A Trip to Wal-Mart leads to 3 completed sets in 5 days

A few days ago, our TV died. Almost catastrophically, as it started to smoke and burn. Luckily, we got it outside and into a snowbank before any damage could be done. So, a trip to Wal-Mart was in order. We hadn't been to Wal-Mart as a family since 2013, shortly after I got out of the hospital. It was the first time we'd done anything as a family in over a year, with all the health problems I and my mom have had over the past two years. We had a lot of fun...and it was made better by the fact that I didn't think we'd ever be able to do anything like that ever again. But that's a whole other topic.

We didn't end up with a TV, as they were mostly all sold out, but they DID have two blasters of 2015 Press Pass left, which surprised me. I thought that they would be sold out for sure, having been on the shelves since November. I was wrong! I snapped them both up, and the first one was not particularly good. I got only two new cards in the entire blaster- the one per box "hit" and the one-per box purple parallel, which was a Wal-Mart exclusive. Box two did the job, as I got all 4 cards I needed to complete the set, as well as the hit and purple parallel. Box 1 wasn't a total waste, though. I was able to replace all the damaged cards I wrote about last time I talked about 2015 Press Pass. The hit on the Jennifer Jo Cobb card especially was noticeable, not just my OCD acting up. I was glad to get replacements for all the damaged cards.

Here are the hits-

The Keselowski tire came out of the first box, and it has the pointy thing that use to measure wear on the tire. It's the second time I've pulled one of them, having previously pulled a Jimmie Johnson tire from 2009 Press Pass in 2009.

Here are the purple parallels. I'm a big fan of parallel cards, although I would have preferred if the entire card was not mirror foil. Beggars can't be choosers.

Here are the last 4 cards I needed to complete the base set-

The Dakoda Armstrong card was the last one I needed, and it goes well with these two, both of which came from the contest I won on NUTS-

I actually have two of the green parallels # to 10. Green has always been my favorite color, for what it's worth.

With that, I have now completed 3 sets in 2015, and I have completed each Press Pass set from 2012-2015, which, of course, turns out to be the last 4 sets. I'm fairly close on ALL of the ones I have not yet completed, some under 5 cards needed, except 1995, 1998 and 2000 which I have very little of for some reason. I've already completed 1993, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. So that's 11 of the 23 main Press Pass sets.

While I was at Wal-Mart, I also nabbed a blaster of 2013 Ignite, and a Repack with 12 packs ranging from 2009-12. I actually pulled a relic from the repack, but it turned out to be a duplicate. (2012 Ignite Jeff Burton). From the Ignite blaster, I pulled this Kyle Busch relic-

Of all the relics in my collection, which is somewhere between 500 to 1000, (I lost the exact number due to a floppy disk crash, and I have not finished recreating it yet) I believe this is the first brown relic in my collection. Kyle Busch is not my favorite driver, but there's no denying his talent, and I'm still happy to have the card.

So, by now you have read this far and hopefully you read my previous post where I completed 1994 VIP from a RAOK several days ago, on the 21st. That's only 2 sets. On the 23rd, I received another huge RAOK from a Database member, which covered everything I collect- NASCAR, NBA, Non-Sports, even a few hockey for good measure. (I'll show those soon, at least one of them, stay tuned!) Among the box he sent me was a factory set of 1991 Star Picks, which, naturally, completed the set! I had some before but about half of the 73 cards were new. It's only the second NCAA basketball set I've completed, the last was back in 2003.
I didn't think to take a picture, but here is the set on the Database- it's complete with all scans. 1991 Star Picks

I also purchased a set on Ebay called "Thunder in the Water", from 1991. It's a 25 card set of jet boat racing. I had no idea it existed, and I think there are several more issues that came after this one. I am not sure if they carried the same numbering system or not. As it was only issued in factory set form and is under 100 cards I don't count it in my official completed sets listing, but it IS a set I have all of now, and that arrived to me on the 24th. It actually cost more for shipping than the set itself did! My love of racing is not limited to NASCAR. If the other series carried the same numbering system, and I complete them eventually, it WOULD be listed among my completed sets. I need to do more research, and I only know there is at least one later series because on Ebay the suggested items at the bottom showed a card in the same style that I did not get in the complete set. I didn't think to take a picture, and the set is not yet on the Database, so no link either. I LOVE oddball/obscure stuff like this and I'm happy to have it.

As always, thanks for reading!