Rest well Johnny and Matthew

 I pulled the scheduled post for today when I woke up to the news. Thoughts to all the friends, families, teammates impacted by this awful event.

Too many stupid selfish people in the world doing things hurting other people in the world these days.

A Jaguar, a Pirate and a Way for Swedes to get Cheap(er) alcohol

 Random.org chose the following as my random card of the day. This 2021 Panini Chronicles Football #50 featuring Travis Etienne of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It's a rookie card of a first round pick who has turned into a pretty decent player, so I guess I should be excited about it. However, I'm not. Maybe if Panini didn't release 33 different NFL sets that year assuming I counted correctly, which is only the Panini branded ones, not counting Donruss, Score, Zenith etc.

I currently have 5 Etienne cards catalogued in my collection and 159 Jacksonville Jaguars cards.

My favourite new card I added to my catalogue recently is this 2022 Topps Stadium Club - Black Foil parallel #205 featuring Roansy Contreras of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Just a typical quality Stadium Club effort. The Bucs are one of 2 MLB teams I would sort of say I am a team collector of, but not to the same focus as the Jays. Like many, I'm a fan of Stadium Club, just wish it was easier to find locally, there doesn't seem to be much of it around at local shows etc.

New additions to my all-time roster project catalogued yesterday were none.

My All-time roster project now stands at 15,040 combinations.

My random postcard of the day is this card from Sweden showing the Oresundsbron bridge.

The bridge which is both a rail and road bridge links Malmo in Sweden to Copenhagen in Denmark. The brige section is 8km long while the tunnel is 4km. The switchover point is a manmade island. Cute story, there was a natural island about 1km away called Saltholm. So what did they name the artificial island - Peberholm. Who says Scandinavians are all serious and have no sense of humour?

You can get cards of the bridge in either nation, but this one is Swedish. It is unwritten and I bought it in Malmo. I currently have 90 postcards from Sweden catalogued in my collection.

An Ugly Sweater, a Classic Sweater and a Really Big Bellyflop

 Random.org chose the following as my random card of the day. This 2003 Upper Deck #438 featuring Peter Bondra of the Washington Capitals.

Nice card design, another truly awful jersey. Bondra was a better player (if kind of one-dimensional) than you likely remember. I'm guessing if someone asked you to list off the members of the 500 goal club, his name would not come to mind, but he's a member.

I currently own 20 Bondra cards and 767 Washington Capitals cards

My favourite new card I added to my catalogue recently is this 2000 Pacific Private Stock #53 featuring Jose Theodore of the Montreal Canadiens. Figure if Random.org is gonna hit me with an ugly sweater, I will balance it with a classic. Wrong team of course, but you've gotta respect the classic threads.

New additions to my all-time roster project catalogued yesterday were:

• Chicago Cubs player #136 - Trey Mancini
• Chicago Cubs player #137 - Harold Ramirez
• Cleveland Indians player #116 - Domingo Santana
• Pittsburgh Pirates player #182 - Endy Rodriguez
• San Francisco Giants player #129 - Grant McCray
• Tampa Bay Rays player #89 - Kyle Manzardo
• Arizona Coyotes player #71 - Justin Hodgman
• Philadelphia Flyers player #162 - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
• Toronto Maple Leafs player #331 - Brandon Kozun

My All-time roster project now stands at 15,040 combinations.

My random postcard of the day is this card from Australia featuring a breeching Humpback Whale.

This card is written and was received through a swap on an online postcard exchange forum. I currently have 30 postcards from Australia catalogued in my collection.

A Met, A Hidden Classic of Hockey Hair and a Moose

 Random.org chose the following as my random card of the day. This 2017 Topps #19 featuring David Wright of the New York Mets.

Quite possibly one of the ugliest sets Topps has ever produced. Wright strikes me as a guy who pulled off the hard to achieve feat of being both underappreciated and overrated at the same time. It would have been interesting to see what kind of career he could have put up without the injuries.

I currently own 7 Wright cards and 472 New York Mets cards.

My favourite new card I added to my catalogue recently is this 1990 Topps #204 featuring Daren Puppa of the Buffalo Sabres. 

Yesterday I said give me the classic Blue and Gold, so I figured I'd go with one today. Double points for it being an error since his name is incorrectly spelled. Triple points since Puppa generally rocked the best mullet in hockey goalie history. It was a solid 8 out of 10 on the Jagr scale.

New additions to my all-time roster project catalogued yesterday were none.

