Opening A $100 Pack

So I thought, why not go out with a bang? I was given this pack as a gift a few years ago - I think my brother bought it for me for my birthday and it was about $40 at the time. Looking more recently at it, it's now up to $100 or so Canadian. I had a pack already in my unopened pack collection where it will remain, so this one has been waiting for good reason to be opened, and the end of 2025 seems good reason enough.

The biggest of hits would be a Jewelled Lotus which would be an artifact card I'd love to have but I don't expect to be that lucky. I will be valuing the cards per 401games to see what it would cost to buy the cards now to at least see if it gets me the $40, the $100, or maybe more.

The token is a keeper - but value wise these are each about 30 cents, so let's call it $2 for the commons.

Sweet! Sol Ring is a great uncommon and at about $20. The rest total about $4, so not great there.

Each of the above, save one, are about $1.50 each. Nekusar is about $10 CDN. Put those all together and the pack value of the cards is about $42.

Wouldn't have been worth that back when I got it, but we did okay based on the hold for a few years. Didn't get the current day value out of it, but that isn't surprising to me. Still, three keeps is an okay outcome.

Final standing for my openings this year, and had some good openings this year (and some bad). I think that tomorrow, with a new year, we start with a new focus for 2026 - stay tuned to find out more on the otherside!

Luck In Magic

 As we near the end of the year, a one off pack to open today and I can't remember exactly where this pack came from. That's okay though, all that matters is that, we try and get something for the collection out of it, and if I can't get that, maybe some good trade value I can use at 401games to turn into cards I want.

Being a set booster, only 12 cards but a higher likelihood of what would be considered "better"cards. First up, the commons, lands, etc...

Well, the land being a pretty foil full art card is good for a quarter in trade value which is more than you usually get out of a land. No colourless land or artifacts though, so it will come down to the uncommons and rares/mythics.

At first, I was disappointed because the mythic, though great to hit, isn't one for my collection, and is a cheap one for trade unfortunately. That said, the Dilophosaurus is one of the more rare cards being a dinosaur insert (the set was Jurrasic Park related as per the package). Should be good for about $10 in trade, so that alone is more than the cost of the pack. I also got lucky with the pack as "list" cards which are noted by the little symbol in the bottom left corner, fall every four packs and we get one here which, for trade value would be about $5 too.

So, disappointing that, as a pack, I didn't get anything directly for my collection, so a flop of a pack in that regard. I should have about $16 in trade value to come from it so I should still be able to turn it into a win with cards I do want...yay!

A Grinch For The Holidays

Not to worry though, it's a good one! TCDB member imthegrinch sent along some wrestling cards I need and took some wrestling card dupes I didn't need, and here we are!

I never played any of the collectible card game which came out in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Timing wasn't right as I was busy with university and was away from the whole CCG scene. Looking back - I'd still not likely play, Magic was more for me, but now, I am more than happy to collect the cards like wrestling cards. Still don't care about the mechanics of the game, but appreciate the part of history and the wrestling business they show and represent in cardboard form.

There were some more standard wrestling cards with some really nice 2010 Topps Platinum cards, a couple 2017 Topps WWE Road To Wrestlemania base cards, and my fave from the bunch, the TNA insert which talks about Kurt Angle's move to TNA.

That move really did do big things for TNA as Kurt, though a behind the scenes / medical issue for WWE, so understand fully why he was let go, the bringing in to TNA really put a spotlight on the company. It didn't sustain years later, but definitely helped while Kurt was there

A Couple More Team Sets

Keeping with the trade trend, this wrap up is of a trade with TCDB member JEGoethe who took some of my 1994 Finest baseball cards and in exchange provided the below...

Here we have almost all of the rest of the 1993 Score base Blue Jays I needed for the team set - not quite, but almost. Appreciate the couple nice subset designs with Alomar and Stewart.

Happily, the two first cards in this scan help complete the 29 card base Blue Jays team set for 1993 Stadium Club, and 23 card base Blue Jays team set for 1994 Donruss. The Emotion set cards are cool, but getting to finish off a couple prime Blue Jays team sets from the early 90s, by far the awesome part of this trade.

