'Nice story grandpa'

 

So, I went right for the 2024 Topps binder at dealer Tom's table at the card show and prepared to pull the final cards I needed for the set. I was under a dozen in wants, this should be easy.

Sure, I didn't expect the Elly De La Cruz card to be in there, probably long-ago pulled by some rookie mojo dude who paid extra for the early-bird entry and doesn't remember when the hobby wasn't "exclusive."

But I hoped to find the others and then maybe the De La Cruz somewhere else at the show. I ended up pulling all but five of the cards I needed. Fortunately, I had received some 2024 cards from Tony of Uncle Charlie's Shoebox not long before the show that whittled down my wants.

 

All of these were much-appreciated. I did get the Stone Garrett in a TCDB trade around the same time. The 2024 flagship was flying fast and furious for a period there.

 

Tony even found a couple of Dodgers I needed. Super-cool!

But getting back to the show. After failing to find the De La Cruz in the binder, I asked the dealer if he had one, perhaps it was in the showcase under glass. He opened it up and pulled out a small stack of De La Cruz cards. They were all Bowman's. No flagship. But he said I should be able to find one at the show, it's a very popular card, he said, implying people were buying them up, there's bound to be one.

Well, I looked. For almost two hours. Didn't find one (granted, I was caught up in vintage for a good portion).

So this is what's left on my need's list:

#141 - Elly De La Cruz

#442 - Shota Imanaga

#500 - Shohei Ohtani

#593 - Carlos Rodón

#672 - Wilyer Abreu

I know I said I needed four cards in the last post but it's actually five. The only reason I didn't pull the Carlos Rodón card out of that binder at the show is because I'm was in Yankees Central and the Yankee cards were long gone.

As for the other wants? I don't think it's too hard to figure out why I'm missing them. I do have the Ohtani card in my Dodgers collection, but those who understand know I need another one.

Also, there is this:

(Ohtani is the team set card). We could transform these parallels into regular base cards and I could be closer to moving on with this project. Don't ask about the Abreu and Imanaga, they're both promised to people. Also, for those asking why I can't use these cards in my set chase, welcome to the blog!

But this is the set-collector's lament in the modern world of collecting. I knew this going in. It may be nine years since I last tried to complete a Topps flagship set, but I know the situation. Some cards are produced in fewer quantities than others, sometimes based on popularity, like the De La Cruz or Aaron Judge. This never happened when I was younger collecting cards. I've done those "Last Card Needed" posts. Sometimes the final card I needed was Jay Aldrich or Jose Lind.

Fortunately, I have a blog and am well-connected online. Reader Dave says he has a De La Cruz card for me. TCDB helped me get this close to finishing the set in less-than-a-month's time after needing 70 cards like on August 20th. I have no doubt this set will be done in a week or two and I'll be lamenting I should have bought pages at the card show for it.

So, I'll be OK. But what about the poor set collector who isn't in the card blog world or the social media card world, who collects at retail stores or hobby shops or via ebay? Why does set collecting have to be so artificially difficult for those types?

And that's when somebody will say, "There are no collectors like that anymore. ... Nice story, grandpa."

Maybe there's a reason for that.