2023 Heritage High Number blaster

 While we still have a little over 3 weeks until 2024 Topps drops, I’ve been getting an itch to open some retail. The local Wal-Mart has been bone dry the last few times I’ve been in, but I was off Saturday and we ended up at Target to return an air filter that was the wrong size. I wasn’t expecting too much as it’s mostly basketball and Allen & Ginter lately, but they had blasters of Heritage High Number and Chrome Update. I figured there was more of a chance of new cards with the Heritage High Number, plus Night Owl is collecting it, so why not?

I believe I got a few doubles, but mostly new cards. Night Owl gets first dibs (and you better believe he gets first dibs on any 2024 Heritage cards!!). 

I must’ve picked a partially bad blaster, as I believe I pulled the Casas insert in the last one, as well as the Hank Aaron one on the next photo. No worries, as there are tons of Red Sox collectors to trade with, and I actually need the Aaron because I gave it to John of Johnny’s Trading Spot last time we met up. 

This blaster was a good one for me, as I got 3 more Rays, a Tiger, and 3 guys I collect (deGrom, Gomes, and Profar). After logging my Rays into TCDB, I confirmed my suspicions that I do not have any completed Heritage Rays (or Tigers) team sets. I’m still 4 or 5 SPs short of this years set, but I have most of the base cards, which I’m happy with. I’ve never really been a big Heritage guy anyways. Maybe when the ‘91-‘98 sets come up, I’ll try to go for the set, but I just never got the big deal of the ‘72 and ‘75 designs, probably because I wasn’t born until 1983 and didn’t grow up with those sets. Let’s hope they keep the brand alive until the great ‘90’s designs make an appearance. 

Didn’t really get any big name rookies in this blaster. Maybe the Peraza, but that is a high-number that is earmarked for the great Night Owl (I’ll have to check his wantlist). The other 2 SPs were Wade Miley and Freddy Fermin. 

Those are the SP backs. At some point, I’ll log all of my Heritage SPs from every year into TCDB, and let the vultures go after them. Hopefully they can put dents into a few Topps sets. I have a feeling the next few ones I’ll try to complete will be 1982 (have a number coming in a trade), 2004 (need 1), 1989 (need 3), and 1996 (need like 15). Might just do a bulk order from one of the cheap common sites when our tax refund comes in and see if I can add some sets done. Hopefully I’ll find some difficult ones that won’t be easy to run across later. At any rate, I’ll be able to finish at least a few Topps sets this year no matter what, and hopefully I’ll have some stuff that will help others complete sets or add to a player collection. That’s really what collecting and trading is all about. I wish flippers could buy into that. Packs need to be opened in order for more inserts and base cards to get out into the open, but hoarding boxes and charging over market value for them and driving up prices and grading everything doesn’t help the cause. I hope 2024 is the year that the bubble bursts and cards are so overproduced that they start losing value. One by one the flippers will quit the hobby, there may be a few card shops that are casualties, but then there will be product on the shelves at retail outlets, and it will hopefully be priced decent as companies will want their products to sell. Collectors will be the ones opening the majority of the products and will get more of the cards they want to enjoy in their collections. We can only hope. 

I have some stuff in the mail already, and will have some more out either tomorrow or Tuesday. Some is for bloggers, some are parts of trades on other sites. I’ll hopefully start putting my Expos/Nats into TCDB tomorrow as well. It will be a nice way to relax after a long day at work. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

Vintage Topps pickups and my Rays rankings

 A few days ago I got an envelope from Kerry of Cards on Cards. He was wanting to get rid of some cards that didn’t fit his collection and I was able to add some vintage cards to my Ultimate Topps Project. 

The Aaron and Marichal Traded are probably my favorites, but you can’t beat a ‘68 Topps pickup or any Detroit Tigers additions. I always wonder if Neil Chrisley is related to Todd Chrisley. I forgot how we started watching the show, but we used to live watching Chrisley Knows Best when it was on and seeing all of the shenanigans the family got into. Thanks for the nice vintage Topps cards, Kerry. 

I finished uploading my Giants cards to TCDB, and instead of finishing up the NL and doing the Nats, I had the itch to see where my Rays numbers stacked up, and I uploaded all 5 of my Rays notebooks. 

