2023 COMC BINGE - PART 1 COMPLETE JAMAAL

ALL RIGHTY THEN! TIME TO SHOW OFF THE BLACK FRIDAY COMC SALE PICKUPS AGAIN! I BOUGHT FEWER CARDS THAN LAST YEAR BUT NOT BY MUCH. THE GETTING WAS MUCH MORE TARGETED THIS TIME AS I KNEW WHAT I WANTED AND WENT OUT AND GOT IT. WELL MOST OF IT ANYWAYS. I ALSO GOT QUITE A BIT OF RANDOM NONSENSE, BUT THAT SEEMS TO BE THE THING I WANT THE MOST SO MAYBE I DID TARGET WHAT I REALLY WANTED. AFTER A YEAR OF WRITING THESE POSTS UP I DEFINITELY WAS INFLUENCED SOMEWHAT BY THE THOUGHT OF 'CAN I ACTUALLY WRITE A COHERENT POST ABOUT THIS CARD' IN MY CHOICES AND I EVEN SAW A NARRATIVE POP UP WITH HOW AND WHEN I BOUGHT ALL THIS CRAP. CARDS WERE GOTTEN IN FIVE (THEN SIX) DISTINCT BATCHES:

BATCH 1: THE AUTOMATICS

EIGHT CARDS I ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT AND WERE ALMOST ALL STUFF I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT LAST YEAR. WITH... A COUPLE EXCEPTIONS. THESE WERE BOUGHT ON WEDNESDAY MORNING BEFORE I SIGNED ON FOR WORK EXCEPT FOR, WELL, THE EXCEPTIONS WHICH WERE BOUGHT ON A LUNCH BREAK AFTER AGONIZING OVER A CERTAIN CARD FOR A WHILE. THIS SOUNDS MYSTERIOUS BUT I'M POSTING THEM ALL IN ORDER OF PURCHASE SO YOU'LL KNOW ALL IN ABOUT A MONTH

BATCH 2: SETS, STARS AND STUFF

THESE WERE PICKED UP AFTER WORK ON WEDNESDAY AND IS THE LARGEST GROUP AT FOURTEEN CARDS. THIS IS WHERE THE LASER FOCUSED BIT OF THIS YEAR'S FESTVITIES REALLY KICKED OFF AS I BOUGHT FIVE CARDS I WOULD HAVE NEVER BOTHERED TO GET ON COMC BEFORE NOW. AFTER BEING A GOOD BOY AND PICKING UP STUFF I ACTUALLY NEEDED I ALLOWED MYSELF TO DRIFT INTO FRIVOLITY FOR THREE CARDS BEFORE GOING AFTER THE STARS. YOU KNOW WHICH TWO STARS I'M TALKING ABOUT. THE TWO STARS I WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT. THE TWO STARS I'VE POSTED ABOUT TWENTY TIMES THIS DECADE

BATCH 3: PC PICKUPS, TEAM CARDS AND MORE NON-SPORT

AFTER A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP, I BOUGHT EIGHT MORE CARDS BEFORE WORK ON THANKSGIVING DAY. I STARTED WITH ONE CARD EACH FOR MY FAVORITE PLAYER BINDER SO I COULD WATCH THAT TCDB NUMBER GO UP. AFTER A SURPRISE PICKUP (ALTHOUGH NOT A BIG SURPRISE AT ALL IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN THIS BLOG) I WENT AFTER CARDS FOR A COUPLE VINTAGE TEAM SETS. I ROUNDED THINGS OUT WITH TWO EXCEEDINGLY WEIRD CARDS AS A REWARD BEFORE I WAS OFF FOR WORK

BATCH 4: AGGRESSIVELY ATTACKING SETS

WORK WAS OVER! ALTHOUGH TO BE FAIR NOT MUCH HAPPENED, IT WAS THANKSGIVING AFTER ALL. A LOT OF THE ITEMS ON MY TO DO LIST WERE ALREADY CHECKED AND IT WAS TIME TO SEE HOW MANY MORE SETS I COULD COMPLETE WITH THE LESS THAN TWELVE BUCKS I STILL HAD IN MY ACCOUNT. THE ANSWER WAS FOUR, MAYBE, WITH ANOTHER BATCH OF EIGHT CARDS. PLUS I ADDED ONE CARD TO A LONG TERM SET BUILD AND STARTED A NEW ONE

BATCH 5: THE DIFFICULT FINAL SELECTIONS

AFTER EATING TOO MUCH FOOD IT WAS TIME TO DO SOME LATE NIGHT SHOPPING TO SPEND THE LAST FIVE DOLLARS AND FIFTY-EIGHT CENTS IN MY ACCOUNT. I HAD PROBABLY FIFTY TABS OPEN WITH CANDIDATES AND I MADE A GAME OUT OF SPENDING EVERY LAST PENNY IN THE ABSOLUTE MOST OPTIMAL MANNER. AND I SUCCEEDED! WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM SEARCHING SOME ODDBALL CATEGORIES WITH LOWEST PRICE FIRST TO HELP ME FIND SOMETHING FOR THIRTY-SEVEN CENTS

