Cards on Cards sends cards

I can't be the only guy out there collecting cards that gets the evil eye from the wife when I come back from checking the mail w/ bubble mailers in my hands. Kerry from Cards on Cards (@cardsoncards) got my wife going over the weekend when I pulled out a rather thick bubble mailer out of the mail box. I wasn't expecting anything from him so I was looking forward to seeing what was inside...

There were two large stacks of cards that were neatly stacked and stored insides team bags and a sealed package of NBA TeenyMates. With the exception of a line Braves TeenyMates someone sent me years ago, I haven't had any exposure to these. I'll showcase the contents of that pack later however as I want to get to the meat & potatoes.

For starters I received 82 cards from my 2018 Topps Big League want list! I haven't done much with this set since last fall so it was nice to put a big dent in the list of cards needed.

Off the top of the 2nd stack were two cards of Braves players that represent the future and the past. I have both of these cards, but I don't think I have them for my 2018 Allen & Ginter set. When I'm building sets I always keep the Braves for my team collection first and foremost.

I busted a lot of 2019 Donruss, but somehow the base cards of Ozzie Albies has escaped my grasp. The others were needed for the set and are much welcomed.

Couple more shiney Freddie Freemans for the collection and a Topps Archives RC insert of Ozzie. I believe this card will go in the Archives binder as I pulled one last year for my team collection.

I don't buy a lot of basketball cards and I don't know many who do, but I do know that Kerry is an avoid Portland Trailblazer collector so I can usually bet any package from him will include some basketball cards. Oh boy, he did not disappoint either as he sent me cards for several different collections.

In the heyday of my collecting I pretty bought anything and everything. I had many of these cards, but as the collecting itch faded away a lot of my early collection disappeared. I can't remember what happened to all those cards, but I'm so glad to get some of these back. 

I made a comment on @pennysleeves blog the other day about a Robert Parish card I saw that featured him in a Hornets uni...and then this Hoops card shows up in the stack! I still don't have many cards of Anthony Mason as a Hornet so even though this Hoops card has him in a Knicks uniform, I'll take it. Not sure how many fans remember Darrin Hancock. He was drafted out of Kansas in the 2nd round of the 1994 draft and went on to play 1 1/2 seasons in Charlotte before he was traded to Milwaukee. His career in the NBA only lasted until 1997 (in Atlanta) before he would finish his career in 2005 playing for several different D-League teams. He was however electrifying to watch when he played for Charlotte, executing several fast break plays that usually ended in some kind of dunk.

I love getting cards of Hornets players from that time period where I attended a lot of games. This Kendall Gill and Kenny Gattison cards are so much cooler (to me) than the base cards they are because of the memories I have attached to them.

Considered the "dark period" in Charlotte basketball now, the Bobcats never really caught on with the city of Charlotte or it's fans. I have several ideas why, however I still count them as part of my Hornets collection. There was one lone Bobcats card in the stack and it happened to be a RC of D.J. Augustin. I liked watching him play the short time he played for Charlotte. He's still going strong (for Orlando) and gave the Hornets a fit in the backcourt this season.

I knew of Roy Hibbert from his time spent in Indiana, but I hardly remember him suiting up in the team and purple for the Hornets. However Panini made a card of him for their 2016-17 Complete set. I love getting cards of players that had a brief stint with a team as it makes it more fun when looking back. Do you like getting cards of players like this?

Panini releases a lot of sets and it's hard to keep up with what is out there and what the cards look like. Their Element set has some nice looking cards, such as this base card of Michael Kidd- Gilchrist. I think this makes the 2nd base card from this set I now have. Dwight Howard's time with Charlotte was short so he doesn't have too many cards of him in an actual Hornets uniform, so this insert of him was a welcome addition.

With the exception of the Tony Parker, all of these shiny cards look much better in hand than the pics. I especially love the Optic RC of Devonte Parker RC. I don't know what type of Prizm parallel this is, but it's really sharp. The multi-colored Optic parallels aren't my favorite looking, but anytime I can get new cards of young players like Monk and Bacon...I'll take 'em. I believe both of them are just now starting to scratching the surface of their potential.

If all of the Hornets cards weren't enough, Kerry tossed in not one, but two autographed RCs of P.J. Hairston. I find it ironic that P.J. was yet another former Tarheels player that owner Michael Jordan paraded through Charlotte. I swear the Hornets have had so many Tarheel players that never did anything. Probably the best former UNC player that came through was Raymond Felton in the early Bobcats years...so Jordan can't take credit for him.

