Minor Series One thoughts

On Saturday, I finally found some Series 2019 Topps Series One. I went to a more reliable Target that is a little further away, but I was able to add a few more errands to the trip, so it worked out.

I had been sitting on a gift card since Christmas, so ultimately I decided on two blasters, a hanger, and a loose pack that had probably already been searched.

My first card was Matt Davidson.

I really don't have any new thoughts that haven't already been shared from many.

I like the design a lot. The half border works well. I'm completely indifferent on borders vs no border, but what I like most about it is the excellent bookend it makes from 2015-2019. 16-17-18 all had a pretty similar look and feel, while 2015 was pretty great. This does a nice job of ending the last three years designs and setting the stage for Topps to go a number of ways in 2020.

The Yankees checklist is decent. I like the Didi Gregorius card a lot, although unfortunately didn't pull it. I pulled several Chad Green, Chance Adams, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujars because of poor collation.

One nitpicky thing is that I wish the Rookie Cup logo was centered above the team logo, versus slightly to the right. Minor thing, yes, but would have preferred the symmetry.

I think the parallels - at least the foil and the gold - look excellent. The gold is easy to spot, and the foil looks nice with the white portion of the border. Thumbs up from me on both of those.

I've also just come to the conclusion that inserts in 2019 - or any year in the past 10 years or so - I just am not interested in. As a young collector in the '90s, I'm someone who likes a good insert set. Companies were one-upping each other, and inserts felt special and different. I guess that's where companies like Fleer/Flair and Pacific really always came through.

In 2019, they are so bland, both in topic and design. I'm sure the people at Topps are very nice who come up with these, but I don't understand the need to be so generic (e.g. Stars of the Game). I guess it's so they can shove 100 players in each set, including legends, because we all need more modern cards of Ruth and Mantle.

I'd say my favorites - at least in terms of aesthetics - are are Cactus and Grapefruit Legends inserts. They would have really popped with some shiny foil or texture, but the backgrounds are at least a bit more interesting. My mind went to 1996 Ultra Power Plus is anyone remembers those.

I pulled an Evolution of the Game Casey Stengel, which happens to fall 1:105. It doesn't look like a one-in-a-hundred pack card.

My two blasters yielded me TWO Nationls - Max and Trea Turner. Those are already claimed. I snagged a few SPs as well. I feel like the days of accidentally flipping past a photo variation are gone since they are so common now.

That's it! It's always fun to open new packs, and I do really like the base cards a lot. The photography is very good too. I doubt I'll open any more, but I'm glad I found some and that we can officially kick off the 2019 card - and baseball - season.

My mother-in-law has a LCS, and I don't.

A few weeks ago, some of you might remember that I tweeted about visiting a LCS near my mother-in-law’s house. My wife and her mother and aunts were going out to lunch, and I said I’d go out on my own. Spend some quality “me” time. I figured I’d go get a nice sandwich and take my time moseying around.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I googled “baseball cards” just to see if any nearby hits came up. Lo and behold, a store popped up just 4 miles away!

So I hopped in the card and drove to a small mall. I grabbed a sandwich at a nearby deli, then headed over the shop, Hall of Fame Card in Potomac, MD. I think there is a rule that every other shop has to be named “Hall of Fame Cards.”

Inside, there were cards, and a lot of other items for sale…jerseys, shirts, etc. I mulled around for a bit. Fairly typical pricing…packs and singles were a bit expensive. There definitely was a nice selection of vintage in the display cases. I really wish there were dime or quarter boxes, but I didn’t discover anything. There were grab bags, but they didn't look too promising. Singles were sorted into boxes by teams, and all Yankees were at least $.50, and that was just for a common. If it was a bigger name, it was a least a buck or two. I was a little bummed about that.

I did venture over to the Yankees vintage box and picked up the two cards below. I’m sure I could have found them cheaper online, but I wanted to give the guy some business and not walk away empty handed. The owner was nice and engaging with everyone who came in, and I was happy to see such a steady flow of customers. He has a great location right near McDonalds and a karate studio, so kids were around.

That is my first Post card. I was having trouble deciding between Maris and Yogi, and both were same price and condition. Ultimately, I chose Rog. The Stengel is a card I've wanted for a long time, so I was happy to snag that.

I’ll definitely going back since it’s better than just sitting around when I visit the in-laws.