Summer Sale Six-Pack and more TCDB Trades

Am I the only one who found the COMC Summer Sale a bit unnecessary? Wasn't the Spring Cleaning sale just two months ago? I suppose I shouldn't complain, but I've never been less excited about a COMC sale. There was one card that I really wanted, and it was on sale before the promotion began. Regardless, I charged my credit card the requisite $21.35 or so. 

And then..nothing. My card was charged, I got the confirmation e-mail, but my COMC credit was still $0.00.

I waited, and refreshed .. and waited .. and refreshed. Thirty minutes passed, and I still had three goose eggs staring at me. Where the f*ck is my money?!?!

I e-mailed COMC support. A few minutes later I got what looked like an automated reply confirming that $20 had been added to my account. The next day I got an e-mail from an actual human person explaining that these transactions are not always instant(though they had always been instant for me.)  I guess it's a good thing I wasn't frantically trying to grab a certain card that had just hit the site, or something priced to move in an instant. :/

Anywho...here's the card I'd had my eye on for over a week. As usual, I'm posting about these long before I get them in-hand since I will probably forget to do so in December:

I've been passively collecting Canadiens cards from the 1970's, but as I said before on this blog the main obstacle to this project is Ken Dryden. I didn't think I'd find an affordable card produced during his brief but brilliant career. This might have two strikes against it for some collectors - it's PSA-graded and it's a Topps hockey card. But it was only $9.00.


The next problem I ran into was deciding what to do with the remaining $11. I searched and searched as often as I could, but I was finding cards for other bloggers more than myself.  Finally, I found another card that I had wanted for most of my collecting life:

What?!? Another Topps hockey card?  At least this one's not graded. This is Steve Yzerman's second-year card. I've never been a fan of the Red Wings or Stevie Y but I never disliked them, either. And Yzerman has always had cool looking cards. This one appeals to me for its simplicity; the red and white really pops here. I was thrilled to find a well-centered and (hopefully) sharp-cornered example for just $3.21. 

I'm going to speed this up since I want to discuss TCDB trade packages, too. The rest of my "COMC Blaster" included a P.K. Subban relic for $1.75:

This Upper Deck Compendium Grail Glory insert that I probably paid too much for since it's tied to ePack I couldn't pass up for $2.10:

A serial numbered Brett Favre redemption prize from 1995 Classic Pro Line that was way underpriced IMO.

I was happy to add it to my cart for just $0.65. The cheapest remaining copy is $3.40 on sale.

Finally (and I do mean finally) I can cross the Nikola Jokic RC off my 2015-16 Donruss need list. 

This will be the first/only Jokic card in my small but growing basketball collection. So if anyone has some Jokers they can spare, let me know and I'd be happy to return fire with something you collect.

The $3.05 I spent on this Jokic RC brings my total to $19.76. I've been able to add some challenge credit to the remaining 24 cents so I might not be done with this sale just yet. But that's my "blaster."


Since my last post on Wednesday I received five trade packages in the mail. I'm not going to scan all the cards but I'll summarize them here and show off a few highlights:

I sent sixteen surplus singles from 2016 and 2017 Topps to TCDB user jt58203 for 12 cards: some set fillers for 1994 Fleer, 2018 Topps, 2019 Topps, and three cards for my team PCs.

Roger Bailey was featured in my post about New Haven Ravens. I don't know if I'm going to do any more Connecticut Cards posts. Initially I thought about creating a second blog and writing a very brief summary of a different card every day - but who would read such a blog?

In early June I made an offer to TCDB user Hundomatic for some 2017 Topps Heritage needs. He never responded. I tried again in July, and again he did not respond. That's when I noticed he posted a question in the forum - and another user asked him to respond to their trade offer. So I piled on a bit, and eventually Hundo and I agreed to a deal:

The reason I was so persistent is the Beatles card at the top right; it's the last one I needed to complete the News Flashbacks insert set and the only other user who has one for trade isn't trading.  

One more trade for today. This one comes from user aint56cool (side note: yes it is) Mike is endeavoring to complete every Topps baseball card set all the way back to - you guessed it - 1956. I wanted to help his cause so I offered what I could, which ended up being 14 cards from 1971-1982. In return I got two envelopes. One was a surprise gift:

Pro Set Packers! Unfortunately the only one I needed for my '90s Packers project was Head Coach Lindy Infante - and I didn't fit him into the scan. It was a nice thought, though.

