Another Mark Hoyle production

Mark has been sending packages all over the US and more lately, spreading vintage joy throughout the cardosphere © . But not only. Because I've received several generous trade packages from Mark, and not one resembles the other. This one proves it once again !

Mark knows how much I love those In action 72 cards. And he sure delivered

More 72s ! Nice Catfish and McCovey in there

All the following are much needed additions to my collection, and all new to me :

 Oddballs ! I was a big Bobby Bonilla fan 23 years ago. Mainly because I liked the Mets and needed someone to collect.

 I'm extremely happy to add that Mc Griff card ! 90s gems...(well ok, 92 Fleer and 92 Donruss aren't exactly gems, but let me deal with nostalgia the way I feel like)

And finally, more modern cards. Weird that I haden't already received that Bautista in a trade !


Thanks a lot Mark, I already have some Red Sox and Celtics put aside for you !

Another successful triple break (damn we're good)

It's my turn (yay) to show off what I got in our Transatlantic triple break. Brian went with 2006 Ovation and 2011 Lineage. I had some teams, they had the others, blablabla. And even though Brian had already sent me an envelope a few days before, he went back to the post office to ship those out ASAP (thank you btw the USPS for increasing by 20% international rates. Really. But there is a way around it by asking for the cheapest option possible. It exists ! Probably called Economy, or something).

Nothing too exciting about the photos, naturally, but the embossed feel is pretty cool. I had no idea there were parallels (the Manny is a gold parallel numbered to 499).

It's always really cool to get some PC inserts in our breaks. Another jersey so-called relic, but I don't care, it's Vernon Wells AND I like the card (but yeah, they really need to look for new ideas now, they've been doing this for 20 years after all).

I opened myself a box of lineage sometime last year, and it really was a blast. A ton of fun inserts and a nice lineup. Too bad they didn't spend a lot of time thinking out the backs of the cards though.

 A giant box topper and some minis ! Probably from the same jersey than the Vernon Wells one...

Shiny parallels !

 The Mick ! the one on the right has a cloth like feel to it, it's really nice. And more inserts.

Brian even managed to find some Blue Jays (woohoo, press proof !)  and a great Ichiro to add to his package

Thanks a lot Brian, always fun to be a part of those breaks !

Superfly Supertrader

I'm still not sure how it all works, but I'm honored to be part of the Supertraders group put together by Wes. Most people from the group are actually my usual trading partners, so it makes it easier for everything to go smoothly. Plus, it's a great way to find new people to trade with (I'm actually pretty sure that was the whole point. A trading accelerator).
I've actually already received cards thanks to the initiative. I know there are some waiting for me from Wes (my good friend  Matt from Bob Walk the Plank is nice enough to serve as a post office platform), and I also got two envelopes. One from Tony (Off hiatus) and one from Brian (highly subjective). So yay !

Let's first have a look at what Tony was nice enough to send my way :

Plenty of minis, some with A&G backs. Can't go wrong with 81 Donruss, especially with Danny Ainge on it.

More early 80s stuff, some Heritage and a very nice Carter insert (ah, 90s....). Thanks a lot Tony, many of those will be going in my binders ! I'll make sure to put some Brewers aside, as usual.

Next up, some cards from Brian. Not for our usual trades. Not for our transatlantic triple breaks. But for #SUPERTRADERS.

 This here has always been one of my all time favorite cards. Maybe because at the time, an $8 card was a lot for me (I think that's what it was worth) and I had traded for it, but also because of its simple design. When I look at it 20 years later, I realize there are many more fancier Griffey cards out there, but this one's still special, as I had it in a frame for a long time in my room.

Autos and a relic ! Very nice Pompey chromey auto.

A little bit of everything. The Pompey Finest and Price Bowman's Best are my first taste of each issue from this year (well, last year now).

 Hologram ! That Carter Pacific card is also awesome, and I've always been a big fan of those Mc Donald's MVP World series issues. Great design. Some cool stickers (first time I've seen the one on the right) and some very crisp 91 Traded.

New York teams ! That Em Tunnell card is actually a 57 Topps. I'd probably be able to dwell myself in any vintage from any sport (Hockey is really cool as far as vintage goes. plenty of mustaches), but I need to try and stay focused. I really love the variety Brian sent. Lots of stuff from lots of eras.

