I wasn't planning on going to the mall yesterday, but some rail service interruptions on my commute home essentially left me stranded at the mall while things got back to normal. So I went ahead and did some shopping. Got a couple pairs of shorts and a pair of shoes from Ross then found the Lids store. I had been looking for a current Padres hat, but their SD selection was pretty limited, so I ended up with a throwback. (Update: as Marcus points out, it's not actually a throwback, but rather the new cap for the Padres Friday home games this year.)
I erred on the side of too-big with my cap, as I have a big mellon and hate a tight hat giving me a headache. But hopefully it shrinks a bit as it's supposed to, because currently I have the dilemma of whether to tuck in my ears, or let the hat push them down and dumbo them out. Neither are ideal. So let's hope it shrinks some or else this hat will likely be worn exclusively during times I'm in need of a haircut.
But yeah, I got my pack of cards and was on my way.
It's a wise partnership by Topps and hopefully this will successfully get some people into/back-into the hobby. Would love to see oddballs like this make a return to prominence like in the days when it was common to get cards with food products and the like.
From the astronomical odds of pulling a non-base card listed on the wrapper (1:423 are your best odds at anything), they sure must have made a lot of these. But you figure a large percentage of them will be given to guys who don't care about cards and will get thrown away.
Anyways, let's see who I pulled.
A couple promising young pitchers, Marcus Stroman and Jacob deGrom. The cards mimic Topps 2016 flagship design, though feature different photos.
Buster Posey is a pretty good name to pull, I suppose.
Here we go! A guy I collect: Andrew McCutchen. Glad I pulled at least one keeper for my collection.
Here's the back. Pretty similar to flagship, but with the "New Era" numbering.
The hat was pretty pricey, so I've thrown the Stroman, deGrom, and Posey on eBay, hoping to recoup a few bucks and make me feel slightly better about the purchase. Check out my listings here if you want. (I always throw in customs as bonus cards, btw.) If they don't sell, they'll be available for trade. (UPDATE: I was able to sell the Posey, but looks like the other 2 are available.)
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend, everybody.
I was wondering who would be the first blogger to take the plunge on these. I love that these sort of retail oddballs seem to be making a comeback; however, I do wish that Topps came up with a unique design for them. I'd be a lot more inclined to spend my money on a hat if they did that. Progress is progress though.
ReplyDeleteIt's Tony Unity, because I'm with Tony Burbs on this one -- these "oddballs" on the hat seem like another reason to reuse the flagship design.
ReplyDeleteI'm picky -- I want a different design. And, I'd be disappointed with not getting one of those special relics in the pack too.
Finally, I'm betting that these cards will go home with a bunch of the clerks at the Lids stores and end up on eBay that way.
When I heard of these... I immediately though of the 1991 Upper Deck Domino's QB Club cards. I had a friend who worked there and he took home hundreds of packs. He made a few sets and sold them to the LCS. I'm sure the same thing will happen with these. On a positive note... it's promotions like these that hopefully will turn a few non-collectors into collectors.
DeleteI didn't even know these existed. That makes sense because I wear a hat until it pretty much falls apart. These are kind of neat oddballs, but it would be nice to see something to distinguish them from the main set. I guess we can't be too picky as these and the Walmart pizza cards are a nice step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I tried to be the first blogger to take the plunge on these, but when I went into my local Lids, the single employee that was working there didn't know a thing about this promotion. Even with the long odds, I like the idea of the hat relic. The designs may not be different, but at least the material is a seldom seen(and logical for the promo) one.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there are no Redsox
ReplyDeleteCool stuff. I don't have a lids nearby even though I could use a new Yanks hat. My other one is a mess lol
ReplyDeleteNice. It was partially due to this post that I decided to just go out and buy a hat (and cards) for myself too.
ReplyDeleteCool hat and awesome cards!
ReplyDelete