Vision still blurry, eyelids not quite open...ok, now I can focus.
Let's see, what's been going on with the hobby for the past 16 years ? What do Leaf, Donruss, Stadium Club, Upper Deck, Ultra, Pinnacle cards look like now ? Are they still into that whole crazy Refractors scene with only a few hundred made ? Did they stop putting inserts all over the place, with a master set having more inserts than base cards ? Did they put an end to that ridiculous trend tending to cater to the adults and high end collectors instead of kids ? Are we finally rid of parallel cards and one of a kinds ?
Let's see let's see....
Hmmm...
Why on earth is that listing so huge ?
What do you mean, 20 sets just for Upper Deck at the beginning of the century ?
Memorabilia and autographs in every set, really ? Oh, one in every pack ? The Leaf Signature series was pretty fun, that's true, even though the players weren't always spectacular, but I was glad to add a few Blue Jays to my collection for cheap, but this has gotten out of hand. 250$ for a box of cards ?? With only one card in it ?? Cards with actual pieces of hair in them ??
Ok so Pinnacle disappeared pretty fast, which doesn't suprise me considering how ugly Score sets were (I mean, come on...). Then Fleer got Skybox...Donruss reappeared...ok...Fleer goes bankrupt, is bought by Upper Deck...Very well...then only Upper Deck and Topps have a licence...oooookayyyy..and then...huh ? Topps wins the bidding war against Upper Deck in 2010. But....Upper Deck cards were way better than Topps cards, don't the people at MLBPA know that ? Ah well, maybe they've changed (I'll soon find out that, well, not really, but at least their base sets stay cheap and somewhat fun to collect). And enter Panini, that does not have a licence but still decides to put out cards without logos and with cropped up shots so we won't see aforementioned logos. Not exactly a dream come true.
And apparently, since 2001, another nostalgia wave appeared and card manufacturers remembered that there were Hall of famers out there who could also sign cards and who deserved to be all pretty and glossy too.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HOBBY ???
The silver lining, though, is that it's a great time to buy boxes of cards from the 90s, as they're worth basically nothing. And that since 1998, the internet has gone full throttle and it's very easy to find great, reliable dealers who'll send said boxes right to my doorstep. Plus, I have a job and a little money to spend, so let's go crazy ! Well, not TOO crazy, we never know, I may hate cards now. I'm a grown man, with responsibilities and a real life and...ha ! who am I kidding ? of course I still love baseball cards. Matter of fact, I'll go get them all from my closet and start sorting them all over again. And start putting together a spreadsheet, because it's not 1993 anymore, putting little crosses beside the Beckett listings won't be enough. By the way, what's up with Beckett ?
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