 Two-sports kings. The Sanders is actually acetate and looks pretty cool. Museum Collection is neat also.

 1977 Mets cards for my ever growing collection

The great thing about having a large PC is that I get a ton of very various cards for each one of them. Love that Hall of gold

 Mr Mattingly, including a very cool silver SP and some oddballs. Always weird seeing him without a mustache.

Some Pat Burrell cards (including a gold SC parallel), and some Keith Hernandez.

 Yadier ! A&G, Heritage, Archives and flagship (well, opening day). Gives a good idea of what's been going on in the hobby for the past few years.

And finally, also included was a pack of 83 O PEE CHEE, that of course appeals to my Canadian roots, and that came complete with its piece of gum (I don't think even Gavin would give it a try)Jim Kaat is actually PC, so that's cool. And it was apparently a Cruz hot pack.

Thanks a lot Brian, all of those are greatly appreciated, and thanks for hitting on a bunch of my broad collecting needs !

A crack at 2016 Topps

Boy I am so smart with puns...

Anyway, Julie is one of my favorite people in the world in general and even more so in the card world. She proved why once again by immediately sending me the complete Blue Jays team set from 2016 Topps as soon as she'd opened her jumbo box (then again, she was quite disappointed with it, probably hasting her even more to just get rid of these extras). Of course, I can't just go to my local Wallmart or Target to get a blaster or some packs of this year's flagship (and I don't feel like paying $100 for a box to be shipped to me), so this is actually my first taste of this year's effort. Of course, I'm extremely late to the party (the chips and beer are stale and everybody's passed out on the couch), so there's really no point in adding to what's already been said, but ah well, it's my blog, I'll rant if I want to !

Those I really like. A couple of PC (let's hope Yadier recovers from surgery) and some nice full bleed photos that help make me forget the cheesy font.

The return of the first pitch insert (yay, women on cardboard!) and a cool Wrigley field one.

Ok. Whoever's responsible for this, please step up and admit it. There's absolutely nothing right, there. They aren't even back to back on the card, which was the whole purpose of this very badly made mashup. Back to arm is more like it. Half-ugly, half-very ugly.

 On your left, the rainbow foil parallel. They should stick to Gold, Clear and silver framed, if you ask me.

On your left, the photo variation SP. Or maybe it's the one on the right. It's still basically the same photo, so come on, what's the point ?

 The iconic batflip, perfectly captured. I would've preferred to see it in Stadium club, but hey, it deserves to be in flagship for eternity. It's just that full bleed would've been better than blurry smoke effects...man what a game...

 And a Bautista cameo ! great idea to include it in the package, I love that kind of outside of the box thinking from Julie. Always makes me smile.

And finally, more Blue Jays, complete with 2015 stats on the back. Way too many close up shots at the plate for my taste, but ah well...

Thanks Julie for taking the time to send me all these so I could hold some 2016 cards in my hands !

Transatlantic owl flight through the night

Greg (aka NO) was one of the first bloggers I reached out to when I started blogging myself. It took 18 months, but we finally completed our first trade (yay).

Here are the highlights of the small packet Greg was kind enough to send, and all were needed for my collection.

Thanks for taking the time to find a missing 93 UD ! (I'm almost there...)

It took me long enough to get those couple beauties from Stadium Club. Good thing traders are here.

 Various Blue Jays from various years, including 90s favorites

 A couple of PC (I really like that Ichiro, and Studio is always a classic) and a couple of Knicks. I never get any basketball in trades (seems logical, this is a baseball card blog and community), so those are welcomed.

The only logical reason I can find to Pat Burrell having made it across the ocean is that he definitely looks like Scott Rolen. But yeah, not quite.

And finally, some much needed gorgeous Masterpieces cards for my budding collection .

Thanks a lot Greg for sending me a little bit of everything that fits my collection (plus Pat Burrell) !

5K (and I'm not talking strikeouts)

This card is special.

It's not very nice to have Upper Deck choose Molitor for a ground out (where's the respect ?), but I suppose somebody had to be it.

