A cure for the itch

It seems like I've been opening less and less packs lately.

I usually scrounge up enough cash to get a box or two each year, but I'm fearing that ripping open loose packs is starting to become a thing of the past. Sure, the whole pack searching issue is certainly part of that.

However, the main thing that has driven me away is the rising prices of packs. As much as I love sets like A&G, I think I only bought a rack pack and two or three single packs last year. I have a hard time plopping down three bucks for six cards, no matter what set it is. (It's also one of the main reasons I get so excited over the three Topps flagship sets. Two bucks for ten cards or so is still a pretty good deal.)

Heritage is slightly better, but three dollars for a nine-card pack is still high. I've found that I can easily trade for most of the base cards I need rather than buying pack after pack. It's one of the greatest aspects of online trading.

However, that doesn't mean I don't get the itch to bust open a pack or two every once in a while. Thankfully, my dad had the "cure", treating me to a three-pack box of Heritage that contains three Target exclusive black-bordered cards. I hadn't opened anything in almost a month before this afternoon.

By now, I'm down to my last handful of Heritage base needs. Luckily, I pulled one of them with the above Darwin Barney card. (It wasn't the ultra-rare SP, though.)

I've often wondered just how many of each short-print Topps actually produces. I've never seen any numbers released or anything. Are they really that rare?

Nevertheless, this Ichiro SP may be my favorite pull of 2012 thus far, since he's my favorite player in the game right now.

But can we please start putting "Ichiro Suzuki" on his cards, Topps? That is his name, after all.

Of the 400+ cards I own of Suzuki, I believe only three or four list his full name. Just the "Ichiro" looks awful on this card with the tiny font.

Here are two of the three exclusive black borders I pulled.

I don't know if the one on the left is a mistake or not. It has the "HP" prefix that the other two have, but the black border is nowhere to be seen.

Thanks to some collation issues, I pulled both of these in the same pack. The odds on the back listed these as one out of every twelve packs.

I'm not complaining.

Before I pulled this card, I had no idea that Early Wynn returned to Cleveland for his final season. I always thought he retired as a White Sox. (Or is it Sock?)

He'd collect just one victory in '63, the last of his 300 career wins.

I picked up an interesting tidbit about that "Mr. Cub" flashback card while doing some searching on "Baseball Card Pedia". While the card showcases one of Banks's highlights from the 1963 season, the picture used was taken in Shea Stadium, which wasn't built until 1964.

I might be the only twenty year-old that that appreciates that little factoid.

Overall, it wasn't a bad three-pack break at all.

It should hold me over until June, at least.