NFL Memories From Thanksgivings Gone By

First things first, I want to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! For me, it's a great holiday filled with family, good food, and some NFL action. It's been that way for as long as I can remember. So, a few weeks ago with the holiday fast approaching, I began searching for cards that could be tied to the various games played on Thanksgiving day. I wasn't sure what I'd find, if anything. As it turns out, Panini released a Thanksgiving 'tribute' insert in their 2013 Totally Certified product.

When I saw this one of future Hall of Fame CB, Champ Bailey, I really had to have it! It's horizontal, it's got a great action photo, it's from a game where he was a Bronco, and when I turn it over, it really lets me relive the memory of the game listed on the front.

The only issue I have with the backs is that they recycle the front photo(but I really don't mind). The write-ups give a pretty detailed account of how the player impacted that game. When I got it in hand, I liked this set so much that I went back looking for more.

I decided to pick up former Cowboy/current Bronco, DeMarcus Ware just because. The set goes back to the '20's with the likes of Clarence 'Ace' Parker, so it's pretty comprehensive. If the checklist wasn't 50 cards deep, I'd consider putting the set together. For this holiday, I'll just have to settle for these two to remind me of some great Thanksgiving football. Thanks for reading. I think it's time to break out the pumpkin pie!

Good Luck Roger - Single Card Post Sunday

This afternoon, London will see one of the best tennis players in history play for his seventh year end ATP World Tour Championship title.

Nothing against Novak Djokovic, but I'll be pulling for Federer to add another title to his incredible resume. I picked up this Netpro Federer 'RC' from Listia a while back. The more I see of these, the more I like them. In recent years, I've worked to narrow the focus of my collecting, but if I could find a reasonably priced box of these, I'd pick it up in a second. It's been a real treat to watch one of the all-time greats and I'll hopefully be watching another championship chapter of your legacy being written today. Good luck!

Knocking Out Set Needs, Courtesy of Night Owl

A while back, I made my first trade with Night Owl. I knew that eventually we would swap again and a few weeks back, I received a small bubble mailer from him. It was heavy on cards needed for various sets.

I'm slowly, but surely putting together this 1993 Hostess set. Back when it was released, I didn't even know about it even though I was definitely collecting. I came upon my first of these in one of those Walgreens, 100 card repacks earlier this year. This Brett Butler puts me one more card closer to finishing off the set.

From the '90's, we move to 2015 Topps insert needs. The Ackley puts me one card away from finally finishing that Robbed insert from series one. The Eclipsing History actually isn't for my set, it's for my Yankees collection(my set is complete already). Beltran was one of many 1st Home Run cards I needed.

See, I told you there were more! I particularly enjoy the Cobb. It was a great surprise to find so many cards that I could cross off my various lists, but the centerpiece of this swap is up next.

I saw this card in a post that NO wrote about some Topps Chrome that he busted. I immediately noticed it was the photo variation and asked if it would be up for grabs. He agreed, and told me he didn't even know it was the variation card. I didn't it when I read the post, but it looks like this is a refractor. I'm not sure if Topps did that with all of the photo variations or if this is a true parallel. Either way, I'm happy to have this in the collection. Thanks NO, I've been putting together a stack to send back your way. This time, I'm trying to make sure that it has more WOW factor than the last stack I sent. Thanks for some great cardboard!

Package(s) From the Dollar Store

As is the case with all of my recently received trade packages, this post is long overdue. I'm so late posting, in fact, that buckstorecards from Sportscards From The Dollar Store actually sent a second envelope of awesomeness before I had written up the first one. So, this post brings you the highlights of both packages received from my North of the border trading partner. First up, a packed bubble mailer filled with football and hockey goodness.

The NFL highlights kick this one off! The Thomas is a really cool die-cut, acetate card and despite ripping some 2015 Topps, I needed both the Sanders and he Knighton.

This is AWESOME! An All-Pro relic of Von Miller, #/299. I'm. It sure what it is, but I like the design on is one.

Now, let's slide on over to the NHL part of the package.

The good thing about getting hockey cards in any trade package is that it's been so long since I picked any up, that they're almost guaranteed to be all new to me! That said, it's great to add another Brodeur. That logo sticker in the middle is shiny and refractor-like...it's great!

Another Brodeur and one of only a handful of Jagr cards I own from his time in NJ. I assume the Zajac is one of those Target exclusive Prizm parallels(someone please correct me if I'm wrong), the first of its kind that I own.

This is the first hockey auto that I've added since the days shortly after those Be A Player packs came out and had an auto in each pack. I picked up a handful of those back in the day, but never got anyone noteworthy. I was blown away by all te cool stuff that I hadn't seen before in that first envelope. I even had it all scanned, but just hadn't gotten around to writing about it. Then, a little over a week ago, a PWE arrived.

Inside, I found a new A-Rod, my first 2015 GK, and another nice NJ Devils shiny card. I particularly love the DeMarcus Ware. The artwork is really well done!

More Devils! This time they're a blast from the past. Three great defensemen from the early to mid-nineties teams that I remember from when I first got into watching hockey.

Last, but certainly not least, this is my first Devils player relic card. I think it looks great! After these two packages from up North, I owe Douglas pretty big. I've been slowly building a stack to send back to Canada. Thanks for two great packages from the Dollar Store.

A Tribute to a Great Champion - Single Card Post Sunday #5

I had hoped that this would be a celebratory post following UFC 193 last night. Like many, I assumed that the dominant force named 'Rowdy' Ronda Rousey was just going to keep right on rolling. As everyone knows, that was not the case. In a somewhat shocking result, she was knocked out by challenger Holly Holm. Still, Rousey is one of the best fighters in the world and I post this as a tribute to her impressive championship reign.

I don't really collect UFC cards, but I'll pick up a few here and there if I can find them for the right price. I found this awesome debut card tucked in a 5000 ct box at a show a few years back. I looked in vain for a few more copies of it, but I had to settle for taking home a single copy of this treasure for just a quarter. Here's hoping that the former champ can pick herself up, brush herself off, and regain the belt in her rematch which may take place at UFC 200 in July. Thanks for reading!