The continuing search for my favorite 2018 card

I usually spend the first couple of days of the new year organizing my collection. But there hasn't been much of that because I've had to work.

I did move my two-thirds complete 1983 Fleer set from a box into a binder (it shares space with the complete '84 Fleer set). I also updated my 1977 Topps football want list as I received some cards from the set on the last day of 2018 from a fellow Twitter collector. More on those cards on another post.

I'm also trying to get all the 2018 cards from my card room desktop into boxes. Gotta clear the way for the 2019 cards (insert sarcasm emoji here)!

While going through the 2018s, I keep searching for my favorite card to enter into the contest at Waiting Til Next Year. But I'm not feeling anything. All the cards look the same. Some are Fine. But then I find another card that is also Fine and how do I choose between the two? I need something that speaks to me!

I received four different packs of 2018 cards from my sister-in-law for Christmas. One hanger pack each from Series 1, Series 2, Update and Opening Day (I don't know why I didn't scan the Opening Day pack). My sister-in-law does well to distinguish between the different series. I don't think the people in the house can do that.

I decided that I'd select my favorite card from each pack in hopes that one of them would become my favorite 2018 card.

Show your stuff, 2018 cards, it might be your last chance:


SERIES 1

Rough pack. A bunch of cards I've already seen dozens of times. I settled on this Orioles team card just because three out of the four players shown on this card are not with the team anymore, even 10 months after this card first appeared in packs. Crash Davis has a whole bunch of new friends.

Is this my favorite 2018 card?: No. I like the glowing red electronic firestorm in the background, but there is nothing here.


SERIES 2

A few more new-to-me cards in the Series 2 pack than the Series 1 pack. But still not much excitement. I selected the Eric Thames card not because of the front but because of the back.

I guarantee if I was pulling this card as a youngster and saw "NC Dinos" on the back, I'd be fascinated for months. That was the team that Thames played for in South Korea. Good for Topps including those years and those stats.

Is this my favorite 2018 card?: No. I'm not opposed to basing a favorite card on the content on the back, but there needs to be more here.


UPDATE

Woo. My sister-in-law rediscovers her pack touch after a couple-year dry spell. The black-bordered 1983-themed inserts are numbered to 299. This will likely head to my buddy Max at The Starting Nine. I probably still owe him for that '73 Ron Cey second-year card from a few years back.

Is this my favorite card of 2018?: If it's leaving my collection, it's not my favorite.


OPENING DAY

About six or seven years ago, Topps was in the habit of blurring out fans who appeared in baseball cards. That seems to have lessened in recent years, which I like (there's nothing more creepy than faceless heads in the background). I like to see fans having a good time on cards.

Is this my favorite card of 2018?: No. The "Sweet Caroline" thing I've never understood. Nobody should be singing Neil Diamond songs en masse. Not even at a Neil Diamond concert. But it's a fun card.

So, no success there. Not that I expected any.

I've got four days left to find my favorite 2018 card. I've got to get my butt in gear. I won this thing last year!