Clubbin' It

 With 1992 Stadium Club baseball being a huge 900 card set - it's one of the larger sets I am working on collecting (albeit slowly), right now. It's in lots like this one that I hope to come across a bunch of additions to the set in one spot, and I lucked into that today big time.

Of course if I am working on a set, I need dupes of Jays to ensure I have copies for the set and for the team collection, so more than welcome getting a couple Jays. The real good time for today is the fact that the rest were keepers, except for two.

Sometimes it's just nice to see page upon page of these cards with the solid photography on the front...and the backs were unique too of course...

Still find the rookie card pic an interesting addition.

Since we are talking about Clubbin'...Ruben looks ready...

Not sure why such a different photo for Ruben, and stands out from all the on field shots, but still - nicely put together.

Oh, and the couple cards that aren't keepers..

Well, the Expo has a home already, but great day of set collecting here!

Adding Up

 Today, we get about 150 cards from 1992-93 O Pee Chee hockey set, which is one that I am slowly collecting, so as it worked out, this was a good bunch from the COVID lot.

A good bunch of Leaf pick ups which is definitely needed in order to have dupes for the set and the team collection. Also nice to pick up Bradley which is rightfully listed as a Tampa Bay card, but for my collecting, since he's in a Leaf uniform - still counts as a Leaf for me.

For your viewing pleasure, some backs which, lack a bit of flare without any pictures, but with full stats and write ups in two languages, lots has been fit in here.

A nice, early Martin Brodeur card in the old school Devils uniforms.

The bunch of keepers is swimming with Sharks which was a big deal at the time with expansion having just happened.

A great bunch of keepers between the set, the Leafs...and even a few UER cards for the error collection...

Added about 20% of the set today - and no, didn't show all the keepers. There were some dupes which, if you are interested, are all coded into TCDB and ready to trade!

A Different Angle

A quick post today because we don't have a lot of cards from this set to look through, but you kinda get a two for one with each card...

Sportflics cards that are in excellent condition. They may scan, showing the different lines on the front, but they are excellent in hand.

I don't recall seeing much of these back when I was collecting as a kind in the late 80s, and still in getting lots the last few years, I still don't see too much of them.

The backs are a simple and solid design, and full stats are always a plus. The Sportflics logo across the bottom may be a bit big, but then again, it is a longer name, so hard to keep it small. Not sure if the cards and Sportflics sets in the late 80s get the love they deserve.

Going Unchecked

Today's cards from the COVID lot are a few different hockey cards, where I ask the question - do checklists have to be unchecked to be collectible?

As a kid, darn right I checked those suckers off. I mean, we didn't have the internet to tell us a checklist, you had to get those cards to know what you had and what was missing. As a kid, it's expected to use them in this way.

Now as an adult, I really want my checklists perfectly unmarked, no matter the set or age. To be fair, the older the card, the more accepting I could be for it being marked up. I wouldn't argue over it on anything before the mid-1980s if I was to pick a timeframe. It would be a bonus going back that far if it was clean, or minimally marked up.

These two inserted checklists are ones I didn't have, and almost give me the set of 6 checklist cards for 1999-200 O Pee Chee hockey.

As you can see, there were more of the checklists, I just happen to have already had those in my collection.

Wow - a couple new to me sets, well new to me having them in my hands. I am a sucker for the retro content, so even though the design on the Century Legends cards is a bit too flashy, the content is nice. Will have to see if we see more of these as I may have to consider collecting it.

Well, not totally unexpected to get the odd card that ends up a little too stuck to its surroundings, and thus becomes packaging material. Still useful though!

Dabble Dribbles

 Today, we have a few random basketball cards coming out of the COVID lot of cards. No real rhyme or reason that I can see why these are together, but here we go.

I like the simplicity of the 1990 Fleer design. Actually didn't know a lot of the cards have a variation - something to do with the black line across the stats on the back. Yeah, the things TCDB and the community there are able to provide as knowledge are amazing. Nice to also pick up the Chambers insert.

Seen a bunch of 1996-97 Upper Deck from the prior lot, so definitely know the design. Best card of the bunch though...

I mean, put together the greatest player of all time, and the amazing basketball show that was Inside Stuff, and makes for a nice card. Sure, just a base card and not much for value, but for the memories in brings up - very amazing.

Ah well, not anything here for me to keep, but still some cool cardboard.

Checked Off

Been a couple days, but we get some more 1994-95 Pinnacle cards today, highlighted by a few keepers.

Absolutely excellent here as all three were actually needs. The Ice Breakers card looks really good with the Blue of the Leafs. Jonsson was decent enough too.

Checklists done by team - so yeah, those count as Leaf cards to me! Also makes it easier to see if I have them all....

Here's why I don't collect the set. I don't like the backs at all. I don't know if it's just the choice of colours, of writing on photos, of stats over the photos, the coin background to the logos.

It just all doesn't work - but also screams mid-90s too.

Is it just me?

They should have just done an Ice Breakers set, not just a subset. They look nice together.

Yeah - I obviously wasn't watching and scanned the checklists upside down. OOPS! Oh well, maybe I'll get it right next time.

More than happy about how much baseball and hockey have been in the set, but I expect that to change at some point. Also would be nice if I was a little higher - would like to hit 20% be keepers, but we are still very early on.

Instant PC

 So, I did a very small type post with Frank Thomas where there were a few cards of his together, but I thought I'd see a couple more complete player PC type sections in this lot, and today we hit one.

Well - there's a keeper with the first card as it's an error. I guess when a new guy is just starting in the league, it's hard to get the details down - like how to spell his name.

Nicklas was a Red Wing his entire career. A feat I've talked about before and respecting and appreciating when it happens because, these days, it's become so rare to see for a long career.

I expect the biggest accomplishment he'd list is the fact he won 4 Stanley Cups with Detroit over his years with the team which spanned 1991-92 through 2011-12.

He was a workhorse as he regularly played almost 80 games in almost ever season except the strike shorted one there in the mid-90s that we try not to remember.

He was a solid D-Man that was usually good for about 13 goals and 45 assists a season. 

More telling for his career is the fact he was a +450 over his tenure in the NHL, with only one season being below zero.

He won the Norris Trophy 7 times, including the Michael Jordan run of 3 on, 2 off, and 3 on with 2000-2003 and then 2005-2008.

A few of these cards have dupes, but most are one offs here in the run. As for myself, there are a few which are keepers because they are in sets I am slowly building, but most are for trade.

The cards here don't span all the way to the end of his career, but about 2/3 of the way there, and this Vintage is a good set add.

I have a couple Leaf cards from Artistic Impressions here, but not any others - they do look quite nice.

29 Lidstrom cards all in - a PC start if I ever wanted to. I don't want to, and don't plan to...but I could...