2023 COMC BINGE - PART 9: MINIS FINIS

HERE'S THE LAST SET COMPLETER FOR A LITTLE WHILE. IT'S A WEIRD SET AND IS NOT IN A BINDER SO NO JOY OF A COMPLETED PAGE PICTURES THIS TIME, SORRY. I BOUGHT A BUNCH OF PACKS OF THIS STUFF WHEN I WAS A KID SO IT'S NICE TO FINISH IT OFF

1986 TOPPS MINI LEADERS RON GUIDRY

IN 1986 TOPPS REVISITED THEIR EXPERIMENT WITH 1975 MINI SIZED CARDS WITH THIS MINI LEADERS SET BASED ON THE TEAM LEADERS CARDS FROM THE FLAGSHIP SET. I ALWAYS FELT LIKE THIS WAS TOPPS TRYING TO CUT COSTS BY SELLING THE SAME AMOUNT OF CARDS WHILE USING LESS PAPER. THESE CARDS WERE SOLD IN A TINY CELLO PACK WITH SIX CARDS FOR TWENTY-FIVE CENTS WHICH SOMEWHAT VALIDATES MY FEELINGS. THESE WERE ON BETTER CARD STOCK AND WERE VERY GLOSSY AND WERE AN INTERESTING NOVELTY WHEN THEY WERE RELEASED LATER IN THE YEAR ONCE WE WERE SICK OF ALL THE BASE SETS AND I ENDED UP RIPPING A BUNCH OF THESE PACKS. NOT ENOUGH TO FINISH THE SET THOUGH, AND ANOTHER BIG PILE OF THE THINGS I GOT IN A BULK LOT STILL DIDN'T COMPLETE IT. THIS GUIDRY CARD WAS THE LAST ONE MISSING AND THIRTY-SEVEN CENTS LATER I FINALLY FINISHED THIS SET UP

GUIDREY WAS SO DAMN GOOD FOR LIKE EIGHT SEASONS BUT HE HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF HITTING THE HALL OF FAME BALLOT WHEN PITCHERS HAD TO HAVE 300 WINS AND 3000 STRIKEOUTS TO GET ANY CONSIDERATION. TO BE FAIR, THERE WERE A FEW DUDES WHO HAD THOSE CREDENTIALS BACK THEN, BUT RON SHOULDA GOT MORE THAN EIGHT DAMN PERCENT OF THE VOTES. NOW THAT 170 WINS IS AN INSURMOUNTABLE OBSTACLE FOR 99.99% OF PITCHERS OUT THERE MAYBE GUIDREY WILL GET SOME LOVE ON THE VETERAN'S BALLOT. HE JUST NEEDS TO GET PAST THE COUPLE DOZEN OTHER PLAYERS WHO GOT SCREWED BY HALL VOTERS BUT HEY, MAYBE IT'LL HAPPEN BEFORE THE END OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION

ONLINE MEGA BOX - PART 3

ON TODAY'S BATCH WE START OFF SENSIBLE, GO OFF THE RAILS A BIT AND THEN GET IT TOGETHER RIGHT AT THE END

1986 TOPPS CHRIS BAHR, DENNIS HARRAH, WAYNE WILSON

CATEGORY - WANTLIST

I MIGHT BE FORGETTING SOMETHING BUT I THINK 1986 TOPPS FOOTBALL WAS THE FIRST FULL UNOPENED BOX I EVER BOUGHT. THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT WAS A SET I COMPLETED, OH NO. THE COLLATION MONSTER BIT ME HARD. LUCKILY A LOT OF THE DOUBLES I PULLED WERE OF JERRY RICE AND STEVE YOUNG. THESE THREE CARDS GET ME DOWN TO NEEDING JUST TWENTY MORE FOR THE SET. THE ONLY BIGGIE LEFT IS THE REFRIGERATOR PERRY ROOKIE CARD. THEN I NEED TO FINISH THE 1000-YARD CLUB INSERTS. AND THE BOX BOTTOM CARDS. FIRST THINGS FIRST THOUGH

2001 UPPER DECK EVOLUTION E-CARD BRIAN GILES

CATEGORY - INSERT

HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF ME PICKING UP ANY OLD INSERT I COULD FIND. UPPER DECK EVOLUTION WAS ONE OF A MILLION 2000'S ODDBALL SETS WITH A 90 CARD CHECKLIST AND AN ADDITIONAL 30 SHORT PRINTED ROOKIES. ESPECIALLY INSIDIOUS SINCE IT WAS THE YEAR OF PUJOLS AND ICHIRO. THESE EVOLUTION INSERTS HAD A SCRATCH OFF CODE ON THE BACK THAT YOU COULD ENTER INTO A WEBSITE AND 'EVOLVE' THE CARD INTO A RELIC CARD. IT WAS STUPID HARD TO EVOLVE ANYTHING IN THIS SET BUT I REMEMBER REDEEMING SOME HOCKEY AND BASKETBALL CODES FOR SOMETHING. WHAT IT WAS I'LL NEVER REMEMBER

