Mantle lives on

A recent development in the trading card industry is that Mickey Mantle (or rather his estate), is once again part of the Topps family.

From the '90s right up through the last few years, Mantle was a staple in Topps products. Whether it was constant dedicated insert sets that no one was asking for, or inclusion into base sets, Mantle was always there. And he was there basically to the point where it wasn't special to get a Mantle card in a pack, which is sort of a weird feeling. He was just another guy in a pack.

But then his estate's Topps deal expired and he became a Panini guy. And while Panini didn't bash us over the head with Mantle, he was included in most sets, such as Diamond Kings and Optic.

In the last few weeks, Topps has brought Mantle back into the family, and he made his return in the Topps Living set. I haven't bought a Living Set card in a few years, and don't pay much attention to it, but I thought this card was really nice looking, so I snagged a pre-order on eBay for a few bucks and it arrived yesterday:

I think it's just a simple, classy looking card.

I'm sure Mantle will once again be shoved down our throats, but for now, it's nice to see him back.

Perk Me Up, Before You Buy Buy

A few weeks ago, I saw the eBay was running a promotion called PERKMEUP. Basically, it was $5 off a purchase of $5.01 or more. Essentially, it was free money.

I feel like eBay had to have made a mistake and meant to offer it only to a select group, yet it worked for me and for many others. It was a fun night on Twitter when it first hit, as everyone was sharing their pickups. I was glad so many were able to take advantage.

As for me, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to buy, but settled on this card for $5.01. So literally, this card cost me one penny, and not a cent more:

Pretty cool issue of the Topps Live Set, and I like that Topps went with an old school Mattingly photo from early in his career.

I'm still pretty undecided on the Living Set, but definitely feel like it's worth it to add Yankees when they are included.

Stantonian

Over the last two months, Giancarlo Stanton has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball. It seems like almost every other game he is hitting laser beam homers. After getting off to a slow start, it's been a lot of fun watching him heat up during the summer.

And it came at a much-needed time, as Aaron Judge has missed the last 23 games with a fractured wrist. It's too bad we haven't seen those two hot at the plate the same time.

Regardless, my Stanton Yankee pickups have been pretty few and far between, but I used my latest stash of eBay Bucks to bring this one home:

There's Stanton's spot in the Topps Living Set.

I'm happy with this one. Stanton has a pretty focused look. Maybe even with a hint of meanness. It's the same look he has had at the plate since the calendar flipped to July.

I've now got two Yankees from the Living Set - Gleyber Torres and Stanton. Stupidly, I missed out on Andujar, but I'm definitely happy to have this one. This card was only produced 7,626 times, which shows Stanton hasn't quite won over Yankee collectors yet.

But I'm not one of them. I'm on board with this guy through and through.

This set is aliiiiive

When it first came out, the Topps Living Set really took the hobby by storm. The first few cards were fetching hundreds of dollars, and then folks started to catch on and drive up print numbers.

I was one of those people.

I haven't purchased a whole weekly issue lot, but I did pick up two cards on eBay while they were out. The first is the card that currently holds the highest print run (46,809), Ronald Acuna. Say what you want about Topps, but they took advantage of Acunamania when he first got called up. They must've made a killing.

Since I can't find any baseball cards near where I live, I figured it was worth the $4 to own a RC of one of the game's brightest young stars.

Speaking of bright young stars, I also purchased the second highest print run card (28,550), Yankees phenom Gleyber Torres. This was a no-brainer for me. Although I have to say, I didn't love the artistic photo choice. Gleyber looks like he's saying, "pffffft, I'm too cool for this."

Still, I can't pass up ANY rookie card of him these days.

I'm sure I'll pick up a few others here and there. I'd do anything for Tino to be included in this set, but I have a feeling that's not happening any time soon.