I Went in a Card Store

A month or so ago I did something I hadn't done in several years. I went in a card shop. While on vacation I called over to a local card shop, not something I can normally do at home, to see if they had any of the newly released Stadium Club packs. They had some but said it wouldn't last long so I went over to pick some up. I was excited to open some packs but I was also excited about the prospects of picking up some single cards to add to my collection. 

Turns out I got there just in time. I was able to grab the last three packs of Stadium Club. They had some other products but nothing that seemed in line with what I was willing to pay. With just three hobby packs I think I did pretty well.

Pulled my first Benintendi of 2021 which falls into the Greenville Drive collection. That's one I won't have to put on the want list. It is weird to see him in a Royals uniform. Another former Drive player switched teams this week (Chavis to the Pirates) and while I am glad to continue to cheer for collect them after they've switched teams, it's really satisfying to see them perform well on the Red Sox. Benintendi hit just .183 in July after coming back from injury. Hoping he can turn it around for the last part of the year.

I hadn't seen the Puckett card posted anywhere yet and it may have been my favorite from my three packs. The colors look great on this one. 

And I've mentioned on pack breaks from previous years how I appreciate shots at this angle. Hoping Sale comes back strong- his rehab starts have been pretty solid.

Speaking of switching teams, Manny Machado used to be a guy I sought cards of. I still own a good stack of cards from his time with the Orioles. Since then though it's been tough for me to cheer for him, and I no longer seek out his cards. 

With Turner on the move to LA, the rich get richer. What a luxury to add a player of Turner's caliber at a position where Corey Seager is already playing.

Schwarber seems like a good fit for the Red Sox, and can't have too much quality depth, but starting pitching seems like the real weakness for this team. 

While I'm no Yankees fan, this is a pretty cool shot.

This was another of my favorite base cards I opened. Love the dirt spraying up from the slide.

Harper I'm happy to send to another collector. Never been a fan, as to be expected with him being a rival to the Braves at both of his major league stops in his career.

The Cal is a keeper out of the three packs. Love the design, love the 90s, love Cal. It's a keeper for sure.

Two Phillies inserts in the same box, I'm not enthused. Cutch is 34 now and I forget that he won an MVP award in 2013.

I've been pulling Dodger cards like crazy recently. Nothing mind blowing but solid cards nonetheless. As always the Chrome card didn't scan great, but I can assure you this card looks great in hand.

Was this a Braves rivals box? Kilome is in AAA Syracuse. Tough signature to read but I was still pleased to pull an autograph out of three packs. I figured someone would have opened packs until they pulled all the autos, but I opened one out of the last three packs in the box.

This Devers rookie card from Topps Gallery was in the display case at the front of the store. It was a little more than I could have probably found on eBay, but it was right there in front of me, I didn't have to wait for it to be shipped to me, and most of all, I want to support the local card shop when I can, even on a small purchase like this one.

While I picked up the Devers rookie at the store, this Topps Heritage relic from 2020 I spotted in the store, and it was priced significantly more than I could pick it up online. I would have liked to buy it in store, but when it's more than double the price there, I couldn't justify it. I do love the design and colors on this Devers relic, the 2nd in my collection.

I would have liked to dig through boxes for more cards for my collection, and I did browse a little bit, but I ran out of time. Next time I'm in town I'll be sure to spot back by, though. Just the act of going into a local card store and seeing packs on a shelf in person was therapeutic. Looking forward to the next time! 

My Son Likes 'Stuff'

Since my son was born in late 2016, my posting on this blog, and card collecting altogether, has been minimal. He's now getting to the age where he likes 'stuff'. What kind of stuff does not matter much. He likes rocks from the yard the same as a bouncy ball, the same as his dinosaurs, the same as... baseball cards. He likes to port his 'stuff' around in a backpack or in the basket on the back of his bicycle. So when we went to the store the other day, I was able to get him excited about opening a pack of baseball cards, just as if I was offering him a sucker or chocolate milk.

I chose a 2019 set that is generally one of my favorites each year, but also one that had more than a handful of cards to make the fun last a little longer. To scratch my own pack busting itch, we opened a 20 card pack of 2019 Topps Heritage together, the first pack of cards I'd opened in over a year.

These were the cards that stuck out to me in this 20 card pack. The Carpenter was the lone SP in the pack. Nelson Cruz and the Twins just finished up a series against the Braves, and he's still slugging away at age 38. 32 Home runs in 86 games in 2019, can that be right?? And J.P. Crawford was the other player of note for me in this pack. Last I checked, he was on the Phillies, but looks like the former 1st round pick was traded in December to the Mariners. Still just 24 years old.

