Completion and Irritation

I spent the evening at the arcade like any good thirtysomething should do, and arrived home late tonight to discover a package I recently ordered from COMC. I had some extra PayPal bucks due to a card-related thing that didn't quite get off the ground, and in a fit of fury I decided to try to finish off as many sets as I could with the credit I had. I am in the set collecting game for the fun of it, so I don't often like to buy single cards as trading is so much more fun. However, some of these sets have been sitting around since the early days of my blog, which if you've been following the news about my big giveaway you'll know that's a good chunk of time. In short, I completed three Allen & Ginter sets. I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see this great (doctored) card of the Human Highlight Reel. The only thing keeping me from finishing off a fourth Ginter base set collection was the fact that COMC did not have a single base card of some long bearded freak whose name I don't recall. He still haunts my want list.

I've only started purchasing from COMC this year, but I've been happy with them so far. What I've managed to do with every order is sneak in at least one indulgence for both Erin and myself. (Erin, obviously, ended up with a pretty blue Yadi card.) My indulgence led me to irritation, but I suppose stopped short of disgust. I am a huge fan of the Turkey Red brand and am normally interested in all things related. I scoffed a bit at this year's online-only ultra limited set, but I clearly need one of each of the Cardinals cards from it. I decided to slap down a cool $1.39 for this Matt Holliday card, and while it won't look bad in my binder, it's an embarrassment to the Turkey Red name. The design is weird, but what bugs me the most is that there's essentially no difference between this card, a 2013 Gypsy Queen card, a 2013 Allen & Ginter card (only guessing as it's not out yet) or, sadly, a 2013 Heritage card. Topps is now using the same cardstock for the majority of its brands, losing any sense of uniqueness that these products might have previously attained. Basically, you can throw a slap of the same "cardboard" through a cutting machine and print whatever the computer decides needs to be on these things. They're all the same now.

Part of me should feel even more justified and self-righteous in my decision not to collect this year's Turkey Red, but I am not feeling anything but disappointed right now.