Jay barker passes to Bob Walk who passes to Papoy

Quick post to show off some cards sent by Wes. He put up for grabs (well, for trade) some cards a while back, and I claimed the following three (you were allowed up to three cards and yeah, I'm greedy).

 I don't necessarily collect Braves, Orioles nor Javy Lopez, but I like Prime patches, and I like the color orange. It's numbered /56

I do collect Frank Thomas cards, though, and here's a nice stripe !

I liked him more as an Indian, but I think those Museum collection quad relics look nice, even all in grey.

Wes sent all of these to Matt so he'd pass them along to me (Matt is kind of my own PO box, and I thank him for that). Of course, Wes being Wes, he also included some BLue Jays for my collection

I'm a big fan of SPx, a big fan of Wells, a big fan of Delgado, so yay. And not everyday do I add a yellow Blue Jays swatch to my collection.

 A little bit of everything, including a Joe Carter I needed, from a set that's always confused me. WHy on earth did Stadium Club issue these ?

ANd finally, an almost complete 93 Classic Dunedin Blue Jays set (27 cards).

Thanks a lot Wes (and Matt), you shoul've received my return package by now ! And good luck on your Desert Shield project, I'll miss sending you autos !

Bob & Papoy do (Dallas) Stadium Club

Ok, Matt is in San Antonio, not Dallas, but I still think my title is funny.

Anyway, I received my end of our monthly box breaks, namely a box of 2015 Stadium Club. I know they've been shown to death, but it's such a gorgeous set that it deserves it.

As expected with Stadium Club, you get beautiful base cards, inserts that are half interesting, parallels that are pointless, and very common on-card autos that can be found for very cheap on Ebay. All this in a 16 pack/8 card box (in the same package, I received a 93 Leaf box, with 36 packs and 14 cards per pack. The stack is much higher). I'm being a little sarcastic because that's just who I am, but I still enjoyed busting open those packs, despite the fact that the box cost me about $110, if I factor in shipping and customs.

Let's see if it was worth it, knowing that I have the NL teams + Blue Jays and Matt has AL + Pirates (hint : nope, not worth it)

The good thing about the break is that the hits were evenly distributed. We each got an auto (his is a bit better), which is always a good thing, and exactly what we're looking for. We wouldn't want jealousy to tear our friendship apart ! I don't have much to say about Alcantara, sorry ! I'm sure he's a nice guy.

The Mays is pretty nice. And at least, I got this season's two best hitters in the NL (yes, that statement is open for debate. And I'm not talking about Harvey).

black boring parallel (cool card though)

boring gold parallels (yes, I know Bo Jackson isn't an NL player, but Matt was kind enough to let me have it (let's not take that sentence out of context))

And now, for the base cards you've seen hundreds of times :

Horizontaaaaaaaaaaaaals

So there you go. Incredible looking cards, but considering what they cost me, it'd been simpler to just buy a complete set, especially since I don't care much about the inserts or parallels. In an ideal world, I would've gotten the Donaldson auto, but you can't always get what you want, as they say.

Along with a box of 93 Leaf, I also bought a couple of 2014 Heritage blasters. There were the usual inserts and SPs, but there also was that card :

Which is a pretty lucky pull to get in a blaster (it's seeded 1:720), plus it's a Blue Jays player. So yay ! Here I am, all excited about a game used patch numbered out of 99...maybe I'm not sarcastic enough after all


ps : just saw that this was my 200th post ! Congrats to me !

A Bugs Bunny and Simply Red special

My good friend Matt found the time between two baseball and football games and before long travels to ship out some cards to everybody in the blogosphere (well, almost everybody), including an envelope that made it overseas to me (yay).

Matt is known for his generosity (which is common ground among our tight-knit group) and for always finding the perfect cards that'll suit your collection to the point (I have no idea if my English is idiomatic or not. Ah well. You get what I mean). As you all know, we have monthly box breaks, and each time we send the other's winnings, we'll also include some cards for our ongoing trading. And it seems like he's always setting the bar just a little higher each time around.

I won't have much to show box break wise, as Matt got most of the hits (4 autos in Hometown Heroes and a very nice hit in DK with a low numbered (/5) Joc Pederson auto and relic).

The Hosmer is numbered /99 and is still a nice looking card, despite the fact that the swatches are a bit bland.

I won't show any base cards of neither DK nor Hometown Heroes, as you all know them by now.

Now, as for the trade aspect of the package. And I suggest you sit tight, as it packs a great bunch.

First up, my very first Wizzard swatch ! Perfect for my Gold GLovers collection.

I don't know what it is about game-used bat cards, but they've always appealed to me more than jerseys (or pants or crotch). Here's a great-looking card of two of my all-time favorite Blue Jays players.

Speaking of bats....and what a great group of people ! Delgado !! Big Hurt !!! Thome !!!! and....Well ok, three out of four still makes it awesome.

