Finally Found the 1 in 4!

I know a fair amount of us card bloggers have fallen into the trap of those 100 card (75 for football) Fairfield repacks, usually found at your local drug store or big box retailer.  Sometimes the current products just isn't doing it for ya and you have to scratch that damn itch to rip open some cards.

Plus, who knows what could be waiting in there for you?  The mystery is damn near intoxicating.

Another factor, at least for me, is the allure of that promised 1:4 pack hit.  Sure, it's bound to be of some no-namer who never did squat; however, it might be a no-namer who never did squat for my team!

Well, I've bemoaned on this blog before about how I've purchased way more than four of these repacks for baseball, football and hockey and yet I've never walked away with so much as a plain white swatch.  What gives Fairfield?

That is, until now.

When I bought my first (and more than likely only) blaster of 2016 Flagship a few days back, I also grabbed a hockey Fairfield mix-up; something to cleanse my pallet with should the new stuff be disappointing.  Of course, it was a lackluster blaster and I'm glad I grabbed the hockey stuff because this fell out:

Woo-hoo!!  I finally found the 1 out of 4 with a hit! It only took several years, but I finally did it.

As expected, it's of a guy who has done pretty much nothing in the NHL.  Da Costa has had a few brief auditions with the Senators since 2010-11; however, he spent most of his time stateside in the AHL.  He migrated over to Russia to play in the KHL last season and does not appear to be playing in any country this season.

Still, it's always cool to land a hit.  Any Sens fans out there who like to claim this John Hancock?

Beyond that, there were also several cards that actually do fit into my collection to be found within this box, including the card on top:

Anyone recognize that man?  I'll give you a hint, he's been an integral part of the Blackhawks dynasty since his signing as a free agent going into 2009 and he's currently on the injured reserve list after suffering a nasty hit against the Ducks a couple days ago.

That's right - it's the one and only Marian Hossa!  I knew that having this guy right in the front would be a good omen.  He's shown skating for the Senators here (Senators hot pack?); but, I like Marian enough to overcome that fact.

To go with the Hossa, there were also a few more former/future Hawks wearing the wrong sweaters:

Eddie Olczyk is the big name here.  The local boy played most of his career elsewhere; but, he bookended his time in the NHL with a three-year stint from 1984-87 and a two-year stint from 1998-2000.  Furthermore, he's transitioned smoothly into the booth as an expert color-commentator on the Blackhawks broadcasts.

We like Edso 'round here.

One of these non-Blackhawk, Blackhawks was a guy I needed for my All-Time Roster Collection of the franchise:

Skalde was a hockey nomad who skated with 8 teams in the course of his 9 year career, including a brief 7 game cameo in Chicago in 1997-98.  No matter how brief his tenure, I still needed his likeness represented in my binder.  Seeing as he was barely in Chicago long enough to grab a deep dish pizza, let alone a Blackhawks card, this'll do just fine.

Beyond that, there were a handful of actual Blackhawks cards that were new to my collection:

Some fine junkwax and an Upper Deck single of some 90's names.  Pretty much exactly what one would expect from a repack.

Then, there was something completely different (at least to me):

I'd ever seen one of these before; but, it sure does appeal to my love of the oddities!

As for information on the set, the card itself was no help to me since the back is entirely in French. Thankfully, we live in the 21st century and I was able to scour the internet for clues.  From what I can gather, Arena Holograms decided to class up (or get around licensing issues) with a box set of NHL draftees sporting tuxedos - appropriate, since many of them weren't too far removed from Prom.

This oddball is my first card of the long-time NHL center.  McAmmond was drafted by Chicago in the first round (22nd overall) in the 1991 Entry Draft.  He played in five games that season before being traded and later came back for a second stint from 1998-2001.

As such, he's easily the classiest looking guy in my Blackhawks binder.

That was it for stuff that fit into my collection; time for the best of the rest:

Like most repacks, this one was chock full of Pro Set and Bowman junk; that said, there was still a few intriguing, relatively recent singles tucked within too.

Some junior hockey was represented by these WHL cards - two guys who never made it into the NHL and a team card for Les Draveurs de Trois-Rivières, who are now known as the Sherbrooke Phoenix after several relocations and name changes.

More Prom cards!

My first card of "the Great One"

And an obligatory pack of 2011-12 UD Victory.  The last two times I went the hockey route with Fairfield, the promised +1 pack has been this same product.

Who'd I get?

Trade bait - that's who I got.

Thus wraps up my most recent dalliance with a Fairfield repack.  I got my long-promised, but never seen promised hit, two new names for my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection, a handful of other assorted cards for my collection and some more trade bait.  All in all, not bad for five bucks, right?

Much better than I did with that damn $25 blaster of 2016 Topps, that's for sure.

If anyone is interested in what you see here, especially that Stephane Da Costa autograph, please feel free to claim in the comments below.  The only cards I'm wed to are the Skalde and the McAmmond and I doubt anyone is banging down the door to get to those.

That aforementioned Topps blaster might have been outshone; but, it wasn't a total loss.  I was able to spin that Buster Posey manu-relic and some other stuff for an EXCELLENT return that I'll spotlight on the blog tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'll just bask in the glory of an overdue, but now fulfilled promise.