About a week or two ago I started thinking about purchasing some current product. It had been awhile. This was even before I saw that The Collector had landed a hobby box of 2026 Topps Update and thought it looked like a good idea.
Clearly I had been away for too long and had lost my senses.
But then last week I received an envelope from Chris with Dodgers cards from said Update set.
This is about what you can expect from Update if you're a team collector, and it's been this way for several years -- relief pitchers Series 1 and 2 ignored, pointless "rookie debut" cards and equally pointless combo cards of "more than one guy". Also, we've got to get these cameramen off our cards and off the field. I don't care about the photo angle you're providing. I don't need dudes in civilian clothes on the field chasing players around! You're taking me out of the moment!
The inserts are even more appreciated, even if I have my issues with both of these. I'm glad I don't have to pursue them.
Chris left a note that said he hoped these cards were new to me and I hadn't already purchased them -- or received them from someone else. Ho, ho, you think I'm more connected than I am these days! I'm rarely getting timely current product from fellow collectors now -- this envelope was a welcome rarity -- and as for purchasing them myself ...
I don't remember the last time I bought current product. Spring, I think. Heritage maybe? So end of March, possibly early April. I opened some current product in June/July but those were gifts and don't count. The combination of Topps delaying their product roll-outs, the plain unavailability of product in retail outlets, and my current disinterest in seeking out new cards has led to months of no packs to open.
This is not the guy I was the first 12 years of this blog. What's happened to me? So on Friday I had a little extra time and stopped at Target to see what I could see. Now, Target has overhauled its card display area. It's now a giant back wall of a mishmash of collectibles, you could put a big sign above it that says "Stuff To Waste Your Money On". The sports cards are shoved way over to the left, very close to were the electronic/digital/computer devices are. And there are seldom baseball cards. It's mostly wrestling and some basketball/WNBA, all Panini productions.
But this time, at the very end, I spotted a modest grouping of Update, right next to the sign that limited my purchases to no more than two at a time. The fat pack (36 cards) and hanger (59 cards) cost $21-something. It was fine, less than whatever blaster boxes are going for now.
I'll show all of the fat pack cards and then whatever interested me enough to comment on the hanger box cards.
FAT PACK
Ever since Topps first put out its Traded set in the early 1980s, it has been about seeing current players in new uniforms and some of the latest rookies. Players now change teams so often and teams bring up so many newbies that I can't keep track of the where and who anymore. So now Update is for seeing guys I'm seeing in the postseason. So, yay, Richie Palacios and Travis Bazzana and Tristan Peters. I know you!!
The Update set is also now struggling to update players in their latest uniforms. Both Brent Suter and Nathaniel Lowe have moved on to new teams since these cards arrived. Baseball moves too fast for baseball cards.
Here we go again. Luis Rengifo is a Padre now and Duncan Davitt has been on TWO TEAMS since he played for the White Sox. Also, this is your first taste of how many cards with Konnor Griffin I pulled.
The Alex Bregman card is a Classic Update/Traded card. In a perfect world this is all that Update would be -- and it would be 132 cards because that's all you need. I've mentioned Update bloat repeatedly -- 350 cards for a set that was once 132 is wild. I get that teams are playing more players but that is not why Topps has expanded the set so grossly.
Some insert content. The Stars of MLB cards in Update are usually suspect, just an excuse to force in rookies, many of whom are not stars. But I do appreciate the regular Sam Antonacci rookie card, another Classic Update Card.
Another World Series guy in Steven Matz ... and a Dodger card that I already received from The Collector. This is where I should have stopped -- and put the hanger box back, as far as finding more Dodgers needs anyway. But let's take a look at some of that!!
HANGER BOX
Right from the beginning, two Konnor Griffin cards. And we're not done! Also another Dodger that I already received from Chris.
Another World Series guy in Hamilton and a Classic Update Card in Kevin McGonigle. Also, Kimbrel is no longer a Ray, probably a good thing for the Rays.
Jumping ahead now (skipping another Dodger card I already got from Chris). I don't know why I'm showing this one, probably because I got to know the White Sox in the postseason.
This is the insert portion of the box and I picked a rather good one, Dodger cards aside. The fourth Konnor Griffin I pulled is a colorful parallel numbered to 99. Yay me!
Man, that Piazza would've been sweet if it was a Dodger card, but I can add it to the handful of Heritage cards I'm sending Max.
Finishing out the hanger box with more than the usual six to show how the final eight cards repeated the fat pack. Woo, my third Running A 2.5K card. I bet I could fill a page with just that card with only a couple more purchases!
So that Friday trip was a helpful reminder of why I'm not buying current product much now. I'll probably still get the itch here and there, but it's getting so most of the current issues aren't interesting me much now and I want them out of my collection (more on that soon).
Still, interesting enough to open once in awhile, but I hope the next time I do this (with my money anyway) is when 2027 Topps comes out.
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