Happy Turkey Day to all in the cardsphere! I hope it's an enjoyable day wherever, however, and with whomever you're celebrating. I've written about Thanksgiving themed cardboard that highlights outstanding performances from the day's NFL games before. So, today I'll share a card that is all about the holiday.
Just posting this picture makes me hungry! This delicious looking piece of cardboard was included in the 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History set. The back gives us our history lesson for the day:
I'm thankful for my family, good health, roof over my head, and my friends(including my great trade partners in the cardsphere)! Thanks for reading.
Ho, ho, ho...Merry Cards-mas! This marks my third annual Christmas Day recap of the new cardboard Santas in my collection. This year, the additions are few, but I definitely feel like it is quality over quantity.
First up, we have this mini insert from 2010 Allen &Ginter. Creatures of Legend, Myth, and Joy were relative tough pulls at 1:128 packs(from the info I could find).
I like the mini history lesson on the back. Apparently Topps produced relics of a few of the cards from this set. Sadly, a Santa relic for this set was not produced by Topps. No, for 'game used' Santa gear, I chose to go all the way back to 1998.
This oversized gem comes courtesy of Upper Deck. This is the size of two regulation cards side-by-side and is complete with a sizeable swatch of Santa's red suit! I love that he design borrows directly from the early 'game-worn jersey cards that UD was known for. It's not the only Santa relic available, but for now it'll have to be he only one that has a permanent residence in my collection. I was able to add these two for a little over the cost of a blaster and hey definitely fill me with more holiday cheer than rolling the dice on another retail box!
I hope you all have a safe and Merry Christmas! Thanks for reading.
Yesterday I received a cage that contained some goodies from Tim Hortons.
Those donuts look and taste like cardboard... Wait! Those aren't donuts, they're my first two additions from this year's Upper Deck Tim Hortons Hockey set.
Here's a closer look. It's hard to see, but the top of the Saad has some foil loss. No, that's not from where I tried to take a bite, it was from the tape that was used on the penny sleeve it was shipped in. At first, it frustrated me that the card was damaged due to incorrect packaging, but in the end it's not terribly noticeable and I'm really glad to have a few cards from this set. I'm thrilled that UD has continued its partnership with Tim Hortons and brought the set back for a second year. Similar to the inaugural set, this year's cards are not short on shiny foil. I, for one, love he design!
Here's a look at the backs. The only thing I would have liked better here is if they were able to include full career stats. After getting this first taste of the set, I'm hoping to pick up a few more in the coming weeks or months. Thanks for reading.
Over the last week, Stadium Club has temporarily(I hope) disappeared from retail shelves in my general vicinity so I have had to explore other options to satiate my card breaking appetite. Earlier this week, I grabbed another hockey repack(I'll post on that another day),but while at my local Target I found something quite exciting.
I had considered, on multiple occasions, grabbing one of these shortly after they released but I never ended up taking one home. I couldn't justify the purchase price for a sport that I don't regularly collect when my reasoning for the gamble was to see if I could pull the Connor McDavid Young Guns RC. However, I've become increasingly involved in the world of Upper Deck ePack(possibly more on that at a later date) and when I saw this discounted series one blaster I had to roll the dice. Here are a few of my favorite base cards from the break.
I'm not a Blackhawks fan, but the emotion and the Stanley Cup Finals patch on that Duncan Keith make for an awesome piece of cardboard! I like the post-check action on the Subban and I included Parise simply because he is a former Devil.
A few interesting horizontal cards. I especially like that the puck is in mid-air on the Steen. Skinner ended up being my only 'favorite teams(Canes or Devils) pull'.
I wasn't overjoyed with either of these insert pulls. They're up for grabs if anyone is interested. It definitely looks like this blaster was meant for a Chicago fan...
I really like these Canvas inserts, though I was underwhelmed by the Weber. The best part of it for me is the fact that the stream from his water bottle was caught on film. I was happy to find a Canvas Young Guns in there. That's all for the insert portion of the program. Last stop is the Young Guns territory. Did I hit the lottery and snag the McDavid?
