Half-off in the $ Box? C'mon Down! (10 cards #15)

Almost certainly the best thing in life for me this month is a wonderful sale down at my excellent LCS - 50% off for cards in the Dollar Box, & the 50¢ Box too!

They've got about seven of the fiddy cent boxes, and another 4-5 of what is now a good old-timey Quarter Box. Inflation is banished! Happy Times are here again!

I've only made it all the way through 3 boxes so far, but there are still 11 days left in the month, so I shall return. Let's check out some of the loot...

Why I selected it: I normally -never- Bowman. But I would like to create a nifty 9 card page of Brandon Inge cards, and that would be a little better if it is all cards that aren't from the Topps Baseball set, where Inge will be in with each team set anyway. Plus I wanted a little reminder that he started out as a Catcher - just like Kyle Schwarber - and I need to pick up a card illustrating that, one-uhh-these-days.

Only in Michigan (or maybe Lynchburg, VA) would this card land in a $ Box, but my actual net cost here is about 43¢ or so. How cool is that?

Why I selected it: Remember Aristides Aquino? Nobody else does, perhaps not even Pepperidge Farm, at this point. But back in 2020, that guy made more checklists than ... Yordan Alvarez.

This expedition to the LCS, my first in my hometown this year and only my 2nd Baseball Card shopping trip in all of the year 2026, was not long after Alvarez hit 2 Home Runs - in the 1st inning! So snagging a crisp seeming possible 2026 MVP for just 43¢ seemed a no-brainer at the time. Turns out, the tiny white corner smidgen that means value = $0 is present.

Fortunately upon further review I noticed this card will fit ab-fab perfectly in my HICKORY collection.

Why I selected it: Who doesn't love a classic mis-cut? That's where this card will be headed - a page of examples of Baseball Card production perfection.

Several other things on this card might have lead it to my little pile of treasures that morning. I can almost see what is possibly the Padres original shoulder patch there, so I will certainly need to find a better example of that.

I also tend to have a soft spot for posed cards where the player looks scared of the photographer, like he might be able to cut him from the roster or something. And I do particularly like perfect "Blue Sky" cards, which seem kind of blah-blah, until you try to deliberately find another one.

The real luck of finding this card didn't appear until I brought it home, where, yeah, I read the back - which seems to indicate Arcia was converted from a Major League Pitcher to a Major League Infielder. This surely needs investigating, and perhaps a correctly cut copy of this card, too.

Why I selected it: This should be obvious. Every Ohtani card is worth $100 now, so 43¢ to $100 seems like it would be a crime to just leave all that money in the $ Box, OR the fiddy cent Box. Plus since it is likely to be the only card ever made (we can hope) with both Shohei Ohtani AND Ken Griffey Jr. - on the same Baseball Card! - that it's probably worth $200, easy money.

Plus the goofy graphical illustration of the lighting making Shohei seemingly The Natural, or the Chosen One, or whatever the heck is going on with that, made me laugh, and also made me make a mental note to see if the other cards from this 2026 Series One insert (I think?) have the same over-the-top graphic, or does just the Ohtani card look like this? And what's up with the PROFILES typography? Did Ken pick that?

Why I selected it: OK, confession time. I never learned to skateboard. I went straight to BMX bikes instead. But I do know who Tony Hawk is and I expect I can pretty simply double my 43¢ investment here easily enough on COMC. Because I definitely did that easily enough when Tony Hawk was first on a First Pitch card, some ten years ago already. And until I get around to sending this card somewhere, I will definitely be admiring a First Pitch card where it looks the honoree really can pitch a Baseball, for a change.

Why I selected it: This card went onto the pile because I like Mookie Betts cards. I was also confused by how the letters "EO" could appear on a Dodgers card, so that seemed intriguing. And Mookie has a goofy look on his face. And and Mookie's move to Shortstop late in his career is yet another crowning achievement in that career - most players leave Shortstop near the beginning of their careers. (A large portion of MLB players started out at Short because it is the most athletically demanding position requiring the best athletes - thus the ones most likely to become Pros later). And and and that unusual olde English D on the cap - what's up with this? The last time I saw that was on the "cover" of 2024 Heritage High Numbers, though I think I did finally pull a Dodgers card with this surprising departure from classic LA. I didn't know what the card was, as it takes a bit of time to go though a box of several thousand Baseball Cards, and I'm sure I didn't expect to find mass quantities of extra cheap Dollar Box cards when I left home that morning. On the next card in the box is where I figured out what the Betts card is...

Why I selected it: Hey, those are stars on these inserts. I like stars on Baseball Cards, and I don't mean the players. It's a natural, winning combo.

The team color being used for the stars made a certain duhh-huhh idea click: turn the card over, dummy. 

These are the 2026 Stars of MLB inserts, which only appear in retail packaging formats - something I missed out on for 2026 Topps Baseball Series One. This still quite astounds me - it's early summer and I already can't purchase the first portion of the Topps Baseball set. Was it like that in olden times? Maybe it was. New Series! and all that.

Be that as it may, that Witt card would also look great on a page of Powder Blue inserts - can't recall KC sporting the Powder on the batting helmets too. Maybe I will need another copy of this card for that page. I know I will definitely be collecting 9, or 18, or maybe 27 of these snazzy inserts. Unless they get too loaded up with failed Rookies in the further series of 26 Topps, which is of course quite likely. But there are more $ Boxes left to pillage, so

Why I selected it: Sometimes, while I am scrounging around in the spare change box, I buy cards I don't even like. I'm fine with Tarik Skubal's 2026 Topps Baseball card, and already have a normal copy of this card.

