Not feeling it

 

Release date for 2023 Topps, Series 1 is tomorrow.

The fanfare has already begun, Topps is hyping breakers, who are streaming Series 1 breaks, other big sellers are boasting about their cases and their finds, it's a real "look at me" mess and I am trying to stay far away from it.

I'm trying to avoid looking at card images, studying inserts and mapping out plans for when I can get to the store to find some. All those things that I've done for years, and documented on the blog, I'm not doing this year.

I'm just not feeling it.

It doesn't have anything to do with the design. I've already said I kind of like it. It has more to do with trying to avoid burnout two weeks from now. The same thing happens every year, there is a deluge of images of the new cards and then everybody looks around -- feeling empty -- and says, "OK, what's next?"

I don't want to feel that. I want the cards to be exciting longer -- like when I bought packs from the drug store and could only afford 3 of them every month and my friends weren't any richer, and so the "newness" of those cards lasted all the way through late summer.

Then years ago, I used to run out to the Target or Walmart on release day, sometimes the day before to see if shelves were stocked and then mourn on this blog when they weren't there. I'd make multiple visits in a week to find some and then when I did, I'd post my adventures on this blog (remember cashier girl and the stocker who pretended she didn't have a bunch of boxes of new cards to unpack? Wild times).

My enthusiasm started to wane with every year. When 2016 and 2017 Topps came out, that scarred me. Then the pandemic hit and bros cleared shelves and stores got scared and, well, I just don't care that much -- about new cards. Certainly not enough to deal with that.

I still like when the new cards come out and I still want to buy some. I still like when the baseball season starts and I still want to watch some. But the players on those cards and the players on my viewing device and the way the game is played now? I can't get all that fired up anymore.

So, I have my want list for 2023 Topps Series 1 Dodgers up on my blog wants. But I haven't preordered any team sets or anything like that. Maybe I'll track that stuff down eventually. If I don't do it for months, well I like the sound of that.

I have a Target gift card from Christmas that I've been saving for the new card season. But I'd like to save it for Heritage. I'd like a crack at that '74 design, the first cards I ever saw.

Anyway, here's the 2023 Series 1 Dodgers team set. I'll be chasing that ... sometime.

 

15 Michael Grove RC
22 Clayton Kershaw
43 Paul Goldschmidt / Freddie Freeman / Jeff McNeil – League Leaders
50 Mookie Betts
113 Mookie Betts – Combo Card
131 Cody Bellinger
163 Miguel Vargas RC
200 Freddie Freeman
202 Tony Gonsolin
211 Max Fried / Sandy Alcantara / Julio Urías – League Leaders
219 Los Angeles Dodgers – Team Card
247 Gavin Lux
280 Julio Urías
284 Yu Darvish / Julio Urías / Kyle Wright – League Leaders

And there are a bunch of inserts and things to keep you distracted.

 

I will get some packs at some point, probably by the end of the month if stores cooperate. But I'm done with the "First!" stuff.

 

I know some people rely on me to get excited about collecting. Sorry to be a bit of a downer. Maybe if Topps used real cardboard with their flagship set, and MLB cared about the 14th inning in a baseball game, I could get excited.