Trade With KQuinner + Secret Lair Experience

For those who don't know, Magic does "premium", 24 hour releases called Secret Lair releases. These are somewhat like Topps Now. You have 24 hours to buy a release, you know what cards you are getting, and they can go for anything like $30 - $80 US in most cases.

I hate them and have never ordered one directly - I do own obe still boxed though. The one I picked up was because all the cards in it are artifacts, and it's unopened because, why bother when I know exactly what is inside.

Well, yesterday, a first for Secret Lair, and likely last for a LONG time (their words), a "booster pack" release was done. Zeta Boosters contain 7 cards from a 121 card set, done in a style to fit what the first versions of the cards looked like before the game was released with Alpha in 1993. Since they are to look like cards from 1992, they were priced for $19.92 US.

I have debated whether to count these as booster packs and getting one for my collection - the packaging is a cardboard booster package, not foil, but ultimately, I decided yes, I would pock one up.

Then I decided two as I could either sell the second or open one to really comment on the product. The drop happened yesterday at noon - a pre-order as the limited run will not ship until early November.

Honestly, the process for me was smooth - signed in ahead of time as anyone on for the hour leading up was randomized a spot in the virtual queue at noon - that all happened and I initialky had a 55 minute wait that was 34 minutes in reality.

i did nothing funny lije 20 tabs, refreshing cobstantly - I actually just sat at a McDonalds having lunch, doing it on my phobe with Wifi. Got in, got the order done, and it should cost me about $80 CDN all in for 2 packs (14 cards)

It is stupid pricing and I dislike it, but I also ordered 2 (versus the 12 pack cap per person), because that's really all I wanted. They are now selling on eBay and such sites for $80 US or about $110 - $120 CDN.

I am going to wait to decide what to do when I get the packs and see where prices are them but given the limited supply, that it sold out within a couple hours (apparently there were major site related issues), I don't know where things will land by print/ship date.

That said, the collector in my is happy I am getting the pack, while the investor in my thinks I shoukd have been greedy and ordered 12 to sell a bunch and profit - but then I would be just like "them" - the flippers making the collecting difficult by pushibg the prices even further than Wizards.

I wasnt giving it much thought at the time but I should have ordered 12 and re-sold a bunch at just enough to recoup my cost - the challenge there being to ensure I am selling to a collector, not a flipper. Maybe next time - if there has to be a next time.

Enough about the Zeta drop though. I am not being creative with the blog title - but also don't mind the trade partner seeing the thank you. The share below is the first trade I did with the fellow Ontario native, so of course it focused on hockey, and specifically getting more Leafs into the collection.

In advance of showing - a thank you for the trade - as my hope with any first time trade partner, I hope it won't be a last and we can find some more matches to trade!

Anyone who has followed my blog for any period of time knows that when it comes to the late 90s and early 2000s, I have plenty of missing cards to collect as it was the period - about '97 - 2010 really - where I was completely out of the hobby.

The Mats Sundin Upper Deck Ice card is a really nice one. Acetate cards, I really like, but use it for the Ice set and it's even cooler. What can I say, little things like that make my day.

Not a fan of the 2003-04 Upper Deck Black Diamond set design, but still need the Leafs there.

2005-06 Parkhurst here brings not one, but....

a few more Leafs. With all the cards in the trade today, a bit surprising I didn't finish off any Leaf team sets. Not a problem at all of course, just a bit surprised, though plenty of work moving sets along, so all good.

2005-06 Upper Deck MVP with four more Leaf cards - another design which falls a bit flat to me, but so did the team in the mid-2000s, so I guess it's more fitting that way?

We end one scan with a Toskala...

with him beginning the last as well. A great goalie, but Cujo is ahead in the "favourite Leaf goalie" department. May not be Potvin, but Cujo would be top 3 from my lifetime watching the Leafs. With the long history, you could go back and pull some more goalies from the history books to put ahead of Cujo and Potvin, but my watching bias definitely plays in. I guess a difference between personal favourites and all time favourites. Hard to personally favour a player you never had the chance to see.

