New cards and a package from Too Many Verlanders

 It’s been a pretty demanding week at work and I was really wanting to check out Target on Saturday for some new wax to take the edge off. Despite getting out pretty late, I made a quick trip to Target and went straight towards the card aisle. 

I was hoping for some 2024 Bowman, but they didn’t have any, so I got a blaster of 2024 Heritage, a hanging pack of 2024 Big League, and a hanging pack of 2023 Chronicles. I thought Chronicles must’ve been new, but once I opened the pack, it jogged my memory, as 75% of the pack was the same as one I must’ve opened last year (except for the De La Cruz rookie I pulled last year, of course). 

The packs were pretty good, as I got a few Rays, a few Tigers, and some guys I collect. Also got some stuff for other collectors (are you still going to work on the ‘23 Chronicles set, John?

That ‘75 Fred Lynn card never looked weird to me when I saw the regular version. It never looked weird when I saw the ‘01 Topps Archives version when it was just him and zoomed in a lot more. Now, when it is on the MVP subset in ‘24 Heritage, it just looks like it was a bad photoshop job and they just used a gob of white paint and spread it over a minor league jersey. The Lynn insert looks really cool. Sometimes it’s nice to see players in something other than a uniform. Is that Jim Rice next to him?

I think I’m only 1 or 2 World Series subset cards from having every playoff highlight card. I went on a Basabe spree, pulling him in both Topps brands. The Yandy card is an SP. I doubt I’ll ever complete a Big League Rays team set in the current format, but I have 1 SP down at least. What a shame that the morons at Fanatics get a team name wrong with the Basabe Heritage cards. The jerseys aren’t even that similar. 

The Diaz batting title card is cool. I’ve really been wanting to pull it from flagship, but I’ll have it soon enough when I purchase the complete set. The Torkelson die cut card is cool. That whole inset set is neat, I’d be happy to pull one even if it was a Yankee. I pulled a number of Oriole rookies. I hope they forget how to hit and pitch and can let the Rays win the AL. That Abner Uribe card is mocking me as he was one of those punk Brewers pitchers who were throwing first punches at Rays hitters and intentionally throwing at them. I hope Uribe is hit like Sidney Ponson, Alec Manoah, and Esteban Yan, and is relegated to the minors for the rest of his short career. The Goldschmidt bat was a nice surprise. The last 2 cards were the other Big League SPs. 

And for all of those people wondering which Heritage SPs I got, they were

They are set aside for Night Owl. (Late edit, I ended up getting another blaster on Wednesday and pulled 2 more SP needs, so N.O., you can also mark off #2 Freddie Freeman Highlight and #97 Luis Patino from the SPs)

I came home from work on Monday after another demanding day, and lo and behold in the mailbox was a package from Dennis of Too Many Verlanders. I have a few cards set in a pile to send him, but to be honest, I just haven’t really made it to any shows or many shops lately. I’m hoping to rectify that during summer vacation, and Dennis will be one of the first ones on my list of people to look for cards for. 

So many parallels and cards from sets that I don’t get to dabble in that much!  The Co-Signers Gold is the first gold parallel I’ve seen from the set. The Heritage Archer is an SP.  I’ve never opened a pack of ‘20 Bowman Heritage, ‘20 Diamond Kings, or ‘20 Prism, so it’s nice to pick up cards from sets I’ve never had the chance to see. The ‘20 Diamond Kings Arozarena is a rookie, and one I didn’t have.  

More parallels, including rainbows, refractors, pink refractors, and royal blues. I thought I may have had the Yarbrough, but I don’t, so that is going in the player collection. I believe the first 2 ‘20 Chrome cards finished the Rays team set. The last one adds to the Chrome Update set. Love the McClanahan Archives rookie. That got me 1 card away from finishing the Rays team set. Can’t wait to see the Rays ‘25 rotation if everyone stays healthy. The Martin Bowman refractor is a nice one for me, as surprisingly for me, I don’t own cards of every Rays prospect. Any time I can get Bowman Rays, I will take them because you never know who will make it to the Majors, and I love to get autographs on cards at games. The Martin is the first card of him in my collection. I might actually have to place a quick eBay order as I have a feeling I’m a few cards short of a Rays and Cubs 40-man roster for the game I’m going to next month. Thanks to Dennis for the nice Rays additions!  I’m working on a pile to send back to Ann Arbor. 

I actually have a pretty decent next few days coming up. Memorial Day is usually a pain for me at work, as is every holiday, but while it will still be a pain, I am off Friday and Sunday, so I won’t get too much of the brunt of it. Friday I also got out of a recital that one of our nieces is having, so work had my back there. Karen, Kyler, and Karens mom will be headed to Melbourne Friday afternoon to see Karens brothers family and go to the recital and will be coming home Saturday. That means I get the house to myself, so I might head out to Port Orange to have lunch with her, and then the day has 2 options. A guy who I’ve swapped cards with before has some cards for me in Daytona, and I have a box or two of doubles for him, so if he’s available, I might meet up with him and swap cards. I also might go to Ormond and visit Kyle’s shop that John from Johnny’s Trading Spot goes to sometimes. John told me that half of his store is 2022-2024 cards, so it might be a better option to just not go to the shop. I might still stop by and try to find some pre-1980 Topps cards that I need. Either way, I’ll probably be heading home with some new cards. Hopefully I’ll find some cards to put in trade piles as it has been a while since I’ve been to a shop or a show with much selection. I hope everyone else has a nice holiday weekend as I plan to do.

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy