Oiled and Flawed

 Another triple shot of Timmies packs today and we hit oil...

Can't really complain in getting two more McDavid cards, and both being inserts is sweet.

Let's talk printing errors though. The Forsberg Gold Rush insert looks great, but the printing on it is obviously off as you can see the imprint off from the player outline. It's cool because I will take it as an error card, and I am surprised to see it in Timmies cards as I haven't before. Don't know if it's a real issue for this release or if I got "lucky".

NY and Washington

Three packs again today and a number of cards from New York and Washington.

I will remain not so much a fan of Ovi, but will give him his dues as I though he was about to be written off production wise before this past season, but he look like himself from 5 years ago this past season.

Luck of the draw gives a Ranger in each pack to boot.

His Set

Second day of packs and we get the man himself...

Standard to the set, base card number one is Tim Horton himself. Also get my first Inmotion insert. Luke was a Calder Trophy finalist in 2024 and is a solid part of the Devils line up.

Great adds with no dupes today.

Start The Timmies!

As promised, today we start into the 2024-25 Tim Hortons packs I got at Christmas from mom and with the binder, see how far we get on a master set...probably not very - but should be a good  start.

As usual, Crosby on the pack, and one away for the unopened pack collection, and a bunch to open! Usual three a day to start.

Well, if I am going to get a dupe in the first three packs, I am cool with it being a Leaf. With 120 base cards, surprised to get one so quick, but all good.

Not a big fan of the stress on the "10" logo given the anniversary, I get it, but too much to the logo for me.

The base design otherwise is great usual Timmies, and the couple inserts here are the most common, but look good. Wouldn't have minded a die cut Maple Leaf for the True North design, but small complaint.

Solid start!

Bowman's Finest

 When I see Bowman's Best cards, they remind me of a Finest ripoff. Well, shouldn't say ripoff, but a similar take. Not sure why there is such a need for sets so similar, and this one for 2020 at a whopping 70 cards in a base set means there isn't much to collect there and again, it's all about the inserts/chase.

Good news for my collection - the Top Prospect cards are inserts, so I keep the above but not enough to collecthe base cards which are here...

At 70 cards for a base set, easy to just keep the set to the stars. The design is fine enough but the backs definitely lack...

I am tired of the basic write up backs - give me stats! No Jays (boo), but I am sure I can trade some of these away - just having to put more effort into that once busy season is over. I'm still going to post every day, but I am going to work through the 2024-25 Tim Hortons packs I got from my mom at Christmas, as they make for fun, but short openings each day and will hopefully help me get through another April!

News and Drafting Again

Before we get to the cards and post for today - obviously Ovi has been the big news with the hunt for, and passing oof Gretzky for the goal scoring record in the NHL. I have never been the biggest of Ovi fans - always been a Crosby fan in the rivalry between the two, and no matter how you cut it, it's a great accomplishment, and you can't really compare the two as the time Gretzky played in is quite different from the one Ovechkin has played in, but I will say one thing, which I find a compelling argument when considering who is better.

Gretzky isn't a goal scorer. Gretzky was a playmaker who was best known for seeing and reading plays from his office behind the opposing goal when on offense. Let that sink in - Ovechkin's being celebrated for passing a guy, who happened to get a lot of goals, but who wasn't a goal scorer.

Don't get me wrong, Gretzky was a good goal scorer, but his "job" has to do with the assists he earned, and doing that, he happened to get a lot of goals too. I have no problem saying Ovi is a better goal scorer than Gretzky, but a number of people were "better" goal scorers, however none were better at reading the game and being able to play ahead of where the game was at to find the opening that was going to be there in a few seconds, based on the play that was unfolding.

I stick by the fact - you really can't compare play across generations as the game itself is quite different, and Ovi can be celebrated for accomplishments, and it doesn't take away from Gretzky and his - just very different players, at very different times, that ended up with one stat being similar.

In baseball, if initial headlines are true - Jays may well just have locked down Vladdy Junior at $500M over 14 years which will make him a career Jay one would expect. Cautious optimism and hoping this turns out to be a done deal and agreed to, though should be seen that we find out!