2004 IN THE GAME HEROES AND PROSPECTS PAUL COFFEY

CATEGORY - PLAYER COLLECTION

WHEN I WAS DIGGING THROUGH MY HOCKEY CARDS LOOKING FOR CHELIOS CARDS I FOUND A GINORMOUS PILE OF PAUL COFFEY CARDS I HAD COLLECTED. CHELIOS AND COFFEY WERE MY DUDES BACK IN THE 90S AND SINCE I HAD ALREADY DECIDED TO ADD BELFOUR TO MY HOCKEY PLAYER COLLECTION IT WAS EASY ENOUGH TO ADD COFFEY AS WELL. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF POSTS RECENTLY ABOUT PLAYER COLLECTING WHERE YOU GET A CARD FOR EACH TEAM THE PLAYER WAS ON AND THIS HERE CHECKS OFF THE KITCHENER RANGERS FOR PAUL. THIS IS A NIFTY SET, ARMED WITH A PLAYER'S ASSOCIATION LICENSE AND A COUPLE MINOR LEAGUE LICENSES, IN THE GAME PUT TOGETHER A LARGE MINOR LEAGUE SET TOGETHER WITH A BUNCH OF CURRENT STARS AND LEGENDS WITH MINOR LEAGUE PHOTOS. BABY COFFEY HERE IS ABOUT TO ENTER A 21-YEAR CAREER AND COLLECT A FEW CUPS

1988-89 ESSO NHL ALL-STAR COLLECTION MIKE BOSSY

CATEGORY - ODDBALL

AFTER PICKING UP THE PAUL COFFEY ESSO STICKER IN THE PRECIOUS ORDER I COULDN'T PASS UP ON THIS MIKE BOSSY STICKER. 80'S ODDBALLS ARE JUST SO GOOD NO MATTER THE SPORT. I HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR THE ISLANDERS. THEY ENTERED THE LEAGUE THE SAME TIME MY ATLANTA FLAMES DID AND HAD THEMSELVES A DYNASTY AS SOON AS THE FLAMES LEFT. THEY'VE BEEN KINDA DISMAL EVER SINCE THOUGH AND EVEN LEFT NASSAU FOR BROOKLYN. YOU MAY SEE MORE OF THESE IN THE FUTURE. A LOT MORE

2021 CHRONICLES LIMITED KYLE LEWIS

CATEGORY - CHRONICLES

WHAT HAPPENED TO KYLE LEWIS. FROM A ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD TO INJURIES TO ARIZONA'S TRIPLE-A TEAM. HE LOOKED SO GOOD AT MERCER AND NOW HE'S A NON-TENDER CANDIDATE. HMMM. BRAVES DO NEED SOMEONE IN LEFT FIELD...

1986 TCMA ALL-TIME BREWERS HARVEY KUENN

CATEGORY - ODDBALL

THESE TCMA CARDS ARE VERY NOSTALIC FOR ME. I REMEMBER GETTING A FEW IN COLLECTOR'S KITS AND THOUGHT IT WAS HILARIOUS THAT OLD-SCHOOL TEAMS GOT PLAYERS LIKE ROBERTO CLEMENTE AND CARL YASTRZEMSKI IN THEIR CHECKLISTS WHILE EXPANSION TEAMS THAT HAD BARELY EXISTED WHEN THIS SET CAME OUT GOT SCHLABOTNIKS LIKE DAN MEYER AND PAUL SCHALL. HARVEY KUENN IS NO SCHLABOTNIK. A SOLID FIFTEEN  YEAR MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER AND THE ONLY GUY TO MANAGER THE BREWERS TO THE WORLD SERIES. DEFINITELY AN ALL-TIME BREWER

1990-91 O-PEE-CHEE ART ROSS TROPHY WINNER

CATEGORY - SUPERSTAR

IT'S REALLY HARD TO PASS UP A WAYNE GRETZKY O-PEE-CHEE CARD ESPECIALLY WHEN HE IS POSING WITH A GIGANTIC TROPHY THAT LOOKS LIKE A DALEK ARISTOCRAT