Ok, forget what I said about jerseys, that's an impressive patch right here ! Ryan Goins is doing a great job filling in for injured Devon Travis. We already knew he was good on defense, but he's actually hitting (and getting on base) way more this year.

A great looking on-card auto on an almost wood-like surface. It's very nice to touch, you should try it !

Ok, here come the two even bigger bombs

Can't really say his signature is impressive, but I don't care much about that. It's still a Tulo auto from his Colorado playing days (Ha !). As you all know, he's been a great addition to the BLue Jays' lineup energy-wise, and his presence has been a real plus. And I'm sure his bat will be back on track during the off-season.

Ok.
Ready...
set....

Just like that, my very first Halladay auto.
My oh my do I love that card.
His autos have alays been out of my price range, so it's really awesome to get one in a trade. Plus, I'm pretty sure I bid on that card at the time, it really rings a bell !

Ok...let's see how high I can put that bar....thanks a lot Matt, my end of the box break will be revealed this week !

Need more Griffey Cow Bells : part II

Ok, here's the second part showing off the package sent to me by The Junior Junkie. This time, I'll focus on Topps and Upper Deck. For those who weren't around the first time up, I'm only showing those cards that were new to me.

Topps oddballs ! Great design on that Mc Donald's set.

The usual Topps subsets from the 90s

Now that's what I call a lot of foil !

One peeled and two unpeeled Finest. They won't stay unpeeled very long after I scan them.

I had no idea I was missing a 93 Griffey Stadium Club. Especially since I've always loved those member's choice subsets. That 91 medallion is very, very cheesy.

I have no idea what Topps Unique is, but I do know that co-signers card on the left looks awesome.

It's never too early to commemorate and to just add a foil stamp.

 And it's never too late to be using very old designs (which is a trend I agree with)

2014 and 2015 issues...seems like it's becoming difficult to find different photos to use on cards.


Aaaaah, Upper Deck...how do we miss ye. Of course, as a spokesperson and the most popular player of the 90s, this means that there were many, many UD Griffey cards made. So many inserts, so many subsets...a lot of those cards are extremely new to me, and I'll have to look them up.

I have a very soft spot for Promos, especially that 94 CC.

 You can't beat early 90s holograms. Don't even try.

 I wonder when they stopped doing that whole National card day ? You can see that he puts that grip at use, on the card on the right.

I never opened a pack of Fun Cards, and I really should try and track some down. Here's a tip, though : don't try to unfold anything that has 20 something year old glue on it..

More fun cards with Collector's Choice, including some silver signatures, and a photo (the one in the middle) already used on an SP checklist card.

This collecting subset is actually more of a checklist. But with valuable tips such as 'put your cards in 9 pocket pages, trade your doubles and start your own collections'. Thanks, Ken !

The usual Upper Deck inserts/subsets, this time, including a very much wanted 93 5th Anniversary.

here's one I'll have to do some research on...it doesn't look like it's licensed, and I'm pretty sure it's some kind of Nascar card (yeah, I would've made a great detective)

MVP and Victory are kind of boring to me.

Following Topps' footsteps

Some random UD brands

SP just may be my favorite UD brand outside from flagship, of course. The first SPx is actually a promo card, and that 93 SP is one of my favorite Griffey cards of all time.

And finally, let's wrap it up with some white bordered (mainly) Sp Authentic (mainly) cards !

I still have some oddballs to show off....more fun ahead !

Box break : 95 Collector's Choice SE

So here's a set that was released at the end of 94. There were supposed to be 2 series, but because of the strike, they decided to scratch that, to stay with a 265 card series and to release a single series Collector's Choice...hmmm...hold on, as I'm typing this, I realize it doesn't make sense.
I have no idea why Upper Deck decided to  forget about SE and go for a normal Collector's Choice in 95.

The good thing is that you can find some Collector's Choice boxes (36 packs) for dirt cheap, and considering how fun they are to look at, that's definitely a plus, 20 years later.

As always with CC, it's a simple set with a simple design and simple inserts (parallels).

Mr Weiss, most important card in the box, of course.

 Seeded 1:36, those are really tough to pull. I just wish it'd been another player or another team, as I don't know anyone who collects Giants.

Some Pc inserts !

 Three rookies. Jeter already had RCs in 93 and 94, of course, and A-Rod in, 94 (maybe even in 93, I don't remember and am too lazy to ckeck). In any case, 2 of these three players are still active, and that's pretty crazy.

Somewhat of a superstar. I'm glad he had an exclusive deal with Upper Deck, that meant you could get him on a baseball card.

The usual interesting UD photos. I'd have to check with Nick, but I wonder if The big unit isn't the pitcher the most shown at the plate on baseball cards. And as always, Winfield looks incredibly cool.

And finally, because it's one of my favorite parallel sets ever (Silver signature, that is), I won't resist the urge to show as many as possible :

Totally worthless money-wise, but still completely worth it !