And this was the highlight of the pack for me. Anytime a former member of the Greenville Drive over the past few years shows up on a card, it's fun to see, especially when it's highlights from big playoff games. 

And now that I know I can use a pack of baseball cards as a reward, maybe this blog will become more active again, who knows.

Here's the full contents of the pack:

56 De Los Santos, Suarez, Phillies
60 Josh Reddick, Astros
72 Verlander, Cole, Sale
90 J.P. Crawford, Mariners
128 Robinson Chirinos, Rangers
134 Nelson Cruz, Twins
143 Chasen Shreve, Cardinals
191 David Price, Red Sox
201 Andrew Benintendi, Red Sox (ALCS Game 4)
238 Brandon Drury, Blue Jays
260 German Marquez, Rockies
268 Brad Boxberger, Diamondbacks
288 Cesar Hernandez, Phillies
307 Max Muncy, Dodgers (World Series Game 3)
309 David Price, Red Sox (Word Series Game 5)
313 Michael Fullmer
322 Ivan Nova, White Sox
336 Ervin Santana
376 Ryan Borucki/Sean Reid-Foley/Danny Jensen, Blue Jays
438 Matt Carpenter, Cardinals (SP)

Found Some Platinum Packs

I got caught up in the Bowman Platinum hype and the Bellinger and Judge hype and tracked down a few packs at a local Wal-Mart. I have to say while I appreciate the photography of Stadium Club, I also like this design. In fact it's my favorite Platinum design to date.

Here are the best of the base cards and a Benintendi rookie. This is the 3rd Benintendi I've pulled and I was pleased to see one of the more desirable rookies come out of the first pack.

Both of these prospects were shipped to the White Sox as part of the trade for Jose Quintana. Jimenez was recently promoted to AA Birmingham and is rated as a top-10 prospect by MLB.com. Cease is the 65th rated prospect on MLB.com and is in single-A Kannapolis.

Here are the blue parallels I received. After reading up on Aiken, I'll be rooting for him to succeed with Cleveland. He's had an up and down season in single A it seems. Kyle Tucker is a top 10 prospect and has homered in back to back games for AA Corpus Christi. 

Alfaro is currently on the Phillies big league club and 6-16 early on, hitting a home run in his most recent game. Alfaro was acquired from the Rangers when they traded Cole Hamels. Weaver has pitched in five games for the Cardinals this year, starting two. He's currently in AAA Memphis and has pretty stellar minor league stats.

No Judge, no Bellinger, but I'm glad to settle for a Benintendi. Anyone need these prospects? Most everything from my recent pack breaks is up for grabs.

Favorite Pack I've Opened This Year

I don't mind the Donruss brand in recent years. In fact I've enjoyed opening packs of it with the good number of inserts in the larger retail 'value' packs. I'd seen good things from Optic breaks this year and wanted to get my hands on some. I opened a 16 card pack the other day and it was the best pack I've opened so far in 2017.

Here are the best of the base cards, of which there were six. Anytime I pull cards of my main player collection guys, I'm happy. Glad to add the Freeman to my collection. I liked the Donruss design this year and I like the shiny version from Optic even more.

Here are the non-Prizm (refractor) inserts. Mancini and Bregman are both having solid rookie seasons. Excited to pull multiple Braves in the same pack, and getting to see Albies with the big-league club in recent weeks has me excited for the future of the Braves.

Each of the 16 card packs have four Purple Prizm cards in them. The first for me was the guy on the pack, Mickey Mantle. It's not every day that you pull a Mantle. The regular Diamond Kings are less exciting but Kluber sure is making a run for AL Cy Young.

Here's the lone regular Prizm. I had to look up Paulino. He's started 6 games for the Astros this season but is currently suspended for a positive test for a banned substance.

The rest of the purple prizes from the pack. Hard to argue with Prizms of Gwynn and Trout, and I'm pleased to add to my small Benintendi collection.

Keeping the Freeman and Benintendi, but the rest are up for grabs. Looking to trade for other Braves from this set and I'd also like to pick up cards of Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers from this set. This was a great pack that will probably lead me to going back and picking up a few more.

On a side note, I'm hoping to make it to my first card show in over 10 years on Saturday. Should be fairly small but I'm excited even if it is. I'll have a recap sometime next week, even if I strike out at the show and end up picking up another pack of Optic.