1983 O-PEE-CHEE BRUCE BENEDICT, GLENN HUBBARD, CLAUDELL WASHINGTON

CATEGORY - BRAVES

A TON OF 1983 O-PEE-CHEE CARDS GOT POSTED TO THE SITE AND WHILE I REALLY WANT ALL OF THEM A MORE REASONABLE GOAL IS A TEAM SET. MY O-PEE-CHEE COLLECTION IS KIND OF NEGLECTED SINCE THEY ARE NOT SUPER COMMON IN GEORGIA. I HAVE NO IDEA WHICH BRAVES I NEED SO I PRETTY MUCH GRABBED ANY I COULD GET. THESE ARE THREE GOOD ONES FROM THE 1982 DIVISION WINNING TEAM. FOREVER CATCHER BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE BENEDICT WAS BEHIND THE PLATE A DOZEN YEARS FOR THE BRAVES. GLENN HUBBARD IS BEST KNOWN FOR A CARD WITH A SNAKE BUT WAS A SECOND BASE IN ATLANTA FOR A DECADE AND WAS ALSO A DIAMOND KING. CLAUDELL WON A WORLD SERIES WITH OAKLAND BUT SPENT THE MOST TIME IN ATLANTA. I STILL REMEMBER AMAZED BY THE CRUDE 'IN CLAUDELL WE TRUST' ANIMATION ON THE OLD ATLANTA-FULTON COUNTY SCOREBOARD. ALL THREE OF THESE DUDES WERE ALL-STARS FOR THE BRAVES! THIS ISN'T THE LAST OF THE 0-PEE-CHEE CARDS, I PICKED UP SOME MORE YOU'LL SEE LATER

UP NEXT: IT'S PRETTY UNHINGED. A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Joy of a completed Team Set - 1986 Topps Atlanta Braves

I can't write worth a flip right now even though I have a dozen posts all scanned and uploaded and ready to go once I think of some words. I am good at sorting and cataloging and scanning though. My 1986-2013 Topps Braves sets are finally in order after years of procrastination. Sadly, this is the only completed set of the bunch. Traded cards are my nemesis right now. At least I can knock this set off the wantlist. Enjoy the junk wax!

Joy of a Completed Series - 1986 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Series 4

Time to take out the Garbage! I've been working some angles on my Garbage Pail Kids set and have managed to finish up some series. I don't exactly have all the cards with both A & B variations, but I do have at least one of every design from series 3 through 9 except for two cards. As long as I fill up a 9 pocket page I'm happy for now. All the other series, I got bupkis, but hey, they'll turn up sometime. Time to show off some sets! Tonight I have Series 4 which has my favorite card from the entire run. #138a Alien Ian. Series 4 runs from card 125 to 166 so enjoy some bonus cards from series 3 and 5 as well.

 This might actually be my favorite series of the set! Not the scandalous Reese Pieces variation that snuck through legal before it was replaced. It ain't worth nothing but it's kinda subversive if you're a 12 year old.

Joy of a Completed Series - 1986 Garbage Pail Kids Series 6

Kids today have their Angry Birds and Justin Beiber and crap like that, but when I was a kid in the good ol' days we had quality entertainment. Like Pac-Man and Michael Jackson. Classy stuff. We also had our share of lame fads, like Cabbage Patch Kids. One year every girl at school had one of those ugly ass things that looked like a nylon panty stuffed with cotton balls with eyeballs stapled on. Lame fads bring about brilliant parodies however. Back when Topps was cool, they came up with a trading card set that mocked the dolls and pissed everyone's parents off. Garbage Pail Kids.

When I was a kid I went through a brief lull in card collecting in 1984-85 so I sadly missed out on the scarce Series 1 and 2. I bought these things up with a vengeance in 1986 when Series 3 came out. I continued to do so through 1987 and snapped up most of the set through Series 9. For some reason I never bought any Series 6 packs though. Maybe I lost interest for a bit, Maybe I was too obsessed with baseball and football cards, maybe the local Kay-Bee toys where I got most of my packs never got that series. Recently a completed Series 6 set finally fell in my lap, so why not show it off?

Series 6 runs from card number 207 to 250, so enjoy a sample from Series 5 and 7 as well.

 So did these cards piss off my parents? Nope. My mom is a ninja wizard jedi and never let my weirdness shenanigans faze her at all. But they did enrage my aunt, however... Holy schnikes did Stoned Sean set her off! Bahaha! Nothing better than youthful rebellion. Maybe that's why I'm still rebelling in my 40's.

1986 Topps Do Not Want List

Just throwing this out there for my own reference. I very likely have all these cards in my house right now, I just need to track them down. Don't send me any! I have too many cards as it is! I SWEAR TO GAWD IF YOU PEOPLE START SENDING ME '80S TOPPS CARDS THE WORLD SHALL BURN.

COMPLEEEEEEEEEEETE (Thanks Chris Mays)

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