cards I don't keep, for ones I will just to see if I can move some, otherwise, I may just sell a box locally to clear some out. Much rather trade though.

Will right beat left? We shall see tomorrow!

Rough Ending

 I guess I am stopping just in time with these last of the 2021-22 Tim Horton's hockey card packs, because of all the cards below, I am only keeping 4 of the base cards - the rest are all dupes. Obviously such is what happens more as you go through packs, the more you have, the less you need, but still a bit of a shame since I won't even be at half the base set.

A bit disappointed the red die cut card here is a dupe, but will look to trade if anyone is interested.

Yeah, pretty much copy my comment above - two for two in dupes of the red die cut cards.

Didn't even win with the last insert, also a dupe.

Kind of means ending with a dud, but they can't all be winners I guess, and overall worked out pretty darn well. Only card I really would have liked to pull would have been the set namesake, but I'll keep an eye out and trade for him somewhere on TCDB as that shouldn't be too difficult.

Continued Gold

 Second last day of Timmies packs, and I don't expect to get anything as good as the Zach Hyman autograph I did a year or two ago. That's okay though, it doesn't always have to be glitter and hits, new cards of any kind are always good.

Have you heard of this McDavid kid? Seems to be doing alright. Edmonton's been an interesting team to watch - both goods and bad - considering the success and failure the team has had in trying to build a contending team around McDavid.

McDavid and Draisaitl make up a huge part of the team, but two players can't always take you all the way. Sure, they can carry you for a time, but to do it throughout the playoffs, once you get to the playoffs, much harder to do.

Sweet - a Leaf makes for a great pack, even if it does have an Aho in it. I took a pause and realized Morgan's been with the Leafs for 9 years now. Can't believe it's been that long. He has grown into a very solid D-man too, and a better point getting than his first couple seasons too.

Excellent end to the packs with another Gold Etchings insert.

A Better Ovi

 Just a few more days of Tim Horton's packs to go through and we start today with a better Overchkin than we got the other day - the gold etchings insert.

Still really like those cards, even if it is Ovi. I do want to point out the alternative Jets uni for Pierre. It may be a little more subdued than other teams, but I like it.

Second pack is a Bruins hot pack with two solid base card additions to go with Nathan's insert. 

We end with a new for me red die cut Laine, and the only dupe for the day with Joel.

As we move along here, I'm guessing I should end up about 50 cards into the 125 base card set, and the inserts have been pretty good for the odds. Still a couple more days to look at and see if we get thereabout.

Back To Backstrom

 I guess I am getting to enough of these Tim Horton's backs that the dupes are showing up a bit more often.

Claude is a dupe, but another sweet red die cut card is a win.

Here is the first completely duplicated pack, even the insert which I had picked up before starting to open these packs. Still a good pack overall, just nothing to keep given the duplicity of it.

We end with a back to back Backstrom pick up. Could be better or worse on the player front, but a bit unlucky for me. Still, a sweet Bobrovsky base at least!

Doubling Up

 More Tim Horton's packs today - a few days worth to go, and the first couple packs continue the theme of yesterday of red die cut inserts...

Sweet in all being needs again, so that's a good part of it. Now having 10 of the 50 red die cut cards is a plus, and the goalie photos are really nice in the set. You don't get full action shots or anything but full photos of them on ice are still nice.

I didn't expect a pack like this. I had always assumed there were just two base cards and one insert in each pack, but here we go - two inserts and a single base card. Not complaining, especially with the goal etching Nylander, but just very surprised by it. I assume it is somewhat unusual given I can't recall getting a pack like that the last few years. Wonder what the odds are of getting two inserts in a pack.

Though the cards you got may not have specifically been great, what's the best surprise like that you have had? I have had a couple packs come with an extra card - ie. says 10, comes with 11. Anyone get something wild like, all inserts, or all error cards?

The Die Is Cut

They may not be rare as far as the inserts go, but I've said how much I like the red die cut inserts in the Tim Horton's 2021-22 product, and here we get my favourite...

Further to my comments yesterday on Ovi, much happier getting a die cut version of The Kid. A shame he had the concussion issues a few years back, definitely impacts his career stats, but doesn't impact him being a first year hall of famer, or still great of the game. Besides, he is the poster boy for the Timmies cards and has been for years.

Two for two with Red Die Cut cards today - sweet!

Sweet - three for three, so up to 8 of the 50 die cut card so far. Just the one base dupe too wish Rasmus makes for another solid bunch of cards.

Any one else look forward to these sets each year? I may not get to opening them right away, but it is probably my favourite hockey release each year - nice design, manageable collectible base set, interesting inserts.

Highlighted By Ovi

 Let's keep working through the Timmies packs and see what else we come up with...three more today...

Jack had a solid first few years with New Jersey, definitely a good pick.

Ovi - never been a fan. I can appreciate the goal ability, but always been in camp Crosby. I think the Crosby/Ovi camps are a bit more diverse than the ol' Gretzky/Lemieux camps were. Definitely has been a goal scorer of this generation given the goal totals in comparison to how many goals get scored these days compared to what Gretzky did back in the high scoring years of the 80s.

Three more, all solid new additions for me finishes off another solid bunch!

Gold and Red

 A few more Timmies packs today from the 2021-22 set, and some nice gold and red cards to show.

We start with another gold etchings insert. Working to play up to the level of dad Keith, we have Brady with the Sens. Early on in his career to see how far he'll go.

The second pack, we start with the red, an excellent Leaf red die cut card. Not going to complain about a Taveres Leaf card that's new for me. A dupe in the base cards though unfortunately.

We end with another Red die cut card, and another base dupe, this time with Letang.

I really like going through these packs when it's busy season as it makes for a quick and easy distraction. Now, I'd love if the packs had 5, 6, or more cards, but that would be a pipe dream for the price.

There's Some Leafy Goodness

 Happily, it didn't take too long into these Tim Horton packs to hit some Toronto cards.

I like me some Mitch Marner. He may not be the big star in Toronto, but he isn't too far behind. Also happy to get Carey, just because the other I have is in the error binder, so I needed a good one in case I ever actually make a run at the full base set.

Another ProMotion card means I am doing much better than the odds on those as well.

The Superstar Showcase design is fine I guess, though it doesn't do too much for me.

The gold etching cards on the otherhand, I adore. I love them, though this year's seem a little flatter in the colour than prior years. Not a big complaint, but just noticing there must be a difference in the way or tone of the foiling used.

This also have the first base dupe with Pietrangelo. So, not perfect, but pretty darn close!