Easy Picking

 I was going to put forth a question based on the two packs of 1991-92 O Pee Chee hockey cards today - which set of players would you choose to build your team around.

Now looking at the packs, not sure it's even close...

Let's discount the team card...can't really count that, but the top row will make it hard to beat this pack.

Yeah, definitely the first pack. Even just with Gretzky alone, that first pack might have been strong enough.

A shame no Leafs, but with Wayne and Eddie the Eagle, a strong showing all around.

Check The Waters

 Remember when expansion was a HUGE deal in the early 90s? I mean the San Jose Sharks were first, but the following years with Ottawa, Florida and Tampa Bay, it was quite the time for the push of hockey, especially into the southern US.

This year saw many sets push to include the Sharks, and the posed pictures here are what we got to include them in the O Pee Chee release. I get it, and the draw to include them sooner than later. Still not sure it was a great success right off the bat. Definitely more a slow build compared to what Vegas was able to do in the late 2010s.

Is it bad that the Ricci card reminds me of the Ken Griffey Jr gigantism scene in The Simpsons? I mean, dudes head takes up so much of the card....someone save this man!

Kidd Indeed

 A couple more packs of 1991-92 O Pee Chee hockey today, and a reminder - we old.

That Trevor Kidd card reminds me of an 8 year old kid dressing up in dad's work clothes and looking completely out of place. I mean, so young and definitely when I was pulling the cards when they were new, didn't even think of it at the time because he was "old" when I was eleven.

A good goalie pack though as Kelly was a great one as well. I always felt he was a bit underrated at times

Nice - finally get a first and second Leaf card, and I figure a look at the back. This is a set that the back is ingrained in my memory because I have seen so much of it. I think this was also the first factory set I ever owned, and as it was not wrapped, I would open, and actually look at all of the cards, stats, etc as a kid.

Al MacInnis was amazing in those hardest shot competitions at the all-star festivities though - that's a big hockey related memory I have from that time. Man could hit a puck!

Opening Fun

A while ago, local collector Jeff passed off a bunch of stuff which included a number of unopened packs of different things. These included about 26 packs of 1991-92 O Pee Chee hockey. Now, I have the complete base set and the insert set, but for the fun of opening and seeing what Leafs or maybe error card copies I can get, we will still go through these. 

Heck, I already have all four different pack wrappers in the unopened pack collection, so nothing to save or keep there either. The first big question opening the packs on these always becomes - what is the gum damage going to look like...

Well, in every single pack, the gum is going to be stuck to the insert card. Good news, as I said, I have that set done. Bad news is, those cards are likely all going to be trash because the gum seems pretty stuck...

Yeah, that's not going to work. So, unless there is a miracle, each pack I show will be 9 cards instead of 10 as the insert is trash unfortunately. Now, I have received and opened packs where the gum just slides off and isn't stuck - this all comes down to whether there has been any heat in their storage which was enough to get the gum stuck to the card. At least these packs, I haven't seen gum "bleed" ruin more than one card unlike 1990-91 O Pee Chee where I have seen it go through up to 3 cards in a pack.

First pack is highlighted by Neely - solid All-Star as well as Richter. Just looking at the pack, you know what period of sport you were really into, because you remember most if not all of the names, including guys who, looking back, didn't have much of a career, but you were so zoned in, even they ended up taking real estate up in your mind.

Ah yes, the base set has a tribute to Guy subset. Something we saw more of in the 80s and early 90s as a way to get more star cards in. I remember it more with baseball, but was in hockey too. No Leafs in two packs, not a good start, but plenty of packs to go.

Stick Around

 A trade with TCDB member ThirstDeer provided a nice memory.

1988-89 Panini Stickers are the first ones I clearly remember from collecting stickers and cards as a kid. I would get a bunch of these when my mom went shopping. I worked on filling the albums and would take the extra ones to school to give away or hand out as I didn't nude the duplicates. Not a lot of kids into the stickers thing then, but it's what I did and seeing these reminded me of giving them out on the school grounds.

The album is long gone, probably disposed of as a teen or moving out to university, but nice to have many back here. The Hockey Wit card was an extra, and now I have half of the 6 Toronto cards for it, so that's cool too.

I think sticker collecting did beat card collecting, but definitely worked as a gateway collection on the way to cards. Not sure if that was anyone else's experience, but definitely mine!

A Mostly Timmies Trade

Before getting to cards, it has taken me a couple days to comprehend the passing of Hulk Hogan. I'm not looking to get into what people might feel about the man behind Hulk, but regardless, the impact of Hulk on wrestling cannot be underestimated. I think the reason this one hits home so hard, is how big a part of my childhood Hulk Hogan was. From beating The Iron Shiek on January 23, 1984, through holding the title for 4 years in the late 80s, he was my childhood. I may not have taken my vitamins or said my prayers, but the message of being the best you possible, doing your best and overcoming great obstacles through believing in yourself held with me as a child and to this day.

