Opening Day

This is how I celebrate receiving a job offer at a sports apparel company:

My local Target hasn't been this stacked in years. Prizm packs? Penny sleeves? Repack boxes? Hell yes!

The reason baseball is missing is because the only product available is 2023 Topps, and if I buy a pack of that I'll be tempted to build the set. I've got enough set projects left to complete as you can see here.

Don't worry, there will be baseball on this blog tomorrow. And the next day, and the next, and the next...

As for the job, it's right down the street. It pays more than any job my wife or I have ever had, and it's right down the street. At a sports apparel company! Did I mention it's right down the street?!??! 

The only obstacles left are my background check (no worries there) and my professional references. Hmmm. I sure hope they don't talk to the office manager at my last job. And I realllly hope they don't talk to my previous office manager, who was showing us back office boys the OnlyFans page of our administrative assistant and being very personally critical of her. Without an HR person to report it to, I was torn between defending my mentor/Best Manager Ever or the Witch Goddess I was swooning over. I'd like to think I would have done the right thing regardless, but I'll never know. 

Anyway, that's ancient history now. It blows my mind that I worked at that place as recently as 2022. You're not here for office stories, you're here for cards. So let's start cracking open some packs!

 The hockey repack promised seven packs, one sealed fat pack, and one "bonus item"...

A loose common with a corner ding. Grr. And I didn't get one sealed fat pack in this box. I got two.

To save time/space, here's the rundown of packs and pulls:

2017-18 Upper Deck Series One 5-card pack: Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler UD Canvas
2020-21 O-Pee-Chee 8-card pack: P.K.! Connecticut Cam! McAvoy! Ethan Bear retro
2020-21 Upper Deck MVP 5-card pack: some old Russian "rookie" on Winnipeg
2021-22 O-Pee-Chee 8-card pack: some Finnish backup goalie rookie for Trannah
2021-22 Upper Deck Series One 8-card pack: a Young Guns RC I could get for 45 cents on COMC
2021-22 Upper Deck MVP 6-card pack: Hedman, Bread Man, CT Cam again, Carey Price
2021-22 O-Pee-cheek 28-card fat pack: Pastrnak, Makar, Tanner Jeannot RC, two Winnipeg retros
2021-22 Upper Deck Extended 26-card fat pack: a Devils card, four Kraken, and an actual decent Young Guns RC that I can't get for two quarters on COMC.

the whole hundred-dollar haul

The hand-picked 2022-23 packs were not even worth mentioning. Nice cards though.

My football boxes are full, so I only picked up one pack of 2022 Donruss. I didn't pull a Packer or a notable rookie. 

Thud. Should I have picked a Panini Prestige pack instead? This is beginning to feel like a bad idea.

That only leaves the big prize - basketball. I sure hope that Optic or Prizm can save the day...

I sure hope that Prizm can save the day...

I pull one current superstar out of these packs and it's Ja Morant. Figures.

The patriotic 'bonus pack' parallels were underwhelming:

At least Tim Duncan pops up again. 

 

Good news! I pulled two different Prizm parallels of an active player with an MVP award on his resume.

Bad news? It's Derrick Rose:

Did you know that Cam Thomas was born in Yokosuka, Japan? Has he repped the rising sun in international competition? (googling....) Nope. He does not appear to have Japanese citizenship.

Welp, that was $100 spent. I guess my good luck went as far as getting a good job within walking distance. At least I've got some new stuff for trades and giveaways.

Could I have done better at the card shop two blocks away? Perhaps, but his hobby pack prices are higher than Target's fat pack prices. I would probably have ended up with significantly fewer cards and few (if any) significant 'hits'. 

Oh and the shopkeep just went on vacation anyhow. Store's closed for the next five days.

Tomorrow.... baseball!


Thanks for reading!




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