Retirement

It's been one month since I retired.

“Retirement is not the end of the road. It is the beginning of the open highway.”  – Author Unknown

So far, it seems like I've been on an extended summer holiday. I've been able to devote more time to our cat rescue. This summer has been extremely busy with kittens. It's so overwhelming that some days I wish I was back working again. But, I've been able to catch up on a few things (besides, yard work and the daily mundane chores). I've been able to start inventorying my card collection so I can see what I have. I've also made some trades and sold a few things. One thing that will stay with me is my retirement gift. Yeah, no watch for me. Since I was known as a hockey fan (read Leafs fan) and autograph collector, they thought this would be an appropriate gift.

Framed 100 Greatest Leafs poster signed by Killer, The China Wall and Ronnie the Robot. It's now hanging in the man cave. This was a big surprise and was touched by the sentiment and thoughtfulness of the gift. Now for one of the other perks to kick in. Nap time in the afternoon. 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Not quite IP autograph hounding

So, boys and girls, today we will see my recent not quite IP autograph experience.

The first if from July 1, 2019. Tennessee Titan's OL Austin Pasztor was holding his second football camp here in Brantford. My friend Dennis was able to obtain Austin's signature for me.

 

I didn;t realize this one was from March 29 2019. The Brantford Home Builders Association was holding it\s 32nd luncheon and the keynote speaker was Roberto Alomar. This was on a Friday at noon hour and I wasn't able to go. Enter Dennis. I let him know about this and discovered he didn't know about it. He was able to attend and got me this signed photo.

It's nice having someone in the city who collects autographs and can do the IP part for me.

The next opportunity here is on August 14th. Hockey Night in Brantford-Encore Game. I should be able to meet up with Dennis there and get my own. Hopefully I get some good stuff that I\ll be able to share here.

Oot and aboot--Easter part 2

Here is the continuation of the Easter edition of oot and aboot. We were in Simcoe and showed the Rob Blake street sign. Here is the other one I mentioned seeing. This one is just a few kilometres away.

Here's the sign for Red Kelly Line. The sign shows The Stanley Cup and the logos for Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. (teams he played with and  won Cups with). I can't find any information to back up my assumption, but I'm guessing this street is where the Kelly family farm was located. And oddly enough, it intersects Blue Line Road.

Mail Day from Portland--Part 3, the finale

Today, going to show the last of the cards from Rod. There's a lot of new additions to my Blue Jays collection.


Some Topps and Bowman with some shiny goodness.

And to end it off, some Vladdie goodness.

This puts a big dent into my want list (which I don't have). All Jays are welcome at this house, current record notwithstanding.

Mail Day from Portland--Part 2

Showing some more goodness from Rod at http://padrographs.blogspot.com/.

A few from the overproduction/junk wax era.

When UD had a license to kill  make money.

Donruss appears here with cards for the Toronto team.

 Some GQ 

And now a few different offerings from Topps.

Stay tuned for Part 3 (spoiler alert--Blue Jays abound)

Mail day from Portland--Part 1

I recently entered a contest by Rod at http://padrographs.blogspot.com/. You had to guess the number of "hits" (auto, s/n, memorabilia) he got from a massive pack break. I didn't win first choice but did pretty good with my choice. From my favourite baseball movie, Field of Dreams,

2016 Allen & Ginter Dwier Brown relic

He also asked if you had a favourite team and would send you some from what he had, Blue Jays for me.

Also received some unopened packs. Hoping to get some Blue Jays content.

89 Topps. Guess I won't win a trip to 1990 Spring Training. Pink bubble gum, priceless.

89 Donruss. Guess the Warren Spahn puzzle piece is the prize.

Will I Find the "Nolan"? 

No, but Astros team logo hologram is the bonus here.

And Manny Lee of your Toronto Blue Jays makes sure I'm not shut out on receiving a Jays card.

A nice trip down memory lane opening these packs of cards.

Received this lot of 2010 UD Celebrity Predictors. Might try to find the remaining 5 cards to complete this insert set.

VINTAGE

I'll be scanning the rest and will have a part 2 and 3 of this generous package. Be sure to check out Rod and his blog.

Oot and aboot--North Wentworth Arena

The former North Wentworth Arena is a twin pad arena located in Flamborough, ON. After amalgamation in 2001, it became part of Hamilton-Wentworth region. The arena was renamed after NHL great Harry Howell in Oct 2014.


http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=2382

Oot and Aboot-Easter Edition

Took this shot on a rainy Good Friday. Located in Simcoe, Ontario, home of 2 HHOF'ers.

.I recall see a sign for the other one. Will have to find it and share.

National Hockey Card Day 2019--Canadian Edition

Saturday February 23 2019 was Upper Deck's National Hockey Card Day in Canada and the United States.As in  the past few years, I had to go to Toys R Us to get my fix. You would think here in Brantford, home of Wayne Gretzky, there would be a least 1 LCS. Nada. I recall reading that there were 5 different sheets available. This is whats puzzling me. In previous years, it looks like they printed the 15 main cards on different sheets. This year, they printed the 15 main cards plus the special 16th card on the sheets. If my math is correct, 2 sheets x 8 cards=16 cards. Why the need for 5 sheets. This will lead to short printed cards.

By my count, here's what you would get.

1--Elias Pettersson-5                             9--Drew Doughty-2

2--Evan Bouchard-3                              10-Connor McDavid-5

3--Kristian Vesalainen-2                        11--Darryl Sittler-2

4--Jesperi Kotkaniemi-3                        12--Jarome Iginla-2

5--Brady Tkachuk-2                              13--Mark Messier-1

6--Brock Boeser-3                                 14--Maurice Richard-2

7--John Tavares-3                                  15--Johnny Bower-1

8--Max Domi-2                                      16-Memorable Moments-John Tavares-2  

I guess I'll check to see if this corresponds to people that opened packs and what they still need.

Anyhow, without further delay, here are  the sheets front and back.

Thanks again Upper Deck for this.

Adieu Area 40

Wes, of  the blogs Area 40 and JBF recently held a farewell box break. He is exiting the collecting hobby to devote time to other pursuits. The box break consisted of over `00 unopened boxes and thousands of packs.Anyone could claim up to 5 spots--any team from the 4 major sports, boxing racing, non-sports. He would send you any "hits" from your teams. He did the break on Christmas Day and then mailed out the "hits". My envelope was dated Jan 28 and I received it Feb 5. That's pretty good time for being delivered in Ontario from Alabama. And without much further ado, here's what I received.

My only MLB team hit.  I picked Toronto Blue Jays.

Now my NHL picks, First up, Montreal Canadiens.

Next up, Tampa Bay Lightning.

Nothing for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Last but not least, Toronto Maple Leafs.

You would think with MLB boxes making up the majority, that there would be more Jays hits. But I`m happy with what I received.

Wes, take care and best of luck in your future endeavours.