In short, no I didn't. The Panarin was a pretty darn good pull though. It cartainly made the break a success! This was one of the most entertaining blasters I've busted in a while. Now that I know they can be found in the clearance section, I'll be keeping my eyes open for one or two more. Thanks for reading.
This is the news that I've been wanting to talk about for a while! Back in late February, I read this announcement stating that Topps is going to resurrect National Baseball Card Day this year. While details are still sketchy, I've been hoping for something like this for at least a few years now. I had delusions of grandeur that maybe I could try to contact the company(or companies, if I included Panini) and try to get this to take off again, but that never happened. I've been a huge fan of Record Store Day for years, and more recently, UD's National Hockey Day. I think events like these are a great tool to keep collectors engaged in the hobby and to open the doors for new collectors. Additionally, if the decision is made to make this a hobby store promo, it supports the precious few remaining LCS's across the country. I'm going to reserve my over-the-top excitement for after more details are released, but either way I'm going to support this as much as possible in the hopes that it becomes a regular thing. In the mean time, here are some of my favorite cards that I've acquired from the previous incarnations of the event. Unfortunately, both of the previous incarnations, National Trading Card Day and National Baseball Card Day occurred during the time when I was not active in our hobby.
These are the only two cards I have from the early, cross-company, cross-sport National Trading Card Day from back in 2004. To be honest, I've eye-balled the LeBron and Carmelo rookie year issues from this set, but have never actively pursued them.
Here is a sampling of my collection of the 2006 issued National Baseball Card Day event. Personally, I'm a much bigger fan of the Baseball Card Day, focusing on the single sport. Perhaps, Panini will follow suit and set up a Football Card Day now that they hold the exclusive NFL license.
These two hail from the final year that NBCD was held, back in 2008. Other than the fact that there is not much difference between this design and the UD design used in 2006, I like these. I'm probably partial to the 2006 variety since they don't have the foil, but ultimately it's a nice design that was different than the standard Upper Deck set from the corresponding year. I have a few hopes for this promotion.
Topps issues an event-specific set that is easily identifiable(a la Panini's Black Friday or Father's Day sets).
They create some sort of 'chase' cards within the set(a la Panini's Black Friday or Father's Day sets).
The cards are issued in packs, not as an entire set.
Topps produces some free, branded promo items(bumper stickers, buttons, window clings, hats, t-shirts, etc.) that are also given out at the event(a la record labels giving promo items away during RSD).
It is successful enough to establish this as an annual promotion.
Maybe I'm setting my expectations too high, but I sure hope not. I've been enjoying Record Store Day since its inception in 2008 and it's one of my favorite days that I anticipate each year. I would love nothing more than to feel the same way about a day devoted to my cardboard hobby. What do you think about this? Are you the slightest bit excited or is it just me? Thanks for reading. UPDATE: Topps has announced that the date for National Baseball Card Day will be August 13th. No further details have been released at this time.
I'll admit it, this is a filler post. However, the more thought I've out into this topic, the more I wish it would actually happen. I know many of you don't care much for the digital trading card apps out there, but I've been a regular user of Topps Huddle, Bunt, and Kick and more recently, Upper Deck's ePack. I can honestly say that I have never spent a cent on these digital cards, but I have enjoyed 'opening' the digital packs using the credits I get for free for checking in every day. I've pulled some pretty cool 'cards' from each app, but my new favorites were recent pulls from Huddle. Shortly after the Denver Broncos' victory parade, there was a digital insert set featuring photos from the parade. I was fortunate enough to pull these:
There he is, the man who has been an integral part of each of the Broncos Super Bowl wins(in one way or another)!
This is a really cool 'card' that captures the energy of the scene that day. Cards like this are right up my alley! Having pulled these two cards, I've really started to wish that Topps would alter the way they handle the digital cards they issue. It would be incredibly cool if they would offer the chance to have physical cards shipped to you if you choose. I know the semantics if this would be difficult to work out, but I would love to have these two cards in a tangible collectible form. Oh well, for now that's a pipe dream. Perhaps Topps is listening. Maybe offering this option will be a reality in the future. Until then, I'll have to bask in the glow of my iPad screen while I enjoy looking at these reminders of my favorite team's championship season. Thanks for reading.