BATCH 6: REJECTS REPRIEVED

SO UHHHH REMEMBER WHEN I SAID I HAD FIVE BUCKS IN MY ACCOUNT? WELL SHIPPING IS FIVE BUCKS. I FORGOT I HAD TO PAY FOR SHIPPING THIS TIME. AND THE THING WITH COMC, IS YOU CAN'T JUST PAY FOR SHIPPING, YOU NEED TO ADD MONEY TO YOUR WALLET AND THE MINIMUM YOU CAN ADD IS TEN BUCKS. HOORAY! I HAD FIVE MORE BUCKS TO SPEND ON CARDS! AND HONESTLY I SPENT IT ON SIX CARDS I SHOULD'VE BOUGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE. WHEN YOU'RE READING THOSE LAST FIVE POSTS IN SEPTEMBER OR WHENEVER THEY GO UP, THANK SHIPPING FOR THEM 

HERE'S SOME SPOILERS A SNEAK PREVIEW. THE CARD ON TOP OF PACK 1 IS FROM BATCH 2, PACK 2 IS FROM BATCH 1, PACK 3 IS FROM BATCH 6, AND PACK 4 IS APPROPRIATELY FROM BATCH 4

ALL RIGHT, ENOUGH PREAMBLE. LET'S GET ON WITH THE CARDS

1979-80 TOPPS JAMAAL WILKES

 SO LAST YEAR I MADE THIS GIGANTIC POST ON HOW I TRIED TO COMPLETE MY 1979-80 BASKETBALL SET BUT DIDN'T BUY THE JAMAAL WILKES BECAUSE HIS CARD COST A BUCK AND I WANTED TO SEE IF IT WOULD GO ON SALE AND FORGOT ABOUT IT. WHEN THE SALE KICKED OFF THE VERY FIRST THING I BOUGHT BEFORE I EVEN LOOKED AT ANYTHING ELSE WAS THIS WILKES CARD. IT'S STILL THE LISTING THAT POPS UP WHEN I TYPE COMC IN THE SEARCH BAR. AND GUESS WHAT? 

IT WAS ON SALE! 79-80 HOOPS SET COMPLETE! WHAT MORE IS THERE TO SAY? HALL OF FAME SET COMPLETER FOR SIXTY-NINE CENTS! NICE! I LOOKED AROUND FOR THIS CARD LAST SUMMER BUT COULD ONLY FIND OTHER 79-80 COMMONS THAT WERE PRICED AT TWO BUCKS AND UP SO I AM VERY GRATEFUL THIS WAS EVEN AVAILABLE FOR UNDER A DOLLAR

THIS COMPLETES A THREE SET RUN FROM 1978-79 TO 1980-81 TOPPS BASKETBALL. THE 78 AND 80 VERSIONS WERE COMPLETED OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO THANKS TO PICKUPS OF A COMPLETE SET AND VENDING BOX AT THE CARD SHOP FOR SEVEN DOLLARS EACH WHEN I WAS A KID. THIS IS THE FIRST VINTAGE HOOPS SET I'VE BUILT SINCE. THE 1977-78 AND 1981-82 SETS ARE THE OBVIOUS ONES TO FOCUS ON NEXT BUT THE 81 SET HAD THOSE RIDICULOUS EAST, MIDWEST AND WEST HIGH NUMBER SERIES AND I JUST CAN'T FIND ANY OF THE 77S ANYWHERE LATELY FOR SOME REASON. THE LAST TIME I SAW ANY OF THEM WAS AT A CARD SHOW BEFORE THE WORLD ENDED IN A FIFTY CENT BOX. THAT'S WHERE I GOT A LARGE PILE OF THE CARDS I NEEDED FOR THIS SET SO I DONT REGRET PASSING THEM UP, BUT I DO REGRET NOT GETTING TO ANOTHER CARD SHOW FOR THREE YEARS. I NEED LESS THAN TWENTY CARDS TOTAL FOR THE 1992-93 AND 2007-08 SETS SO I THINK I'LL FOCUS MY ATTENTION ON THOSE FOR A WHILE

NOT GOING TO SHOW OFF THE ENTIRE COMPLETED SET ON HERE BECAUSE I KEEP EXPECTING TO RUN OUT OF IMAGE STORAGE OR AT LEAST HAVE GOOGLE START CHARGING ME FOR IT BUT HERE IS THE FINAL COMPLETED PAGE

ONE POST DOWN, THIRTY-EIGHT TO GO! IF I KEEP ON SCHEDULE YOU'LL SEE THE LAST COUPLE CARDS I GOT BY THE END OF OCTOBER. I WON'T KEEP ON SCHEDULE THOUGH SO MAYBE WE'LL JUST SEAMLESSLY TRANSITION TO 2024'S BINGE INSTEAD