Yesterday was the end of May, and as a result, the card show in town. Every time I've gone in it's been more and more packed. I could hardly move around in there. It took me three passes just to see certain tables. I did have to exit the room a few times because anxiety ramped up. The next one looks to be in August.
So before the show, a couple weeks ago, actually, I got a message from one of the vendors that they weren't going to be there since they would still be in the US. This was the vendor that had the OPCs from last show. So he offered to search the 87s for my wantlist and mail them to me. So I have a stack of 87 OPC to enter.
One of the usual vendors had a few things I wanted, so I pick them up. In talking with the guy, I mentioned I got the last card a friend needs for his WHA build. Jacques Plante as an Oiler. The vendor said "Thanks for reminding me.. I've decided to build that set and I know I have one for sale here.. I have to pick out that WHA card" lol I mean if you're going to build the set it doesn't make sense to sell a card you need for it, right?
Anyway.. I hear you tapping your finger on the mouse saying "Well.... We're Waiting.... "
Donruss 85 Jimmy Key RC. I saw it and immediately was drawn to it. I was about 90% sure I didn't have it..
I just wanted to highlight a couple cards from this set.. I got the 1993 Dempsters Toronto Blue Jays set. I had 11 so far but now I have all 25.
So tell me, dear reader... Does the front remind you more of a horizontal 89 Fleer but with blue, or a stretched out 86 Donruss?
The back is definitely OPC Premier..
Otto Lopez. Yes he was born in the DR, but he was raised in Montreal and is considered Canadian..
I didn't realize this was a DK of Max with the Mets. Oh well, the card looks close enough to the current Jays light blues for it to mascarade as a Jays card
I'm not really one for gimmicky cards, but I couldn't really pass this one up. I like the silhouette of the skyline.
Cam Eden..... Uhhhh... He was a Jay for a minute I guess?? I looked up his stats.. He played 6 games for the Jays in 2023. He was then released in 2024 and signed with the Yankees.. He's now floating in the baseball ether..
I saw these Stadium Club cards and figured that this would be the only way I'd get them.. It's still odd to think both Scherzer and Biebs are Jays..
Finally, Jonah Tong. He's a Canadian born pitcher playing on the Mets (poor guy)
Now.. I don't want to go off on a rant here but....
It took me close to 45 minutes to try to find this card on TCDB.. You'd think it'd be easy. But no.. It's not a parallel set, it's not one of those numbered manufactured scarcity BS situations either. I finally found it by looking alllll the way down at the promotional set portion of the gigantic list for 2026 Topps.
Now, there may be people who like the endless parallels and funky colours and all that but for some of us it's too hard to tell what in the FiretrUCK we're holding in our hands. Oh and forget it if they stretch the inserts and parallels through multiple sets... You have a better chance of pulling your hair out one by one with tweezers than keepign your sanity trying to find the card and where it's supposed to be listed.
I have the added fun of being Red/Green colour blind. Reds and greens look exactly alike to me. So if you have multiple border parallels that are red and green, forget it.. I'm just going to torch the damned card and be done with it.
I miss the days where you had the base set and maybe one or two insert sets. One or two parallels.. Trying to sift through all the crap is part why I'm looking for vintage lately, but at the same time it means I miss out on a time when there's more Canadians in the league than ever before.
It's a tightrope that I really don't like walking. But I will because my collector brain says so...