According to the site, I am #5 on the Rays list and 6 on the Devil Rays list. I’m sure there are dealers and guys with tons of disposable income who are on the list, so getting #5 and 6 on the list isn’t too shabby. I am also #15 on the Evan Longoria list and 7 on Carl Crawford. Not too bad when I don’t actually collect these guys and have just accumulated cards of them. Next week, I’ll start the Nats and hopefully finish off the NL by the end of the week. 

There probably won’t be much posting until the end of the week as I’m off tomorrow, and then working 5 straight and off next Friday. The next posts should be good ones, as I pulled off a trade for a number of ‘82 Topps cards which will get me close to completing that set, and you never know when we’ll end up at Wal-Mart or Target, and if they have cards stocked, there’s a good chance I’ll pick something up. I better get to bed or I’ll end up sleeping my off day away. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

2024 Topps Rob Manfred custom

Didn’t get as much time as I needed to work on this one today, but here is the 2024 Topps Rob Manfred custom. I don’t know when it happened, but MS Paint is completely different than what I was used to, with layers and new things that made this take hours to do instead of 45 minutes. The 2024 Topps design is different with the neon stuff. I definitely see elements of 2003 and 2004 with the baseball field and lines across the bottom. Even 2015 with the changing colors on the borders. Like a number of people, I’m not a fan of the neon. The curved lines are a nice change instead of a rectangle or slashes. The team name and logo is kind of redundant. Maybe a position name at the top and a number where the position abbreviation is would’ve worked better. Also, the space at the top right leaves not very much room for a team name like ‘Diamondbacks’. I feel like I’ll enjoy it better than 2023 and the double photo, but not as much as 2022, which was one of the best designs since 2014 and 2015. Before that, 2011 and 2012 were good, and 2006, 2008, and 2009. The only other set in the 2000’s I would consider good was 2001. My favorite stretch was probably from 1991-1998. 

I hope this years set has League Leader cards so we can celebrate the first Rays batting title. The way things are looking, that will be the only positive Rays moment this year. Go Tigers!  If the Rays won’t spend to get over the playoff exit jumps, why should I attend games and root for them?  Detroit will have a better shot if their GM (who I don’t think is all that good) will give up his analytic boner and just look at the stats on paper, he will find good players and we all know Detroits ownership will spend. 

As for the guy on the front of the card, I hope he gets caught up in some kind of illegal activity and is ousted before Spring Training. The game could look like a game of cricket combined with a celebrity softball game if Manfraud gets his hands on it fully (don’t forget to have your bets in before the 1st Inning, courtesy of DraftKings, Fanatics, and famous breaker BreakFlipThenGradeHitz4320). 

We’ll see if this post gets my custom at the top of the Google Image searches for 2024 Topps this year. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy
 

2023 Heritage High Number and DeLand Comic Show

 This weekend was just what the doctor ordered after a 3 day stretch at work that the boss made feel like 4 or 5. When I finished my shift on Saturday, Karen and Kyler were at the nearby Target, and I met up with them. They had 2023 Heritage High Numbers blasters so I got one to get a sample. It was a nice pickup which I’ll show later. After getting home, we changed clothes and went for a date at Fords Garage in Daytona, a new restaurant with automobile themes. The food was pretty good. I had a burger which probably ranked in the top 5-10% of burgers I’ve had in my life. I also had a flight of different beers. I’m more of a fruity beer guy with Angry Orchard being my poison of choice. I can’t remember exactly what I had but I got an extra cup as the waitress put the order in wrong. I know 1 was an Angry Orchard, another a My Boy Blue Blueberry ale, one was a pomegranate lager, there was a fruit beer from Persimmon Hollow, a local DeLand brewery, and the last was some kind of sour. 3 out of the 5 I would probably have again, those being the Angry Orchard, the pomegranate one, and the My Boy Blue. A nice evening, and Sunday was right up there with it. 

We went to church in the morning, and had 4 tricky kind of chordy songs, but I played pretty well, not really messing anything up that I couldn’t play my way out of, and then got home and was able to print out my Ultimate Topps Project wantlist and put it in a folder. 

After that, drove about 10 minutes away to the DeLand Fairgrounds for the 2023 DeLand Comics & Collectibles show. John from Johnny’s Trading Spot was there, so I met up with him and we hung out for a while. There weren’t many tables with baseball cards there, probably between 5-10 out of 40-50. The only table I purchased anything at had a number of vintage cards at 25% off. John was nice enough to get Kyler a Lego set from Fred’s table, a guy whose table he frequents at the Jacksonville show. It was a nice end to a nice weekend. Currently I’m chilling out on the couch for the rest of the night, I’ll have a nice easy day at work tomorrow, and then off again on Tuesday. 