These are the cards I traded for. It wasn't easy to get quality in exchange for quantity, and I really appreciate Mike working with me on this trade. If you're on TCDB and you've got some vintage-ish singles to trade, hit him up.

Here's a closer look at the '71 Scott - the gem of the trade in my opinion:

I've got a few more trades (and a 4 Sharp Corners order) incoming but my next post will feature some sports-related items from my childhood that my mother recently uncovered.


Until then, thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend!



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Box Toppers and PC Pickups

In my last post I said I'd scan up some of the 'old stuff' I bought from Kruk Cards. But I'm going to save that for the weekend. So I'll continue with the singles from COMC...


I've been picking up some oversized cards recently, even though I have no way to store them. Figured COMC would ship them in a top loader anyhow (and they did.)

Earlier this year I read a blog post about these Gypsy Queen Glassworks box toppers and I made a mental note to find one for my collection.

This Corey Seager card was one of only three 'indigo' parallels available, likely due to his missing nearly all of 2018 after Tommy John surgery..

..and the "surface impressions" on the back. You can't really see it in the scan, but there is a pinhole-sized imprint and thumbnail crease to the right of the 20. 

I don't mind slight flaws (the crease is a bit much) on most modern cards, especially box toppers. Perhaps it's because the 'value' of such things hasn't been instilled in me from decades of price guides, or perhaps it's because I just look at them like fancy postcards.

These World Traveler box toppers both have corner wear. Didn't stop me from paying $3.48 for the pair (which, btw, was less than an Easter Island card sold for by itself.) I bought two more from this series during Black Friday weekend - Chicago is incoming but Vancouver will probably sit in my inventory for a while. 

 

This is another oversized card I couldn't pass up. $2.45 for a unique SB XXXI collectible sounds good to me despite the corner dings and surface scratch. The four box toppers above cost a total of $10.52.

I also bought some standard-sized cards for my team PCs:

 

The Rodgers and Betts have been discussed here before. I don't buy as many Brett Favre cards as I used to, because there are just way too many out there, but there were two in this order and two in my incoming COMC order. Now that I'm on TCDB I might try to add more Favre cards through trades. Perhaps 1,000 unique cards of #4 is an attainable goal (I'm at well over 600 now.)

Big Papi relic here. This jumbo swatch takes up more than half the card.

Also, I didn't realize this until scanning these seven cards..but this group could be considered a "COMC Blaster" made famous by Shane of Shoebox Legends. Observe:

Mookie TBT $3.74
Pedro relic $3.31
Pedro blue $1.25
Rodgers gold $3.40
Favre optic $0.63
Favre red $1.45

Ortiz relic $6.25

total for all 7: $20.03

It's things like this that make staying away from COMC so difficult. 

The Black Friday sales also allowed me to finish a couple of sets. This Kris Bryant 2017 Topps Heritage SP is one of the last four I needed. At $7.63, it was more than I paid for any single card in the set - SP, relic, or otherwise. I still need a ton of inserts though.

The flagship cards in this and other incoming orders bring me to within one card of completing the 2015 set (only need #617 Terrance Gore) and 2016 (need #1 Mike Trout).

Also, I finished my OPC Platinum Hockey Frankenset. That will be featured in its own post.


There are two more cards from this COMC order that I haven't scanned, including a superstar rookie card that cost me more than any single card this season...



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Bonus Credit Blaster

I've got a busy Saturday ahead - including my 8 year old daughter's birthday party - but I wanted to throw out a quick post before I go.

