Halls Well That Ends Well

When 2013 Topps came out, I went a little overboard.  For a set that I have no intention of completing, I bought way too much.  A blaster or a few packs to test the waters is one thing.  Buying 3 blasters that basically costs the same as a hobby box is another.

The good news is right after release, it’s not too hard to make your money back on such an “investment,” especially on sportlots where some regulars eat up those retail parallels for their team sets.  I could have also done nicely with the Mike Trout Target reds right away.

The “bad” news is that I didn’t make my money back because I decided to trade as much as I could.  It worked so well that I have to put a brief halt on trading.  Not really bad at all.

To be honest, that’s kind of why I bought so much to begin with.  My trading reserves were relatively low and you people have stuff that I want!  People like Play at the Plate.

scanner error, not miscut

This is a sad reminder that the new Gypsy Queen is already out.  It’s like they make more every year!!!  How am I supposed to keep up?

“Avoid the Pennant Fever” – Jimmy Dugan

Boy, it looks like Roy Lichtenstein took a dump on a blood orange.  I guess that’s what happens when you get Pennant Fever.  But hey!  Three pictures on the front of a card.

Now to chase the Ultimate version

Something tells me Upper Deck isn’t going to bring the Victory brand back to baseball with their new unlicensed cards.  I just hope they do something more budget conscious and not just exorbitant Fleer Retro type sets.

What year is it?

One thing Upper Deck’s absence has done is helped us avoid an even greater over abundance of retreaded designs.  As a result, I’m not completely sick of the 1989 look.  The crazy foil certainly helps.

Just one more year and it will end well, halls wise

Okay, I love plastic cards, but holy hell what is going on with those eyes?

How many times has the word “Gulp” appeared on a card as a sentence?

One more.  I saved the most unique, and thus best, for last.  I’m showing the back because the front of this mystery finest card looks like this…

It’s like Roy Lichtenstein took a dump on a blood orange in the dark

I’ve decided that I’m keeping it unpeeled.  I’m sure I can find the regular and refractor versions down the road, but how often will I come across an unpeeled one?  I can at least tell from the indentations against the black rubber or whatever that coating is, that I have a bordered version.  So, my executive decision is to add a line to my spreadsheet for the “unpeeled” bordered variation.

And it never would have happened if I didn’t go overboard on 2013 Topps.  Thanks a lot Brian!You know what they say.  Halls well that ends well.

Okay, no one says that.