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Check Out My Cards from COMC

Today's Monday which isn't anything special in and of itself, however, today marks the final Monday for which I have the entire week free of work duties.  Beginning next week, I have a bunch of official meetings and then the week after that the semester starts back up.  This fall, I'll be teaching Calculus I, Multivariable Calculus (Calc III), and my first-year seminar The Mathematics of Games and Gambling.  I have the vast majority of my course materials ready to go but I still need to figure out my syllabus for each class (or, more specifically, the course calendar that I attach to each course's syllabus). 

For now though, I'm going to stick my head in the proverbial sand and pretend that work isn't knocking on my door.  Instead, I'm going to go through an order that I made awhile back from Check Out My Cards.  As you'll see in a moment, I continue to work on my goal of completing sets and getting them off of my want list!

I didn't make a very large order, but I think what I did buy packed a punch beginning with a bunch of mini cards celebrating classic literature.

Those are all Required Reading minis from 2017 A&G, one of many Allen & Ginter insert sets from over the years that I still haven't quite managed to complete.  Unfortunately, I still can't quite knock this set off of my want list because I'm still missing one more card (#6 from the set if you are curious).  I can't remember why I didn't buy that one from COMC along with the others, maybe it was out of stock (or overpriced)?  Anyhow, getting four of the last five is a good start and it's one more set that I have a very real chance of finishing off prior to the end of 2019!

While I didn't quite finish off the Required Reading set, I did manage to knock off a different mini set from the 2017 Ginter set:  the kind of neat glow-in-the-dark Constellations set.
I promise there is a constellation printed on that card!

That's Perseus and it's finally mine, mine, mine!  The Constellation set is the 14th set that I've managed to complete this year, not bad at all! 

And last but certainly not least, I bought a few more of the 2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs patch cards because I think they are cool.

I'm working on the patch set as well, but I don't honestly ever expect to finish it 100% of the way because Upper Deck was kind of an a-hole when they made the set and seeded particular patches at truly obscene insertion rates which makes their secondary prices absurdly high for a manu-patch.  Still, I'll happily take any that fall within my budget parameters which is what these four did.

Like I said, it wasn't the biggest purchase ever but I think I did quite well in terms of my collecting goals.  Of course, trading is much preferred to outright buying cards so if you'd like to trade be sure to check out my want list and make an offer!

Comments

  1. I had neither heard of UD Dinosaurs nor seen those dinosaur patch cards until now, but would have been all over that set when I was younger and obsessed with dinosaurs. Very cool.

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    1. I love the dinosaur set! If you are thinking about going for the set, I have a lot of base cards available for trade! http://fanofreds.blogspot.com/2016/02/for-trade-2015-upper-deck-dinosaurs.html

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    2. Ha, when I was eight I would have probably bought the full set in a flash. Pachycephalosaurus was the one dinosaur in which I stayed interested after baseball took hold. BTW, did my package sent a little over a week ago reach you? I believe that all of the others that I sent out were received, so I just want to make sure that you got yours, too.

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    3. Mike,
      Yes, I did get the package (amazing, by the way)! I haven't had a time to get it all scanned quite yet - and now I know I desperately need to find some things to send your way!

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    4. Oh, cool. No worries on that end. Just wanted to make sure that it got to you and I am happy that it did. Thanks for responding.

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  2. I'd be curious as to how that syllabus ends up turning out. You basically planning a combinatorics class with more application?

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    1. Yeah, the class has a lot of combinatorics in it as well as some elementary probability and statistics. I try to draw from popular games and lotteries as well as classic casino games (Roulette, Craps, Poker, 21, etc.). I spend a lot of time on probability, expected value, and combinations/permutations. We also take a trip to our local amusement park and work out probabilities/combinations/permutations/expected values for various carnival games and rides.

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  3. Love the dinosaur patch cards! Don't remember seeing the Constellation minis before. I might have to track a few of those down.

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  4. I love those Ginter minis. They're some of the most fun insert sets Topps has released in the modern era. I'd love to collect all of them.

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    1. Yeah, the minis are a big reason why I go hard after Ginter year in and year out!

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