As for the Heritage, I had a number of cards I’ll add to my special binders. Let’s take a look at the blaster. 

It was a little surprising to see big name guys like Kershaw in High Numbers, figuring they would add him to the first series. 

Looks like the Fanatics guys fixed the gaff with the blank flag for LA Angels players, but I swear, American League isn’t much better. Why can’t they just put Los Angeles or LA/Anaheim or something similar?  In my first pack, I pulled the Judge/Maris card, but I don’t know if it is an unannounced SP or what. More on that later. This blaster delivered for me on players I collect, teams I collect, and rookies. Nick Fortes is one of the newest guys I collect, a DeLand native who we met last year at a Marlins/Nats game in DC. Taillon lived in Lakeland, FL (where I grew up and lived for almost 20 years), and marks one of the first times I’ve pulled a jersey card of a player I collect. The Toussaint stamp insert was a surprise as I didn’t even remember he was with them, and certainly didn’t do impressively with them, only going 4-6. I guess the Sox didn’t have many players left to choose from, so I’ll take it. Next up are 4 Rays for the team set. Not sure how close I am to finishing it, but whenever I put the Rays on TCDB, I’ll know for sure. I pulled a card of the guy who will probably be their starting SS in 2024 in Caballero. If I were the owner/GM, I would just sign Matt Chapman to play 3B and slide Isaac Peraza to Short. Why have a good field/no hit SS replacing a great hit/decent field one? The Tristan Casas cards are nice pickups as I hope he does well for Boston. 

SWEET YANKEE$ MOJO HITTZ!!!!!!!! I could’ve swore that Volpe had a RC in the first installation of Heritage, but even if he did, I have one base one from High Numbers and a Chrome Refractor numbered to 374. The 2 SPs are #d 715 and 719 and are Night Owl’s if he is collecting the set. I was surprised that the set only goes from 501-725, as I figured the SPs would be at least 50-100 cards, but apparently there are only 25 cards for collectors to spend every last penny to get chase. 

Here are some backs. There is the back to the Judge/Maris card I mentioned earlier. Why is it card #100 if High Number is cards #501-725?  Was card 100 missing from the first edition?  I don’t believe I pulled it earlier and I just don’t know why it would be issued in High number packs if it wasn’t some kind of correction or something. The Volpe refractor back, and 2 SPs are the other cards. 

Let me go off path before I get to the show pickups. I recently watched a video on YouTube where the breaker on the channel theorized that 2024 Topps Series 1 would be delayed until March or April and gave reasons why. After getting the Heritage blaster I can understand why. The guy mentioned the 2023 Stadium Club product was delayed due to printing issues like blank backs. With the Series 1 Heritage Judge/Maris card getting into the High Number pack and the issues with Stadium Club and other issues getting delayed, I could totally see it. No reason not to have a design mock up, but hopefully they can get the qc issues fixed. 

The show cards were a mix of cards from 1958-1976. There was also a 1975 Topps Nolan Ryan record breaker card I somehow didn’t get in the picture. I felt like I got a decent deal on it, but John, the expert at getting a deal thought I could’ve done a little better. I was still happy with the cards I got and was happy to be leaving with cards. I didn’t really have enough cards to use my wantlist folder at the show, but I marked them out at home. Next time I am at a decent show or a big card shop, I’m sure it will pay major dividends. The one table I looked at just had a box of mostly HOFers and I focused on cards I thought I was getting for under their value. The ‘76 Aaron was my 2nd playing career-issued Aaron, as I have his ‘75 as well. The 2nd year Yount was a good deal. I believe the Sparky Anderson is a 2nd year. I was happy to add 4 Tigers to my collection. The ‘69 team set is slowly getting closer to getting done with the McLain Wins leaders card. 

That wraps up the account of a nice weekend. Hopefully next week will. E good and the weekend will be another one like this one. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy

Cards from Dimebox Nick and finishing my wantlist

Back when I first started blogging, I believe Dimebox Nick was one of the first blogs that I started following, and one of the first ones I traded with. We've made a few trades over the years, and its always a pleasure to read his blog. 

Nick recently celebrated a blogging anniversary with 12 years of blogging under his belt, and he held a giveaway. I was able to snag 2 vintage Topps cards for my Ultimate Topps Project, and they arrived in my mailbox a few days ago. 

