1 out of the Next 10

As I mentioned on Friday, the Sportlots box order I received knocked out a couple of the want lists on the Next 10 list.  I'm starting with the smallest want list, the 1990-91 OPC set, which was just a pair of cards.

Pronounce Ma-cow-un in case you were curious

I remember Jamie Macoun well, one of the stalwarts on the Calgary Flames blueline in '89 when the Flames beat the Canadiens for the Cup, and then was part of a huge trade with the Maple Leafs a couple of years later that saw 10 players change sweaters (5 each way).  It was hoped that some of the Cup experience that came Toronto's way would help the team succeed and hopefully win that long awaited prize, but it never came to pass.  

Jamie would be traded at the end of his 7th season with the Leafs to Detroit, where he helped the Wings win the Cup.  

It pained me, pained me, to have to buy this card.  At least it was only 18 cents.  But I'll be damned if I could find it among all the doubles I have in my Joe Sakic collection.  It is one of the few cards that features Joe wearing an 'A' on his sweater, as he became captain shortly thereafter and remained with the 'C' on his jersey until his retirement almost 2 decades later.  

Getting on the set completion train in 2020 has helped a lot.  11 sets down, another one to post in the next couple of days and a couple of more that have a handful of cards or less to go.  While it's not the same feeling as finishing a vintage set such as '64 Topps baseball, it still feels good to get a set that's been in a box for a long time done.

Moving on!

Enjoy the hobby.

Robert

dAndy

Sometimes the end result of waiting for a long time for a trade to come in is well worth the wait.  Case in point with this trade from multiple time trade partner Andy (TCDB ID: andyroy) who sent me a big helping of cards to make a few want lists shrink quite nicely.

I still remember sitting at a kitchen table with a buddy of mine 30 years ago, ripping open a box of these cards.  We split the proceeds in half, and they promptly went in one of my many monster boxes and sat for over 2 decades.  I finally decided to get a want list going about 18 months ago, and piece by piece this want list has shrank.

I just looked at the want list, and it's down to just 29 cards, much less than I thought.  This set is definitely on the radar now for completion as the task is a lot less daunting than I imagined.  I'll get that done sometime in 2020.....for sure??

The 85-86 OPC set build is the exact opposite of its counterpart above, as it only has 34 cards in hand as of now.  I'm finally starting to get some in here and there via trading, but it's been a very slow process for this set, which is probably my favorite from the 80's.

The only portion of the trade that saw any baseball come my way was these three cards for the Thome and Olerud collections.  The Olerud collection is starting to pick up a little since I expanded the want list, and it's just a handful of cards shy of the 200 mark.   Thome's collection, which I've been working on for much longer, is now 20 cards from hitting 600, and I had to add a 2nd binder as the first one was just too overloaded and a bit tough to manage each time I opened it.

The last scan is nearly a full page of needs for my various hockey collections, including a much appreciated Mitch Marner card from the 2017-18 Tim Horton's set.

This envelope actually arrived via the Pony Express, as it was mailed in April and didn't arrive until Friday of last week, about 5 weeks enroute.  In the end, it was worth the wait.

Thank you for the trade Andy, it is appreciated!  Looking forward to the next one.

Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!

Robert

OPC all over the place

This evening I'll be watching what arguably could be the biggest game of the regular season so far for the Maple Leafs, as they'll be right down the road from my house here in Sunrise.  The defense corps just lost its 3rd person, as Jake Muzzin is down for a month with a broken hand.  the current defense is nearly the same as the one that won the Calder Cup (AHL championship) two years ago.  Yikes!

So while I'm doing that, this post will automatically appear on the blogger site, featuring a group of OPC cards that came from Canada via new trade partner JF (TCDB ID: althib).

These are the bits and pieces of the trade, 4 cards from 3 different sets over the past 5 years.  No big names out of these 4, but they do remove 4 numbers off of 3 want lists.  Maybe this weekend I will get around to adding these want lists to the blog.

Since I really started focusing on trading on the TCDB at the beginning of 2019, the 1990-91 OPC set is one that I'm surprised that I haven't been able to complete yet.  I was sure that I'd get a lot of requests for trades, especially from north of the border.  Alas, that hasn't been the case, but the set is getting closer to being completed as I'm down to just 44 cards to go.  Been a long time coming...

JF pretty much cleaned me out of my 83 and 85 Topps baseball traders, which is cool as I'm glad that they found a good home.  Thank you for the trade JF, the cards are really appreciated!

Enjoy the hobby!   Go Leafs Go!

Robert

The same, only different

I guess that I could have posted all the cards that I've shown over the past couple of days on the same post as tonight's, but I really am trying to keep a steady flow of posts.   It doesn't hurt when you have just over a half dozen trade envelopes arrive on your doorstep in a 2 day period.  It's more hockey today as these two envelopes also knock down some OPC want lists.  One old, and one not as old.

Let's start with the newer part of the post, with a set that's coming along nicely, 2009-10 OPC.

