A better portrait than Portrait

Before the cards, a quick note to say I got all the bigger packages off yesterday (the envelopes went the day I posted the pictures, and at least one has already been received). Most of them are remaining in Canada and the bigger ones have tracking, so with things as they are I'll keep an eye on them to see how long they do take to get to their destination since mail is all over the place these days.

Helpful tip I got from the guy at the counter was to sign up online for a small business account to save 5% on all shipping. Will have to check that out, though I don't think of myself as a small business....or has my trading become too much...

So, great to get a Portrait insert like this one...



But just putting the card all black and white doesn't necessarily make it a great portrait. Sure, a bit of feeling in  the look and all, but the rest of the cards in the pack (all keepers), provide a couple more cards that would have been more suitable in my mind.



There are two cards here that I would absolutely use before McDonagh. First Subban. The backstory to the photo is probably what drives it more here with his return to Montreal for the first time as a Predator. Maybe bring the zoom in a bit so it is more face, but either way, a great moment captured in a portrait.

Second, Lehtonen. Can we just get an entire goalie set, greatest masks of all time, exactly in that pose. Portrait would be great too, but a set of close ups just like that for the masks (with a side view on the back maybe)...excellent.

A very solid pack, let's hope this continues.

4 Packs, 32 Cards, 93 Points.

No Way Jose

Getting into the third pack from the box, would hope there may be some Toronto content, but we start off with these...



Joel - that is just about the expression I had seeing these come out, and both being dupes.

As far as expansion teams go, maybe it's my youth talking, but I always felt the San Jose expansion went well. Sure, maybe not so much on the ice as they missed the playoffs the first couple years, and took a while longer to get to being a .500 club, but for an expansion team, I do feel there should be a little level of "paying your dues". Heck, if just being new can't get you sell outs the first couple years, even if the team sticks, then the place shouldn't have a team.

Happily, the rest of the pack are keepers.



I really like the old school Jets uniforms. I can't say that enough as I think they are so fitting, and I was so glad when Winnipeg got a franchise again, that the name was the one chosen as it just fit so well.

No inserts today, but that's alright.

3 Packs, 24 Cards, 65 Points.

Ain't That The Tooth

Hopping into a second pack of 2017-18 Upper Deck Series 1 hockey today, and Jeff Carter looks happy about it.



A toothy grin if ever there was one! These Canvas cards play on my desire for nicer feeling cardboard cards. The main set is all glossed up, but the canvas cards give you the nicer retro cardboard feel (though made "better" so the age much nicer - you don't get the aged rounded corners, etc, the same way without really trying to get it to happen.



The pack overall is much better too as we have all new cards for me. These have some great facial expressions too between Aho, Larsson and Lowry, excellent expressions.

Maybe it is just me, I find the photography being a step up here than the last few year sets before it. Let me know what you think.

2 Packs, 16 Cards, 45 Points.

2017-18 Upper Deck Series 1 CDN Exclusive

Today, we start a box I received from my kids this past Christmas. I picked up a box of Series 2 while in the US last year, and this one is a Series 1 box - between the two, I should have a good start on the 2017-18 set...except for those dang Young Guns.



So a bunch of packs, and an exclusive.



I actually already have a series 1 pack, but I'll be keeping the 2 card exclusive which is pack number 251 for the hockey pack collection.

Scoring as a reminder...

Base Card	1
Base Sports Card Need	3
Base Wrestling Card Need	4
Base Variation / Short Print Card	Odds
Base Toronto Card	15
Base Toronto Variation / Short Print Card	5 * Odds
Insert Card	Odds
Toronto Insert Card	5 * Odds
Box Bonus Cards	Per Pack Odds
Error Card	Double Score

Going in, out of 500 cards in the full set, I have 36, so should be good for being mostly new through this box.

Today, pack number 1...

With 8 cards in the pack, would have thought I'd end up with more new cards than just four, but so have you.

I appreciate the out of action card pictures like Parise as they are still sparse enough to be special.

Young Gun cards fall every 4 packs here, so that's the hit of the pack of course.

Dupes...

Disappointing first pack in to go half and half, but can't win them all. Again, the Jake Allen stands out for the walk up the stair unusual photo. There's an interesting collection - cards of players "backstage". I am sure there'd be a bunch of them, but probably some great photo work too.

1 Pack, 8 Cards, 17 Points.

A few different hockey sets

When I go through the Jeff Scott cards, always easiest to pick all the cards from a given set, if possible, and show them that way, so let's see a few here.



