A Little Pro Set

Well, bound to get some 1990-91 Pro Set hockey cards whenever you buy an assorted lot. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it's a bad thing, I love the quirky set, and just need some dupes of error cards for the error binder.

Just this one addition today as the rest are duplicates I don't need, but still fun to look at!

The design was solid for the time, though the black corner traded marker could have been better.

Brings back memories of collecting as a kid - this set was everywhere but with over 700 base cards, lots to get.

Hard to complain when the set made room to even feature the refs!

Absolute New

 Always like to introduce new sets represented in a purchased lot, and that's what we get today - a whole bunch of retail cards from 2023 Panini Absolute football.

The cards are on a flat white background, versus the hobby versions which are shiny cards, but the design is pretty good for having no "real" background to the posed shot. I like the use of the team colour and logo to provide the background makes for a pretty and consistent team set.

As for the players represented, I don't think there was any plucking of stars given we have that Mahomes guy and Josh Allen in the first bunch.

I don't think I will ever really become a fan of Panini products, they just seem to be so messy with checklists and inserts/parallels. I mean Topps and Upper Deck definitely have a lot of those items too, but you know clearly what the odds are, almost always, for what you get, and the details of the product are clear.

I get there is some "mystery" in not knowing how likely some stuff is when buying Panini, but if I don't want to know details beforehand, I just won't look it up. After the fact though, I want to know everything about the product, checklist, odds, print run, etc.

Standard fare for the back, though I'd lose the logo spot and make a wider action shot instead of just a headshot, but good otherwise.

The first 100 cards of the base set are what I'd call the "pure" base set, as the second hundred cards are all rookies. Of course then, prospecting collectors hold onto all the rookie cards, waiting to see who becomes money, while I sit with these sets started and for trade, but none of the rookies - even the cheap ones for those that didn't make it very far.

I guess getting more than half the pure base set in one go like this isn't too bad if I were to collect football, but not my thing.

On Topps Or O Pee Chee

 Some baseball cards from the 2026 Lot today, and we get a glimpse that it won't all be relatively newer stuff.

I am slowly working on both the O Pee Chee and Topps versions of the 1991 baseball set, and though most of these are Topps cards, the first, showing the back, is O Pee Chee. Looking at the copyright line or the lighter back colour on these cards is the easiest way to tell as the front design in both sticks to the Topps logo. As for the rest of the cards here, these are all the keepers, except as shown further below, as there are some dupes.

This is definitely one of the sets that comes to mind from my childhood - actually, if I were to pick a specific year across all brands, it's likely 1991 - from the blue and green Donruss cards, to yellow fleer, to this Topps design, these were staples, but yet somehow, I don't have this set complete....yet.

I do have plenty of Jays cards from it though, but another one doesn't hurt.

The trade bait from today...

Not going to complain about McDonalds cards - I have the complete set, so don't need them, but a nice couple cards to see as they are a couple fantastic players too.

More Hockey Upper Deck Help

Excellent day today with more help from the 2026 Lot on 2023-24 Upper Deck base set help.

How can you not love the photography in these cards, love the JJ card specifically here. Again noticing that the above card are all series 2 and not from the extended set, definitely a good sign, though I'd love to see some series 1 to know how much help I will get on that part of the total set from this lot.

Hellebuyck is another fantastic card - though easier for a goalie to get a great shot.

The checklist card is the last new for my collection card, and just a show of the dupes - not too many, but definitely starting to get some to be able to trade cards from the set for cards from the set that I need - if anyone is interest....but first, the best part of the keepers today...

Fantastic, and though Mitch has moved on from Toronto (and I will at least miss him greatly from the team), I can still collect many cards of his days with the team, including here in the All Star garb which stands out like a sore thumb among all of the blue and white of his other cards. A small price to pay to add a couple more new to me cards to my collection.

Prizmatic Additions

 We continue to get some really good sets, but just the wrong sports for me, when it comes to cards from the 2026 Lot - here being some 2023-24 Panini Prizm.

I have a bit more knowledge - not much - on more recent basketball than I do football, so some of the names mean a little more going through these cards compared to yesterdays. One right off the top - Ball - who I recall from the quick stop in WWE and the blown up interest in the boys who didn't up being the next coming of Kobe or Jordan, but LaMelo at least has done well enough for himself.

The backs are fine enough, with minimal stats, but at least for those that are players from the past, you get a career total line instead of just a write up.

Wasn't expecting to see a John Stockton card - he was a fabulous player back in the day and can't be thought of without thinking of Karl Malone.

We stop short of having any rookie cards from the base set, but a nice spread of cards. I do wonder if these are the left overs of some breaks where the hits were all taken. Not complaining, as happy to end up with these leftovers at the price I got them, but does seem to be the case, at least in part.