While I may be significantly invested in watching the teams play tonight, I have always enjoyed Super Bowl commercials! So, for those of you who couldn't care less about the Broncos or Panthers, I've put together a little cardboard related commercial compilation(wow, how's that for alliteration?). I will admit, not all of these commercial cards depict characters from Super Bowl commercials, they are all from fairly well known ads. Let me apologize for the length of this post in advance, but it'll be a fun filled trip down memory lane if you want to take it with me!
We begin way back in 1989/90...
Bo Jackson was the MAN! Somewhere along the lines. I snagged this unlicensed card based upon his 'Bo Knows' Nike campaign. I remember loving this as a kid. In fact, I'm not sure I knew anyone my age that didn't love it(and quote it endlessly). Check out part one here.
Here's part two of the 'Bo' campaign.
Now, let's keep the nostalgia train-a-rolling.
Next up, we have two cards featuring NBA superstar Michael Jordan(or someone that looks and plays a lot like him). The first is from his 1991 Nike campaign with Spike Lee(as Mars Blackmon). This ad was responsible for the ubiquitous 'it's gotta be the shoes' line that stayed around playground pickup games for far too long. The second came in 1994 and features one of two actual Super Bowl ads that I can highlight in the theme of this post. Shortly after MJ retired, this 'new' NBA player named Johnny Kilroy emerged. He had a style very similar to that of His Airness and looked an awful lot like him too. I remember being thrilled to pull this from a pack of UD Special Edition(I think that's what the product was called). Sorry, for the sake of trying to keep this post a bit shorter I won't post video of either of these ads.
Moving right along, we come to Larry Johnson and his memorable Converse campaign from the early '90's.
I played a lot of playground, pickup basketball when I was a kid and everyone wanted to be 'Grandmama'!
This isn't the original Grandmama commercial, but it was my favorite.
Moving along. In the mid-nineties, one of my favorite players was Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway, and he had a great series of commercials where he starred alongside an action figure of himself called Lil Penny. These were hilarious and Lil Penny was voiced by Chris Rock! Sad to say that I've never been able to find any trading cards related to these ads.
Fast forward to 2011, LeBron James was one of the best and most popular players in the NBA. He was probably one of the most marketable players too. Thus, The LeBrons were born.
I won't say too much about this campaign because the card sums it up pretty clearly. Sorry, once again, no video.
Thanks for hanging in with me this far, if you've made it. The last card features one of my favorite players and the second two sport star of he post.
In 2013, another mysterious player came out of nowhere to take the NFL Draft Combine by storm. Leon Sandcastle ended up being drafted by the Chiefs with the number one pick. This provided some great entertainment for me during the Super Bowl that year. I love Deion!
So there you have my commercials on cardboard tribute post. Thanks for sticking with me through this twisting, turning journey down memory lane. Here's hoping that in between some great game footage tonight that there are some new cardboard commercial memories to be made.
Thursdays are my long day at the office. I'm typically there from around 8am-8:30pm. I know there are plenty of people that only work 12 hour shifts, so I'm not complaining, but I usually find a lot of my impulse buys are on these days simply because it helps me get through the day. Whether I open whatever I get during my break or save it until the end of my shift as an incentive, grabbing a little something to open definitely helps me get through the long day. Yesterday, right as I was going to leave the office, I noticed an email that detailed Upper Deck's new digital card app. When I heard about it, I sat in my car and created an account and immediately opened my daily free pack.
I know a lot of you out there don't consider these 'cards' and won't waste time with apps like this, but I really dig flipping through a new 'pack', especially when I'm not depending any money. I'm also intrigued by the concept that Upper Deck has come up with. This is like a hybrid of other digital trading card apps and the eTopps concept. Apparently, you can opt to have actual cards from your collection within the app sent to you. Here's pack number one.
I'm definitely going to add it to my daily digital trading card routine. After checking out the app, I felt the need to open some real packs. I needed to run an errand that would bring me near another Target that is not my normal local Target. When I stopped in, I found the first 100 card hockey repacks that I've seen in my area. I've seen the unopened pack varieties before, but never wanted to spend the 12 or 20 bucks to pick one up. When I saw this face card, I figured it was worth the 5 dollar gamble.
