Anything Goes Week is Here

Welcome back for the final week of my blog re-launch contest. This week anything goes! Once again, a brief recap of the rules: 21 cards will be posted this week. Each reader can place a claim on one card. Cards can be claimed by more than one reader. Claims serve as entry into the contest and must be made with an associated name(no anonymous or unknown). The claim period will be open until Monday night at 8pm EST. At the close of that period, I will enter a list consisting of 'reader-card claimed' pairings into a list randomizer. This week, the top three readers with novel claims will be declared winners and receive Cardpocalypse packages. See yesterday’s post for clarification regarding the selection of winners. The packages will include the cards they claimed and some cards that will remain a mystery until the package is opened. Packages will be sent on Thursday.

First up, some familiar cardboard.

Joanna is /125, Bayley is /199(mat relic actually from NXT Takeover), and Kell is /175.

Familiar Refractor-y goodness.

From here on all of the cardboard will be making its contest debut. Max is the photo variation SP.

Forte is /200.



Hockey anyone?

Richardson is /75 and Johnson is /999.

Best of luck to all. The claiming period is open.

Final Round Rules Update

The final Cardpocalypse giveaway drops tomorrow. As previously promised, there will be multiple winners this time around. The theme is 'Anything Goes'. All rules from previous weeks apply here. However, I wanted to clarify how the winners will be selected. This week, the top three readers with novel claims will be declared winners.

The screenshot from this past week's contest will provide a good opportunity for me to explain. In the example above, the three winners would be John Sharp, Sport Card Collectors, and The Lost Collector. Jafronius would have missed out since SCC had claimed the same card and was higher on the list after the final shuffle.

Remember, everyone is eligible to enter this week. There will be 21 cards spanning all previous themes and a few that weren't already represented. Of those 21 cards, only 8 are making a second appearance in the contest. I'm really excited for this round and I hope all of you are too. The claiming period will begin in less than 24 hours...Are you ready?

On the 4th Day of Trade Posts, Shoebox Legends Gave to Me...

...a fully loaded PWE!

Yes, that was my lame attempt at sticking to the song. For real though, Shane recently sent me a really incredible PWE. Let's just dive right in, shall we?

These two cards combine my love for The Muppets and the history of one of my favorite teams in the NHL. The Carolina Hurricanes are my second favorite hockey team, mostly due to their proximity to where I live. For those that don't know, Hartford is where the 'Canes relocated from.

Here are three cards that prove it pays to have a great trading relationship with a BoSox fan. All three are new to me and welcome additions to my Yankees collection. The Sanchez is the gold parallel and the Captain is super sparkly!

I really like the design on these Bowman Heritage relics, plus it brings back memories of a time when Baldelli was going to be a superstar. The punch packed by this PWE didn't stop there.

I couldn't believe that three Bowman Chrome prospect autos fell out of this envelope! I was especially thrilled when I flipped to the Tyler Wade. It's not often I add three autos to the collection in one trade package, let alone courtesy of a PWE! I should have known to expect something like this from Mr. Shoebox Legends though, he always delivers a great trade package. Thanks Shane, there's more Sox ready to be packed and shipped your way. Thanks for reading.

It's the Third Day of Trade Posts!

Today's post highlights two separate packages that arrived from North of the border. Douglas from Sportscards From the Dollar Store was very kind to send two Supertraders packages over the past few months. Anytime I see an envelope with his name on it, I know I'm in for a hearty helping of NJ Devils and these packages didn't disappoint in that respect. Let's check the highlights from the first package.

New to me cards featuring Martin Brodeur will always be welcome in my collection. I especially like the UD that shows him taking the ice. The Bee Hives Gionta was the first card of that type that I had seen in person...very cool. I appreciate the Wil Myers Hometown Heroes RC as it reminds me of a time when I thought he was going to be the next great Rays player. Then injuries struck and he was sent to San Diego. I'm really glad that he put it all together this season and posted solid numbers. Lately I've been thinking of re-adding him to my PC player list. I did enjoy watching him play in Durham... The gold parallel Ronnie Hillman RC is a great Broncos addition, even if he's not with the team anymore.

My hockey relic collection continues to grow almost exclusively by Douglas' contributions. I'm happy that at least for my hockey team(s), the plain single color swatches can at least be red instead of the standard white, gray, or black.

Let's move on to highlights from the second package.

Hmmm, betcha already figured that there would be at least one Brodeur in the scan. I love the die-cut Crown Royale cards and how could I not show off a Devils card of one of the greatest players to lace up the skates?

The trend of adding to my NJ relics was taken up a notch in the second package. I'm digging the auto/relic RC. I'm always thrilled to add to my hockey collection, so thanks Douglas! I know it's been some time since I shipped something back Nort, but I do have a stack or two put together and you're on my list to ship to before the year is out. I can only hope you enjoy what I send your way as much as I appreciate what you've sent mine. Thanks for reading.

Some Tim Horton's with My Morning Coffee

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.

Batting 1.000 On Hockey Repacks

A week or two ago, just before I found a discounted UD series one hockey blaster, I picked up my second 100 card, 1:4 has a hit hockey repacks from a not-so-local Target.