Most of the cards from the BASEball lot today are 2020 Bowman Draft cards, but nice to get a couple keepers. 

Groshans was a solid card at the time, and nice to get, not one, but four copies. Since I didn't have one before, nice to get a new pick up. The other keeper...

I suspect this was missed when searched through by others before the lot got to me. Definitely a surprise and solid pick up being a serial numbered card.

Those are the keepers, but a smattering of cards to show you from the base set are below. Same design as Bowman, just the Draft set and at 200 cards, not enough to push me to want to build it.

There were a few other Bowman cards. I updated the numbers and nothing new for me here, but I missed sorting properly as they would have been shown before if I did.

The Best of Bowman from 2020 to show tomorrow.

More Shiny

 I am not scanning all of the cards I picked up from 401games here, but there is a smattering to show. I continued to buy foil cards I was missing with the saving on the sales tax until mid-February that happened, and my 10% of singles loyalty discount, so was good reason to pick up 200 or so cards.

I will say, with the cards mostly spanning 2018-2022, you could see the vast difference in quality with the tweaks to the foiling process as the cards in some sets were very much pringles with curves that were enough to push the scanner lid up and allow you to still see the bend like these...

The etched cards do much better as shown with some below as they tend not to curve at all. The look is very different, and for some sets they have different cards getting each treatment...

I like the etched cards too, though they scan quite dark, especially with the brown retro frames, still nice and sparkly in hand though.

The bulk of the 200 cards were for artifact cards from the Unfinity goofy set as there were whole mechanics and special cards of "artifacts" for use in the game with those mechanics. The "fun" part is that each of those artifacts had multiple different versions because of the "lights" on nthe right side of the box as you can see in the example below...

Not all of the cards have 6 different versions, some only 4 or or less, but yeah, you can see what I mean of the differences. Cool to get so many cards for a solid price, even if they are a bit repetitive like these.

Dan Is The Man

 Dantheman at TCDB is a good guy for wrestling cards, I just usually don't have much to trade to him. I did have a few cards and worked to narrow down a few of my wrestling base lists - though wasn't able to get any specific one done.

I thought I may have the 2020 WWE Topps Road To Wrestlemania base set done, but I seem to be three cards short which I am having a hard time finding, though I supposedly have them. I put them back on my want list, but at the same time, I am going to hunt for them. I am just surprised they are MIA unless they somehow made it to my trade list also, by mistake and have left the premises by error.

The rest here are flagship Topps sets for WWE, and each are over 80% done at this point. I just have to keep trying to narrow these down, but should be able to get there eventually. Bo Dallas is criminally under utilized still and has deserved better - just wish they knew what to do with Uncle Howdy and had a long drawn out plan for him and the group. May not be 2 years plus like Cody's title chase, but something to last 6 months and put some direction on him would be great.

A Smaller Completion

It may not be completing three base sets, but this small PWE trade with TCDB member Metch35...

These include the last two of three Jays from the 2022 Panini Absolute retail base set, which are the two big names you would expect if you were picking three Jays for a 2022 base set.

With one base add for 2021 Topps, that winds up this PWE. I did add the missing base cards to my want list for 2021 Topps as I figure they may come in this way...one or two in many trades, instead of full trades for missing one. Time will tell if it continues.

Nyoj1971 With My Most Productive PWE

I'd say it's a productive PWE if it finishes off not one, not two, but three different base sets. Not to mention, they are all of the same brand and set, just different years.

Readers on the blog probably know how much I like the Tim Horton sets, and I slow collect them all. Well, here I have the final cards I needed for the 2017-18 set. It may only be 100 cards, but yes, took me about 7 years to finish.

With the lot of cards from Value Village I picked up a while ago, it also left me near completion on the 2019-20 set, with these two cards finishing that set off and...

These are the last I needed for the 2020-21 set as well.

