Card of the Day - June 2018

The 1 New Card every day of the year project has reached it's halfway point! 181 cards down, 184 to go! OK, technically not half way, thanks to February being so short, but the June to July break is the halfway point of the year in my book.

I have to admit...I'm not really enjoying the project at this point. It's starting to become a chore instead of a fun project. I won't quit, though...I've come too far to do that now. I do know, however, that this is going to be a one time project. Before this year, I had done 1 new card every day in a month a couple times before. Doing it for a year seemed like a fitting celebration of my 30th anniversary in the hobby. I guess it still is. But I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

It probably doesn't help that my health- always troublesome at best- decided to really act up this month. I have not felt this bad physically in a long time, if ever. There are finally some signs of getting back to normal- which is still bad, but manageable. I've had to miss the one thing that truly makes me happy, car shows, for the past two weeks and I probably won't be able to do them next week, either. Add in the fact that the heat is here- June through August are really hard months for me to get through health wise, the dregs of the year. I dread the summer every year, so combining the heat and my health problems...I'm pretty miserable right now. I guess it shows a little on the blog because of the posts I published in June, I only actually wrote three of them in June, and one of them only took about 5 minutes to create.

But I'm sure you didn't come here to read my whining, so how about some cards?
June 1st:

2015 Panini Stars & Stripes #87

The month started off with disappointment. On June 1st, we drove as a family up to my favorite place in the world, Lake George, which I have talked about in the past somewhat. We went up for a family wedding (the first I've attended) and since it was close to Lake George, we took the opportunity to go there. I knew we were going to go up Prospect Mountain and I thought, I'll bring a pack from my stash and get a cool picture with the lake in the background. As soon as we got to the mountain...a thunderstorm came up. I took the picture anyway- but the clouds totally obscure the lake. You can't tell where I'm standing, or actually sitting in the rental car- at all.
We went back a couple days later- it didn't occur to me to take the card out and get another picture, when it was clear. I did take this photo, though, which is what I SHOULD have been standing holding this very card in front of.  Make sure to click on it to see it larger, I used the panorama setting on my camera so it's a long, wide image.

June 2nd:

2017-18 Parkhurst #160

June 2nd was a very, very busy day. First, we went to Lake George and walked around town. Then, we went to the wedding that was the reason for the trip. Then, we made a mad dash to the Saratoga Automobile Museum which was closing in less than 45 minutes! After walking around there, we went BACK to Lake George Village and walked around part of it again, and in the village I found a small sports apparel store that had some cards. After that we got Long John Silver's for dinner- a rare treat as they are not in my area. The apparel store had some of the Parkhurst team sets, including the Rangers and for some unknown reason a large quantity of Chicago Blackhawks. I bought one of each, but at $10 a pop I couldn't get the other teams they had. I had tried to find the Rangers set online but was unable. None of my local stores brought in Parkhurst so I am glad I was able to get the Rangers set finally- I couldn't even find a set on Ebay when I looked.

June 3rd:

Star Wars Galaxy LucasArts #L5

On Sunday, June 3rd, we left Lake George and headed home- but made a stop off at the Albany Comic Con, which was our first time at that show, but will not be the last. I had a large comic haul- about 60 comics, my best haul since I got into military comics, which I've posted on Twitter but have not yet gotten a chance to post about on my comic blog- and I found some cards, mostly promos, right at the end of the show. The price was really good- I am kind of second-guessing myself for not asking how much he would have sold the whole box to me for. I got what I really wanted, but there was more in there I would not be unhappy to add to my collection- I ended up with a stack of about 40 cards for $20. Since I didn't have my lists I had to guess on a few and came home with a couple of duplicates, too.

June 4th:

2009 Topps Toppstown #TTT5

The 4th and 5th are gifts from friend and frequently mentioned C2Cigars of the Trading Card Database, who sent me a custom-made pack of diabetic athletes. Although they don't appear after the 5th during June, they will appear again in this project.\
June 5th:

1994 Topps #98

June 6th:

2015-16 Upper Deck Overtime Blue #16

The 6th was another busy day, as I finished my 301st model that day. This card came out of my COMC box.

