Oh yeah, I have a blog now.

Sorry faithful reader, I sort of forgot I did this. Earlier today I thought, “I should start a bl… hey!”

I spent Super Bowl Sunday sorting out a 3,000 ct. box of 1990 Donruss, which was fun. Hoping to get a full set or two out of it and I’m enjoying the stroll down amnesia lane.

This is where my pic of a big box of ’90 Donruss goes, but since my phone stinks, here’s a pic of it instead.

There are a lot of errors in the set, which is often infuriating when you’re trying to figure out which variation you have in your hand. The other problem I find is, while building a set, I may notice I have 2 cards numbered 80 in my set, so I pull one and put it up for trade. Later, I go back and realize I am missing the #80 variation and have to go find someone else to trade me my former card back.

For that reason alone, I’m avoiding the Topps 2013 Gypsy Queen set. 2012’s issue has caused that particular irritation more than once and I’m simply done buying and trading for Ryan Braun base cards. It’s over!

But not entirely over, I still need 44 cards from 2012 Gypsy Queen to finish it with several lessons learned. I’ll list the ones I need at the end, and here’s a helpful link to distinguish the SP variations from the base set.

I have purchased a handful of packs of 2013 Topps, mostly to give the boys some reward/bribe for doing good stuff. Maybe the oldest will become a set builder like the old man and then we can have some fun with it, but it’s too much for me to handle. Watching Topher’s breaks on Crackin’ Wax was pretty impressive, but also daunting. Some guys really get into the inserts and parallels, but it’s not for me. Since I like to build the complete set, that leaves a lot of extra stuff to collect, or for me to pretend like it doesn’t exist like a Star Wars purist refusing to own the “enhanced” versions of Episodes 4-6.

2013 Topps #288 Starling Marte blue and emerald foil parallels.

I did get the blue and green Starling Marte parallels from Topps this year, oddly I got 2 blues and still lack the base card.

Speaking of Starling, he and Jeff Locke had good days today, which is nice but since I don’t care at all about the Pirates, I hope they start the year in Indianapolis. Maybe we can at least keep Gerrit Cole around for a little while.

And then there are the Cubs. Only 6 cards in Topps Series 1 (ignoring variations and inserts), all the more reason for me to pretty much ignore it. I’m glad they beat up the Angels today, but my poor heart can’t handle giving them too much of my attention yet.

So, that’s about all I’ve got, I’m still sorting old worthless junk cards and passing time until July. As much as I can’t wait for 2013 Allen & Ginter, I am way off the pace in saving up to buy a hobby case. Back to work!

2012 Gypsy Queen needs are here!

2013 Topps Series 1

I managed to resist buying (so far), but to get my fix I’m going to be watching my buddy Topher bust a box from his case tonight while I think about doing something here on my own blog. Join us (or him, whoever) at Crackin’ Wax.