I already did a similar post for my 3 000 th Blue Jay (Molitor would've been more fitting for that milestone), but do know that this is the 5 000th unique Blue Jays card that I've added to my collection since re-entering the hobby 18 months ago. I'm psyched. So once again, thanks to all of you who've made it possible (and to justcommons, who always offers great international shipping bargains) blablablablabla (but it's a sincere blablablablabla).

On a side note, I really should update my wantlist, I'm missing a lot of 2015 singles

Update :

yeah, for those who wonder, I absolutely document everything. It was easy because I started this when I had "only" 10 000 cards and was having fun taking everything out of boxes and binders after hiding them for 20 years. Then all I had to do was update the spreadsheet every day when I got new cards. It's the organizing that makes it fun for me...(and no, that's not the Azureus logo you see at the bottom its...hum...*cough*)

Box Break : 2000 Topps Gallery (and a transatlantic group break also!)

It was ample time for me to buy a box for our transatlantic group break that includes Brian and Matt (hi guys !). I really didn't know what to go with this time, as I've too often been disappointed by early 2000 boxes (those are the ones that are often on sale), and eventhough my preference goes to mid 90s wax, I'm not sure they make for very good trade bait ! So I bought a box that offers great value : 2014 Panini (PANINI !!!!) Classics. We already opened one in West Virginia not long ago, so we simp^ly shuffled the teams so we would'nt get any duplicates.

We then crossed our fingers hoping for a 1/1 Jeter or at least some Hall of famer with a cool signature or relic. I was a little disappointed not to get any of those, but the box wasn't that bad after all. We each got at least one hit, and I got the most interesting one (woohoo).
There it is :

I was psyched to get a 1/1 but to be honest I do not know who Semien is. Not sure it'll ever carry a premium, but still a nice unique card to have !

As for the rest of the break, you'll see on their blogs how Matt and Brian did !

My total amount for the 5 boxes I got was $150. Shipping was pretty low at $45, especially considering there were about 150 packs to be sent out in all. Plus, I got them in 48h, which is amazing (a package usually takes a week to ten days to get here). Unfortunately, as always, there are customs charges. And I don't know why, but they made me pay customs on the entire $195 order instead of just the value of products. I thought I'd pay around $45 customs, but it turns out it was $60. Ah well. As I always say, it comes with the European territory. I'd rather pay extra and get cards than not have access to cards at all (but still, it doesn't seem logical to pay VAT on shipping. I should send a message to UPS to clarify things).

ANYWAY. To avoid paying $40 shipping for just the box of Classics (yes, that's the minimum shipping charge for Europe), I added more boxes. Some Cooperstown, some Collector's Choice and a box of 2 000 Topps Gallery. It turned out to be a great box to open. Lots of fun. No guaranteed hits as autos were 1:153, but some nice inserts and amazing base cards.

Those are seeded 1:12. There are 24 packs in a box, which means I got one extra. Woohoo. Nice trio too, especially at the time. Except there's only one in the bunch who'll ever make it to Cooperstown and who doesn't make people very mad.

I like Bagwell. And it's a fun insert that almost looks like a 90s insert. Can't make a better compliment. Odds were 1:18

 It's silly because it's not cardboard, but I really like acetate cards. Even when there's Pablo Ozuna on there (then again the whole concept was to put a veteran with a youngster). Odds were 1:48

More acetate ! It's always cool to buy cards of your favorite player on ebay or comc, but there's nothing like the thrill of actually pulling one from a pack. Odds were 1:24 for a ten card set. Really great card.

I hadn't seen that card at first, but it's a parallel. And it's numbered to 250. Play'er's private issue, it says. Okay.

I was nicely surprised by the inserts, but I really got the box for the base cards. Great design, awesome photography, and even the backs are nice. I also hope to open a box of masterpieces one day, but I won't hold my breath...

I'm a little disappointed by that Griffey card, I feel like they could've done better, but hey, he's smiling and it's original, so why not ! I needed that Delgado.

 Horizontal shots are few and far between, which is too bad when you see those !

More great photos ! I should make a pun about being head over heels for that set, but I don't think the world is ready for that kind of humor.

Collation wasn't bad either, as I'm only missing one card for the complete base set of 100. The next 50 cards are SP that don't interest me as much.

Well, that sure was fun ! There's a box of 2002 Gallery on sale on Dave & Adam's. I might give it a shot next time, once I lick my financial wounds...