I'm grateful for any cards I can get for the project no matter the condition, and to be from a legendary blogger and part of an unexpected giveaway makes them even more appreciated. Thanks, Nick for the cool cards, and I wish you many more years blogging and collecting!

 Today I finally finished typing out all of the cards to my Ultimate Topps Project wantlist. As soon as I get some printer ink, I will print them out, and then have a physical copy of my wantlist to bring to shops, shows, etc. that I can use to mark new cards off of and just see if I need a particular card I want with. Much thanks to John of Johnny's Trading Spot for the tips on how to organize the checklist. A number of sets are just a few cards away, and while I have lists up on TCDB, and have tried to put some up here, I'll go ahead and try to link to my Google Docs page so you can access them there. 

Next up, I'll probably be getting back to logging the non-Topps portion of my collection to TCDB. I also will be trying to finish up a custom project I have been working on, and hopefully I will have some news on it once everything is done. It's nice to have the holidays over for a while. I just didn't have time to do anything non work/housekeeping/errand running related since a week or so before Christmas, and I just need it to be slower at work for a while so I can recover and just get back in a routine and work on card stuff a few days a week after work. I was off work today, and although I didn't touch any of my cards, it still was relaxing to get these lists finished, and I hope to start logging my non-Topps Padre$ in the next few days. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

2023 Collecting goals revisited and 2024 goals

 It appears back on January 3 of 2023, I set some collecting goals for 2023. Let's laugh at me and see how unrealistic my goals were.

BIG GOALS

1. Complete a run of Detroit Tigers Topps base cards from 1980-2023 (including Update). 

I wasn't able to do this. I feel like I got a little closer to finishing off some of the sets, and even did finish a few via completing some entire sets, but I know for sure I didn't get the 2 2005 Verlanders. FAIL.

2. Complete a run of Topps sets from 1980-2001 (including Update).

I wasn't able to do this as the process of logging cards into TCDB just took alot longer than I had hoped it would and I never was able to start on digging through common boxes as soon as I had hoped. FAIL. Speaking of TCDB....

3. Log all of my cards into TCDB.

I have logged all of my 'Topps' cards into TCDB, but still have Topps inserts, and all of the other brands to put into the site. I have made progress with it, as the NL is finished except for the Padre$, Giants, and Nationals. After that, the entire AL, and random binders, and my entire collection will be logged into the site. Maybe in 2024. FAIL.

SMALLER GOALS

1. Get the 2023 Topps Rays set.

I accomplished this goal as I got the entire 2023 and Update set. COMPLETE!

2. Finish the 2023 Topps set. 

This goal was also accomplished with the set. COMPLETE!

3. Get the complete 1995 and 1998 Topps set. 

This one was technically not finished, but I did get the '95 set and the '98 Topps Rays Inaugural season set. I'm counting it! COMPLETE!

As far as other goals, my boss is still here, but almost got transferred. If not for a family issue, he would’ve been gone, but the higher ups felt sorry for him and left him here. That issue has basically been resolved, so I’m hoping to have him gone in 2024. Our assistant manager is great and a real team player, so maybe we can get an in store promotion. 

I was able to go to opening day in 2023, but the Rays really disappointed me by not inviting the 1998 team to the game. I’m almost through with them and their penny pinching ways. 

I was able to celebrate my 40th birthday driving between Washington, DC and Alexandria, VA. Not a memorable day of my birthday, but the trip we were on during it was great. Got to see PA for the first time, and Pittsburgh (specifically the drive into it coming out of the tunnel) was amazing!  PNC Park is high up on my list of stadiums visited, and the Nationals had a beautiful stadium as well. Getting to visit 3 MLB stadiums in a year is a good year no matter who you are. 

Karens head issues are still there with headaches sometimes ruining plans but at least we didn’t have any surgeries this year because that opens up the door to seeing other doctors. 

I don’t know if I grew too much as a man this year, but I feel like I’ve learned through various interactions with different people this year that the things my boss accuses me of and ways he says I act are mainly him and his personality and that I actually AM a good baker and I handle criticism well and have things going for me. I still want to figure out a way to be less angry and handle when I get angry better (if you have any tips I would love to hear), and be better about making time for Kyler when he gets home instead of going straight to the cards. 