3 time trade partner, and fellow blogger Joseph (TCDB ID: CrazieJoe) sent me a page worth of OPC cards, nearly getting me to the halfway point of this set.  The trade market has been the biggest source of cards for this set, as I may have had only a dozen or so when I put this set up on the site as one to build.  Up to 278 out of the 600 for the set, so we're doing all right.  Joseph also sent me another card for my Keith Tkachuk collection:

Very nice looking card, and it helps that UD put the year of manufacture on the front of the card, as often times it's very hard to see it when it's on the back.

Next up is an older OPC set that I've worked off and on since it came out in 1990-91.

25 cards off of this set's want list make this another set that's completable by the end of the year.  71 cards is not a whole lot for a set that doesn't have any cards that are high value.

These are the other two cards I received from another repeat trade partner, Andy (TCDB ID: andyroy3) who I'm sure was glad to unload all these cards for a few inserts and base cards from the 08-09 season.  As you can see, I still haven't figured out the new computer and scanner combo, as I keep cutting off the top of cards on my scans.  Practice makes perfect.

What has been great lately is that I've been able to knock off a lot of wants for my player collections as well.  It hasn't just been one or two of the ten, it's been most of them that have had cards added, which is great!!

With all the trades coming in, these posts are pretty much all the same, only different.

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert

A little bit here, a little bit there

I received a couple more trades this week in the mail, 1 PWE and 1 bubble mailer.   More set needs by the wayside...

The first trade was a quick PWE trade, 4 for 3, with a new trade partner Barry (TCDB ID: CoachBarry).   As I have mentioned several times over the past few months, it has been great trading off inserts that I don't normally collect for cards towards the sets that I need.

Strike 4 more off the 2018 A&G want list.

The Sloane Stephens card on the lower right is the first non-baseball player card that I've received in quite a while.  Taking a quick look at the scan, I see a different logo on the sleeve of the Honus Wagner card that's new to me.  I imagine the "PBC" stands for Pittsburgh Baseball Club, but I don't ever remember seeing that logo anywhere else.   Artistic license maybe?  Or can anyone point me to another image/photo that features the PBC.

Now the bubble mailer kind of surprised me, as it is one of 3 mailers that I was awaiting from the Great White North.  I actually tweeted earlier this month that I was waiting for 3 Canadian mailers for probably the first time ever, and joked that I hope they arrive by April. 

Well, here's the first one...

Another new trade partner, Kari (TCDB ID:  karsal) sent quite a few goodies my way, starting with some additions to my player collections.  It's always nice filling in some of the gaps from the mid to late 90's of both Sundin and Tkachuk, and there's plenty of John Olerud cards that I need so hitting that want list shouldn't be hard for anyone...

Set fillers.   Blue Jays from Canada, you don't say?  The more cards I get from the 09-10 OPC set, the more I can't wait to complete it.  That's a long way off as these 4 bring the total to 113, well shy of the 600 total. 

What really surprised me about Kari's offer was the big batch of 2018 Panini Prestige football cards.  28 total ( I was lazy and only scanned 27 of them ) but some pretty big names in here such as Brady, Wilson, Luck and Terrell Suggs.  Kari also sent a few of the rookies as well, putting a small dent into what might be a larger task than I thought.  The last 100 of the 300 card set are all RC's, including Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Saquon Barkley.  I still need about 70 of them, but there's no hurry as I don't expect to finish the set anytime soon.

I'm up to 22 trades completed so far this year, and three more are halfway done.  Having 25 trades complete by the end of March will have me right where I need to be, 1/4 of the way to my goal of 100 trades in 2019.

Keep them coming guys (and ladies)...

Thanks for reading!

Robert

Deep Pockets

Received a couple more trades in this week, including one today from new trade partner Greg (TCDB ID:  Thick McRunfast) who also writes the blog Nine Pockets .  Greg is a relatively new blogger with just 10 posts so far, but is much like me in that he will write about hockey and baseball cards. 

This was kind of a lopsided trade in terms of numbers, as I sent Greg just a trio of cards while receiving quite the bounty of hockey cards in return.

I recently added a couple of early 90's OPC sets to my TCDB want list.  Both of them have been on the shelf for a very long time but recently during the ongoing process of adding cards to the site and trying to clean up everything in general.  91-92 OPC Premier is 7 cards closer to completion, along with a couple more Keith Tkachuk cards to add to his PC (which is growing nicely).

Another want list that was added was the 90-91 OPC set, which is now 7 cards lighter.  I had this on the blog want list up until about a year ago and removed it as it really wasn't moving anywhere.  Along with those 7 is a pair of 86-87 OPC cards, including a 2nd year Kevin Dineen and current Sabres coach Phil Housley.  86-87 OPC is almost 1/4 complete now.

I've mentioned the 84-85 OPC set on the blog quite a bit lately, maybe to the point that guys are sending me cards to help me right the wrong I committed by selling my completed set many years ago.   9 more cards off the want list have me approaching 150 of the 396 card set in hand. 

I've seen a couple of Steve Yzerman RC's at about 50% of the normal book price on ebay lately and it makes me wonder if I pick one of those up for cheap that this set might have a chance to be completed this year.   We shall see...

