Check Out My Cards 4: I Got it at Sportlots 4: What eBay Hath Wrought 41: Making My Own Box of 2013 Topps Archives

I wanted to make some progress on my 2013 Topps Archives set, but I am so close to being finished with it that buying packs was a sure way to get a bunch of duplicates. So I decided that instead of buying a box of cards, I would take the cost of a box and see what I could get from the set with that money.

My first step was to get the last few short-printed base cards that I needed. These things are a pain in the butt, and now I don't have to worry about collecting them anymore. I think these might have come from Sportlots, but I don't remember anymore.

I also grabbed a couple of these colored acetate stained-glass Gallery of Heroes inserts. Yogi Berra and Willie Mays were pretty affordable at the time, so I added them to my cart. I sure like this insert set.

Three of the 1972 Basketball design insert set got knocked off of my Want List. I got Yu Darvish, Tom Seaver, and Willie McCovey. Kind of like the Mini Tall-Boy inserts, these are very minimalist in design and I think they're great. I think most of these and the Gallery of Heroes cards above were found on COMC.

Stadium Club Triumvirate was the most costly set from this purchase, mostly because of Machado and Trout. I got these guys on eBay because they were a little cheaper there than on COMC or Sportlots.

Rounding out my custom box of cards are Cole Hamels, Adam Jones, and Alex Roid-riguez. When I put them all together, the team name spelled out behind them is Priolers, which is probably what I will name my next child.

With this approach I was able to whittle 14 cards off of my want list, which is far better than I would have done buying a Hobby Box. Most of these inserts fall one or two per box, if that, so chances are good that a box of cards would only yield one or two of my needs, although there is also the chance that it could contain a nice big-money type card. I am pretty happy with this approach, though. I only need 18 more cards until I declare this set completed.