I'd like my card sets without confusion, please

 

Well, the timing for the start of this post ain't great after my Bills didn't show up last night. Thanks to the NFL's wild, any-and-all-days-and-times scheduling, that was the first time I've gotten to see them play on TV live this season (meanwhile I've seen the Ravens three times already). But I turned off last night's game pretty early.

So in a slightly less triumphant mood, I just received a selection of Bills cards from Johnny's Trading Spot!

I'll get right to the weirdness.

These are all from the same set, though it doesn't look it at all. Topps created something in 2023 called "Topps Composite". If you still have PTSD over Topps' Fusion baseball set from 2001, then look away. This is just like that -- except with football players.

I suppose Topps had to do something -- it doesn't have a license to put out sets with current players, so I guess this was its idea to stay in the game? Aside from the wide variety of baseball-centric designs, each team features a limited handful of past stars so it gets a little repetitive.

Honestly, having no clue this set existed and really little idea what's happening in football cards since Panini took over, this confused the heck out of me. Card companies are doing all kinds of things to keep the attention of the increasingly unfocused collector and as someone who was quite happy collecting one set a year for a good while, I don't know what I'm looking at half the time. It's not a selling point for me at all.

 

So let's glance at the 1983 Topps Joe Ferguson card again to calm things down. This is nice. This is the second-to-last card I needed for the '83 Topps team set. Just one Curtis Brown card to go.

 

Johnny sent a couple of other older Bills that still do fit into my collection. But the rest of the cards were from good ol' baseball.

 

Here's the third-to-last card I needed to finish the 2024 flagship set. All that's left is Shota Imanaga and Shohei Ohtani (which I have in the team set). Imanaga won't be difficult but I'm letting the hype die down before getting another Ohtani. Even just window-shopping for one was depressing.

 

A very welcome smattering of this year's Chrome Dodgers with my first Tyler Glasnow in a real, live Dodgers uniform. I haven't looked for a pack of Chrome in the wild probably in five years, so I don't know what's up, other than hearing that there's some sort of nonsense going on with the Ohtani card, or maybe it's one of the Ohtani inserts? I don't know, I don't have time for stuff like this. Why am I collecting current cards again?

 

Here are some of this year's Pro Debut cards. I've decided that Pro Debut is going to follow the same pattern as Bowman prospect cards in my team binders. I'll give them a chance to reach major league level, but if they don't, they'll be banished to a box, probably never to be looked at again. So you guys up there, you're on the clock.

 

 

A bunch of random Dodgers (and one Angels sticker). Lots of injury problems, ineffectiveness and general awful behavior in that crew. Sorry, Freddy, not you.

Let's go back in time where cards can't hurt me as much. I needed this 2001 Chrome Chan Ho Park card! Lots of work to do on this team set, who knows if I'll ever get to the other needs.

 

And these odd-shaped 1991 Panini stickers just about complete the team set for me. Just need that combo Dodgers-Expos pennant flags sticker.

 

That wraps up another fine envelope from Johnny. I'm sure he's sweating out the Braves doubleheader right about now -- lol (I'm typing this at 3 p.m.). 

As angsty as the postseason can be, I'm always glad I have it at this time of year to delay my active NFL watching -- especially if the games are going to be like what I saw at 8:30 last night.