COMC Blaster - Holiday Break Edition

My Christmas vacation starts today, and I'll be enjoying eleven straight days of sorely-needed rest and relaxation.  Hopefully that will result in an uptick in posting frequency here on the blog as well.  Let's kick it off with one of my custom "COMC Blasters".  The basic idea here is to illustrate just how far you can stretch a $20 bill on what is arguably the greatest hobby site on the internet.

Today's edition contains vintage, a relic, three-dimensional dinosaurs, Star Wars, a die-cut and much more (even a football card!).  Let's get to it!

1971-71 Topps Gary Jarrett - $.77

We'll start off with a trio of cards from the gorgeous 1971-72 Topps hockey set.  This is a release that I actually managed to make pretty significant progress on in 2017, enough so that I've got it in a binder with a want list up even.  With a little luck and some responsible use of my hobby funds I may be able to put this one to bed in 2018.

1971-72 Topps Doug Roberts - $.61

This one has some sentimental value to me.  Needed a raw version for my bindered set.  Can never have too many Golden Seals cards!

1971-72 Topps Wayne Cashman - $1.29

Here's the only one of the three that I paid more than a dollar for.  Cashman was a scrappy winger who enjoyed a very long NHL career.  He played 17 seasons, all with the Bruins, and was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams.  Pretty excited to welcome this one to my set.

2016 Topps Opening Day Wally the Green Monster - $1.09

I've made a habit of picking up Wally the Green Monster's Opening Day Mascots insert just about every year.  Honestly, I may have overpaid slightly for this 2016 version, but at least I can cross it off the list.  I like it when Topps chooses a photo that includes the actual Green Monster in the background like they did here.

2012 Allen & Ginter Framed Mini Relics Jed Lowrie - $1.10

I'm not really big on relics/game-used cards generally speaking, though there are a few exceptions.  I think Allen & Ginter's framed mini relics are some of the nicer ones out there, so I typically snatch up any Red Sox I don't have if I can find them for around a buck or so.  Such was the case with this plain white swatch of the under-rated Jed Lowrie.

1959 Topps Pedro Ramos - $.48

It's the time of year where most collectors start to take stock of the prior year and decide what changes if any they want to make for the next one.  One thing I definitely have planned for 2018 is to continue to make good progress on my 1959 Topps set.  I've never completed a large set anywhere near this old, and it's no easy feat, but it's very satisfying any time I slide a new card into the binder.  Especially when said card cost me less than two quarters.

1959 Topps George Altman - $1.49

Why would I shell out $1.49 for this one when it's got banged up corners?  Because it's a dreaded high-number, part of the final series actually.  Finding a card from this series in any condition for less than a couple bucks is a challenge for sure.

1959 Topps Tom Morgan - $2.38

Here's another high-series card, and in even better shape.  If I could find the rest of the high-number cards I'm missing in this condition at $2.38 each I'd buy each and every one of them immediately.  Very pleased with this one.  273 cards in the binder now, I'm actually approaching the half-way point!

2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs 3-D Triceratops - $.87

You may have seen some of these lenticular 3-D inserts from Upper Deck's 2015 Dinosaurs release previously on the blog.  They don't necessarily scan so well, but in person I think they're great.  There are only 42 cards on the checklist, so any time I see one I don't have already for less than a dollar I pounce.

2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs 3-D Oviraptor - $.80

The pair in today's post brings me up to five in total now.  Getting there slowly but surely...

2011 Topps Cognac Mike Schmidt Legends Variation - $1.05

It feels like just about every one of these "COMC Blaster" posts that I do ends up containing at least one of the 2011 Topps Legends Variation cards.  I just can't get enough of these, someday I hope to acquire them all.  This Mike Schmidt is particularly striking.

2013 Topps Blue Slate Mike Napoli - $.98

If I had to pick a least favorite card in today's grouping, this would be it.  I believe these were redemption cards that you could receive by mailing in pack wrappers to Topps.  They're very shiny cards and look nice enough I guess, but why did I spend almost a dollar on this?  Well, when I added it to my collection on The Trading Card Database I remembered why...it was the final one I needed to complete my Series 2 Red Sox team set.  Interestingly, I have not a single one of these from Series 1.  I wonder if they even made them?

2016 Star Wars Tek Blue Rainbow Maz Kanata - $1.30

The Star Wars Tek acetate cards are a guilty pleasure of mine.  I've loved the movies since I was a kid, though I haven't seen the latest one yet.  Maz Kanata here, who was introduced in Episode VII, is a Blue Rainbow Foil parallel, numbered to /99.  I've got five of these parallels now, a few more and I can make a complete binder page of them.

1969 Topps Houston Antwine - $.58

I'm really not a football guy at all when it comes to card collecting.  I enjoy the sport, and watch the Patriots every week, but I've already got enough to collect without dipping my toes into another sport.  With that being said, I stumbled across this one when I was looking to add some more cards from a seller in order to make a bulk offer.  Just a cool card for 58 cents.

I didn't know this when I bought the card, but it turns out Antwine was no slouch!  A formidable pass rusher, he was named an American Football League All-Star practically every year in the '60s.  He was actually elected to the New England Patriots HOF posthumously in 2015.  Now I'm definitely glad I forked over some pocket change for this one.

1995-96 Topps Finest Refractor Eric Lindros - $2.25

Yet another 1995-96 Finest hockey refractor.  I know I'll never complete this entire set in refractor form, yet I keep trying.  This is a significant notch in my belt as far as these go, as Lindros is now enshrined plus this is the very first card on the checklist.  In my opinion I flat out stole this one at $2.25.

1994 Flair Hot Glove Kenny Lofton - $1.38

Perhaps my favorite card in this entire post.  The 1994 Flair Hot Glove die-cut inserts were all the rage in the mid-'90s.  It's easy to see why, these cards are flat out beautiful.  They still demand a premium, relatively speaking, to this day, so I was pleased to land Lofton for the price I did.  I would love to track down the rest of these and complete the set, but there are some big names that command more coin than Kenny here.

Even the backs are just fantastic.

2011 Topps Cognac Darryl Strawberry Legends Variation - $.75

Here's yet another Cognac Legends Variation.  Didn't have it previously, 75 cents, into my cart it went.  Besides, it pairs so well with the Platinum version that I already had:

Now I just need the regular ol' base card to complete the trifecta.

1961 Topps Dick Williams - $.90

I'm not sure how I never managed to acquire this great '61 Topps Dick Williams card until now.  The '61 flagship set is very polarizing to me.  There are a lot of cards I just don't care much for, but there are also a lot that I really like.  Williams definitely falls into the latter category.  I was happy to spend 90 cents on this one since it's basically flat out mint.

Well, this brings the running total to $20.07, so we'll cut it here for today.  I hope you enjoyed my latest plunder from the amazing selection that COMC has to offer.  Thanks for stopping by!