He entertained and was the reason I started watching WCW in addition to WWE. I liked seeing him return to WWE. Ozzy and Malcolm passing were sad in their own right, but Hogan felt close to home. He impacted many and I can only thank him for being a positive influence on my childhood. A shame to see him go, but what he was, what Hulkamania means, lives on in all those little Hulkamaniacs who may not be kids anymore, may not wear red and yellow outwardly, but still kepp that piece, and maybe a bit of the black and white, in their hearts.

so yeah....cards....

A big Timmies trade with fellow Canadian and TCDB member Reddogg81 with a few other helpers showed up and today is the day I get to share it.

We start well with the final Toronto base card from 1991-92 Pro Set French to finish that 27 card team set for me.

Potvin does the same for 1994-95 Leaf Limited, being the last of 6 Leaf cards in that base set.

Auston is also the last of the 6 base Leafs for the 2021-22 Timmies set, though I need copies of all to build the full set still.

The Canvas Auston is a one and done Leaf set for that insert.

Really like the Gold Etchings cards and almost there on the complete insert set.

I didn't have any of the Timmies Legends set canvas cards until this trade and got a bunch knocked out here. I do like the design that is used.

Sweet getting the Auston points leader card as it's the second of the two Leaf cards in the set.

We end with 5 of the last 7 1999 Comic Images WWF smackdown set cards I needed, so 70 of 72 left and just Mark Henry and Paul Bearer to go.....oooooohhhhh.....yeeeeeessss!

Small Trade Roundup

 Just a couple TCDB trades to share today, both of the PWE variety.

TonyZ offered up some baseball needs which spany the now and early 90s...

Might be surprising to see 1991 Jays as needs but I am now down to just a few factory set version Jays to finally get the 100 or so different Jays base cards from this set.

The others are uncorrected error cards or set helpers, but regardless of what they are, the great Alomar shot of flying while throwing is fantastic.

Next up, a one card receipt from Jones1976.

Only my second card from 2023 Panini Prizm's 200 card base set, but a good change for a few 1990-91 Pro Set cards I sent away.

Piper was one of the great talkers from the 80s and early 90s and definitely missed.

Hitting The End

 Last pack from the box and I cannot tell a lie....I think it will have a hit given it is a bit thicker and definitely still compared to the others...and spoiler...I was right...

Just four cards with it, and glad they went the route of still having a couple inserts instead of just four base cards. Bonus for it including another Punk card.

Serena is a solid enough one here. She has been AEW since 2020, but I remember her brief WWE stint getting her head shaved for The Straightedge Society back in the day (she was an audience member selected by Punk to have her head shaved.

A great blaster which isn't a real surprise as all the cards would be new to me and keepers. Not sure if the next will be as strong, but we shall see in a while. A fun opening all around though.

No Blade or Bunny

I have no idea why, but from the little I was watching of AEW back in 2022, I remember The Butcher and The Blade.

Now, it may have been because of their manager, The Bunny, but I think it is really because their names annoyed the heck out of me. Why do they each need a "the" name? I guess it stood out for better or worse, but definitely bugs me. They were fine as a tag team, but nothing too high on the card - solid hands.

Nice! Mark Henry in his post WWE role and on a sweet gold parallel for his Debut insert card here. Apparently they show only every 40 packs, so nice pull indeed.

Can't believe it's been 4 years, but there it is. AEW has been a great option for a number of guys getting a longer lease in their career after WWE with still having good national audience reach.

There may be a fan "battle" of being WWE or AEW but I am sure the wrestlers love having more options and seeing their friends succeed in either promotion.

Sting Squared

What is better than a base Sting?

A Pyro parallel Sting...

Arn doesn't look thrilled at Sting, but it may be in remembering how poorly his WWE run went. Too bad it wasn't under a Triple H run creative. I think it would have been much different. On one hand, at least he got a good payday and some hopefully good memories out of the short and injury heavy run.

Welcome to the Jungle Boy

Was looking for the chance to discuss Jungle Boy...

The son of the late and famed Luke Perry, Jungle Boy has had some highs and lows in his wrestling career in AEW, but generally a good position for him all around. He may not have had the career that Mox has had, but at the age of only 27, Jack Perry has a lot of career ahead of him.

A few good cards here. Dustin made a good post WWE run with AEW on his retirement run as it was. Nyla is a unique wrestler in a unique situation, last up, the one in 10 pack, Outside the Ring Tony is a nice one to end the pack on.

Masked

The next pack of AEW cards brings up a couple good masks to discuss and the wrestlers underneath.

Luchasaurus definitely was a solid hand during the early growth of AEW. He has a look that stands out with the mask and enough charisma to interest fans to care about his character and outcome.

A nice second canvas card, but Penta wins here. He came into WWE as a star and hasn't looked back since. Might have a good shot for a career along the lines of a Mysterio or Guerrero.

A solid pack all around and all new to me as I expect the full box will be on this one.

Punk Hot Pack

 Second pack to open for 2022 Upper Deck AEW and let's take a look at the base backs.

It's hard with wrestling cards to do anything "stat" wise, but given AEW's push that "records matter", it is a great opportunity to put year by year win loss records and even singles versus tag records, but we get the more standard write up instead. It is passable but could have really separated the set.

