Mellow Yellow

Two packs in a row with Ted Lindsay cards, not something you would expect out of a 2009-10 set.



We also get a nice yellow parallel which apparently are every 20 packs, so a nice job on beating the odds there. Here, I can at least understand with a border parallel meaning something because it does drastically change the card as you can see, comparing this to the regular base cards below.



These don't provide a lot as far as action goes, but they do a great job with the aged and weathered look.

As for the speakers...



No luck on getting any Leaf pick ups with the stickers either today. If the set wasn't so big, these are decent enough, I could almost be talked into collecting the set.

Didn't notice yesterday, but did today, the small national flag added on the border is a nice little touch, adding another piece of information to the one side, simply, with the design.

A better pack than yesterday, let's see if it keeps getting better tomorrow!

2 Packs, 18 Cards, 41 Points

Creating an Indigo Blaster

First - this doesn't count as spending money on cards...hear me out. A while back, before the world stopped, we ended up with two $10 off Indigo purchases discounts when you spend $X - can't remember what the threshold was.

So we had some stuff to buy anyway, but were $12 short of the amount (maybe it was $50) if we split the order in two to use both coupons. So, why not buy some packs of cards worth to spend the extra $12 and save $20?

I don't know about you, but I'm counting it as free cards!

So what did I get?



I picked up 8 of these. I figure Champ's was the best bet of the bunch, as the rest were base O Pee Chee packs. Given the size of the Champ's set being 580 cards, I am not going to be adding the set to my "collecting" list, but since these packs also have a bonus pack of stickers in them, and I know someone who like's his stickers, I get to have the fun of opening some packs, hopefully getting a couple Leafs, maybe an insert, and have some stickers to pass along!

Funny as I cracked them open, the sticker packs (2018-19) have individual prices on them of $1.39 and here they are with the Champ's packs for $1.49 (so is the Champ pack worth a dime?).
I am guessing these may not be too much of what I want, and maybe well picked over so as to see no inserts per se, but time will tell.

Scoring for this "box"....

2020 Box Scores		Points
	Base Card	1
	Base Sports Card Need	3
	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
	Error Card	Double Score

First pack - which I guess really is two...

Player wise, the Ted Lindsay is pretty nice, but the only keeper from the bunch is the Chickadee mini - though the mini cards are base cards, but only part of the base set that is done in mini form.

These are the first 2018-19 Panini Stickers I've had in hand and didn't realize they are on the smaller side. They are decent for the small size and fit a lot on the front.

1 Pack, 9 Cards, 11 Points

Too late for St. Patty's Day?

Something light to share today - a simple Dollarama pick up that has been floating around my "to be opened" pile of stuffs for about 8 months. Yeah, I like taking my time and enjoying the antici...

...

...

...

...

...pation.



You may have some idea as to why this pack was picked out.

A Maple Leaf....a star player....an alternative jersey photo....I don't even care that I already have one, darn right I will take another!

Let's free the poor guy...



Much better.

While I have narrowed down what sets I am keeping/collecting, these repacks usually provide a little less in the keeper pile...like this...



15 cards and 4 keepers in all, still, I love these as it provides a good variety of cards for trading, and it's amazing how many of these cards can easily find a new home...



I had never seen this Signature set so WIllis is the first. A fairly standard In The Game type design which are not typically my favourite. That said, the North Stars McRae design is a great throwback style.

Best of this bunch has to be the Oilers Cup celebration - hard to argue with a Stanley Cup card.

Closing off the legend

Three more packs, and close to a complete set as the collation has been bang on.



Continues to be with the first pack which has card number 1 - a young 22 year old Pete Rose...soo young.

Pack two...



Includes the two last cards to close off the 50 card base set - excellent! The dupes from the pack are...



So that leaves me with one of these...



Which I am not even going to bother opening, but instead put aside for sending off to someone. Not sure if that makes it a nice surprise, or more along the lines of a Triple Play pack...

9 Packs, 55 Cards, 158 Points.

I can't complain as I did get the complete base set and the promised autograph, even if it may not have been the most exciting product to open.

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)	2017-18 Upper Deck CDN Exclusive Series 1 Box	5.5128
6)	2013 Triple Play Baseball Box	3.2588
7)	2017 Topps Series 1 Baseball Jumbo Packs	3.2222
8)	2017 Panini Chronicles Baseball Blaster	3.0000
9)	NHL Championship Collection	2.8818
10)	2012 Leaf The Living Legend Pete Rose Blaster	2.8727

It does sneak into my top 10 openings this year - I know, very prestigious.

