Less than 3 weeks into 2025 and I'm just bursting with excitement at what the new year has already brought...and what I'm hoping it will bring. After a challenging 2024, it's a welcomed sight.
So too are some fantastic cards that arrived from COMC this past week.
I tend to build up my purchases over the year and then have it all shipped in November. Makes for a fun start when the calendar turns...I think I'll be continuing this tradition.
It was a smaller batch of cards this past year - about 20 or so - but each one brought a smile to my face as it pocketed into one of my ongoing collections.
It also gives me a chance to blog a bit here in January (again...exciting).
So let's start with a card that has been on the wantlist for over 25 years.
This might look like a simple Ron Hextall mask card to you. To me, it represents the final piece of an important cardboard puzzle.
The Pinnacle Masks insert sets that were released between 1993/94 and 1997/98 have been without a doubt the most fun mask cards to chase. They were my gateway to goalie mask card collecting and I can still vividly remember rummaging through monster boxes at hobby shops on my weekend trips to the stores, feeling like I discovered gold when I pulled a mask card I needed out of a box. I would spend hours at those places.
A lot of the shops that were staples in my hobby world back in the late 90's/early 2000's are long gone. I'm grateful that the wonderful memories I have of the people and places still sit with me strong.
So why did I take so long to snag this Hextall?
I had completed all the other Pinnacle Masks sets at the time in much shorter order. These 96/97 inserts were a little harder to come by. I had 2 cards on the wantlist for many, many years...and only just knocked off the other one a couple years ago.
With just a single card left on the list, I started to ignore it as I was building my other, more current goalie mask sets (from In The Game, Leaf, you name it). And seeing the prices for the Hextall online didn't really inspire me to make that final purchase (I like finding my mask cards in the $3-5 range). Locally, the well had dried up years ago. I didn't see one at all - anywhere.
So why now?
Last year was a slow year in picking up cards all around. I had a few dollars in my COMC account and made the decision to spend them. I opened up my wantlists and started searching. On my goalie mask wantlist, the Hextall was sitting right at the top - staring me dead in my face - the oldest card I was still in need of.
The price for it on COMC - $12us......and that was on sale, down from $20. Still more that I really wanted to spend.
But I did it...I splurged and added it to my items to be shipped.
For years I was holding out for a less expensive copy of the card. Wouldn't you know it....there's a Hextall on COMC today (I checked as I typed this out) for $8.47us. Just. My. Luck. Ha ha.
No regrets at all in picking this copy up when I did. It finishes that 5-year-run of Pinnacle Masks cards that really mean a lot to my overall personal collection, and I'm thrilled by that. But it did give me slight pause in reminding myself that there is nothing wrong with being patient. I believe it always pays off.
I'll share more of my recent purchases over the next couple weeks. Super excited by what I've been sifting through. Just a really fun way to kick off the year. Let's go!
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