June 7th:

1995-96 Hoops Hoopstars #HS5

On June 7th, we still had the rental car and took a trip to the Ollie's in Kingston. On the way back, we stopped off at an antique store and to my surprise, they had cards...and even more surprising,  most of them were NBA! The next time we get the ability to travel I plan to go back more prepared...they are only open on Thursday-Sunday so I got lucky to be passing by that day.

June 8th:

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee dark back #167

I got a huge trade in the mail on June 8th, from Bevans of the Trading Card Database. A few hundred cards arrived in this trade- he used a 340 count box, and it was darn near full- and this was the first out of the box. It's also my first 1973-74 OPC card.

June 9th:

2017-18 Hoops Platinum #208

While we were in Lake George, we went to the Target in Wilton, NY (aka Saratoga) and they had stocked all the sets that came out that our local Target, which has not restocked since before Christmas, didn't bother to bring in. However, this card came from a repack, which I purchased solely because it was the card visible in the window- this Platinum parallel was not present in my collection, and I had to fix that.

June 10th:

2012 Triple Play #211

I almost missed it that day. I was working on models and wasn't paying attention to the clock- I looked over and it was 11:43 PM. I had to hustle to get something because I totally wasn't prepared. Luckily, I reached into my box where I keep my pack stash and one of these came out. Even though this set is pretty much a waste of cardboard, it was a card I didn't previously have, so it counts. You can tell I wasn't thinking quite right- the health problems I mentioned earlier were starting to get me- because I had a stash of hockey packs right next to my model/computer chair. In fact, one of them will appear later in this month!

June 11th:

Beach Boys #36

Just a card I needed out of a pack I opened from the hobby box I bought from Dave & Adam's.

June 12th:

2017-18 Upper Deck #380

June 12th turned out to be a momentous day for my NHL collection- I opened two packs from the hobby box I bought- the first and only NHL hobby box I've purchased for myself, so far- and one of the cards in it turned out to be NHL #10,000.

June 13th:

2018 Donruss #31

This year's Donruss release is one of the sets that our local Target didn't bother to stock. I got a blaster at the Wilton Target and opened up a pack for card of the day that day.

June 14th:

2017-18 Panini Threads Box Topper Memorabilia #BTM-NVH

This is now the largest card in the Card of the Day project, measuring 5x7. Threads was yet another set the local Target didn't bother to bring in but Wilton did. I was so busy working on models I didn't get a chance to scan the pack, which I do before opening, for two weeks, as I purchased it on the 1st. It will probably be the only box- not quite a blaster, but sort of- I ever do of the set.

June 15th:

2017-18 Panini Instant NBA Playoffs #211

My mom treated me to all 16 playoff team sets, and they arrived in one big box on the 15th. The T-wolves were the first team out of the box. Since Panini numbered the Team Sets as a separate set, I actually completed it in one day, only the third NBA set and 5th overall I've completed in 2018.

June 16th:

2017-18 Prestige #75

I found this pack at the local dollar store and bought it. Unfortunately the corners are all a little bit dinged up.

June 17th:

2017-18 Panini Threads #43

When I woke up on the 17th, I was in more pain than I could ever remember being in...I couldn't even reach the sink to wash my hands and that was a less than 5 inch bend down. It was brutal. The pain levels had been building for a while but it was nearly unbearable this day...and would be for several days. Still is when I first get out of bed. I digress. The box of Threads included the one oversize topper and a pack of three standard size cards. Since I knew that I didn't have any of the threads cards, and I didn't have to bend to get them, they were the card of the day. I like the design enough, but $20 for three standard sized cards and one boxtopper is a little steep to me...and the base set is only 100 cards. That's not even a real set.

June 18th:

2013-14 Panini Titanium New Wave #43

A card from my COMC box. My first card of him.

June 19th:

2017-18 Panini Contenders #087

 Another set my local Target didn't bring in but Wilton did. By time I got there, on June 1st, they had exactly one pack left in the store, which I purchased- the set was issued in February.