I cracked it open and ripped the pack open first.
I haven't collected hockey cards in a really long time, so I'll just dive in. Feel free to drop some knowledge on any of these.
I recognize Getzlaf only because I know some of you out there collect him.
Cammaleri is a current Devil, so therefore a favorite. Also pulled a rookie, but it have no idea if it's a 'true RC' or if that is even a real concept in the world of collecting hockey cards.
The final card of the pack at least sports the Devils logo. Based upon the wrapper, I think this may be a gold rush parallel? Not sure. Now on to the highlights of the 100 card block. It was heavy on 1990 Bowman and one of the '90's Parkhurst sets and overall, I found it to be a really enjoyable stack.
I'll start with two of the three Devils in the pack along with an awesome net minders card. I remember Ed Jovanovski when he was the first draft pick in the early '90's. When I see a Tie Domi, the first work that comes to mind is 'goon'. My only memories of seeing him on the ice involve him throwing fists. Lastly, a really cool award winners hologram of Dirk Graham.
Don't know any of these guys, but they're all pretty cool. I mean until I checked out the back of the upper right card, I thought the guy's name was Moose Jaw! Turns out it is a team checklist. At least I got a laugh out of it.
Now here's the star portion of the program. All told, two Hull, two Roy, a Messier, a Modano, and a Lemieux is a pretty strong showing.
These are two of my favorites of the whole pack. The Smirnov may have a boring pic, but I love the retro design. The LaBarbera is, by far, my favorite photo of the whole pack. That was a pretty good pack, but it turns out that I had the one out of four that included a hit.
I've got no idea who either of these guys is and I don't have particularly like the Blues, but a dual relic is still awesome! I'm not sure how many more hockey repacks I'll ever go for, but it sure was an entertaining repack. Thanks for reading!
These days, I don't make it a habit to actively track down hockey cards. However, I had read about the Upper Deck Hockey set that was going to be distributed exclusively at Canadian Tim Horton's locations and I was intrigued. During some recent treks through the Land of Listia, I began seeing some singles pop up. I found a lot of three that offered free shipping and I pounced on it. The lot arrived earlier today and when I laid eyes on the cards, I was so impressed that I scanned them immediately and here we are. Sorry to the trade posts that I am woefully lagging behind on, but this post began writing itself as soon as I opened the envelope and saw these beauties.
Here are two of the three cards from the lot. The scans came out pretty well, but they still don't do these cards justice. The lines are textured and the foil is very refractor-like. I really like that the positions are listed in both languages too!
Here is the main reason I went after that particular lot. I've taken my family to a handful of 'Canes games over the past few seasons and I've grown to like Staal pretty well during that time.
Here's a look at the back of the cards. It's a nice clean design. At the moment, I can't really think of anything that I don't like about these. After seeing these in hand, I know that I'm going to track down some more of these. They make me wish that there was a set here in the States that we could chase. Maybe one day here will be another Denny's Baseball set or McDonald's Football issue. Until then, I'll have to settle for this international hunt. What do you guys think of this set? Have you seen this up close yet? I'd love to hear thoughts on this one. Thanks for reading!
It's been a while since I took everyone on a trek through the interesting Land of Listia. Recently, I've gone on a few 'big game hunts' and spent some higher credit totals on a few items, but I've been really happy with the acquisitions I've been able to make. Tonight, I want to share none other than...
Godzilla!!!
This awesome pre-MLB issue is the first I have in picturing Matsui in his Yomiuri Giants uniform. I think I'm beginning to slide down the slippery slope of chasing down Japanese issues of at least two of my favorite former Yankees. Earlier this summer, I picked up my first Japanese issue Ichiro, and now this one has taken its place in my collection.
The back is every bit as awesome as the front. I particularly like that it has the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants logo!
I suppose the only drawback is that when I rescued this marvelous specimen from the vast junk wax wasteland of Listia, it had been imprisoned in this PSA slab. I'm currently debating whether I should set this beast free or keep it enclosed on display. For the immediate moment it will remain trapped, but that may change in the near future. Either way, it is a wonderful new addition. I hope you'll join me again really soon when I share another recent trek through the Land of Listia.
