Base cards > relic cards

It's true. I now consider base cards as more valuable, more desired than relic cards. It's quite possible that I've felt that way for some time. But now that I have announced my decision to no longer seek out relic cards, I am now realizing that I don't care about them at all.

It's to the point where I instinctively look at them as inferior. I wouldn't say I put them on the same plain as an unnumbered checklist. But they're falling in that direction.

So, what do I do when someone sends me relic cards out of the goodness of their heart?

Well, of course, I spit on them, scream curse words so the neighbors can hear, and vow vengeance to the grave.

Heh.

I'm kidding.

Julie from Funner Here sent a very complimentary note and a pair of relic cards to me recently.

I have the Sheffield bat relic already (I used to have two of them -- which makes me think I should have kept it, so I'd have three now and be well on my way to reconstructing Gary Sheffield's bat). So I'll be using that card to obtain something of my liking.

But, of course, I'm going to keep the Edwin Jackson relic here. I DO still have relics in my collection. I know I said I planned to trade or sell a bunch of them -- and I have started to do that -- but a few I do consider meaningful for various reasons, ranging from the look of the card, to the person on the card, to the circumstances of the trade.

So, Edwin stays with me, even though he's inferior in comparison to the other cards that Julie sent:

Like parallel cards. Parallels are where it's at -- yes, I need to be a sucker for something. It's not relics anymore. But parallels I still do.

This is the much preferable blue version of the sickly purple Spectrum cards from 2009.

This reminds me of when I was a kid (yeah, I know, what DOESN'T remind you of when you were a kid, night owl?). When we were sick, there were two kinds of medicine we were forced to swallow. It started out as a blue-colored syrup. We liked the taste of it. We called it "bluey" in homage to the very rare phenomenon of a pleasant-tasting medicine. Then the medicine was changed to a purple color and it tasted AWFUL. It was supposed to be grape, I suppose, but I abhor grape-flavored stuff and I dreaded taking that medicine from that point forward. I longed for "bluey" again.

That's how I view 2009 Spectrum. The blue parallels are the wonderful, but all-to-briefly seen "bluey." The purple base set is the pervasive, awful stuff that was forced on us.

You don't get this kind of analysis at Beckett, you know.

More parallels. Still where it's at.

These are the cards that touched off the exchange with Funner Here. Julie keeps telling me I don't have to send any cards back. But I'm ignoring her. I'm calling it an exchange. There's a stack of cards with your name on it, Julie, and some day I'm going to do something crazy and send it. I play by my own rules.

One last parallel. And even though it's Ryan Theriot, parallels are still where it's at.

I cannot believe this guy has been on two straight World Series-winning teams. What is wrong with baseball?

So, that's your little trip into a bizarro world where relics don't matter and base cards rule.

It's healthy to test out the wild side once in awhile.