I've kind of gotten sick of pack ripping. Sick of hunting for packs on big box store shelves, only to find them picked over and searched by assholes (yea, I used that word...apologies to those who are offended).
I went to Target Saturday morning, first time in almost a month. Nothing has changed when it comes to visiting the store; I go and find the items I need, and then hit the card aisle last before checking out. What I saw was kind of pitiful.
- All the clamor that has been Bowman over the past couple of weeks, no sign of it at all.
- It barely looked touched/restocked. If it had been restocked, all there was for jumbo packs was Heritage, MVP hockey, and a bit of GQ
- Blasters were minimal as well; the only one that I touched was 18-19 OPC hockey, and I put it down right away because I thought I could do better with that $20
It also made me think. I'm really happy with how my collection is progressing. I've been completing sets at a good rate so far in 2020, and I'm hoping to have 3 more completed in June when some orders arrive. I've also revisited a couple of sites that I slowed down on using for card shopping, one of them being Sportlots.
I hit up a reliable seller that I've used many times in the past for hockey card needs and decided to start picking up some OPC short prints for a pair of sets I'm working on.
Clint (Sportlots ID: ctcdork) has a great selection of cards at reasonable prices. I decided to grab a bunch of SPs, starting with the 8 above from the 2009-10 OPC set. My thought process has changed a bit on building these "older" OPC sets, I'm actually going after chunks of the SPs first before finishing up with the base cards. I still need 313 cards for this set, but only 37 of them are SPs, and I'll probably keep buying them up before chasing more trades to finish up the set.
Because when I do it the other way, like I did with 2013-14 OPC...
It may sound like a backward way of thinking, but I kind of wish I had started with the more expensive cards from a vintage baseball set such as '59 Topps, because I spent a lot of time building up "numbers" of cards, and now have hit pretty much a screeching halt because I have nothing but high dollar cards left to go.
But that's all water under the bridge. Saving money on packs right now is helping me focus more on trying to complete a boatload of sets I've been working on, and I go back to the immense joy I had when I finished my '64 Topps set, and I'm looking to get more of that in the coming weeks and months.
Venting over. I'm going my own way...come along if you wish.
Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!!
Robert
Seriously, "disregard blasters, acquire singles" is the best thing you can do for your collection! Nice work on your sets, and OPC always looks sharp.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I was in a Target there was a foot of snow on the ground and Heritage was new. I expect to return at some point but it's not like I'm circling it on my calendar.
ReplyDeleteI'm much happier with my collection without buying the new packs. As a lifetime pack ripper that makes me sad to say. But I think if the modern cards were a little better, it'd make returning to the card aisle more worthwhile.
As for looking for Bowman, that will never make you happy. I guarantee that.
Can't say that I blame you. I think it's time to change my own buying habits.
ReplyDeleteVoting for the MacInnis.
Thought this was going to be a Fleetwood Mac post. Oh well. I'm totally headed in the same direction as you... kinda. With the exception of a handful of eBay purchases the last three weeks, I've been really good about cutting back on buying cards. And I definitely don't have any plays on buying any blasters at Target.
ReplyDeleteWas just talking to a collector friend about how since there have been no shows, the chance to go out and finish sets like 2019 Update and 2020 Heritage may be slipping away. I don't have contact info for the local dealers I usually get those inserts from, and I'm not sure if they had them initially, or if they have sold off most of what they got. So I thought I may have to get that stuff from SportLots etc. too. Usually, those outlets are for older items that nobody had at the shows. We were also saying that now that retail is open, maybe getting a few packs of the current stuff would help. But I can't quite justify making the trip to buy packs that won't have very many cards I still need in them. (My friend has gone binging since the stimulus check arrived, but that's how he rolls.)
ReplyDeleteI've bought from Clint as well. Nothing but good things to say about those dealings.
My only recent rip was a 2019 Heritage hanger (clearance). Such a snoozfest I couldn't even get a blog post out of it. Mostly I've been adding to my vintage postcard collection.
ReplyDelete