The way I store my team cards, I need to work on finishing up some more team sets - until they are done, I store them in binders my year, then manufacturer and set, but once done, I move them to individual storage boxes, for example, 25 ct plastic storage box, then store those separately by year and manufacturer/set. The binders keep growing as new sets come out and I don't get finished team sets nearly as quickly.  problem I don't mind having, but maybe something I can focus on to clean up some of the team sets next year....or the year after...hard to focus on too many things at once.

Livin' On The Edge

 A picked these up a while ago, but didn't have a chance to share - I usually wait until the checklists are in TCDB and I can log the cards in, then I move everything to my collection. Another Magic set, and another example of prices for these things getting a bit carried away.

I picked the packs up the day of release - prices were basically $8 and $42 respectively for the two packs - Collector packs being excessive in price as usual. The play packs stay around that price but collector boosters continue like in recent sets to jump quickly - this one now up over 50% from that original price.

Nots let even talk about the Universe Beyond products - Final Fantasy doubling in price, and other doing well above original suggested price too. Sad to see as it doesn't really have much to do with the game and mechanics, but moreso with the interest around the collectivity of the cards.

Anyway, I picked up some cheaper singles for the collection as well...

A couple lands which provide colourless mana.

As for the artifacts...

A nice nine base card artifacts. Nothing overwhelmingly amazing in the bunch, but solid cards.

Foil versions for those that were available and continued to be cheap enough - not looking to spent $100 on singles for each release and picking up most of the cards, rather see how far $10 will take me each time, give or take.

We end with the commander set release and related artifact cards. I still continue to love much of the artwork. So as much as the cards and game rules may tweak and change, the artwork continues to be phenomenal and interesting to see and collect. As usual, with boxing day, I did some sale snooping at 401games and the results of such singles purchases, those will be upcoming when I pick up early in the new year.

Bigfrankiee88 Cards and Boxing Day

 With the aftermath of another big holiday, lots of boxes being put into recycling, and envelopes too. We add another envelope to the pile from a PWE trade I received from TCDB member Bigfrankie88. Frankie - when I hear the name, I think about the bullies from Boy Meets World which probably dates me a little.

The cards which came my way were...

So, the Dino card was my fault. When adding cards to my list of wants, I must have clicked one too many and picked up a Tampa instead of Toronto...and when the trade was offered, I didn't look hard enough to catch my mistake. Oh well, it happens.

Besides, getting a Cherry Blossom parallel from 2021 Topps Japan Edition - a card I would never have thought I'd own, with a serial number of 11 of 99, more than makes up for it. Very cool card and pre-TCDB days, wouldn't think of being able to buy/find it because I'd likely never pay the amount I'd need to to buy a single card like that online.

The best looking card in the bunch though has to be the Dazzler - they come in many colours but the blue with the Maple Leaf team colours just looks fabulous. Would love to trade for more of them, just fantastic!

To boot, Lourdes Future Star card is a one and done Jays insert set too - a lot to unwrap in a single little trade - I love it!

Hopefully yesterday was a great day for anyone celebrating, and if you wanted hobby related things, I hope you got them. Here is a quick run through of what I ended up with...

As usual, my mom was good for the current year Tim Hortons hockey set binder and some packs to get me started. I have come a long way with many of the sets in the last year, though I don't have a completed binder yet.

As for Santa, he put a number of packs for my unopened pack collection in my stocking...

As well as one under the tree...

Glad I didn't have to pay the hundreds of dollars for this pack which I will cherish into my unopened pack collection. I mean, love or hate the Magic 30th anniversary set, the prices have held on these. Whether you consider them a novelty, a professional proxy, what have you, it's hard to argue they are a cool set. It should have just been mass produced and used to increase interest in the hobby instead of a cash grab from suckers (like me)....still, a very cool set, and now I can mistakenly believe I may have a Black Lotus in my collection, because it might be true!

