The bloom is off the rose

Last year, I had the itch.  The year before, same thing, the itch was there.  2013, well that's a different story.

I've come to the conclusion that the modern set just isn't doing it for me any more.  There, I said it. 

I wanted to love the 2013 Heritage set.  I really did.  But 3+ weeks after its release, 2013 Heritage just isn't giving me the itch.  I will collect the set, but there's no hurry.  By the time A&G comes out in the summer, I'm sure that I'll be able to find dealers that are trying to dump the SPs for a buck or 2 in order to move product.

If I don't get them then, oh well.  There's always next year, or the year after that.  I'm still trying to complete 2011 Heritage after all, so what's the hurry?

But to say that the bloom is off the rose for me as far as the 2013 baseball card releases go, would be quite an understatement.  So far, the most excitement from the '13 Heritage set for me has been pulling these 15 SPs.

Outside of Andrew McCutchen, who I get to watch quite a bit since I reside in the Pittsburgh market, none of these players really excites me.  Ryan Braun?  Nope.  Stephen Strasburg?  The potential is there, but the sample size is small.  Same with Bryce Harper. 

Non-numbered purple parallels?  They don't do it for me either, unless they are Blue Jays. 

Topps has it right though, I do love the thrill of the chase, but even more so now for chasing cards like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Trust me, this is not a complaint at all about the current products that Topps has released.  The flagship design (or sea turtleus designus for those looking for the genus) and the Heritage design are both fine from where I sit. 

Who knows, maybe it's the modern players on the cards.  Maybe it's the umpteen inserts that are quenching my fire. 

Maybe it was finds like the $10 Koufax that thrilled me to no end (and will for a long time, no doubt).  It could have been the National last summer that showed me that there was a great world of vintage out there to be explored and bought if I only searched hard enough.

Pre '86 baseball, I'm all ears.  Newer stuff is going to be purchased at a more leisurely pace, if purchased at all.  I realize that this may take away a lot of my potential for trading in the blogosphere.

Sorry about that, but the thrill of the chase is going to be on my terms.   The bloom is off the rose.

Thanks for reading, Robert