2008-09 Ovation. I don't mind the look of the cards, it's pretty solid in design - though again, more about colourful design than action shots. Good use of colour with the design. I only ever bought one tin of Ovation - can't recall which year it was, but didn't realize at the time, you were literally buying one quarter of the 200 card set, in order, and that there were four tins, so you could easily buy all 4 for a complete (but more expensive) set.

An interesting way to do it, but not a way I overly enjoyed. I believe the few Leafs were all I kept from it.



A sole 1990-91 Score Canadian card (which I did need, and a set I do collect. It was surrounded by...



A bunch of American version cards (which I don't need. I always looked at the Score logo to tell the two apart - or alternatively, the position on the back was green background and English only for the American, purple and English/French for the Canadian version.



Next up, some 2002-03 Upper Deck Vintage. Vintage was a short lived line from Upper Deck in hockey and baseball. In some ways, an earlier adoption of what we see now in Archives or Heritage. Other than the background yellow/orange being a bit too offsetting, a solid layout for the cards and a good classic cardboard feel. Not keeping any of these, so a home they will find.

What I am keeping most of are these...



A nice bunch of red parallel Pacific cards from 1999-2000. Before there were 42 different colour parallels, when there may have been just a few, this is one that Pacific went with. Only difference in the cards being the red used on the Pacific logo stamp and across the bottom border I believe.

Oh, there is one dupe I will be shipping off...



Solid variety of cards though.

Enter the Chrome

As per usual, I am not always the most up to speed on the newest products, so here is my first, and probably last cards from....



A pack from Christmas which includes...



So two packs get to go to the unopened pack collection, leaving me with a mere two packs to open today and score out of the usual system.

Base Card	1
Base Sports Card Need	3
Base Wrestling Card Need	4
Base Variation / Short Print Card	Odds
Base Toronto Card	15
Base Toronto Variation / Short Print Card	5 * Odds
Insert Card	Odds
Toronto Insert Card	5 * Odds
Box Bonus Cards	Per Pack Odds
Error Card	Double Score

With only 8 cards and likely not all base, this isn't a set I plan to be working on, so this is all about the luck of the draw.

Pack 1:

Definitely pretty cards, and looks like Duffy had been throwing up an "I love you" hand jesture before running there.

We get a solid insert with the old school 1984 design and a Yankee (go figure) with Stanton. I don't know why, but really like the odd angle of almost exactly parallel to the ground with the bat in mid air there. Just stands out as unique.

Pack 2:

No base Jays, and Rosario almost looks like he is standing in outer space around some space dust the way the Chrome plays with the colour from the dirt.

The insert..

Pretty darn good! One every 2,650 packs would be beating the odds with this green parallel! Dereck had a solid 2018 and fell back a bit in 2019 with the Giants as his ERA ballooned a bit and he was 6-11. May not have been a Jay, but does make these couple packs well worth the pick up (thank you Santa....yeah, stocking stuffier from Christmas).

So overall...

2 packs, 8 cards, 2,659 points.

So this quick little pack rides right up on the list...

1)	2019-20 Upper Deck Tim Hortons Packs	336.5648
2)	2019 Topps Chrome Value Pack	332.3750
3)	2018 Diamond Kings Baseball	6.0400
4)	2019 Topps WWE Women's Division Blaster	5.6825
5)	2013 Triple Play Baseball Box	3.2588
6)	2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball Jumbo Packs	3.2222
7)	2017 Panini Chronicles Baseball Blaster	3.0000
8)	NHL Championship Collection	2.8818
9)	2009-10 UD National Hockey Card Day Packs	2.5789
10)	Dollarama 80 Card Assorted Baseball Pack 2	2.5432

Some McD For You

I shared the keepers yesterday, but wouldn't be fair to ignore the cards I will be passing on to a different home.



Some cards came with more dupes than others.



If it was ever okay to destroy a card...I am looking in your direction Roy...



Wow, that's a whole lotta red!





Plenty of checklists and a couple parallels as well.



We end with some beveled 2007-08 cards which I happen to have as I got a good start on the set from the Santa Lot a few years ago.

I have a feeling most of this will already have a home aside, but feel free to ask if there's anything you see, just in case!

Actually, speaking of homes, I have sent off a few packages the past day or so....



The envelopes (22 I believe) are all in the mail to various collectors while the bubble mailers and boxes will get to the post office hopefully this Saturday. I have no idea how long these will take to get to the various places, but what this does, is get me to my goal of trading away over 5,000 cards for the year (at 5,004 now actually), so that's one goal done for this year!