As you may know, I had been holding all of my COMC purchases since the beginning of March at their warehouse until their big Black Friday special. I did this partly for the scratch-off tickets (which of course they're not doing anymore :/ ) but also for the shipping credit. Because I had 502 cards shipped to me I earned $25 in COMC cash..and this is how I spent it:


Your Latest Purchases

2001-02 Fleer Greats of the Game - Autographs #STSH
Steve Shutt [edit] [share]
Item: 46217899

Bought 12/2/2017 6:59:56 AM for $5.25

1956 Topps - [Base] #97.1
Jerry Lynch (Gray Back) [edit] [share]
Item: 47475351

Bought 12/1/2017 9:16:32 PM for $2.50

1956 Topps - [Base] #93.1
George Susce (Gray Back) [edit] [share]
Item: 47475350

Bought 12/1/2017 9:16:32 PM for $2.13

1956 Topps - [Base] #7.2
Ron Negray (White Back) [edit] [share]
Item: 47475368

Bought 12/1/2017 9:16:32 PM for $1.75

2017 Bowman - Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-JO
Josh Ockimey [edit] [share]
Item: 45046485

Bought 12/1/2017 9:13:39 PM for $13.38

View all purchases

Total: $25.01

I saw the Steve Shutt autograph last night and added it to my watch list. This morning it was 50% off, so I pulled back an offer I made on a different card and squeezed it into my budget. Had to add this Hall of Fame Hab to my autograph collection.

Speaking of autographs, this Josh Ockimey card is kind of a lottery ticket, but that's exactly the kind of thing 'cashback bonus' is for. He's a power-hitting first baseman who made it to double-A as a 21 year old, but if the Sox sign Eric Hosmer his path to Fenway could be blocked. However, if they trade for Jose Abreu that might give Ockimey time to develop - unless, of course, he's part of the deal.

Rounding out the 'bonus credit blaster' are three more singles for my 1956 Topps set, which should be right around 1/3 complete once all my cards are in hand. 


The next week is going to be heaven for this sports card collector - as many as five shipments (including The Big One) are expected to arrive at my door by this time next week. And maybe, just maybe... I'll get to shop at an actual brick-and-mortar sports card store next Saturday!

I'm going to be posting, and sorting, and smiling a lot this month.

 

Merry Cards-mas, everyone!


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Recent COMC purchases (and Great Trader Giveaway prize reveal)

Throughout the summer I considered - but never followed through on - writing a month-end blog post recapping my best find(s) on COMC. And now that I'm actually doing it I don't have any specific September steal on par with my July or August finds. That's partially because I've done a lot less shopping on COMC this month. 

I had a lot of 50/50 trade packages come in earlier this month, which sated my need for new cards, and even when I was browsing COMC the challenges were almost always closed until this week. With very little credit to earn and burn I was limited to making just a few small purchases, none more than $2.

I didn't even think they were worthy of a blog post - especially since I don't have any of them in hand yet - but Shane (Shoebox Legends) and Billy (Cardboard History) have discussed their recent COMC purchases and I haven't posted anything in a few days so I thought I'd share mine:

Al Jefferson 2015-16 Panini Immaculate Memorabilia #d/25 ($1.67)

Basketball relics seem to be cheaper than those of other sports, at least in my observation. I can understand a low-numbered single-color swatch of an undrafted D-leaguer being this cheap - but a low-numbered patch of an established NBA veteran? I'm gonna go ahead and call this my COMC Find of the Month.

That said, here are some other singles I bought for roughly the same amount:

Calgary Flames 2008-09 UD Trilogy Three Star Spotlight ($2.00)

I'm not a Flames fan and this card isn't serial numbered, but it seemed like a good value for a toonie. All three players were part of the Flames 1989 Stanley Cup championship team.

Bobby Ryan 2011-12 Panini Certified Fabric Of The Game #d/25 ($1.85)

Another two-color patch card numbered to 25. This one isn't as nice as the Jefferson and cost a tiny bit more, but Ryan is a Jersey guy and played like a superstar in the 2017 playoffs.

John Starks 2015-16 Panini Totally Certified Fabric of the Game #d/99 ($1.23)

I've never been a Knicks fan, but I know Starks was a fan favorite and I don't have many basketball relics. I might trade or flip this card if the opportunity arises.

Steven Stamkos 2015-16 UD Ultimate Collection Honored Materials #d/99 ($1.36)

Stammer plays hockey in Florida, and gets hurt a lot doing so. Those are the only reasons I can think of as to why he is so underrated in the hobby. This card in particular should be at least $4, but thanks to ePack you can get any one of a handful of stars for less than that.