I seem to be getting one card from the 85-86 OPC set in the house every month.  I have 12 now that Mike Ramsey is in hand.  I figure with 252 cards to go, one card a month will have the set complete by the time I turn 72 years of age.  Hopefully I'll still be able to see and also be sane enough to enjoy it by then....

As a bonus card, Greg threw in this Netminders insert from the 93-94 Fleer Powerplay set.   I may have one or 2 of the Powerplay cards around the house somewhere, but for the most part have shied away from it due to its size.  No matter, I love the addition to the Felix Potvin PC, which is lower down the totem pole, but new cards are always welcome.

Thank you for the cards Greg, they are appreciated.  Look forward to more trades!!

Thanks for reading!

Robert

A little obsessed

I normally get home from work between 615-630 in the evening, depending on traffic.  With all the preparations going on down here in S. Florida over hurricane Irma, I decided to turn on the evening news.  CBS and NBC both led off with storm coverage, and it's been interesting to watch what all the different forecasters are predicting for the storm's path.

I've also been obsessed with posting the goalie cards lately, largely because $$ has been tight because of bills and of course, buying supplies for the storm.  No buying means you have to get creative with what you post, and starting to put together this goalie set has helped with that.

So in the meantime, with Irma reaching category 5 status this morning, here's 5 more cards for the goalie frankenset.

It's a little hard to see on the 98-99 Upper Deck card, but Byron Dafoe's mask has his nickname "Lord Byron" on his chin, and the Bruins logo with a growling bear on the side.  There's a rare sighting of a Curtis Joseph mask in the center that doesn't contain his trademark CuJo design.  Bill Ranford's design was never a big thrill for me, so if I ever find a #226 card featuring a goalie, chances are this card may be replaced.  These 3 cards are # 221,222 and 226.

I picked up the Mike McKenna card last month at the card show, largely because it was a gold medallion card from Fleer Ultra.  I believe that the mask he's wearing is from his time with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. 
The other card is easily my favorite card of the post (and yes, it's miscut) featuring Robb Stauber with the playing card King on his forehead.  Of course I'd like to find a more centered card of Stauber, but it'll be tough for me to part with it because of my love for playing cards.  These 2 cards are #234 & #248.

There's 5 more cards off of the list.  I'm going to try and get some more posts in by the end of the week, and then we'll see where nature takes us....

thanks for reading, Robert

An education that isn't taught in schools.

I'm hoping to pump out a few short posts this week.   My mind is a bit preoccupied right now, what with the forecasts that Hurricane Irma is going to make landfall potentially in South Florida late this week.

I was fortunate last year, because the only hurricane that came close, Matthew, hit landfall about 50 miles north of where I live, and my wife and I were only hit with 30 MPH winds and very little rainfall.

This time around, I'm more prepared, and have pretty much everything that we need, save for a generator for when the power goes out.  The lesson I learned this year is that you have to be ahead of the crowd, and buy your supplies well in advance.  If you don't, you'll be left scrambling and that really sucked last year when I went through hurricane prep for the first time.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to try and write a few posts this week to keep my mind distracted.  I'm going to keep the goalie set frankenset going by showing 4 more cards today.

The one card that I was kind of excited to have in the set was Louis Domingue, lower left hand corner, as he's had a decent run as the backup in Arizona.  Yes, the numbers aren't great, but he's stood tall and made some highlight reel saves over the past couple of years while backing up Mike Smith.

Best card for me of the 4 is the nice close shot of Jon Casey, from the 90-91 OPC set.  I miss the old North Stars logo, and his mask was simple yet effective.  Grant Fuhr had some good masks over the years, and Felix Potvin's cat mask will probably make the set a time or two.

Cards #253,262,264 and 269 have been added.  Hopefully I can get a few more of these quick posts on the blog this week.

thanks for reading, Robert

Some more goalies for the frankenset

I decided to show off a few more goalie cards tonight, and there's also another opportunity to vote for the card you want in the set!

First up, another card featuring Ollie the Goalie.

Last time out, it was a card from early in Olaf's career, now we have a 2008-09 Upper Deck card showing him in a Tampa Bay uniform, with the "Zilla" on the chin of his mask.  Also I love this card as it shows him fending off a puck with his blocker hand.  This is card #428

Next up, Anders Lindback, then of the Nashville Predators.  This is his 2012-13 Score card, #426 in the set.  I hunted around to find a better photo of his actual mask, but was unlucky.  Somewhere down the road someone may just find a #426 to replace this one.

This 2007-08 OPC card of Manny Legace features his veterans mask, with the United We Stand banner right above the cage.  A better shot of this cage can be found here, and once you see a closer shot you'll see why I like this card.  This is card #417.

Here's your vote for this week.  Both of these are card #430 in their respective sets.   Tim Cheveldae's 1990-91 OPC card is a great homage to the Wings and the motor city, while Cam Ward's 2007-08 Upper Deck card pays homage to Blackbeard the pirate, and is also a great mask as well.

I have made this image and poll my pinned tweet, and the poll will be up for the next week to allow people some time to vote. 

I'll keep adding cards each week to try and build this set over time.  For me, it's fun looking at some of these old cards and remembering masks from days gone by. 

Thanks for reading, Robert