To go with the base set, we get a first UD Canvas card of CM Punk. I don't know what was up with AEW Punk, but the recent WWE Punk is a complete 180 and in all the good ways. The card itself is like other such offerings - we see it in hockey - and is done well.

Orange Cassidy is an acquired taste. I mean from the character standpoint as I think the man can wrestle well, just it's not always been what the character allows for. Reminds me a bit of The Undertaken and Mark Calloway. Mark could move fantastically as Mean Mark in WCW, but the character of The Undertaker didn't have that suited to the character so Mark had to completely pull back on the style he wrestled. I think it worked out well for him as it has worked out so far for Orange.

My First AEW Opening

I ordered three blaster boxes of the 2022 Upper Deck AEW product at least a year ago and am just getting to it now. Well, the first box at least. I don't have any cards in the set still, so great chance the first will do well since I need, well, everything.

Times change as we have Jade and CM Punk now in WWE. The rest were definitely top names of the roster at the time. Personally, wouldn't mind some Britt Baker, Darby or Jungle Boy if I was looking for non-WWE people.

The packs look like the blaster box - or vice versa - and we pull one for keeps in the unopened pack collection.

A first pack to open though...

Orange Cassidy was doing well for himself in AEW in 2022, and continues to. We get WWE related names with Billy Gunn, Sydal, and Pillman Jr. Heck, we get Tony who has been everywhere too.

Happy to get a Britt right out of the gate, and a Pyro parallel to boot which are every four packs while the gold appear in every other pack.

Solid design and appreciate the roster approach to the base set. A great start.

Old Dollarama Surprise

 Today we open an older Dollarama hockey surprise bag. After they were in hanging boxes, they were in these bags. This was before the bags went up in price and before those bags then became more scarce to find.

The blue is before the orange bags, when the design from the cardboard boxes looked like they were just put into bag form, then a bit more action like with this design.

As for the contents...

Believe it or not, the unopened pack is a win here as I do keep all variations and here, first combo of what I am sure is Hextall as goalie and the checklist offer - sweet! The Canadian team pack could beat that though if it happens to be Toronto...

Well, not Toronto, and not sure why we needed three cover pieces, but we got them.

The 2009-10 card is the only possible keeper, but I already have it for the set build.

Well, going to say Joe Sakic is the Hall of Famer in this pack, but it's not a great card to get given there are roughly one million of them in circulation.

Cam gets to be the only keeper in the bunch today as a set build helper....and that's it!

The unopened pack really helps this one as there rest was almost all trade bait. Oh, and if you wonder on my scoring as I may not have posted it in a bit...

This has worked for me in past years to a "feels right" position for the openings, and so far so good this year too.

Just The Hits

Well, happily, there were a few "hits" in the PresstiCube. It did promise premium cards, but that could have just as easily been the refractors or other parallels. 

I don't think this is a big rarity, not serial numbered but this 2015 Bowman's Best Hi Def Heritage Atomic Refractor is a thick card. A nice pick up, first I have for my collection.

Alex made the majors for a bit of time with the Angels and Minnesota over a few years, but not  more than that. THis card, which is a black parallel, serial numbered to 99 from 2014 Topps Heritage Minors is pretty cool, but will have a different home sooner than later as it is not staying with me - no, not you minor league card. It does have odds of every 125 packs, so a solid pick up.

As for this autograph - since they hit every pack, not a big score in that regard, but a nice pick up. I have a number of Jays cards from the mid-90s set. They are very nice on card autographs.

Last up, a serial numbered orange parallel autograph which are every 311 packs so, good score, and nice card. He also ended up with a decent enough run in the bigs, nothing too stellar, but a solid player who stayed in the bogs for about a decade. His signature could be better, but I have seen worse. A solid way to end this opening.

With 250 cards, hard to get a huge score, but a couple solid hits put this ahead of other random fodder offerings.

A Bunch of Bowman

 These are the rest of the cards, save for a few "hits", and most are Bowman related products.

Random Bowman cards are always a bit hit and miss - I don't collect many of the sets compared to Topps, so less likely to get keepers that way, but so much of their "base" is really inserts that I would keep.

Either way, happy to get a Dickey. Thought I may not have had it yet, but this is a second copy for me.

A few refractors and some draft insert Bowman keepers, not a total surprise, but nice to get a couple refractors. May not be huge per pack odds, but in repackaged purchases like the PresstiCube, a nice add it.

Definitely not a fan of Tristar products though, so that's one card I didn't need to see.

A couple Expos for re-homing, and some T205 cards which is a set from Topps I do not see a lot of anywhere, so that's cool.

The Bowman Platinum card is a nice snow parallel which is a cool pick up. Delgado as a second Jay keeper on the day as well.

Nothing to keep in the Heritage or Archives offerings, but those do at least seem to be collectible sets so good trade fodder. Tomorrow, the last four cards as, they may not be huge cards, but nice enough to end the PresstiCube opening with.