I can't recall a PWE that was able to finish off this many sets for me at one so it was a great trade and nice to put some of these sets to bed, though none of them are ones I have binders for so they get the box treatment - but I love them just the same!

Three Different Things

 A trade to share from TCDB member b14rebel which was just three cards but with very different purpose.

Cora Jade fills the "collect everything wrestling" bucket. I am not a big Panini fan but the Prizm set is starting to wear on me a bit, in a good way.

Fred Lynn was....I think an upgrade for a very rough version I wanted replaced. Nothing special really but now and then I will look to upgrade if a card is really rough.

Cameron is a base card add for a slow set build.

Sometimes, a lot can be done with just a few cards!

As always, appreciate the trade!

Start Of The End

 It is April - one month of the busy crazies left at work for busy season. I've made it through 24 times so far this life...let's make it 25 I guess. Sorry if the chats get shorter here while the month goes, but first of the month and I am no fool - happy to have done this PWE trade with TCDB member Nashino.

The best of this trade is the Nylander cards from 2021-22 Artifacts. I think I still have a blaster or two of this to open, but I am going to try and build this base set, so either way, will need a dupe.

The green foil parallel is nice and at least you can see the difference in the cards.

The Robertson rookie is a great one-off addition too, do t get me wrong, but the Nylander works towards a bigger build. Hopefully I can keep having time for little trades at least this month.

Just One Card

 I don't usually do trades for a single card, but if it's an auto or memorabilia card, I will almost always make an exception. I traded a couple 1972 O Pee Chee base for this auto...

Kevin appeared in 18 games for Toronto in 2021, then spent 2 years in Oakland appearing in about 59 games each season there before going to the Yanks. In about 330 plate appearances, he is batting under .180 - not great.

May be that his biggest accomplishment was being part of the players traded by Oakland to get Matt Chapman from Toronto - for what that is worth.

In Person

 A trade offer came my way from a fellow Canadian but on accepting the offer, I found it was from someone in the same city. TCDB member watbird was kind enough to stop by and make the 10 minute drive to save a stamp and a few days wait for the mail. He had wanted a few A&G baseball cards as he was working on the 2019 set, so I gave him what he was looking for and the other 20 that he needed as well and for my side of the trade, I received...

I really like the Bo Stadium Club insert card, and any Vladdy is a good Vladdy. Had to include some hockey in the trade too...

New to me UD, and the Woll has to be my fave of the bunch.

I like having local trade partners as it's nice to fill needs for someone without the worry of the postage cost - here's to hoping I can do that with watbird.

The Rest Foiled

Well, almost all of the rest of the cards are foil Magic cards, a couple base versions snuck in with the order, but let's take a look.

As can happen over time, some new cards end up being a take off on other cards. For example, Galvanic Juggernaut is very similar to Juggernaut, though a bit more powerful. As for the Cogwork cards, a number have come into the lore of MTG over the years as well.

Sometimes, cards are not so creative - Shard of Glass and Magnifying Glass being prime examples. Cards are fine in ability, just maybe not so fantastic as they could be.

Soul Separator - now there's a more fantastical card that is Magic worthy!

I wasn't a big fan of the vehicles and related mechanics when they came in, but luckily they didn't really last. I get what they were going for, but sometimes more complexity isn't needed.

Though I prefer Bottled Gnomes, Ticking Gnomes aren't too bad an alternative. A solid bunch of additions and at a good price give the sale.

It Still Counts

 Over the holidays - yes, the Christmas holidays, 401games had a sale on foil cards at 15% off, which, coupled with the sales tax holiday in Canada, meant a good deal, so I went a bit overboard on picking up some foil MTG cards. I also happened to get a $5 Paypal voucher, which, given I rarely ever use Paypal, I had to find something to spend it on, so I picked up the first card in this lot for basically nothing.

Sure, it may not be a true Mox, the original of which are all expensive artifacts from the early days, but a nice Jack-in-the-Mox is a fun pick up I've eyed for a while. A rare from the Unglued set, it pokes fun at the original Mox cards and their ability, while bringing in a bit of the D&D type roll for ability flair that came into MTG in some sets, in real force, with the D&D crossover not too long ago.