Card goals for this year 

BIG

1. Complete a Topps run from 1980-1989. 1986-1989 is basically finished, and I have a good chunk of 81 and 82 done. I think this all depends on how much gets uploaded to TCDB and how many trades I can pull off. 

2. Upload the rest of my collection to TCDB. This might get done as almost half of my binders are done. 

3. Get my cards in binders. This could get done once I upload them to TCDB. Might take the remainder of the year once I get them uploaded, but perhaps I can do it. 

SMALL

1. Finish my ‘90’s Topps run. I just need a handful from 1996, so this is pretty doable. 

2. Finish off a the 2002 Topps set. Another pretty easy one as my recent trip to John’s better a number of the set. 

3. Finish the 2021 Topps Update set. Just need David Hale, and I have a feeling it will be at my LCS next time I go. 

Other non-card related goals include seeing a new MLB stadium, visit new states, I would love to move out of Florida and get a little distance from relatives, get better control of my diabetes, maybe get a man-cave, and spend a little less time on my phone. There are many other things I would like to do, but are kind of far off lifetime goals. Getting some of my original songs recorded, get in the Guinness book of World Records, throw a first pitch at a game, be on a real baseball card, travel out of the US, get another pineapple to bloom in my garden, and win the lotto. If I could get just one of those, it would be a win this year. One of two final ones would be to see the Rays or Tigers win a World Series, and to see the Bama and Yankee$ dynasties finally broken up for good. 

I hope to check back periodically and make some progress on these goals this year. I wish you all the best of luck with cards and life in 2024!  

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy 

Recent card pickups

 It’s been a little longer than normal since I’ve posted, but that’s to be expected when you work in a retail bakery during any major holiday. I get a few slow days before the last one of the year, and have a decent schedule coming up with an off day on Friday and another one on Monday, so just a little bit longer and everything should be back in a routine. 

I’ve had a decent amount of cards come into the collection since my last post, but the photos wouldn’t cooperate, so instead of chronological order, they will go from newest to oldest. 

About 2 weeks ago Tom from The Angels in Order offered some 1989 Fleer World Series sets. I love highlight cards, and also collect Orel Hershiser, who appears in the set a few times, so I asked for one, and he kindly obliged. TCDB says I have the Hershiser’s already, so the entire set will go in the highlights binder, giving me a nice game by game look at the 1988 World Series. Thanks, Tom. 

Next up, is my haul from John of Johnny’s Trading Spot. I apologize for the lack of pictures, I was stoked to get the cards in my boxes. 

As many of you know, we live about an hour and a half from each other, so I’ve been to his place three times now to exchange cards. I had a stack of Braves, mini collection and player collection cards for him, and he let me dig through his trade boxes. Among the many sets he helped me get closer to finishing were 1986 Topps (43 cards), 1996 Topps (11 cards), 2002 Topps (73 cards), and 2006 Topps (228 cards). I also found a number of 2012 Topps cards, but my wantlist for that set is a mess, as that set had a number of errors on the backs of Series 1 cards, so it’s almost impossible to make a wantlist on TCDB that just says you need 1 version of each card number. I’ll probably go through that set again and list out which numbers I have from each team and then individually mark which ones I need on the site. John showed me a good way to make a paper wantlist while I was there. Basically type out the numbers 1-792 in Word or a like program, save it, and erase all haves from the set you are making the list for. He was able to fit multiple sets on a single page, and I think it will help me in my effort to complete every Topps base set. I’ll try to work on making some paper lists on Friday and bring them the next times I’m digging through boxes at shows, etc. I think TCDB is still a good tool and will help me know what I need when the list isn’t with me. Thanks again, John, for letting me dig through your trade boxes and showing me the most efficient way to make a paper wantlist. 

Last Wednesday, we were at Big Lots getting a gift for one of Kylers friends, and lo and behold they had a blaster of 2022 Optic at a reduced price. Overall, I feel like it was a good pick, as I got another De La Cruz rookie (must be Donruss luck) and an autograph. Unfortunately, my luck of pulling DeLand-associates guys ended, and I pulled one of a guy who was accused of a rather disturbing deed. I really hope he didn’t get his hands on that sticker. Aside from that one, I got some nice rookies of Tiger Spencer Torkelson, Pirate O’Neil Cruz, and a few pink parallels. 

Also pulled an insert of Max Scherzer, a guy I collect, another Tiger, this one a parallel of Matt Manning, and one of a hopefully lifetime Ray, Randy Arozarena. 

