2013 Topps Minis released a few days ago, and I've heard a little chatter about them in between all of the Allen & Ginter's excitement. I considered trying some of them out, but ultimately decided against the idea. For one thing, it's a 660-card set, which is a lot of cards. The other drawback is that it's not a new design. Between Opening Day, Opening Day Sparkly Blue Parallels, Topps Series 1, and Topps Series 2, I have already collected many of these cards in one form or another two or three times already. The main draw for the set seems to be that it is online exclusive at Topps.com and thus has a bit more scarcity than your typical base issue. There are some desirable autographs, it seems (Puig is made of gold), but at one autograph or relic per box, it seems like it would be easier to pick up the players you want on the secondary market, unless you want Puig or Trout or something. I may try to pick up an Astros team set and a Blue Jays team set, but aside from that I don't see the point in chasing this product. Mini-cards are fun, but I would rather chase cards that I haven't seen a few times already.
I don't condone pack searching, but I was reading a few blog posts and articles about it, and I did an experiment on a few packs that I bought at one of the big box stores (I don't remember if it was Wal-Mart or Target). I picked up all the packs and tried to see if any of them were thicker than the others, and those were the packs I bought. I didn't do the bending, sliding, or thumbnail-scraping methods because those all have the potential to damage cards that someone else might buy. I think it was some Gypsy Queen and maybe a couple of other baseball products that have relic cards and autographs. I went home, opened them all, and none of them had hits in them. What they all did have, though, was those little white cards with the security tags on them that make the alarm go off when you walk out of the store. Every single one. I am kind of glad that I didn't pull any hits out of those packs, because I feel that pack searching is cheating and taking away from other collectors' experiences in the hobby.
Gint-A-Cuffs V is underway now, as the rules have been posted. I will be typing up my Gint-A-Cuffs posts as I find time for it. I already scanned the cards in my box and sorted the pictures into folders. Adding up the points should be fun. I didn't pull any big hits, and I've heard rumors that at least one person may have pulled a rip card, which may mean game over for the rest of us anyway. We'll see.
I believe I received a trade package in the mail yesterday, but I will have to look at my e-mails to make sure. There is plenty of stuff left for me to scan and post about. It's a good thing I have quite a backlog of stuff to post about, as I have gone a little overboard in my zeal upon returning to the hobby and the finances are a bit strained because of it. I will probably need to focus on a couple of sets a year and try to avoid all of the other stuff that doesn't fit the theme of my collection, whatever that may mean. But don't worry, I still have at least three months of daily posts that I can do, and then after that I can dig into my childhood collection a bit more and revisit some of the things in those old boxes and binders.
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