I love these cards.
I mean…I
REALLY love these cards.
Like
best Topps set since I’ve come back to collecting.
Like
maybe one of my favorite Topps designs in a very long while.
I
even gave them a nickname.
Topps
1986: After Dark.
If
you haven’t seen them yet…this is what they look like.
Again,
I REALLY REALLY love these cards.
But…sadly…this is not a blog post about how much I love 2024
Topps base cards.
This
is a blog post about (at least to me) the death of the Hobby Box.
Case
in point, here’s what a 2024 Topps Series 1 box looks like next to a base box
from years past.
On
Twitter, one collector referred to 2024 Series 1 Hobby boxes as glorified
Blasters.
I’m
not of liberty to dispute that comment.
In 2023,
starting with Topps Update, Topps/Fanatics made the decision to reduce the
amount of pack in its Hobby boxes from 24 to 20 packs. The monopolist behemoth also
decided to reduce the amount of cards in it’s packs from 14 cards to 12. I fucking
hate doing math but that’s a Hobby box card loss of: 96 cards. Almost 100 cards
per Hobby box. That might not mean much to a lot of collectors, especially the
ones who buy Hobby boxes for the bells and whistle cards.
But to
a guy like me who previously enjoyed hand collating his base sets…that’s a bit
of a hit.
Without
bitching, what it means to me and other collectors who buy Hobby boxes to build
sets, is that we have to buy more cards. We have to shell out more money to
hand collate a set. I had been in the tradition of buying 2 Hobby boxes for
each series. What that usually garnered me was: A) putting together the set. B)
getting doubles of players I PC. C) getting most of my Pirates team set
together. After that, I’d wait until enough collectors posted cards on
SportsLots and then I’d go on there, buy my Pirates, and whatever insert
(usually the 35 year anniversary insert cards) that I wanted.
Those
days are gone.
I
bought two Hobby boxes of Topps 2024 Series 1 on pre-sale. Full disclosure, I
wanted to buy a Jumbo box. But I’m lazy and have mental issues buying things
online, so Jumbo box presales were sold out when I went to make my purchase.
Fuller disclosure, having dealt with this lack-of-card issue in 2023, I knew
what I was getting myself into buying a 2024 Hobby box. But hope springs
eternal…especially when you’re an idiot like me.
I haven’t
collated the cards yet, but I can say this. It isn’t good for us set collectors.
It’s Aaron Judge in one box and Mike Trout in another box, instead of getting
them both in one. It’s no Juan Soto or Yordan Alvarez cards in EITHER Hobby
box. It’s getting three, and I have nothing against him, Brandon Nimmo cards in
two Hobby boxes.
I
will admit this happened, so I can’t fully complain.
And
for you folks who love the bells and whistles, here are mine from two Hobby
boxes.
CUTCH!!
The BIG hits
Still
got that Clemente magic though.
Be that as it may, as a set
collector I guess the era of Hobby Box building is over for me. Thinking about it, I realize I have a few
options.
1. I
can buy my Hobby boxes like in then past, knowing I’d then have to buy blasters
and hangers to complete the set. Which is a very old school idea. But…living in
New York City, not a very feasible one.
2. I
can buy a Jumbo box and build the set that way and then go and buy the PC cards
somewhere else.
3. I
can buy a Hobby or a Jumbo and rip for fun and then just buy the set when it comes
out in the summer.
But
those days of doing what I had been doing have come to an end.
Extra:
So, I meant to do a blog post on Stadium Club 2023 last
week. I don’t buy boxes of it anymore (gotta pick and choose what you collect
in total and I chose base and Heritage) but I do like to buy Stadium Club cards
of the Pirates, players I PC, and any cards that particularly stand out for me.
With this year’s Stadium Club I have two things to say.
1. The
Jazz Man WINS 2023 Stadium Club
2. Eddie
Murray continues to have the BEST post-playing-day cards.
Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!
