Well…
I
bought a hobby box of 2022 Update.
But
I wasn’t excited about it.
A
lot of other collectors were excited about it. I can see why. There’re some big
rookies in the set. Big rookie cards drive collecting. Although I tend to roll
my eyes at big rookies. Or maybe it’s FOMO.
You
wanna know what the last card in my hobby box was?
Yep...last card…last pack.
I
was sweating it out too.
Julio
Rodriguez is actually one of the big shot rookie cards that I do care about.
The
others?
I’m
kind of meh on them.
In
fact, my hobby box of Topps 2022 Update was kind of meh as well.
Let’s
start with the silver pack.
Yeah…I know…Mike Trout. I’m kind of meh on Mike Trout. I don’t collect him. I know people compare him to Mickey Mantle. And I can see the comparisons…Mickey Mantle got hurt a lot too. I’m sure Mike Trout will limp to Hall of Fame numbers. For me, I’d rather see Yordan and Vlady Jr. in the Silver Pack. As for the rest: PED guy and two other so-called big rookies from years past.
First
card/first pack action.
My 1987 inserts.
Two pitchers who will probably end up getting Tommy John surgery, the 2022 version of Dave Kingman, a formerly great Cub who decided the money was worth playing the gulag in Colorado (and, yes, I’m a Pirates fan, I recognize the hypocrisy in that statement), and a HOF Pitcher whom I lost respect for because he defended the indefensible…in my humble opinion.
What
else did we get?
Got some all-stars showing up.
2022 Dave Kingman makes his second insert appearance. Love the Yordan though.
I did get an auto card...
...of Alex Wells.
Of course, I can't forget all of the bells and whistles a hobby box brings
Anyone as underwhelmed as I was on an early Saturday morning?
But then THIS happened.
Which I'm happy to trade to any Red Sox fan who has some Pittsburgh Pirates goodies.
Speaking of Pirates.
I know I'm supposed to be excited for these guys.
I was more excited to get these guys.
But let's not get TOO EXICTED. Topps, proving that they absolutely could not care less for a
team like the Pittsburgh Pirates, rounded out my Pirates checklist with these guys.
Four guys who no longer play for the team and one guy who was hurt almost all season.
I thought this was a classy move by Topps.
These, on the other hand, were head scratchers for me.
When did Topps start celebrating 100 Home Run marks? Or weren't Ohtani and Soto on enough
cards this season?
Getting back to rookie cards. I counted at least twenty-nine Rookie Debut cards in my Hobby
Box. TWENTY-NINE. You won't put all-stars in the set, other than inserts, but you'll put at least
TWENTY-NINE of what I consider to be the DIET cola of rookie cards. I'm probably in the minority
opinion on Rookie Debut cards. But rookie debut cards are lame.
Speaking of lame rookie cards.
You can give at least TWENTY-NINE dudes a second rookie card, but Topps can't even give
some players their OWN rookie card.
And, lastly, a found this card to be a little bit ominous.
This is looks like a final Albert Pujols card. It FEELS like a final Albert Pujols card. It probably
is a final Albert Pujols cards. This means, in Topps traditional fashion, that we're not going to get a
career encapsulating card for Albert Pujols in 2023 base.
...but maybe Ronald Acuna Jr. will hit his 150th home run!
Sorry I sound so cynical on this post.
Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!
NEXT FRIDAY: I'll try and not be so negative and maybe we'll take a look at something from
my PC.
Th problem with Update is that it's a bunch of half-baked set ideas tossed together into a completely underwhelming package.
ReplyDeleteA true Series 3 to catch up to guys that S1/S2 missed would be fine. A true Traded set designed to actually update cards of guys who were with the wrong team in S1/S2 would be fine. A set of MLB debuts would be fine. But instead we get a half-assed combination of all three.
Redundant Rookie Debut cards. Traded cards with a cut-off way too soon in the year. Series 3 cards of guys who should've been updated in the Traded set. It's such a mess.
I built a set in my first year back in the hobby (2017) and haven't touched a pack since then.
The 3,000 hits card of Cabrera is cool... but the Soto and Ohtani cards are silly. I wouldn't buy a hobby box of this stuff, but I'll grab a blaster if I come across one.
ReplyDeleteThe Julio is nice but why did Topps have to make you sweat lol. I like the Hunter Greene black gold, it combines the design elements of the '93 insert with the lettering of then '94 base set.
ReplyDeleteI thought I had a Pirates card to swap for that Ted Williams, but it turns out my Ke'Bryan Hayes Chrome refractor RC sells for about $10 less :/
p.s. I'm with you 100% about Mo. He's not as great as everyone seems to think, on or off the field.
ReplyDelete