COMC winter haul (and contest news)

I've been writing a lot of long posts with lots of words lately, so here's one with a lot of pictures.

My latest COMC order arrived last Friday. This contained every post-Black Friday purchase I made, primarily with my Christmas bonus. It's a perfect time to receive these, since I won't be able to spend actual dollars* on cards for the foreseeable future.

*I'm still accumulating COMC challenge credit.

There were 81 cards in this shipment, though a few were sent to Gregory as compensation for the custom cards he made for me. I also bought a couple more of his stickers. Here are the 75 or so that I'm keeping:

If you read Gregory's blog, this one might look familiar to you. Here's Rocky Colavito, #91 on our countdown of 100 Greatest Non-Hall of Famers. I've been drawn to 1964 Topps Giants for years and picked up seven high-grade Hall of Famers pre-pandemic. Those prices have tripled since, so if I want to add to my collection ungraded non-HOFers are the way to go. This one cost $2.28.

Here's another great slugger I spotlighted recently. Topps Pristine was always one of my favorite brands (especially in 2002 and 2004) and I was thrilled when it returned for 2022. This encased Duke Snider blue refractor is #d to 75. I missed out on the fun of opening a pack within a pack within a pack, but hand-picking this beauty for $7.50 saved me a huge chunk of cash from the pack price.

Vintage players on vintage cards. The cards on the left were over $5 each; I paid a premium for cleaner copies. On the right we have the "bargains" - all under $4 each. My 1956 Topps set build now sits at over 62% completion. The next milestone is 15 cards away - when I'll cross the 2/3 mark. That probably won't be until next year at the earliest.

Some more modern set fillers here. I had to get the 'factory set' Bryce Harper RC, since the pack-pulled version is 2x more expensive. I still need some SPs to complete the 2017 Heritage master set as my Machado, Mookie Betts, and Francisco Lindor cards are action image variations.

This group of 2022 Topps singles, along with the two RCs I received from Johnny's Trading Spot, should complete my set. I'll have to double-check once my pending TCDB trades arrive. Thank you, John!

Some assorted baseball here. The low numbah Jawhn Lestah relic cost $4.50. The '72 World Series Highlights inserts weren't cheap; about $3 for the pair, but I didn't mind. They're so sharp and colorful.

I mentioned the Miller in a prior post; it cost about as much as the Harper RC. COMC did not include any condition notes and the front looks good for a 90 year-old card...

But there are a couple small creases visible on the back. :/

Here's a card I've had my eye on for years. This Deron Johnson 1971 Topps single fascinates me due to the foreboding wall of steel behind him. 1970 was the Phillies' final year at Connie Mack Stadium.

There's one more baseball card in this order but I'll save it for the end. For now, let's head to the gridiron:

I included these as a teaser in a previous post. The Steve Atwater was a card I came across in COMC challenges (actually I saw a different player, but Atwater was the only one under $1.) It's die cut and embossed, with the statistics listed across the stitches on the back.

This Panini Elements Saquon Barkley was an impulse buy at a price I couldn't pass up. I'd be willing to trade it if anyone is interested. It's serial numbered to 199 and has the weight and texture of the Topps Steel cards from back in the day. Tyrod looks sharp in black refractor form. When I picked this up I didn't realize I already had his base Topps RC. 

Here's a couple upgrades for my 1986 Topps set. Finally found an Al Toon RC that isn't off-center. Now all I need is a near-mint Richard Dent upgrade and I'll be completely satisfied with this set.

Blowout Cards doesn't seem interested in lowering the prices of their 2015 Prizm packs so I'll have to complete this set piecemeal. Here are six more singles I needed including soon-to-be Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, who appears to be hell-bent on following the Brett Favre playbook to the letter. I sure hope the inevitable trade of a franchise icon works out as well for Green Bay as the Russell Wilson deal did for Seattle.

The football haul concludes with yet another 2015 Panini Immaculate relic. Curtis Martin (#d/28) is my 15th in the 100-card set - which is impossible to complete since there's only two Matt Ryan cards, one Cam Newton, and one Warren Moon. Even the most abundant player in the set, J.J. Watt (#d/99) would cost 3x more than this Martin, which I picked up for a very reasonable $10.25.

I'll update my Immaculate Collection and Set Building Wantlist tabs soon. Does anyone actually read those?

Speaking of set fillers...

1992-93 Upper Deck All-Division is done. I only need eight more cards for the 1988-89 Fleer set (lol, "only" includes both Jordans and three HOFer RCs) and the 1989-90 Fleer set is complete with only a few off-center singles left to upgrade after Manning and Jackson arrived. Might as well try to finish the 1990-91 Fleer basketball set now.

I'm nine cards away from completing the 1999-00 Hoops Decade set (not counting a couple upgrades). Put a pin in that Kittles refractor, I'm planning a post spotlighting 1999-00 Finest sets. The Mosaic Lillard is a reactive blue prizm parallel and it's my 30th different Dame. I'm not sure if Sara Winter is a model, tennis player, or golfer. Regardless, I couldn't resist adding her to my women on cards binder for just 50 cents (She's up to a dollar now).

It's not a COMC shipment without cheap ePack singles, from multi-sport sets to hockey:

Got the Game-Dated Ovechkin for $3 and the Clear-Cut Devils duo for $4.75 (they're $15 now!?)

The Canadiens were obviously not 30 cents or less. Both are Topps singles. I passed on a PSA 8 copy of Cournoyer for $20 (which sold soon after) and paid $2.61 for the HOFer free-range. Mahovlich is not a HOFer and I paid $2.75 for one of JoelShitShow's 20+ copies. Should have waited to get this one for about half the price from a different seller.

My 1970s Canadiens collection is almost complete; I just need a Guy Lafleur. But that won't stop me from picking up high-quality Canadiens at a good price:

The two highest-priced cards in this order were these high-grade Hall of Famers. One other slabbed single joined them.

I already completed the 2018 Topps Chrome baseball set, adding a PSA 9 Shohei Ohtani, Rafael Devers, and Ronald Acuna Jr RCs in recent months. Didn't need a Gleyber Torres, but...

This Gem Mint 10 was a bargain, especially compared to a 2019 Topps Chrome PSA 9 single on the site:

I paid $13.60 for the PSA 10 RC -- and you can get one even cheaper than that if you're interested.

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So here's my plan for the next few months of this blog: I'm going to take a break for a couple weeks, to pound the pavement and find a frickin' job. Once the baseball season starts I'll reboot my All-Time Teams series with more scans and less words. That will get me to about 595 posts. Add that 1999-00 Finest post I mentioned to some Starting Lineup Showcase posts... and I should hit 600 by late spring.

I'm approaching 580 completed trades on TCDB, and it's getting expensive to ship out cards. That gave me an idea..

600 posts. 600 trades. 600-card giveaway. Details to follow.

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!



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