A Vari Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas one and all. A trade that is quite appropriate as it is vari focused on variations with TCDB member tucha. As you may )or may not) know, there are a number of different hologram variations for early 1990s sets, and here we are dealing specifically with hockey. It's to the point that, for my Leaf cards in 1990-91 Upper Deck, there are about 4 hologram variations for each card, so a real team set with all variations is about 100 cards. I am still working on the variations, and that's what this trade is focused on. 

It isn't just English, and isn't just 1990-91 as some of the cards here are French and the following year, but much of the same reasoning behind the trade and collecting them here - the mini variations.

I generally don't care, but for the team collecting, I do like having copies of all the different microvariations, so cool to pick more of these up. I don't think it's a necessity to many team collectors - that one variation is good enough, but it does give me something more to "chase" that isn't an expensive pursuit, just the time to find them and trade!

With that short and sweet share - enjoy the day and have some great time with family and friends and see you back here tomorrow I hope!

A Christmas Eve and A Hockey Day

 In the midst of the wintry season and holidays, nothing more appropriate to lead in than hockey cards and why not a one off pack of 2024 National Hockey Card Day.

I have a pack in my unopened pack collection and a few cards from it, but definitely keeping any new to me cards and maybe we will get a Leaf...

Well, solid getting Knies for the Leaf collection as well as getting six cards - I assume the checklist is in every pack, but I count that as a card so 6 instead of 5 - sweet! I can put up with getting Roy in the pack - really didn't need to see him in the set, but that's my own personal grumbling.

Nathan is actually a dupe if anyone needs, but otherwise, another solid one and done pack!

I will post tomorrow as I do every day, but hopefully everyone here will be busy and be reading it well after the fact!

Dollarama 15

 As we get to the holidays for another year, we wind down 2025 and get ready for 2026. One item from years past that isn't around anymore - these Dollarama packs as the price has changed, and number of cards you get adjusted a couple times, but I have this old one to crack today.

You cam see why I picked it up as this first card is not only a Leaf card but is also an uncorrected error card as it's a Series 2 checklist, but the front says Series 1. This means right off the bat, I have a great score for this little pack since Toronto error cards are a big plus!

I wasn't expecting too much else in the pack, but lo and behold, we do have some base helpers with Larionov and Acton - different versions of Score sets from 1990-91 and 1991-92 that I am working on.

The Going For Gold is a keeper too as I have a slow work on the women's national team set going.

The variety is pretty solid on these packs - I mean, you know half will be "junk" year cards, but since I still keep all Leaf's and there are a few sets there I am still working on, even those can be solid for me, and that's what we have here...

Well, with a small sample size of a single pack, I guess this is what happens - ha. Works for me because for what it was, might have been heavily one card, but was definitely a great pick up for me collection wise so - all good!

A quick and separate add on, and a surprise in the mail. Double B from TCDB sent me well wishes and a card for my collection which was on my want list...

I am missing the Stro-show as the last of the Maple Leaf parallels for the 2018 Topps Opening Day set for my Jays. It's a very nice design and I approve of the Canadian content. Many thanks for sending it along!

Pack Attack Package

I don't often make orders for cards for myself for the unopened pack collection, but I was poking around www.pastimesports.ca and with the older packs they sell, and the fact that free shipping is at $200, and as I haven't really spent outside of Magic cards, on the hobby the last number of months....and....Christmas, well, here we are.

The hockey packs I picked up...

With products coming in different packages each year, and with different series, I do have some packs from say more recent years, but with jumbo or retail or hobby, and each being slightly different, there always seems to be something more to find and pick up.

I would have thought I'd have a pack of 1991-92 Parkhurst series 2, but only had the series 1 pack....but no longer!

The 1995-96 Score pack looks so 90s....

With O Pee Chee sets being roughly 500-700 cards, you would think the pack would at least be jumbo sized. When more "premium" packs consist of 5 cards, and these only have 8, I just think of the work it would take to build an O Pee Chee set from packs alone - you'd go broke.

The 2003-04 Parkhurst Original 6 sets were unique, and so nice to pick up these unusual packs 20+ years after the fact.