Dave Duncan 2017 Topps Heritage Buyback 1968 ($1.05)

The only baseball card in this post - though I did buy about 20 cheaper baseball cards this month. This Duncan comes from one of the box topper packs that are randomly inserted in hobby boxes of 2017 Heritage (two of my five boxes contained an original buyback pack.) I picked this up because it's in good shape and as possible trade bait for any buyback hoarders who might need it (it's #261, btw.)

Jim Calhoun 1990 Star Pics ($1.00)

I've been watching Calhoun cards for a while and when the "Medallion Edition" parallel sold out I decided to pull the trigger on this one. This will be a nice addition to my Connecticut collection, which I haven't been adding to as much as I'd hoped. 

John Gibson 2016-17 OPC Platnium Retro Orange #d/49 ($1.83)

Another ePack product, which is why I was reluctant to spend even minimal coin on this card. But even though I dislike the Ducks I couldn't resist the orange border surrounding Gibson's orange jersey, which represents Orange county's NHL team.

These nine cards cost me a total of $11.99. It's amazing what you can find on COMC for that price. And so I thought it would be fun to offer a small shopping spree as a prize in my Great Trader Giveaway. The winner (which will be announced Friday) will have a choice of one of these prizes:

• A "mystery box" of up to 200 cards from unclaimed 50/50 lots
• A $10-15 COMC shopping spree - you pick the cards and I'll purchase them*
• A sealed box of 2016 Topps Archives 65th Anniversary Edition

*please note that I will not request shipment of my COMC order until Black Friday so you will receive your cards in December.

I'll have more specifics about the Great Trader Giveaway on Friday but as I mentioned previously, the First Prize is open to anyone who completed a 50/50 trade with me, and the Second Prize is open to anyone who sent me anything over the past two months. 


Thanks again to everyone who participated. See you back here on Friday! 


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Taking a Nap

My wife was headed to Target yesterday while I was at work, and so I asked her to pick me up a blaster box of 2017 Topps Archives baseball. She reported (as many on the baseball card blogosphere have) that there was slim pickins at the sports card aisle (that's aisle, not isle) and so I was unable to scratch my pack ripping itch. Which is just as well, since I have contracted poison ivy and have plenty of other itches to scratch. Or not scratch.

There was a card on my COMC watch list that I was saving up challenge credit for, and I thought that since I'd been unable to secure a blaster box of new product I could go ahead and purchase that card...and another...and another. 

Instead of acquiring 60 cards or so - five of which would be inserts/parallels, none of which would be Aaron Judge - I ended up with two cards that fit my collection...and something that caught my eye while browsing new sales.


I have never owned a tobacco card. I know I can't afford anything in decent shape, and I'm kind of picky about condition. But I make an exception when the card is this cheap:

1911 T205 Sweet Caporal Nap Rucker Factory 25 black back ($6.25)

This little gem is now the oldest card in my collection by far (at least it will be when I have my COMC haul shipped to me on Black Friday.) For the price of one pack of Stadium Club I acquired a 106-year old card of a pitcher who was not only a major league starter but an above average ace - Rucker led the National league in WAR in 1911 and 1912 (ahead of such legends as Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson) and received Hall Of Fame votes in a number of early elections.

So how was I able to grab this card so cheap? Well, the front isn't so bad..but the back...

...is a mess. Definitely some paper loss there. The card number (if there is one) and name are unreadable, other than the "ER". Still, I'm excited to add it to my collection - along with the card I had planned to purchase before spotting the Nap:

1956 Topps Del Ennis #220 ($5.05)

I've been craving some vintage, especially a new '56 to add to my set build. This Ennis looks sharp, though the centering is not the best. Here's the back:

This brings my total up to 98 cards out of 340, or about 29% of the set.


The last card in my "COMC Blaster" is a much more modern one:

 2012 Topps Tribute Dustin Pedroia Superstar Swatch ($8.65)

I'm always on the hunt for low-numbered Pedroia relics and this was on my watch list for a while. When the seller lowered his price I swooped in and grabbed it. The case is pretty scratched up, I might jailbreak it when it arrives.

This trio cost a total of $19.95. I sacrificed the instant gratification that buying a blaster brings, but chances are I would not have pulled anything comparable in value out of one anyway.


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