COMC Show & Tell - In-Hand & Not My Cup of Joe

I don't recall when, but at one point last year, Upper Deck released a Turkish basketball set on their ePack site.  I have no interest in basketball, but took a look at the checklist just in case.  There was one former Mountaineer on the checklist so I checked out the physical cards, bought a few packs, made a few trades and combined up to create two parallel cards, and traded for two more. 

On the site, Upper Deck made the cards look significantly different (you can see the two cards here on COMC).  Unfortunately, in-hand, there's very little difference.  To be honest, I am kind of guessing which pattern is which.  It's frustrating, but at least I have a couple of copies of Joe Alexander cards that are a little different. 

I've lost interest in basketball since WVU moved to the Big 12 and Alexander was my last real "favorite" Mountaineer.  After the cards, you can see a clip of my favorite highlight.  The dude was awesome! 

2016-17 Upper Deck Euroleague - Rainbow #62 Joe Alexander 

2016-17 Upper Deck Euroleague - Patterned Rainbow #62 Joe Alexander 

I believe that the first card scanned is the regular rainbow card.  This card had to be "built" by combining ten copies of the base card on ePack.  The second one is the patterned rainbow, I think.  These cards are parallels that were actually in packs.  In my limited packs, I ended up with another player from this insert set and one other insert.  I was able to trade both of them for Alexanders. 

I could have just waited and bought the cards cheaper on COMC.  However, I was really enjoying ePack at that time (but spending way too much money) and there's something cool about knowing you did actual work to get a card in-hand.  I don't regret it at all. 

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!