Maybe a good question - do you have a favourite player who you didn't actually get to see or follow during their playing career?

Thirsty History

Another trade share, another TCDB member, and another cool feature from the site I can talk about.

This trade with ThirstyDeer came as an offer, and I recognized the name, so assumed we had done trades through the site before. Well, it took all of a couple clicks to be able to tell that:

1) We did out first trade in July 2020

2) This was our 5th trade (the ones in between were in June 2024, May 2025, and October 2025)

3) That first trade we did had TCDB ID 105018, while this one was 1038569 - which just shows how much the site has grown. For reference, my first completed trade in the site has ID 443 on Jun 20, 2015.

I could look at each trade, figure out how many cards we sent each way, but let's get to what came this way.

2002 Fleer Fall Classic is a set I hadn't known of, and this is my first Blue Jay from the set. Amazing to still find sets that old which I didn't know about, but at the same time, it was a period with a number of players in the game so to speak, and each trying to put out a number of sets.

In hockey, we have a card from a set I'd love to complete, though I only have a few cards - the 2022-03 Parkhurst Original Six set which is all Toronto Maple Leafs.

The bulk of the trade is getting close to completing the flagship Leaf team set for 2024-25 Upper Deck. 

Love doing these PWE trades as, even with 8-15 cards, there's a lot you can pack into a single envelope!

September Falls

Here we are, another summer wrapping up and another school year about to start. Kids going into grades 8 and 11 now, and it feels like yesterday and many years ago, all at the same time, that they were in primary school together.

We did a lot of spring cleaning this year, and now it feels like a bit of fall catch up is still needed, and the next few days will be that on the blog as I catch up with some sharing of trades which happened, and I hadn't yet shared here.

First one up is a trade with TCDB member Double B, a fellow Ontarian who I have traded with before, and for a trade I initiated. I haven't done a lot of that and am trying t change it a bit. In part because I am getting a few less offers - probably just less people doing such, not that I have less matches with people.

I will look for cards that are new to me and fit my Jays or Leaf collection first, and from there, whether I look for set additions or extra Jays, isn't really set in stone, depends on what they may have to offer - though searching for any Jays/Leafs for trade is easier.

All the above cards are additional copies for the collection - some I only have a couple of already, others 15-16 copies, but either way, happy to trade away cards I don't want for these.

We also get my first 2026 Topps card with Lauer, and a new to me Potvin - so there were a couple new cards to add as well.

 Also, card 609 of 700 for the 2020 Topps flagship set, so we get a little closer than we were before. Definitely a card that was on my "want" list, not one I searched out as set completion, when I get down to it, I just add to try and match into completion.

Actually, one newer feature of the site which I recently turned on, was to have any/all new Jays and Leaf cards which I am missing, get added to my want list as soon as they are listed on the site. The down side is, there are minor league cards which may be associated with Toronto that I think are getting added (so I will have to watch to remove these when trading), but the plus is, I don't have to go and individually add cards with every release, because I have not been doing that and only really do it every year or two, and it's a long process.

Appreciate the trade with Double B, and we shall see how well the auto additions to the want list work out.

A Good August End

With it being August, my wife and I went to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) in Toronto, and actually did it without thr kids. We don't go for the rides or games, but instead to get some Christmas shopping done. A great place to find unique shirts, artwork, and vendors with different products. There are usually a few card related vendors and I did pick up a couple things for myself for fun.

One vendors who sells Magic repack for $5 each, so I picked up a couple. They are probably as "good" as the Dollarama offerings.

A second had repack of sports cards in baggies but since you could see some of the cards, I'll save pictures for when I open them, but they are mostly high production years of baseball - but getting 50-100 cards for less than $1 - I'm in for $10.

As for the 2026 Lot, it may not quite be time to play hockey - though very close - but the 2026 Lot decided a smattering of hockey cards would be a good way to end the month, and I won't disagree!

