Right this very minute...but you're not gonna find it here.
It's been awhile since I sat on Santa's lap, probably two or three years now. My needs are fairly simple: toilet paper, sanitizer and retail baseball cards. I have a home, my health and some of my sanity. While not a hoarder, I have plenty of tp and sanitizer. I got no new baseball cards. None. It's pitiful. People are sick, many hungry and I have no packs to rip. It's time for self-reflection. Me. Me. Me.
Collector pals have come to the rescue over the past few months. PWEs have been rolling in thanks to Pick Pocketers and mail ballots for the recently ended election season contest.
Our fave Dimebox man, Nick sent this batch. The top card is a Turkey Red RP of Charles 'Boss' Schmidt. A Tiger catcher who beat up on Ty Cobb? How did I not know him?? Hangs head in shame.
Gold and red parallels, just in time for the holidays. 2020 Archives with a 74 design I kinda like but was 2002 necessary? I hated it then. It's likely responsible for me leaving the hobby in 2002. Blech. I needed the Miggy so am certainly glad to have this one. With white borders, I'd have been all over these cards. No, that's a lie. I didn't appreciate white borders til 2012.
Gary Sheffield is lucky he's in a Tiger uni on a great-looking 2007 Elements or he'd not be welcome in my house. These cards are super attractive in hand.
I like Prizm so this refractory, prizmatical 2019 card is more than welcome at House of Crack. Hmm, that sounded good before I put it down for all to read. Cracked House? Moving on. Stewart is about out of time. Another touted Tiger rookie, he's 26 and has yet to impress me. I appreciate receiving shiny autographed cards of Tiger rookies because I won't buy them. I'll miss out on the big payoff one day when one of these fellows actually becomes a star player.
Tommy Bridges, a Tiger who tipped his pitches, appears in the 1988 Sporting News World Wide Sports issue. Reading the back of this card, I discovered the Yankees had a sign-stealing coach. How common was it to have an actual coach dedicated to sign theft?
Envelopes like these are as good better than a pack rip. The contents are sure to contain a team, player or theme that fits your collection. I haven't missed retail all that much. Shelves emptied by flippers will remain so. These people are profiting so why should this change? I believe stocked retail is a thing of the past. New card purchases interest me less all the time. Pals like Nick keep the new and sometimes odd coming my way which works great for me!
That's been part of my goal too, with Pick Pockets. You fill the envelope with cards you like. The post office leaves them in your mailbox. You rip at your convenience. Heck - sometimes it takes me so long to get them in the mail, you've forgotten your choices. Surprise!
To my trade pals and regular readers, the Christmas edition of Pick Pockets has been updated. Cards picked the past week have been pulled for mailing. Holes left in the pages have been filled. Trade pals can pick again. Readers, it's open pickin' time! Hope you each find a little something to enjoy.
Solid sentiments and some nice cards. Hope you have a greate Christmas time. Heading over to see if I can pick more pockets...
ReplyDeleteyou picker, you! Merry Christmas!
DeleteArt Fletcher was a Yankee coach who was good at sign stealing. That sentence should have been worded better. And Ty Cobb definitely needed more people beating him up.
ReplyDeleteIn the past 20 years I've opened retail twice. Once in 2007 as I was getting into the hobby, and once in 2010 when the "bootleg" upper deck set came out and it looked like they might end up being hard to get.
Bah humbug. I though I'd discovered proof there were coaches dedicated to the thievery. Only twice on the retail? That's a feat in itself! Your restraint is honorable!
DeleteI'm gonna have to look up Bridges. But for now, Sheff beats out Miggy for best of the group.
ReplyDeleteSheff is purty. Bet he agree if you asked him! lol.
DeleteSanta is a jerk?!?!?!? I am not one to question reasons, perhaps your home heating device takes coal?
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same boat and falling out of love with retail. The combination of flippers, barren shelves, unappealing designs and emphasis on rookies is finally making me see the light. I do, however, miss the pack-opening thrill.
Let's just say, Sant and I have a history which dates back to my 11th Christmas. LOL. I love a good rip but am holding out for Heritage 2021....1972!!!!!!!!!!!!
DeleteSo glad you enjoyed everything, Julie! I've basically given up hope of finding retail packs at this point. I make the obligatory peek into the card aisle every time I'm at Target, but there's nothing there and I'm always disappointed. Fine way to sum up 2020, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI have to begrudgingly admit that the 2002 design is probably my favorite from this year's Archives, or at least the most well-done. As far as the designs themselves, I like '55 and '74 WAY more than 2002, but Topps screwed those up so badly that the '02s kinda shine through for me.
What? Topps screwed up a design? Unheard of! LOL. I order online these days so haven't been to Target or Meijer in months, sparing myself retail disappointments.
DeleteI signed up for Topps Future Stars Club back in April... and they sometimes include a blaster box... so I have a Series One, Stadium Club, and Heritage blaster waiting to be opened at some point. They also sent me one of those Big League boxes with the action figure. If it weren't for the club, I'd have zero access to retail. As for toilet paper and hand sanitizer... I have enough to last me awhile. I'm more worried about my card storage and doughnut supply. I could really use a yummy doughnut right now.
ReplyDeleteYou had me checking this out. Alas, they are taking no new subscriptions. I'm never part of the cool club.
DeleteLol. It's not that cool. This month the sent a set instead of a blaster. This is the second time they've done this, which is kind of annoying, because I signed up for the blasters.
DeletePoor Santa.
ReplyDeleteRetail is tough sledding right now, that's for sure. Of course, I'm a homebody who doesn't go out all that much to start with (pre-pandemic) and now I'm almost never going to a store in person.
Santa's lucky I don't spill the beans on him.
DeleteI hadn't heard of Boss Schmidt, either. That Turkey Red card is a beauty!
ReplyDelete"Boss" "any name" - I'm not giving them trouble!
DeleteThanks as always for letting us pick your pockets!
ReplyDeleteIt's great having picky trade pals and readers!
DeleteWas Christin Stewart a big deal a few years ago? The name sounds familiar, but I'm not sure why.
ReplyDeleteI think he was a somewhat highly rate rookie 2017/2018 with a 2019 debut. He's now entering "prime" years for a player so we shall see.
DeleteThe last couple of times the card vendor swung by the Targets around me, the flippers have been leaving behind large quantities of Topps Update. Maybe this will happen around you...just in case you get really, really desperate.
ReplyDeleteI got your e-mail, so I'll check out the Pick Pockets page. With most of my collection still packed away, I don't have access to the cards to see if there's something for you, so I've been staying away from the easy temptation of requesting goodies. Thanks for the invite though!
"Was _____ necessary?" seems to be the theme for the year 2020 in cards.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who relies heavily on available retail for purchase, this has not been a fun year.
Hi again Julie:).There are a lot of cool cards in this post,and my favorites are the Charles Schmidt Turkey Red,and the Tommy Bridges Sporting News one.
ReplyDelete