Well, for the price, which I believe was about $10 Canadian, it was a decent enough pick up, so I am happy, and that's a good way to leave this one, happy!

On the diamond

Some more Pete Rose today including some shots of him actually on the diamond - shocking I know.



Yeah, we still have to start off with him chillin' with his son, and popping a champagne bottle, but hey - baseball parks on baseball cards follow that!

Pete Rose will always be a Cincinnati Red to me. It was where he spent most of his time, and since I didn't see him play really by time I started seeing anything baseball, it's mostly from clips and highlights, which are mainly with the Reds.

It's funny though, without really watching and paying attention, I did pick up on his time with Philly, and the Expos, and his time being a player and manager. As I said, I am in no specific way a Pete Rose collector or big fan, but his presences was big enough that, if you follow baseball, you know about the man.



I could really go for some better centering on that middle bottom card...but really like the jubilation in the last one.



Hey - that last card looks familiar. To answer the question, yes, the autograph insert set in made up of 45 base card pictures used for the autographs, including the Expos one here.

I don't want to dwell on the details, as I am sure most who are reading here know that Pete Rose was a Hall of Fame player and is the career leader in hits, games, at bats and plate appearances, but is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame due to a lifetime ban (first, he is in the WWE Hall of Fame, and second, his ban in baseball was due to betting on baseball games which may or may not have included games he managed in).

Pete Rose does is a bit of a polarizing figure - what are your thoughts? Great player who deserves to be in the Hall, or was his ban deserving?

The interesting spin I'd take on it is, in this day and age, would we look differently at the problem of gambling addiction, and say it was a medical condition or something of that ilk? How times change...

7 Packs, 43 Cards, 130 Points.

A lesson in photography

So, having been disappointed with the backs of the cards in the first go - I was to focus on the fronts. As much as I dislike cards that don't have licenses so as to show logos, etc, these are done fairly well...for the most part.



Top middle - perfectly expected baseball card photo. Not over the top, but solid and simple, I am fine with this though it doesn't stand out when talking about baseball card photos.

The one next to it on the right. This picture totally gives me a stalker vibe...is he trying to hide in his shirt? He sees you but doesn't want you to know he sees you? Yikes!



The 200 on three bats - tells a story in a simple photo of Rose reaching 200 hits - I get this with no explanation necessary. To the right of it...okay....not sure the story behind a crouching rRose, especially when it doesn't seem really in frame, unless the focus is his lower back.



The first photo in these is great in showing a young Pete Rose happy to be there and getting paid to play the game he loves. You can even see the large contrast in his look with the photo just below it.

At least we end with a solid action shot on the base path.

These cards definitely have a wide range (good and bad) of photography!

4 Packs, 25 Cards, 82 Points.

A start with a Legend

Today, we get back to the business at hand - spending a few days with a legend. Okay, a bit cryptic, but to spell it out maybe this will help...



Yes - a box of 2012 Leaf The Living Legend Pete Rose set. So you may be asking me, why would you pick that up because..

Is it a set I would normally collect? No.

Is it a player I collect? No.

Did I have any interest before seeing it on sale at Dave & Adam's? No.

Did I pick it up because I thought I may be lucky and close to a complete the 50 card set in the box, and also get an autograph from Pete Rose? Yeah - pretty much this one.

I am not a huge fan of Pete Rose. I wasn't around for his heyday,and wasn't around to live through the controversy. That said, I was around for his run ins with Kane in WWE, so I knew enough to figure, an autograph at a cheap price...why not!

There are no inserts other than the autographs, so this should be a low scoring box, but with the chance of a complete set if correlation is kind, isn't a bad thing.

So, the scoring...though it won't matter too much here...

2020 Box Scores		Points
	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

Let's get right to the autograph first...



Well, I'll be darned! Pete has a pretty nice signature, and I luck out and get him in his Montreal card which is the one I would want most given the Canada connection there.

While amassing over 3,500 games, he only played 95 with Montreal. I didn't look at the checklist for the autograph cards, but I would assume there is only a couple that may be Montreal related...*takes a look*...maybe 3 of the 45.

As for the base cards...let's open a pack today for a glimpse...



I like the black and white photo look for these cards, probably also makes it easier to get rid of logos and such as needed.



I really don't like the fact the cards use the exact same photo of Pete on each and every one. Also, take a read of the descriptions - for a man who played as long and had as many accomplishments as he did, not sure that running the bases for exercise is the spectacle needed for a 50 card set, but I gather there were some limitations in what material they could use.

At least I hope that is the reason.

1 Pack, 7 Cards, 28 Points.