I'll admit, I cheated a little bit on this one. You'll see why in a bit. I picked it up because I kinda liked the face card and was interested to get a better look at it. When I did, I caught a glimpse of the side of the package and saw something unique. The combo of interesting face card and unique looking card buried in the stack made me take it with me to the register when I was ready to check-out.

I was lucky to find a trio of Devils that were on the roster around the time I became a fan of the team. I have an especially fond memory of Stephane Richer. I recall renting an NHL game for the NES(I think) and I chose to play with the Devils. His likeness within the game was on par with Gretzky and Lemieux. They instantly became my team(fortified by all of my friends telling me I should like the Rangers) and Richer became one of my favorite players on the team. Using him in the game kinda reminded me of playing Tecmo Bowl with Bo Jackson.

The bottom row boasts two other great players from the late '80's, early '90's. I had to include the Stevenson RC in the scan simply because you just don't see rollerblades on many pieces of cardboard.

Great photos, especially the Lemieux/Bush meeting on that UD card.

There it is, right there in the center, the face card of the repack. I love that also hiding in the stack was a similarly designed Ovechkin. I dig that old photo of Joe Malone too. Get a load of that old school equipment and sweater!

I was pretty happy to pull this silver signature parallel out of there as well. So, what exactly was that unique looking card I saw from the side of the box? Well, I could tell that it was a thick acetate card of some sort, but I had no idea what kind it was.

This is prett awesome! The signature is on-card. Though I wasn't familiar with Drew Stafford, it's still a cool card. This makes me 2:2 pulling 'hits' from these repacks. This was a ton of fun to bust. My local Target(s) don't stock these for hockey so it won't become a habit to pick them up. When I happen to see a few of these on the shelves, I'll be sure to take a peek though. If the face card is worth it, I'll definitely crack a few more of these. Maybe I'll be able to keep,the streak alive. Thanks for reading.

Didn't Expect to Find This

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.

e-Pack and Repack

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!

Some Tim Horton's to Keep Me Warm

This morning I awoke to a winter wonderland in the making. Like much of the East Coast, my town in NC is expecting a hefty blanket of snow over the next few days. I for one am thrilled. I grew up in Orange County NY and unlike most transplants, the main thing I miss about my hometown is winter. Snow storms are quite a bit different here in the south, mainly due to the lack of equipment/know-how to handle the precipitation, but I've grown to love watching these southern storms from the safety of my house. The temps over the next few days are expected to be some of the coldest of the season so far, but I've got some Tim Horton's goodies to keep me warm.

I know I've shared some of these in multiple posts already, but I haven't grown tired of them yet. This lot of six came to me by way of the Land of Listia. The Carey Price Season Highlights card is my first from the set and it turns out they are checklist cards. Despite adding another of the die-cut cards in this lot, I think my favorite card of this group would have to be the Ovechkin. This brings my set completion total all the way up to 16/100. I'm not sure I'll officially make the push to complete the entire base set, but so long as I can keep finding a few of these here and there, I'll have fun tracking my progress. Stay safe in the wintry conditions, especially if you're in the mid-Atlantic blizzard warning zone and as always, thanks for reading!

No Rivalries Amongst Trade Partners

I usually try not to go with two trade posts back-to-back, but this one was ready and overdue, so here goes.

Quite some time ago, Shane from Shoebox Legends and I completed our first trade. When he emailed to propose it, he asked of we could complete an AL East Rivals swap. I obliged and I think both of our collections were the better for it. A short while after that, I decided that I was going to try to complete the 1968 Topps Game insert set. Shane told me he had a card he could send and would throw it in a PWE. Instead, I received a small padded mailer with his return address on it. The contents were something special.

As promised, Shane sent over this Tony Gonzalez which I needed for the Game set. I like this set more and more with each card I cross off the checklist.

I found a healthy dose of oddball in this package. I love the Donnie Baseball additions. The super shiny gold Ivan Nova was nice too!

This is where the package took an unexpected turn. I'm not sure if these were meant for someone else because I have never mentioned the NHL in the short history of this blog. However, if Shane simply has a surplus of these and was looking to pack some added punch in a trade package, I will happily rip into these things like there is no tomorrow! In fact, it is beyond me how I have been able to leave these sitting on my desk unopened for as long as I have already. Truth is, these packs come from a time when I did collect hockey. The chance at an early Jagr and RC of Hasek and LeClair are tempting me to rip the Score pack and the fact that I never really saw how the brilliance of Stadium Club translated to the ice makes me want to tear into it.

We'll keep the unexpected rolling right along. I was shocked to see this Solarte RC auto from 2014 Stadium Club staring back at me. It's a beautiful card and will serve to remind me of the early part of the 2014 season when the exploits of 'Never Nervous Yangervis' were about the only thing keeping the team afloat...a time when it was still possible that they would make a playoff run in The Captain's final season.

Last, but certainly not least, was this stunning commemorative relic. This thing is THICK, and HEAVY! It may be a manu-relic, but it is quite an impressive one in my book. 

Not too shabby considering I was only expecting a PWE with the Gonzalez card in it. Thanks for another great package, Shane! I'm truly thankful that the on-field rivalry of our favorite teams doesn't carry over to the collecting world. I'll have more BoSox to send your way shortly!