I haven't heard anything lately about people pulling guns on one another over baseball cards in Target parking lots, but there does seem to still be a retail frenzy going on here in 2022.
The recent trend seems to be that I'll see something once, and then it goes away forever. I saw Series 1 once, purchased a few packs, and then it was gone a few days later. Same with Opening Day. Truth is that I've lost a lot of my pre-pandemic enthusiasm for buying retail - I rarely even check the card aisles when I'm at Target anymore. I'm perfectly happy buying most of what I need on Sportlots for fractions of what I would've spent on packs.
Call it maturity, call it exhaustion, call it freeing up more money to buy stuff I actually want - whatever it is, retail (when I can find it) now occupies a very small slice of my spending pie chart.
I don't know what the state of retail in Canada is, but fellow blogger Doug of "Sportscards from the Dollar Store" seems to have no problem finding recent product.
I certainly don't miss those manu-relics that Topps insists we need, but fact is any new Anthony Rizzo card puts a smile on my face. As do these four cards - even the Cain which is as thick as a manu-relic for no particular reason (so thick that it doesn't even fit in a nine-pocket page!).
I'm also surprised I still needed that Dawson considering those early '90s OPC Premier cards seemed to have been printed in just as much quantity as all the other ubiquitous overproduction-era sets we normally hear about.
Doug and I used to trade a lot in the earlier days of this blog, but I think the exponential rise in shipping costs to Canada kinda put an end to that for a while.
Trading with Doug again was a thrill for many reasons, one of which being the hockey-card takes on my baseball mini-collections he always used to include in his packages (broken stick! tip of the stick!). It's a fun little bonus to your standard trade package material.
(I also have little more than a passing knowledge of current hockey, but I somehow know who all these dudes are!)
Most of this package centered around current Cubs material - including a handful of hallowed Museum Collection that I don't feel fancy enough to own.
These somehow all come from a single Panini Chronicles base set, and I have to admit I kinda like this brand because of how schizophrenic the checklist is.
I received a second package from Doug just a few days ago that included a few Cubs from semi-current Panini sets that I never opened/have no urge to open.
But even boring needs are still needs, and it remains a thrill to slide them into a nine-pocket page.
I bought most of the 2022 Heritage I needed at the card show a couple weeks ago (post coming shortly, hopefully) but it doesn't hurt to show some of the Cubs I received from Doug.
I admit there's a lot of cards in this set that seem to show the same pose/background over and over again, but I think people are sleeping on the fact that there are a few very '73-ish action shots spread throughout the checklist. (Patrick Wisdom even cracked my frankenset!)
And even better is the fact that I missed buying that Harold Ramirez at the card show - an oddity that has since morphed into a zero-year card after his recent trade to Cleveland without ever having played a single game for the Cubs.
But back to that first package for now, and to the reason Doug reached out for a trade - he had a "Keep Dreaming" card for me!
Despite the not-inconsiderable portion of my card budget that's been opened up by buying less retail, I still couldn't find this damned thing within a breath of my price range. I guess that makes sense - Maz's Game 7 homer one of the more momentous moments in baseball history, you know. But Doug somehow got his hands on an extra copy, and all things considered it's just a wonderful card that I'm thrilled to finally own. (Growing up when I did, I still have a hard time believing stadiums just let fans on the field to whoop it up with the players.)
While I'm obviously appreciative of all the current Cubs Doug sent me, I think we can all agree that Maz absolutely blows Panini Mosaic, Select, etc. out of the water - now I'm just wondering why I haven't always been spending the bulk of my money on vintage over retail.
10 comments:
That Maz is simply gorgeous.
Words from the vendor front.. In the last two weeks,the Target stores I do have gotten TONS of Topps cards. I hope this means y'all looking can find them!
In the Targets and Wal-Marts I go to--admittedly only a couple--I have not seen ANY baseball product. I did buy a couple blasters online, including one of that Panini Mosaic, which was actually a fun rip. But nothing in person.
there was no shortage of cards at walmart here is GA last year or this one so far. but outside of Topps Holiday I wasn't buying the blasters or packs. I'd buy the older wax online and rip it, but those are over priced these days, so SL, CB, Comc, and card shows is my go to now. I even bought a value box of chronicles a few months ago at the show, less than direct costs from panini.
Love the Maz, even if it does chronicle a dark day in Yankee history.
I like the Ovechkin, but it would be better if they cropped it where it looked his stick was breaking against the border.
Love that Rookie Cup on the Wisdom card!
Sweet Maz! I'm with you on buying specific cards over wasting my money on retail. That being said... I absolutely love the value inside of 2022 Topps Opening Day blasters. 22 packs for $20 is a price I can live with.
If you're ever in the mood to pile on some 'hockey versions' just look for UD Canvas cards over at COMC. They are super cheap because of e-oacks, and the photos are usually better than those on the main cards.
That Mazeroski card is one of the least appealing vintage cards I've ever seen.
Signed,
A Yankee Fan
The Meijer closest to me started putting the trading cards back on the shelf, but the Panini products are way overpriced. Series 1 did appear at one of the Targets by me so that's good. But recently it's been online purchases at the Target website.
Post a Comment