Going back in time

 

I returned to where I grew up yesterday, mostly to say hi to my folks in their final resting place, as well as reconnect with old people and places.

 

I don't get back there much anymore, not for the last five years, which is weird to me as it's where I spent 15 formative years of my life. And it's probably just as well because whenever I go back, I definitely get that "you can't go home again" feeling.

 

For example, this:

 

That yellow house is where I spent ages 6 through 13. I couldn't get any better photo than that because the whole damn neighborhood is getting roads redone and it's hell trying to drive there -- in fact there are those signs all over stating "local traffic only." Dammit, I used to be "local traffic" ... well, if riding my bike everywhere was "local traffic."

I hope whoever lives there now is enjoying the second-floor extension built on the back (I can sort of see it in the picture). That was built by my dad and friends around 1974.

 

Anyway, whenever I go back I try to check up on the old living quarters, I used to live in 4 different houses in N.Y.'s "Southern Tier," and they're all still standing (the yellow house is the exact same color). I also like to check out the local Target to review the card situation (I won't go to the Walmart in my old town, the parking lot and store is teeming with alarming behavior).

After dinner last night I drove over to Target and was disappointed to see absolutely no sports cards in the usual area by the checkouts. It interests me how my Target back home has a pretty constant stream of card product right now while other Targets are wallowing only in WWE and fantasy weirdness.

That gave me a post idea. I'd go back to that Target the next day and take a pic and then go to my Target and take a pic and discuss that on the blog.

So I returned to that Target today to take a picture before traveling back home. However, there was a girl, about 8 or 9, just dominating that section of the display. I wandered away to look at some clothes and when I got back she was still there. Fine, I'm not taking a picture with her in it and then somebody calling the cops, I'll just go back to the toy section -- where I haven't seen cards in probably 15 years -- for no reason at all ...

 

Huh ... Those are cards! (And something concerning called "Chainsaw Man").

 

In normal circumstances, I would have selected a blaster of 2022 Topps. But I have the whole set, so I would be blowing my cash on a few lame inserts and whatever parallel of a Diamondback is in each one of those boxes -- yes, even the hockey ones.

 

 

Fairfield repack it is.

 

Now, for those of you who are concerned over my selection, please know that I haven't purchased or even seen one of these since before the pandemic. FOUR YEARS. (I may have seen one locked up under glass at my local Walgreen's).

 

It was 5 bucks. And 5 buck for 66 cards plus one sticker is a deal I'll take every time for a guarantee that there will be cards coming out of there that I don't have. I mean how have I survived nearly five years without opening a repack box? How has this blog survived?

 

You veterans know what's in these, but displaying the contents is a necessity.

 

 

All-Star stamped thingies. Like locked-up repacks at Walgreen's is a holdover from the pandemic, these useless things are a holdover from mid-1990s "parallels". These will come in handy only if I find a desperate Red Sox or Marlins team collector (the second one doesn't exist) or the same for a Price or Ziegler player collector.

 

A long, proud Fairfield repack-opening tradition is finding the oldest cards in the box. These are those -- no random 1977 card this time. The only ones I needed are the two 1987 Donruss, because that's a set I ignore.

 

This is why I will take a shot at these because 2000s cards (or one late '90s card) always appear and I don't have many of those. Plus, I've interviewed Mabry.

A set that someday I may want to complete -- don't see it happening for a number of years, but I'll have the Mo Vaughn card if it does!

 

Some mid-1990s cards are worth it, too. Thanks to this repack I found out someone named Roger Smithberg made it into a Topps flagship set.

Sure, you'll always get a nice dose of early 1990s Upper Deck in these. But I don't mind getting 1990 or 1992 UD. The 1991 set, though, I've seen that enough for the rest of my days, even if I needed the Devon White.

 

Yep, repacks contain plenty of junk wax and there is not a single card here that I need. But maybe I can paper my walls with it so it can star on Inside Edition.

And often you get a nice pack to open inside the box you already opened:

(Thank goodness it's not 1992 Donruss)

It's possible I never opened a pack of 1990 Fleer before. Yeah, that's because I've considered it one of the dullest sets from that time period but I'VE NEVER OPENED IT.

A Carmen Castillo card is guaranteed in any pack from 1986-91. But I think that Mitch Williams is new to me.

And so is that Don Mattingly!

 

So that was a fun little thing to open after I arrived home from my trip. And I didn't get cranky like after opening a current box of something for too much of a price.

 

But repacks are an every-once-in-awhile thing. Kind of like going back to the old neighborhood is.