Up to this point in my Topps Series 2 quest for Detroit Tigers, we have discovered the following:
I have spent 51.93 (including shipping) out of my $60 Hobby Box Budget. In return, I have received:
- A complete team set of base cards
- Magglio Ordonez and Fu-Te Ni WBC Relic Cards
- Dual Relic Cards (#/99) of Ordonez/Carlos Lee, Miguel Cabrera/Albert Pujols, Gary Sheffield/Jim Thome
- Carlos Guillen Silk Card (#/50)
- Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera "Career Best" Relics
- Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera "Career Best" Silver Relics (#/99)
I also received a few cards that Marie sent me: Curtis Granderson Toppstown and two separate Ty Cobb Inserts.
Well, I officially blow out the last of the Hobby Box budget with this:
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| 2009 Topps #LLCP-TC Ty Cobb "Legendary Letters" (#21/50) |
That's right, a manufactured patch. I will give you a moment to boo.
Here's the thing though, I actually like this one. Here's why:
1. It spells out his Name. In Series 1, the Manufactured Patch spelled "GAPEACH" Lame.
2. It is attainable. His name is Cobb--4 cards. If this were Carl Yastrzemski, I'd probably feel different
3. The patch has a vintage look and feel to it, which is nice.
4. I envision these four cards fitting in well on a page with some other Cobbs in the set.
Of course, I'm not going to go out at pay $20 or more for one of these cards, which is--shockingly--what these (and the Series 1 versions) often sell for. However, I'll spend a little to pick up these HTA exclusives.
And I did: $8.99 for the card, $2.50 for shipping. That brings my totals to $41.92 for cards and $21.50 for shipping--or $63.42 total.
In all, I'd say that this Series 2 experiment went well. I would have liked to have saved a bit more on shipping--something that I could have done at the expense of time and energy searching eBay for sellers that had multiple cards--but in all, I got far more "hits" than I could have expected to get out of a Hobby box. Remember, the Hobby version guarantees 1 game used or autograph card per box. I got 9, a silk card and an HTA only manufactured patch.
The downside is that I have no trade bait at all from this set, but given that I have my team set, I don't know what I would have used regular Topps to trade for. I also still need to pick up some of the harder to get cards. The Sheffield Autograph has been selling for $17-22, the Granderson Auto for $20-25 and the Granderson Quad Relic for $20-25 as well. Those three cards are the cost of another box right there.
Now certainly, I'm not one to discourage box-buying. I find it fun and exciting. However, for the team collector (in case you hadn't already picked up on this) it makes no sense at all, and the initial fun may be a bit outweighed by an abundance of cards you don't care about and the need to hit eBay to fill your set anyway. For now, I'm happy with how I ended up. The cost of a box poorer, but many cards the richer.
