Up in Smoke?

Like many collectors, for me there's no greater thrill than busting a pack or a box of a good product.On the flip side, bust something that's ugly, boring or too bloody expensive and the feeling of deflation can be unbearable.

I don't have the budget to bust a ton of boxes and my geographic location makes pack busting a treat, usually relegated to what repacks are available at WalMart (this being Canada, there's not many). So is this auction the ultimate in possible pack thrills or trouble waiting to happen? Is it even a pack?

$11,499 for a tobacco pouch - I knew taxes were bad but WOW! If this is the real deal and it hasn't been messed with, then there's some possible gold inside that there pouch. But read the description and you'll find that there might not be any T205 or T206 goodness inside, just century-old tobacco. But on the other hand, there might be multiple cards inside.

The tricky part is that there's so few pouches like this out there today (I'd think there'd be none but I've been proved wrong) so the number of genuine experts on the subject has to be pretty slim. Even the seller is reaching for hype when there's not a huge foundation for hope.

So let's pretend you're filthy rich and you can afford to send $11,499 literally up in smoke (in a worst case scenario), would you risk it on this pack/pouch? Or maybe pick up some mid-grade singles?

Old Cards Rule: Is That a Pot Leaf on His Shirt?

I love old cards. I received the following today:

I did a double-take the first time I saw it. Did burnouts really exist in 1910? Maybe, but I'm not sure Percy Sellen here would have made nice with Jay and Silent Boy. It's my country's national symbol (the official one), the maple leaf.

Sellen was a runner who, according to the back of the card, came to Canada as a 27-year-old and was a fast runner, "defeat[ing] such good men as St. Yves, John D. March, Crowley , and many others of the professional crowd." Apparently runners at the tun of the 20th century were one-name wonders like Madonna, Prince, Shakira and Twiggy.

The bio on the back continues, "He has run fast races with Alfred Shrubb but has always been beaten by the latter." Uh oh. Percy no win all his races. Schooled by the Shrubb-master.

I do believe that this is now officially the oldest card I have in my collection. I received another really old card, but I'll hold that one aside for another day. There's some creases, rounded corners and a little bit of writing on the back, but for about the price of a pack of 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum, I was able to grab a little piece of century-old hobby history.

The card comes from Mecca Cigarettes Champion Athletes series (T218). Released in 1910, the complete set encompasses athletes from several sports. There's 153 cards in the set, including many boxers, which seem to get the most attention. The design, like most sets from this era, carry a certain beauty even if the image of Sellen on the front doesn't show a lot of action to it. Although looking at some images doing a little background research I came across two cards that have an uncanny resemblance to two of my favorite characters from the last decade.

Example 1

Example 2

If you've seen There Will Be Blood, you'll probably remember the last scene, which makes the resemblance even funnier.

So there you have it. Old cards rule!