Last, but not least was a trade with Bill of Death Stare Cards. I remember back when I first was introduced to card blogs, Thorzul, Dimebox Nick, Stale Gum, Night Owl, Fuji, and other bloggers/blogs seemed larger than life. Now 10 or so years since then, I have traded with most of them, and while they still do a way better job than I do, they are all just down-to-earth people like I am who just want to trade cards, and that was what my first experience trading with the legendary Thorzul was like. Nothing big, but just a simple trade of some Brewers cards he can hopefully use for the Ray, Tiger, and 2 PC guys I could. 

A nice first trade and hopefully one of many more to come. Thanks, Bill.

I'm sure you all are asking "But didn't you get any cards for Christmas??". Truth is, Kyler got a number of packs from Series 1, 2, a repack box, and one of those things with a few Sereis 1, 2, Update, a jumbo card, and the Flagship Collection packs. The adults in our family usually don't get eachother gifts, as we spend enough on the kids already, but somehow I usually end up getting a pack or two from someone, whether it be from my mom, one of my sisters, or Karen's mom. That's just how this year ended up, and I got a hanging box of Series 1 from Karen's mom. While I already had the complete 2023 set, I figured I would open it, since places usually don't let you return cards and it still had inserts. It wasn't anything too life shattering, but it was the thought that counted. It was actually a Rat-Birds hot pack with the insers as I got a Anthony Santander rainbow parallel, an '88 redux Eddie Murray, and a Stars of MLB insert of their overrated rookie catcher. Kind of makes the blue parallel of the Nationals team card the highlight of the box. I'm still happy as they were free cards and I got something to open this Christmas. It may not be the last cards I open this year, as we need to grocery shop at least once before the year ends, and I'd like to see what Heritage High Number has to offer. 

I saw that while the 2024 Topps design isn't out yet, oddly, the (retail) sell sheets are. I don't know what that means. Maybe Topps actually reads my blog and knows that I want some info from them as to when the set will come out and what is in it, that I'm not a flipper and won't buy hobby if I don't have to, and that I have been known to make satire sell sheets in the past. At any rate, the set won't be out in January, as a release date just mentions February. There are more holiday-themed parallels with the retail stuff, which I hope doesn't mean flippers will be leaving the shelves bare again. Anyone know how to de-value parallels? The most stupid parallel is one that just takes away the base card design and leaves you with nothing but a 2.5 by 3.5 inch photo. Didn't we kind of do the same thing with the original Stadium Club Master Photos? What do they do for an encore, make a parallel with no design, no photo, just a white piece of plastic, slap a 1/1 on the back with a player name, and call it a day? I get they are trying to cut back on everything, eliminating the foil on everything except for the logo, but cut with the cheap stuff, Topps. You can go cheap with Opening Day, oh what's that, you don't make that anymore? At this rate, I might just have to stop opening packs with Kyler and not take him to games, just so he won't get sucked into the sport and collecting. Contract values are insane, making already expensive ticket prices to skyrocket, and same thing is happening with cards. There are no entry-level sets you can complete without SPs that are readily available for purchase 6 months out of the year at retail outlets. You can't go to a game without spending 20-40 bucks per person for upper deck seats, that much for a hot dog and tapwater, same for parking, plus the 3 hour drive to the nearest ballpark from us. Insane. Kind of why I got out of ttm autograph collecting. All of the free signers I had basically already gotten, nobody who is a current player signs anymore, making my success rates drop, and a number of free signers in the past are now charging 5-10 bucks a pop thanks to a few idiots who cornered the market and convinced these guys to sign for a fee and give them a percentage of the cut. Ruth signed for free. Why can't Lonnie Smith? May all the people getting rich off of baseball have their money die with them. It's just a game and everyone deserves to enjoy going to a game, maybe getting an autograph at a game, and then go to Wal-Mart on the way home and select from 5-10 different $1-$4 packs of cards and pull a card of a player they just saw. That's the only way it's going to carry on to a generation that is into video games. Not by pitch clocks, new rules, bigger bases, or a ghost man in extras. I hope Topps and Manfraud read this one. And if you are, ol' Robby, I WILL be making card of you in a dumb pose once the 2024 Topps design does come out! You can guarantee that!

Perhaps on my last off day of the year (Friday), I'll revisit some 2023 collecting goals and you can make fun of me for not making all of them, and I'll set some for 2024. 

Thanks for checking out my lastest post.

-Jeremy