A nice run of what I consider to be more expensive packs with SP. I never buy these in normal course as I shy away from packs where the cost is anything near a dollar a card for what you get.

For the baseball packs...

I am sure I overpaid on the 1981 Donruss, but my excuse it, that got me to the free shipping. Not like you see them floating around for cheap anyway. The Ted Williams pack was an interesting one to see, and of course then filling some Topps set holes to add to the collection.

I didn't get the chance to pick up the flagship Topps boxes which were out, so picked up the exclusive pack here as a cool pack to add.

I had to pick up something wrestling related, and the price was fine enough for these. I have 41 of 100 base cards, these three boxes and a blaster so I am hoping this se twill be done when I get around to opening up these.

I'm not one for buying complete sets, but the price was fine for these. I wouldn't pick up the Lindros set otherwise, but a nice little set. As for the Mandalorian set - a decent price, now the question is to open it or not...

That all said, there were a few extras in the pick up too...

I redeemed my "points" on this purchase to get the hangar box. I am trying to finish that Update set, so might come in handy.

They threw in a little bag of candy which didn't last long, and the couple National Hockey Card Day packs - of which I needed the 2025 version, so we get to end with another unopened pack pick up.

All in now, I have945 unopened packs - 284 baseball, 251 Magic, 363 hockey, and 47 wrestling. Not sure how long it will take to hit 1,000. It's not something I am specifically aiming for, but will probably happen in the next year or so...

Wrestling Card Trade

 Not a creative title, but very accurate. A nice trade with TCDB member Orry04 where I was able to use some seasonal magic to turn baseball cards into wrestling cards...

The 2020 Road to Wrestlemania set has the typical 50 card roster insert set and the bunch above bring me to 35 - so getting close. Drew is the only one left with WWE - well, unless you consider the Charlotte we see today the same as Charlotte from 5 years ago. Not to say she looks very different, but....well, I guess I am saying it...and more so if you go back to when she first started in NXT.

A couple Honky Tonk Man inserts. Personally, as a kid, I hater him, but now looking back, respect what he was able to do for the Intercontinental Title. As a kid who wasn't "smart" to things, good guys were good, and bad guys were to be booed. He did his job well, and was entertaining for it - even if I didn't recognize it as such at the time.

The Finest set we continue to gather some base cards for. I don't mind the set, but would rather full action shots than the overlay on the wacky backgrounds.

First Finest Tag Team insert too, even if Cutler and Blake weren't much of a Finest tag team....but I guess WWE gets to call them what they want.

Appreciate the trade - thank you!

PDIZZLE Drizzle

A nice PWE trade to share today as I received a drizzle of cards from TCDB member PDIZZLE.

This is one of the rare trades where I initiate. I am going to try and do more as I can try to move more traders and take back cards I want but may not be on my want list.

The 2022 Topps are copies as are most all the cards here - so not new to my collection, but happy to get duplicates for traders that are just sitting in a box and taking up space.

I picked up some Bruins cards I will re-home, but one I am keeping as it's an insert I didn't have.

The extra Timmies are helpful as I try to get a team set and full set done.

We end with a nice looking foil sticker Tavares. Almost like it was drizzled in diamonds.

Definitely Solid

 A perfect second blaster gives me 71/100 base cards done for the 2022 AEW Upper Deck set, and my fave of the last cards has to be Kris.

I know it fizzled at times before dying out, but the whole "alien" dynamic was a nice call back to the outlandish characters of the 80s through the early 90s, and it was done really well for a long time. I get having to change out and drop it, but I think it ended up being a step back for Kris as she had to work to find herself as a wrestler/character again. May be better long term, but I really did enjoy the work she did with the character before.

A solid way to end with a second gold parallel Main Features insert as that ends this box with...

A couple spots ahead of the first box, which makes sense because all of the cards in both were keepers, but the second box had the better/longer odd hits when all was said and done. Definitely works at being in the top 5 openings for me this year, but we do have a little bit of time remaining, so will have to see if it stays there by time we get to the end of the month.