They Look Sharp

A quick baseball note - Bo Bichette is gone from Toronto. It's a dobe deal with the Mets for a few years and a lot of money. I was really hoping he could stay, but had been losing hope with how long it was going. At least there a bunch of cards with him as a Jay I can still collect.

A lot of football in the pulls from the 2026 Lot today - 2023 Donruss foot ball to be exact.

I definitely do not know football from the last few years as well as I do from the 90s and early 2000s - just have lost track of keeping up with it. In a push, I still cheer for Buffalo as it's the closest team to Toronto and has always been the de facto team to cheer for (Flutie playing for them briefly didn't hurt as he was a CFT star for years and an Toronto Argo which made his name here).

So, whether these are decent pulls or not - I am not going through star hunting, but I can say, the set looks solid with the design and I like it more than I do when used for basketball - but maybe that's just my opinion.

Not a bad bunch of cards, just not for my collection, but solid enough, let's find somewhere to trade them away to.

Great Continuation

Sweet pull from the 2026 lot today as we get to continue working on the 2023-24 Upper Deck flagship base set.

A few series two cards gives me a bit of hope. I think there is much more of the extended series, but I don't need a lot of series 1 and series 2 in order to make it a good go at the set here. I do wonder what it will be to get the Young Guns collected by time I get there as those are always where the cost for set building goes with Upper Deck hockey.

Toffoli gets a second appearance in the post with the extended series card to go to the series two one up above.

I don't know if people find the Sharks uniform and logo too cartoony, but I really like it, especially compared to Seattle. The stylized "S" just doesn't do a lot for me. Maybe too simple, or trying too hard to take the simple and make it stylized. Or maybe, just the fact it's so new still and has to continue to grow on me.

I guess an Ovi pick up is alright too, but best of the bunch...

Both new to my collections and I can tell you, Max is my second favourite Domi all time. He has a chance to take a run at beating out Daddy Tie, but will take a bit of time to get there. As for Woll, great looking photo and happy to add him in as well!

A Couple Completions

A trade share today, and a successful one too! Was able to complete a trade with TCDB Steeles who sent a PWE of Jays my way.

I love Frank Thomas Jays cards. He was here such a short time, but love the chance to collect his cards. The StarQuest is the second of two Jays in thr common green, so all done that team set.

The 2098 Topps Ryan is the one to really help today as it was the last of the 21 Jays cards for the flagship's base team set.

The 2011 Topps black border parallel cards are pretty nice, though it makes them look as dark as Chrome cards.

We end with some Topps Archive adds including Alomar with the headband, which was an interesting look. A great looking card though, even if the fashion style screams 80s/90s.

More B-Ball

 Today, we have more Mosaic cards from 2019-2020, though not many duplicates from prior days.

Being a casual fan of the Raptors, I do keep track enough of the team and the coming and going of players. I get why Pascal was traded in his last season, and with his growth in Toronto, including the 2018-19 NBA Championship win, was hard to see him go.

He had great success so far with Indiana, and really has been a big star and leader for his team, I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up with another championship as long as the pieces around him are half way decent.

I will have to see how much of this set I end up with for trade when all is said and done. If I don't collect the cards, it's harder to watch, and because of how long I can take, I can end up trading some of the cards way before finishing the lot. Doesn't really matter I guess as I am not likely to try and sell a set as a whole if I were to actually finish it, but it would be interesting to note as something I got from the lot as I don't expect there to be complete sets.

Fun With Set Building

I may not have been planning it, but this lot does look like it will give me a good head start on one flagship set build - 2023-24 Upper Deck.

Will have to wait to see where things go from here, but these cards are all from the extended series (500-750, well 700 since no rookie cards here).  The release was in normal Upper Deck fashion - 250 card series 1, 250 card series 2, and this release.

I really like the simplicity of the front design, and the only change I may make is the logo as I prefer the colour instead of foiled logos, but a minor complaint.

Otherwise, there seem to be more interesting shots each year when it comes to the photography - Antti being a perfect example - love the uniqueness of the shot.

Though I'd still prefer full stats on the back, up to five years and a little write up is about the best you get these days, and the repeat cropped photo for the back is a bit lazy when you could add something more and different. Still, an overall nice card.

Being the extended set, we get a lot of All Star related cards, which works as a way to get more star power into the base cards, and with the uniforms being decent in design, the cards come off fairly well too.

My question on these would just be - I get the use of colour for the front of the All Star cards is meant to represent the team colour, but given the uniform, and logo being foiled, would the card have looked nicer with the All Star team colour used instead? I'd lean towards yes - I mean, the card will look different in team collections anyway due to the uniform, at least the card as a stand alone could look a bit better.

Last three cards would be a perfect example - if the border to all three were the same colour - that light....green?...colour, would make for a smarted looking run of cards. Might actually then look like a TEAM and not just a bunch of stars playing in an exhibition style game. Still - happy to get almost 50 additions for the set and a couple duplicates which add to the traders, but aren't shown here.