Just Commons, Really

I have such a backlog of scans that I haven't even started on my Black Friday COMC order yet.  That's okay with me; my collecting has been slowing down so much in recent months that I'm not overwhelmed with too many unscanned, unheralded cards.  I'm just pacing myself and coming up with some good blog posts that aren't necessarily centered around recent acquisitions.

One problem with being so far behind, however, is the fact that the site I used to purchase these cards has been completely overhauled since I placed this order.  I picked up some set needs from Just Commons, which is no longer.  It has since been born again, with a new look and a new name.  Just Commons has been christened Card Barrel, but it's still the same great site.  By the way, if you had unused reward points with Just Commons, just contact the owner of cardbarrel.com and tell him your email and username from the old site and he will transfer your reward points over.

Some more for my 2016 Archives build.  These are my favorite of the lot.  Bartolo Colon and his chins kind of steal the show here.  I have questions about 2018 Archives.  Isn't 1983 Topps due up for Archives this year?  And isn't there a 1983 insert in Flagship this year?  Does that change Topps's plans for Archives?  And what about 1993?  I like the original set, so why am I not so enthusiastic about seeing it done for Archives this year?  So many questions.

I've mentioned before that the 1992 Pinnacle Team 2000 checklist actually had some pretty decent players.  None of these guys were necessarily the future of baseball, but there are some solid names here.

I never opened a pack of 1998 Ultra, but I've got a nice shiny spot in my binder for some of the cards I might have pulled.  I bought a collection off of a guy who had some great late-90s cards, and there was a good partial set of the Notables insert set and the Pizzazz subset.  I really like the Notables cards; I think the design is beautiful and classy.  The Pizzazz screams 90s.  You can't tell from these scans, but the cards are really sparkly, even more so than Topps Metallic Snowflakes from these last two years.  When I decided to go ahead and complete the subset, I didn't realize that I was chasing SPs.  I've found that some of them are more pricey than I typically like to do for a set, but it sure will look nice when I'm done.

I've already pre-ordered my box of Opening Day for this year.  In the meantime, I'm still putting together my favorite Opening Day insert set from last year.  Opening Day!  Bring it on!  It's only February and I'm already using exclamation points in excitement!

Finally, to round out my Just Commons order, I picked up some former Rookies of the Year who were lacking in representation in my collection.  Cards older than I am and some oddballs on the cheap work for me.

Next time I order, it won't be from Just Commons.  But Card Barrel will probably be my friend and my go-to site for my set builds.