The best card I pulled in 2013

This isn't quite as awesome as SUPER CAT from 2012 but it's pretty nice. On October 28th, I went to Wal-Mart to buy something or other and ended up snagging a couple of packs of 2013 Topps Update. Inside was this:

Very nice! But redemption. Who knew when it would arrive? Who know if I would get that card at all? All redemption card stories online are nothing but tales of sorrow and woe, how could I avoid this miserable fate? I entered the code in the Topps redemption thingy and hoped for the best. Last Saturday this arrived:

Tom Glavine mini autograph card numbered 3/10. I never seem to have problems with redemptions. The only time in the past 10 years I didn't get what I was supposed to get (a Jesse Ventura relic) I got something equally cool (an Erik Estrada relic). I guess if I have to complain then, um... the edges are a little chippy? I guess? Like every other card with black borders? But honestly, who cares. It's an on-card autograph of a Hall of Famer that I'm never going to sell and will rot in my collection until my heirs dump all my cards on Craigslist when I croak. 

This is a hella nice looking card, too bad there's only 10 of them. Tom's not in the mini base set, so take a good long look, this is the only one you're likely to see. I like that career stat line on the back, and also the authenticity legalese that is cleverly integrated in the '71 design. Can you find it kids? The only thing that could make this card better is one of those old hologram stickers that Topps used to plaster on their autograph and relic cards 10 years ago.

So a pretty good pull for 2013 considering my pack buying habits dropped drastically last year. Will I find anything this good in a pack in 2014? Will I even buy any packs in 2014? We got 11 and a half months to find out.

MY LITTLE PONY-JO!

Last September I bought a pack of Pony cards and got this:

oh jeebus he's on about the ponies again

This is a card of Twilight Sparkle's combination Library/Treehouse made out of an actual tree. There's even a basement with a Dr. Frankenstein-like laboratory in there. Carved out of a tree that's still alive even though ponies have crashed right through it at least three times so far. I dunno how either it's magic or some shit stop asking questions. In the first series set, these 'Location' cards were one per pack and confused a lot of people who saw an early checklist thinking that this was going to be a CCG or something. (The actual My Little Pony CCG comes out next month, but I digress). These cards are extremely common and I had a couple of this one already when I pulled this particular card, but there was something special about this one.

i thought he was over this pony nonsense

The special thing about this card is not that 'enjoys' is spelled 'ejoys', although that is an error that was corrected in the second printing. Correcting errors was something done to baseball cards a long time ago back when the cards were popular enough to warrant a second printing. You won't have to worry about corrected errors in your new Topps sets so you have plenty of time to keep on chasing manufactured variations. The special thing about this card is the code at the bottom. it's impossible to see by the scan, but the print of that code is slightly raised from the rest of the card. Most other printed codes are flush with the card. You could enter that code on the URL listed on the card and see if you were a winner! I wasn't. I put the card away and forgot about it for a while.

I got more packs and more codes after this one and started entering them again one night when I stumbled across this one. Since that lettering was slightly different than the others thought 'what the hell' and reentered it again and got this:

pony screenshots even this man has no life

Voice actor autograph!

I IZ A WINNAH

Apparently the first time I entered that O as an 0 or maybe an 0 as an O or got my 5's and S's confused or something but who cares, it worked. The font was changed in the second printing to make it less confusing as well. So now you know the secret to finding winner cards in the first printing of Enterplay MLP cards: look for the codes with slightly raised text. Too bad the contest ended last June.

Needless to say I was very excited about this. I downloaded the official rules PDF and everything. I stuck the card in a plastic sheet all by itself in my Official Enterplay MLP binder (don't judge me) for safe keeping. And promptly forgot about it until the following May.

So the contest expires on June 1st, it's past the Ides of May and I realize I done goofed. I scrounged a self addressed bubble mailer, envelope, 2 $2.05 stamps, a card saver top loader, whatever personal info I was required to send and the actual card itself and mailed it off, hoping for the best. By about labor day I pretty much gave up on it, figuring that I sent it too late or didn't follow the rules to the letter or something.

THEN.

LAST WEEK.

THIS ARRIVED:

ffs can't dayf just chase after puigs like a normal person

OMG RARITY

AUTOGREEF CARD OF SAINT TABITHA OF THE GERMAINS

The card came despite my idiocy and it was one of the three autos I really wanted from the set. (other two being Andrea Libman and Kathleen Barr)(sorry all other non-best-pony voice actors) And in an twist, my redemption card ended up being, literally, a rarity.

please tell me he's not going to be posting more ponies now that the new season is almost here

One interesting thing about this card is how the corners are much more rounded on this card than all the others in the set. The base cards have rounded corners two, just not playing card rounded like this one. Well, it's interesting to me. So there's a good redemption card (technically contest card but whatevs) story for you all to file away. Hopefully I have another good story to tell soon because...