My All-time roster project now stands at 15,030. Seem to have gone down 1 in the ongoing database cleanup.

My random postcard of the day is this card from Lithuania featuring a Moose.

I have a mini collection of Moose on postcards, not surprising since wild animals is one of the themes I collect. This car is written and was received through an exchange on an online postcard swap forum. I currently have 16 postcards from Lithuania catalogued in my collection.

A Ranger, A Canadian Heart-breaker and a Sweet Way to Sell Chocolate

Back after 2 days away on the weekend. 

Random.org chose the following as my random card of the day. This 1999 Topps Gold Label #14 featuring Theoren Fleury of the New York Rangers.

Have to admit was never the biggest Fleury fan, but he was certainly a very good player and you have to respect his making it to such a career given his size and some of the things in his background. What he's done after his career is certainly worthy of all the praise you can send his way.

I currently own 16 Fleury cards and 896 New York Rangers cards.

My favourite new card I added to my catalogue recently is this 1999 Upper Deck Black Diamond #11 featuring Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres.

Figure I will stick in the same year and go with a card of the best goaltender in my lifetime. Just wish it wasn't from that stretch of horrible uniforms the Sabres went through. Give me the classic Blue and Gold. I guess the good news is it isn't the Buffaslug.

New additions to my all-time roster project catalogued yesterday were just 1:

• St. Louis Blues player #154 - Thomas Greiss

My All-time roster project now stands at 15,031 combinations.

My random postcard of the day is this card from France depicting an old time German (assuming based on the language) advertisement for cocoa.

 

The card is French, showing a German ad and was bought in a shop in Copenhagen, Denmark. Old timey advertisements is a theme fairly common on postcards and one I would certainly like to get more of into my collection. I currently have 109 postcards from France catalogued in  my collection.

A Tiger, a Punching Bag and a Pokey Tree

 Random.org chose the following as my random card of the day. This 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects #BDP19 featuring Ryan Perry of the Detroit Tigers.

I don't remember Perry at all, maybe I need to brush up on my early 2010's middle relievers, but hey unlike a good chunk of the guys in these Bowman sets, he got to the Big Leagues. Appeared in 156 games over 4 years. No starts, 2 saves, 43 games finished which suggests he was the 'this game is a blowout, so put him in' guy for those teams.

I currently own 1 Perry card and 324 Detroit Tigers cards.

My favourite new card I added to my catalogue recently is this 1996 Pinnacle Summit - Premium Stock parallel #100 featuring Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Why, not because I'm a Hextall fan, but because whenever I'm feeling down, I just call up the YouTube video of Felix Potvin beating him so bad his ears didn't stop ringing for a month and suddenly I have a smile on my face.

New additions to my all-time roster project catalogued yesterday were none.

My All-time roster project now stands at 15,030 combinations.

My random postcard of the day is this card from Arizona, USA 

Fun fact, there are 9 rattlesnakes in this photo. This card is written and was received in an exchange on an online postcard exchange forum. Currently I have 340 postcards from the United States catalogued.

A Guy Selling Sandwiches, an Oriole and the source of Strawberry Milk

 Random.org chose the following as my random card of the day. This 2014 Press Pass American Thunder #17 featuring Kevin Harvick.

So for the first time Random.org takes us outside the North American Big 4. I don't really collect or follow NASCAR, but someone was selling a really cheap lot of it online locally, and I said 'what the heck, I didn't need that shelf space anyways' and picked it up. Surprised there's no advertising on his forehead, that seems to be one of the biggest spaces of real estate available.

Apparently Harvick was a favourite of whoever put the lot together as it had 39 of his cards which makes up the entirety of my collection of his.

My favourite new card I added to my catalogue recently is this 2024 Topps Heritage - White Border parallel #24 featuring Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles.

Just a generally clean looking card. Based on the asking price for the 1 I see on COMC, and the box I found it in, I'm guessing the dealer didn't recognize it for what it was (truthfully neither did I). I guess one of the hazards of being a dealer is having to recognize all the short prints, rare parallels etc.

New additions to my all-time roster project catalogued yesterday were:

• Pittsburgh Penguins player #133 - Ryan Stone
• Toronto Maple Leafs player #331 - Alex Foster

My All-time roster project now stands at 15,030 combinations.

My random postcard of the day is this card from Switzerland.

Bog standard tourist stuff here. In fact I think I may have bought this at the Zurich airport, it's unwritten and I know I bought it. I currently have 84 postcards from Switzerland catalogued in my collection.