You may need to take my word for it that these are all foil cards, but they are. I went through my needs from TCDB and matched up for anything under $1, so nothing too expensive as I went for quantity over quality here.

Also yes, there are duplicates in cards as I do collect one from each set, so if it was in 10 sets, I may end up with 10 of them....or more...Meteorite is a good example of a reprinted card I do have a few of.

Pilgrim of the Fires is a solid big guy with good abilities, and though the casting cost is high, for an artifact deck that can spew out mana, that wouldn't be much of an issue.

Regardless of the abilities or down side - I remember back in the early days of Magic, a 10/10 creature would be insane. In my early decks, the Colossus of Sardia was a 9/9 for 9 casting cost and didn't untap unless you paid 9 - and I ran a deck with three of them. They had trample, and were fun to run people over with, but now, a 9/9 seems like standard fair with some of the bigger guys they have come out with.

I guess it is the foiling which makes some of the text look way worse scanned as the cards look perfectly fine in hand. Though - the worn look does do well to feed into the "artifact" aspect of the cards I guess. To think this is only about half the cards I picked up - so more to share tomorrow!

LightzZ It Up!

 Another trade to share from TCDB - this one both baseball and hockey and with TCDB member LightzZ - fellow Canadian, out of Quebec.

A nice dabble of Jays and a single 2021 Topps set build addition dab smack in the middle. I don't mind the camo border look, though for some reason I like it best on Opening Day sets - I mean, opening day....grass is green....camo colours....works for me.

I continue to pick up Timmies cards of the Leaf variety through trades - awesome - and a Stand Up Pinnacle Inside card which, coupled with another card that slides into it, makes a stand up card - hence the name. An interesting idea, but as the cards come alone, it takes effort to collect both parts to get the full effect of the card. Now I have to seek out the other such card here, but at least I have half in hand now because of this trade!

Wuzzleteats Comes Through!

 An all hockey offering received today, and though I have some 2024-25 Timmies packs, we get a number of Leafs as they are already on my want list, and some Duos Leafs too...

The O Pee Chee cards, including the retor designs are great, but getting all three Leaf By The Numbers inserts from the DUos set is awesome - love it!

He also wins for getting me my first 2024-25 Timmies base cards in hand - though I should open through all the packs I got soon as that's a great busy season activity as it's max reward with minimum effort. The inserts here include all the Leaf cards (yes, one a piece) for Frozen Hot Shots, In Motion Phenoms, and Pure Gold. I love the Tavares Ture North Future card, and the second Leaf from that one should be on it's way to me as well, so opening the packs, it's getting second copies in working towards the master set.

Big thank yous as trades like these check off so many collecting mini-goal boxes, they feel great, and are a big plus when work is so busy!

A Better Way?

 A small PWE trade to share today from ChicagoPalta. I got a few Heritage release cards for the Jays collection from 2004 and 2006 which raise a really good question...

When serial numbering a card like the Overbay - is any real thought put into how it's done? I mean, in this case, you just slap a nice gold numbering which is easy to read due to the large size, right over the back of the card in a way that covers a bunch of text and is in a different direction to the text. It's not like the text direction changes on these cards, so why isn't it in a better position?

I think many of these have gotten better over the years and manufacturers generally find a way to place it without "ruining" the card otherwise, but I don't know why it was ever an issue like this rather than just being something to consider when making the card design in the first place.

I could sit here and also ask why there would be a Chrome insert or parallel set for a Heritage product, but I think that ship has long ago sailed away since we seem to be willing to make any parallel or insert for any set if it means more chance to sell.

Okay, let's be positive though, the back design of these is otherwise, well done, and the fronts of the 2004 work well....but Overbay, sorry, that Chrome finish - just no.

Last positiove to end on, these are my first Jays cards for 2004 Bowman Heritage and for the 2006 Topps Heritage Chrime parallel sets, so that's cool at least!