OMG TOPPS CARDS IS WORSE THAN THE DAMN PONIES ROTTEN MONOPOLY HOBBY RUINERS

If not, well, I can always post ponies.

All My Heywards - 2013 Topps Spring Fever

Does what it says on the tin. Posts. Of my Heywards. All of 'em. All winter long. They're already scanned to boot. Gotta do something until baseball starts up again. Have a Heyward promo thing.

2013 Topps Spring Fever #SF-7

I think this was the beginning of the season Topps Hobby Store Promo Thingy. Not sure if it was given away once a week or in packs or what, but I've been to two card shops lately and the cheapo boxes were completely infested with these things. The front is very refractory/shiny, but scans this sickly chartreuse.

Series Two Is Live

Here's the only pack I really need from that series.

And the back.

It is Federal Law that anyone or anything that mentions Evan Gattis even in passing must reference the fact that he was a janitor.

2013 Topps 1972 Minis & Cut to the Chase Wantlist

Too damn tired to write a Heritage post tonight so I'm gonna hit ya with another want list. Romney has binders full of women, I have binders full of half-finished Topps insert sets. As part of my mad rush to organize I'm going to pick out a select few I really would like to finish and probably start trading off all the rest. May as well start with the one insert set I really really really want to finish this year. I love the '72 design, and this mini set may have drug me kicking and screaming back into buying packs of Topps. May as well strike while the iron is hot and see if I can trade for some of these suckers and finish this one up before Series 2 comes out. So far I've got 19/50.

TM-2 Dan Haren
TM-10 Adrian Gonzalez
TM-12 Anthony Rizzo
TM-16 Joey Votto
TM-26 Ryan Braun
TM-28 Alex Rodriguez
TM-30 Curtis Granderson
TM-36
TM-37 Evan Longoria
TM-38 Adrian Beltre
TM-39 Yu Darvish
TM-41 Bryce Harper
TM-45 Cal Ripken Jr.
TM-46 Jim Rice
TM-47 Roberto Clemente
TM-48 Lou Gehrig
TM-51 Ken Griffey, Jr.
TM-57 Albert Pujols
TM-61 Brooks Robinson
TM-99 Ozzie Smith
TM-100 Eddie Mathews

1971 Minis
1 2 3 5 7 10 11 14 16 17 22 24 25 26 27 30 31 33 34 35 39 42 43 50

I've also decided I would also like to collect the Cut to the Chase cards simply because they is so purdy. But since Topps got silly and skip-numbered the set I'm going to skip out on collecting all of 'em and just do  enough to fill a binder page. I've got five so far, I'll take any of these to fill out the last four slots. If you're a huge Padres fan and would like to trade for the Gwynn, I'll be happy to listen.

CTC-2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CTC-3 Derek Jeter
CTC-5 Paul Molitor
CTC-14 David Price
CTC-20 Roberto Clemente
CTC-22 Ryne Sandberg
CTC-23 Willie Mays

I Love 2013 Topps

I don't love it enough to actually write a post about it, even though I have had card scans ready for weeks now. I don't love it enough to spring for a box of it, even though prices are starting to fall precipitously. I don't even love it enough to build the set. I have a pile of base cards that I'm trading/giving away if you need 'em for a set. I don't love the parallels. The Emerald is not as nice as the sparkly twinkly ones from a couple years ago. I would like to get a pink one just for giggles, but those are numbered to 50 or something so I'm not going out of my way. I'm not crazy about the inserts either. They are a hell of a lot better than the ones from last year but other than the fantastic Die-Cut set I'm not overly impressed with any of them. Except one. One I love. Love love. Deep and spiritual love, not anything paltry or cheap or disgusting.

I friggin love the 1972 Topps minis.

I wants them all.

Here's one-fifth of the set just because I has them and I want to show them off.

 i loves them all my pressssioussss

The theme song for 2013 Topps Baseball

One last insomnia-fueled post before I head into hiatus mode.

If I open any 2013 Topps - and I won't rule it out quite yet - I will be listening to this song on repeat while I rip open that box of cards.



(I might have to buy a box just so I can listen to Motorhead)

Well played, Topps

Note: I made a really dumb baseball card comic. Go vote for Dayf at Nachos Grande if you want more of these silly things from me.

Apparently Topps has gotten wind of the fact that I have given most of this year's collecting money to Hasbro in exchange for miniature candy colored equines. Hoping to exploit my weakness for

Pretty

Pink

Ponies

Topps is including a new parallel version in 2013 flagship:

I think they are now just an green orange parallel away from going full Rainbow Dash. (there's also a shiny emerald variation apparently) Valiant attempt, Topps. I'll probably still hold out for the factory set though.

UPDATE: Awww snap, there's a 1972 Topps insert set in there too. Topps must want me back badly.