In addition to the Hornets cards, I also got a new cards for my NC State Wolfpack Alumni collection. Nate McMillan was born in Raleigh, NC and was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2nd round of the 1986 draft. He went on to play 19 seasons for the Sonics before he went into coaching. While I believe I originally had all 3 of these cards, I don't have them in my current NC State Alumni collection so these will be nice additions.

My favorite card in the whole package though has to be this Courtside Draft Pix card of former NC State point card, Chris Corchiani. While Chris' NBA career may not have gone as he would have liked, he was magic in the backcourt during his college years. Watching Corchiani interact and play with Rodney Monroe was a thing of beauty. For some reason it kind of reminded me of watching John Stockton and Karl Malone play together. I don't have many cards of Corchiani period, and this card is a beauty. You probably can't tell, but the front of this card features ink that has a slight metallic sheen, something cards from 1991 just didn't feature that often.

Thank you Kerry for all the great cards. While I love getting new baseball cards, I also love getting new basketball cards from time to time and this package was a very nice surprise. I owe you one!!

2017-18 Panini Vanguard Kemba Walker High Voltage auto

Back in January I acquired a redemption off eBay for a steal of Kemba Walker. This was around the time where Kemba was freakin' unstoppable and was making his claim to be an All-Star in his home city of Charlotte in February. 

For such an electric player, his RCs and autos can be had for reasonable amounts online. I imagine if he were to sign elsewhere and get more exposure his cards would go for more. However I'm hoping that doesn't happen. He's a free agent now and all of Charlotte is wondering if he'll stay or if he'll go. he has said he loves Charlotte and wants to stay, but he also wants to complete for a NBA Championship. As much as I love my Hornets, I just don't see them being a real contender...ever? Professional sports leagues just aren't designed in a way where small market teams can really compete.

If Kemba does leave, it'll be a dagger in the heart of Charlotte. Perhaps knowing what may (or may not) happen I've been wanting to pick up a few autos of his. When I won the redemption card, I had no idea what the High Voltage cards even looked like. If the Vanguard name sounds familiar, it should as it was a piece of the now defunct Pacific Trading Card company that Panini acquired.

I don't know how much you can tell, but this is a shiny card. The whole front of the card is printed on foil board with a rainbow sheen. There is a small lightning bolt running down the middle of the card. At first I thought it was a crease in the card. There is a large area for the player's on card auto, however Kemba's auto is pretty small so it doesn't fill up the entire space.

The same photo is duplicated on the back of the card. As you can see, there are only 49 of this auto in existence and I have number 18. I redeemed the code on 01/14/19 and received the card on 04/18/19. Panini's turnaround time for redemptions has proven to be pretty quick in my experience.

Thankfully we have the NFL draft coming up to distract us Charlotte sports fans from the Kemba Walker saga. I feel it's going to be a long summer as we await to hear what his decision is.

Sunday Verse - Easter Edition

John 10:28-30 New International Version I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Read at Bible Gateway Read all of John 10

Sunday Verse

Matthew 7:13-14

New International Version [ The Narrow and Wide Gates ] “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Read at Bible Gateway Read all of Matthew 7

2019 Topps WWE Road to Wrestlemania - The Complete Set

The biggest day for professional wrestling is finally among us, Wrestlemania 35 kicks off later tonight and should be an entertaining event as the company usually pulls out all the stops. Leading up to the big event Topps has been chronicling the previous year leading up to Wrestlemania, hence the name of the set.

2019 marked the first year where I grabbed a hobby box instead of trying to piece together the set with retail packs. I'm glad I did because my box yield me a complete base set and all but 2 of the Wrestlemania insert set. Earlier this week I collated the set, grabbed some pages and a small binder and went to town.

I wasn't sure if I was going to page the set, but the Road to Wrestlemania set isn't like other wrestling sets. This is a set that's fun to go back and look at, especially if you're a wrestling fan like myself that tune in each week to the weekly programs. Then I thought why not share the set here on the blog for others that may be interested, but not enough to purchase a pack. Keep in mind you can click on the images for a larger view.

The base set is only 100 cards so the final card, "Woken" Matt Hardy got a page all to his lonesome self. I hate that and I really wish Topps would've made this set 99 cards or 108 cards so it would've fit evenly in the 9 pocket pages.

I only need #30 and #39 to complete the 45 card Wrestlemania set. This is an insert set that had I not bought the hobby box and got 43 of the cards, I probably wouldn't have pursued it as the posed shots just seem odd in a set where the rest of the cards chronicled previous events.

I'm ready to sink into my couch with something cold to drink and something to eat and enjoy the marathon coverage of Wrestlemania this evening. This set has been a lot of fun, especially over the course of this week, reliving past events.