The 50-60 cards today are all from the 90s, and most would likely be considered "junk wax" period cards, but that doesn't mean I don't need a bunch. All the cards above, and the scan below are good helpers to my collection. Most adding to slow set build (even Patrick Roy....unfortunately), but a couple Leaf cards below too.

I don't care that these sets may have been printed to oblivion, I mean, it makes it easier to still finish the sets now, but it was the sports - hockey and baseball - when I really watched and loved them most.

I forget sometimes that I am older than a number of NHL teams now, but Tampa Bay is one that I remember most in coming into existence. The new teams in the early 90s struggled to get to a solid position as teams - something the Golden Knights in recent years showed how far the process came in making new teams competitive more quickly.

It was a big deal adding the teams, and the cards made sure to have special subsets or inserts commemorating the teams.

For trades sake, feel free to check out the cards below in case there's anything you may want...these ones are all up for grabs....

New and Old

 Another day with the 2026 Lot and we have some 2021 Panini Prizm Draft Picks basketball cards. May not be anything here for me, but maybe something interest, you never know.

Interesting to see some of the stars from the past in their draft days, on newer cards. I don't know if I like it or not, but at least it means there are some names I know with Isiah and Kevin here.

No stats on the backs, and classic Panini using the same picture just cropped on the back, rather than using a different shot than the front.

Honestly, I didn't even recognize Harden compared to what he looks like now. I mean,, Zion since it's not that much time that's gone by, is easy. Harden though - very much changed from his draft pick days.

Wow - that's a solid last scan. The top row is a great trio, but not to be outdone by the rest either. I don't even mind the black and white West photo, though it does stand out when the rest of the cards have been in colour, but we can let it go.

I guess for those who PC guys no longer in the league, sets like these give a chance to have some more cards to chase. Not sure if player collectors necessarily like that or not - may depend on the person, but I don't mind it for my Jays or Leafs, I like having something new on an old subject matter.

Magic Update

So, in my spare time of dabbling on my phone, I started going through 401games and each and every set, picking up any cards that I didn't have, which fit my collection, if they were under $1. This might get really expensive, really quick. The below came in around $30 but I did get through all the core sets before and finished the boxed sets and some of the commander sets released, which isn't a HUGE amount dollar wise to spend today, but goes to show that much of what I am missing are not penny cards.

You may see some identical cards from different sets - they do count as different to me - and a bit more on the lands side than I usually do since I was actively looking at lands which produce colourless mana this time. 

Honestly, as long as the lands don't come into play tapped, many of the colourless lands work fantastic in an artifact deck since you don't have any downside for getting the mana, and they usually have some odd ability which can only be seen as an upside.

I mean, even the Molten Slagheap even allows you to build up mana for a future turn - honestly, probably an ability that would mean a lot more in the old days of Magic when games would last a good while - like half a deck or more. Maybe it's just my perception from online videos, but there seem to be more "quick" games, getting the right had or two and being done in 4-8 turns instead of 20-30 - though maybe that's where Commander came in?

My all time favourite lands are the Urza set of Power Plant, Mine and Tower. Essentially each produces one colourless mana, but if you have the set the Tower produces three and the Mine and Power Plant each produce 2. When you don't care about the colour, it's a great way to ramp up play.

Back in the day, my perfect starting hand was a Mishra's Workshop, and then if I had a Voltaic Keep, Metalworker or Mana Vault, I could essentially put out big hoss bad guys second turn. Ah memories. Almost makes me want to pick up the game again, but might get too addicted. I should check out the game online in some form - maybe it would be worth checking out a bit.

Not every Year

2022-23 Upper Deck hockey remains a set I am not looking to work on, but the 2026 lot keeps trying to tease me with it.

I have no problem keeping the Leaf cards - or single card today.

I'll keep the error card too, but the rest are up for grabs...

I can't really put a finger on why this year just sits flat for me, but it does. Just no interest working on it. I think I have a blaster of it which I will get to opening at some point, but even still, most will be up for trade I guess.

Have you cone across sets that you think you should like or collect, but for whatever reason, just don't do it for you?