June 20th:

2017-18 O-Pee-Chee Platinum #41

This is the hockey card I had within inches of my chair that didn't occur to me earlier in the month. I opened a pack and was lucky to get a Ranger. I opened the pack during the NHL Award show.

June 21st:

2017-18 Panini Prizm Green Prizm #95

This is another parallel that was not in my collection that was in the window of a repack. It marks the second time in a month one of those appears in the project...although to be honest, I actually bought this repack in May and forgot about it. I opened it during the NBA Draft.

June 22nd:

2017-18 Upper Deck #403

I opened up 5 packs out of the hobby box I bought and this happened to be the first card out.

June 23rd:

Galactic Files Blue #282

You all know my love of serially numbered parallels....I don't have too many from the world of Non-Sports but I sourced this one off COMC.

June 24th:

1990 Maxx Glossy #101

Another card from the factory set...other than texture these cards look exactly like the normal cards. But I scanned them anew anyway. I really miss Maxx. They actually got NASCAR, they understood that there is more to the sport than just a handful of drivers.

June 25th:

2018 Victory Lane #32

Got this one a gift from Database and NUTS member Spazmatastic, we are both big fans of Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr..This is my first card from this set, and my first Cup card of Darrell, who I hope will win Rookie of the Year this year. The Petty equipment is not all that great right now but he's still got a chance. This card is etched foil and looks a lot better in hand.

June 26th:

Sports Illustrated for Kids 5 #737

I maintain a subscription to the magazine mostly to get the cards, but I actually read this issue! I think it's the first time since last winter- winter 2016-17, not 17-18- that I actually read one. I'm really, really backlogged with my reading. This issue's cards were kind of weak- half were college cards, which I can't stand- I loathe the NCAA- but at least they were all people who never got cards before. Although I don't collect golf like I do other sports, this guy is a professional and it's his first card so that's good. As an aside, if they televised miniature golf I would watch it. I love mini-golf. If I could bend down to retrieve the balls from the cup or whatever obstacle I hit the ball into, I'd gladly do mini-golf on a weekly basis. It's one of the things I miss the most that I am no longer able to do.

June 27th:

2011-12 Upper Deck #355

A pack from a blaster I found at my local TRU. I'm glad nobody thought to go there for cards because I was able to get some blasters dating back to the 2010-11 season...in 2018.

June 28th:

2014-15 Donruss #230

I was digging around my pack stash looking for something else, and I discovered I still had a pack from the hobby box of 14-15 Donruss that I got in the 2015 Black Friday sale! I had to do it, and all the cards in it were new. Every year, it seemed like I pulled a lot of cards of one rookie more than others. Russ Smith was the rookie for 2014-15. I think I pulled his card from every set that year! I say it in past tense because Panini doesn't produce enough real sets to really know anymore.

June 29th:

1999-00 EX #77

From my COMC box, this is a set I'd like to complete. I have all the veterans already, but the short printed, SN rookies are mostly missing from my collection. Working on it via COMC, although not very hard. (I have 70 of 90, so I'm getting there) Radojevic has to be the most disappointing draft pick in Raptors history. They used a lottery pick on him in 1999...and he played a grand total of 3 games for them. He played 12 more for Utah in 2004-05 for a grand total of 15 games. I have more cards of him than games he played. All of them from 1999-00, none from 04-05 (His last card was 2000-01). I have 22 cards of him now.

June 30th:

2004-05 Fleer Genuine #62

This one came to me as a gift from Database member terrbear5159. She sent along 16 cards, all of which I needed when she set them, although I got one in that time out of one of the repacks. Just my luck, hah. The best thing about this mailer, though...it completed an insert set for me! I don't really have many completed inserts, my records- This list on the Database- show 99 total, over all subjects, not just NBA, which, after collecting for 30 years, is not all that many. The insert completed is the 25-card Block Party from 1995-96 Hoops.

Well, that's it for June. Hopefully July is better!