COMC > Target

The other day I had a moment of weakness for the first time in many months, maybe longer.  It had been a brutal day at work, I had the beginnings of a cold, and I was just mentally wiped out.  While in Target picking up some NyQuil and a few household needs, I grabbed two loose packs of 2019 Topps Heritage baseball.  I came this close to putting them back.  I said to myself "you probably won't enjoy any of these cards, what are you doing?".  In the end though curiosity won out, and into my basket they went.

Well, it went about how I expected when I got home and opened the cards.  I've scanned all the keeper cards for my collection that came out of these two packs.  Ready?

...

Yeah, that was it.  Didn't pull a single Red Sox card, no other players that interested me, no inserts, nothing really.  The only silver lining was that I pulled a short print in each pack, and that my friend Douglas who I seriously owe some cardboard to needs both of them for his set.  That's about it, $5.98 down the tubes and a reminder as to why I stay away from retail packs for the most part.  Oh well.

In contrast, just a day or two later I received my latest batch of 100 cards from COMC!  Let's take a look at a few of those to wash away the aftertaste of 2019 Heritage...

Another 1992-93 Ultra buyback from the 2016-17 Fleer Showcase release.  I've typically stuck to Whalers and stars when it comes to these, but in this case I picked up Sean Hill of the Canadiens because A) it features that great foil ROOKIE ribbon, and B) it was only $1.25.  That's pretty cheap as these buybacks go, given that each is numbered to just /25.

Of course, I'm obliged to show the back when it comes to '92-93 Ultra.  Still one of my favorite card back designs of all-time.

Here's another one.  This one is cool because Douglas actually tipped me off that he saw it listed on COMC at a fairly reasonable price.  As soon as I saw his email I immediately snagged it for $2.69.  Completing an entire Whalers team set of these buybacks is probably out of the question given the scarcity, but I'm happy to be one closer in any event.

I'm not sure there is a card out there that would bring me more joy at less than $3 than a rare Whalers card like this.  I certainly owe Douglas for the heads up on this one!

Just a couple more here and we'll call it a day.  I snagged a pair of 1971-72 Topps set needs that are in really good shape.  First up is Bobby Hull's brother, Dennis.  He may not have scored at the same historic clip as his brother, or his nephew Brett, but Dennis was no slouch.  He scored over 300 goals in his NHL career, and had over 350 assists to go with them.

The other '71-72 that I scored is the legendary Pat Quinn!  Pat is best remembered for his contributions to the sport after he hung up his skates for the final time, but this is still a great card.  Quinn was a two time Jack Adams Award winner as coach of the year, and he was enshrined in the hockey HOF (posthumously, unfortunately) in 2016 as a builder.  This pair was in virtually mint condition, and I got them in a package offer to the seller for $2.25 total.  I'm now past the 2/3 mark with my hand-collated set, getting there!

Every collector is different, and I certainly can relate to the lure of the unopened pack, but to me this post is yet another reminder that picking up singles is just much more enjoyable to me than buying packs generally speaking.  I spent $5.98 on those two packs of Heritage that yielded nothing for my collection.  Meanwhile, the four hockey cards I've shown here are all perfect fits for my collection and cost just about the same amount at $6.19...

2 Packs of 2019 Topps Heritage - $5.98
Pair of '92-93 Ultra Buybacks - $3.94
Pair of '71-72 Topps - $2.25
2019 Running Total - $46.98