This is one of those "good news for me, bad news for Topps" posts.
I've been on vacation this week. It's not great timing, given that I can barely go anywhere or do anything, but it was planned out long ago and a vacation is a vacation, I'm certainly not giving it back.
It's given me time to do lots of card stuff, more than I would normally do on a vacation. And it's given me time to observe what kind of card stuff I'm doing, specifically what kind of card stuff I'm buying. And this is me observing: I ain't buying modern card stuff.
This is a by-product of not going down to Target or Walmart or Walgreen's and buying what's in the card aisle. Since it's far too much hassle to do that, I have a little extra card money to burn, and instead of blowing it on Opening Day or Gypsy Queen, it's going toward cards purchased online.
And what cards would those be?
Well, it's not 2020 Topps. It's certainly not 2020 Panini.
It's not anything from the 2010s, period.
It's almost completely vintage-related. That 1958 Topps Sandy Koufax I showed the other day was one example. There are others coming, all connected to the 1970s or earlier.
It was all very off-the-top of my head, too. No real planning. No "OK, I have this extra card money to use, I'm going to get something vintage." Nope, I just knew I had some extra cash and I wanted to get cards. Wherever my brain took me, that's where I went. COMC is out because who knows when they're going to ship the bazillion things in my cart, so let's grab what interests me elsewhere.
And all of that has been pre-1980s in nature.
Oh, this is not good, Topps. Not good at all.
I don't really know what's going on with modern Topps products these days. I know GQ has hit the store shelves and I think -- I think? -- Bowman is out? I'm not sure. Then there's talk that other product release dates are on hold, I don't know how reliable that information is. But I'm barely paying attention to it because I DON'T CARE.
Series 2? Have you seen the design? I DON'T CARE.
Allen & Ginter? Um, the same 10 Dodgers and no more historical figures? I DON'T CARE.
Stadium Club? As nice as the photos are, we've seen it all. I DON'T CARE.
In fact, why is a traditional set collector like me buying cards from modern sets? They're obviously not made for set collectors, unless it's the flagship set. Even "a set collector's set" like Heritage, is one-fifth short-prints. The other sets shovel the same 6 guys from your team at you every year, the same 3 or 4 legends, and, oh, here are a bunch of inserts with more cards of those same 6 guys and 3 or 4 legends. Every modern team set want list, when it comes to the inserts goes like this:
Kershaw, Lux, Bellinger, Smith, Buehler, Koufax
Repeat for Archives. Repeat for Ginter. Repeat for Chrome. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
So, here we are, with me with that attitude and a pandemic making sure I don't have a change of heart.
Not good, Topps. Not good for you.
In fact, I would say that what I'm experiencing here is the end of modern times -- as it pertains to my collecting.
When the time comes that I'm able to wander back to my local big box store without treating fellow human beings as plague-infested, I'm sure I'll buy something from the card shelf, for old-times sake. But I think this way of doing things now -- hitting ship and waiting for that package at my door -- is going to take up more of my budget. Not only are there no Marlins or Yankees involved in my card purchasing, but I'm finding it's cheaper, too.
That's the interesting part for me. I didn't know it would be cheaper.
So, anyway, I've bashed modern card-purchasing all this way to get to some modern cards that a couple of people sent me.
Heh.
Hey, with how I'm buying cards now, I'm going to need people to send me those modern Dodgers more than ever!
I just received a PWE from Matt at Sports Card Collectors (and a couple other blogs) that was full of nothing but shiny modern Dodgers.
Not a lot to say about these except I needed most of them, I'm happy to get them, and Oh, So, SHI-NEEEEE!!!
I also got some modern Dodgers from Rod of Padrographs:
There's the latest Opening Day right there.
As you know, Rod has been holding daily card giveaways that I can never get to in time (most recently I went out for a walk/run that took may 35 minutes, when I got back Rod's post was up and there were 6 comments on it already). Thank goodness he didn't put these six Dodgers in the giveaway.
I just put up my 2020 Panini Donruss want list today. I don't know why. You do weird things when you're waiting for someone to call you back during a quarantine.
Here is something I did win from Rod (nobody else seemed to want it).
It also represents possibly the last remaining way for modern Topps' to keep me coming back. I'm a sucker for pop culture references from my childhood and as Heritage gets deeper into the '70s, more and more of these Flashback inserts are going to appeal to me.
But vintage obviously can do that better than modern Topps.
This 1977 Hostess card of The Penguin from Rod is another addition to the slow '70s Hostess build. I will probably be looking into more of these as I sit home, on my vacation, with nothing but my cards and card thoughts and ... oooh, look at this! It's just what I want! No face mask needed!
Sorry, Topps.
(P.S.: I still miss opening packs).
Comments
I admit it I bought my second pack of Opening Day fat pack just to quell my pack opening fix!!
I'm not really buying current baseball anymore either. If I'm at Walgreen's and they're out of football repacks, I might buy a baseball repack or two.
But I hear you on the repeats and what it feels like. It's kinda why I dived even further back into my 95-99 collecting. NOthing was repeat then. It was fresh ideas every year because you had to beat out competition. Now, it's throw it out there cause you have to buy it
I can't remember the last time I was enthusiastic about buying cards at Walmart. In fact my last few purchases were blaster/hanger boxes that I've since decided I'd rather re-sell than open.
Hits are so unlikely in retail that I don't even get my hopes up. I'd probably get an auto of a soon-to-be-retired backup Mets infielder anyway!
I'm certain I'd have no interest in modern releases if they didn't include a (long-deceased) player I collect. It has become far too frustrating and expensive to hand-collate a set. If I were still a set collector, I'd find it much easier to either purchase a factory set or buy unwanted base left behind after one of those multi-case breakers has harvested all the hits.
Luckily your readers keep sending you current-year Dodgers (even the myriad parallels and variations!), leaving you to focus your spending on specific cards you like.
B. I had a change of heart and shifted to buying specific cards instead of opening packs a few years ago. The main reason is I want the best bang for my buck. But Topps has really made the transition easy by shoveling out cardboard filler the past decade or so. Sure there's always something for me to like in regards to their products, but there's way more stuff to dislike. If I'm going to spend my hard earned money, I'll just target the stuff I enjoy.
C. I came a little late to Rod's party the day you snagged that Wonka card. Now that's a card I'd spend money on.
I've done a lot of trading in the last year, and I am pretty close to having Rays team sets in Topps/Heritage/Chrome/Allen Ginter/Gypsy Queen. As long as there are people out there buying product and wanting to trade/sell, I think there will always be a way for the newer cards to make their way into your collection. For me personally, I prefer the trading part, but it's almost like you have to buy some new product to have stuff to trade.
Speaking of trade, I need to go through some of my Allen & Ginters to pull out some minis for you.
I'm still buying on COMC. I'm used to building piles for months so the lack of shipping doesn't bug me. It'll come back eventually and when it does I'll want to celebrate with a shipment. But I've been crusing ebay again and may need to start hitting up sportlots some more.
Kudos, Night Owl!