But I had to figure out just W T F here with the "FL" pattern on the card, making it a parallel. It is not numbered on the back. Are we now going to just print random letter combinations on the cards in the never-ending quest for MOAR parallels? 

It would almost appear so. The "FL" pattern makes this a "Spring Training" parallel, referring to the state of Florida. 15 teams of course then instead have an "AZ" pattern on their "Spring Training" parallel. Dance, junkies, dance.

Why I selected it: Hope springs eternal in Baseball, and Tigers fans have high hopes for this young Pitcher. I thought I did pull a copy in my small LCS purchase of 26 Series One back in February, but for Tigers Rookies I always want a 2nd copy of the RC or the more rare Tigers Rookie Debut card.

Plus, those socks! Best Olde English D socks card since a Matt Boyd card a few years back, and he's a Cub now. So with Team Socks right square in the exact center of the Baseball Card, this card will certainly hold down Detroit's spot in the Team Socks collection. You don't have a Team Socks collection, too? Why not?

Those socks will certainly help me remember Troy Melton 4 years now, after his career is over. Hope I'm wrong on that, but the game of Baseball today just seems every day like it is all just an "IL" lottery rather than a game of skill; Melton has barely pitched this year and was a late scratch the day he was due to return from the IL. He is supposed to pitch tomorrow, as I type. We'll see.

Why I selected it: Need it. I knew I hadn't pulled a copy of this one.

Has there ever been a Rookie-of-the-Year Cy Young Award winner MVP? I know there hasn't. Few things get fans riled up like making a Pitcher an MVP instead of that year's Home Run King (boring). And Misiorowski is pitching in the GOAT's League, so there is no way he is winning MVP. But the other hardware is certainly in "the chat" for this exciting young player.

I quite like his Rookie Card there. Nice sunlit card, really shows off his beanpole frame, maybe even foreshadows something with the eye being drawn to his elbow, even if not his actual Pitching elbow. Well done, Topps.

A day after I purchased this top-notch RC, "The Miz" pitched a one Hit Shutout. So that worked out well.

I follow the Brewers almost as closely as the Tigers, though usually not until later in the summer, when I start working over in Wisco. I sure do miss my Uecker broadcasts. This seems like it will be a great year to put together a Brewers Team Set. Don't get me started on how hard it is to just purchase one, down at the Baseball Card store - where these days Fanatics sends all the 30 teams to stores in the middle of nowhere, so I can only pick from Diamondbacks, Marlins, and Mariners Team Sets and the store never has Tigers or Brewers Team Sets. So, so stupid.

Anyhow, this Rookie Card will be a great memento to memorialize Misiorowski's exciting career four years from now, afterwards. I just hope he makes it to October, 2026. Please?

Bonus Round

Why I selected it: OK, another confession: I already own a copy of this card. Although I haven't finished placing the beautiful (on the front) 2024 Heritage sets into beautiful binder pages, I know I don't need this one.

So what gives? More confession: I expect this card is worth a bit more than 43¢, so...maybe that will help me leverage a couple of the infernal Heritage Short Prints or something, somehow.

Two days after I inve$ted in that Yamamoto RC, he pitched a One Hit Shutout, just missing a Perfect Game.

So, if you'd like me to juice the career of your favorite young Pitcher with a 2020s RC, send me a couple quarters and I'll see what I can find, down at the Dollar Box.

My last pack of Baseball Cards?

 

No, I am not quitting Baseball Cards, new, or old. I do however sometimes feel that Baseball Cards are quitting me. This is one of those times.

I can't shake the feeling that this "pack" shown above is the last "pack" I might ever be able to purchase.

I have always preferred absorbing Baseball Cards one "pack" at a time. And by "pack" I mean the single small package of a dozen or so cards, generally sold from a box holding a few dozen "packs."

Now, I can -almost- no longer purchase the classic "pack." The "pack" shown above is a 'Hobby' "pack," as designated by the illuminati-esque capital-H logo that says 'Hobby Edition' in the circle there (I had to use a magnifier to read it). 

I purchased the pack at my always friendly LCS this afternoon, some 6 days after the official Street Date for Series 2 of the 2026 Topps Baseball set. The shop received their S2 boxes several days late this year.

When some Baseball Card products release, my LCS will open a box and sell single packs from it. But once that box is emptied, "packs" are no longer sold there, from brand new Baseball Cards anyway. 

Elsewhere, single "packs" aren't really sold either. For about 10 years or so, I could purchase one "pack" at a time from my local Big Box store known as Meijer. That Michigan based chain is most known to Baseball Card collectors as the source of 'Meijer Purple' parallels, which arrived in a 'blister' that included the one parallel card and one retail "pack" of S1, S2, or Update, albeit with occasional hiccups in whether Update had Purples created for it.

Last year, the 'Meijer Purple' ceased to exist, in favor of another parallel called the 'Meijer Tinsel Foil.' I suspect that probably further hurt sales of the blister packs, which had obviously been in decline for some time. I say that because the blister packs with the single "pack" just sat on the shelves by the dozens, sometimes with multiple years available. Meanwhile various repack products routinely included the purple parallels, which indicate they went back to the distributor to be opened for use in repack products.

So when the blisters with the single "pack" didn't appear for 2026 Series One, I wasn't completely surprised, and knew I would probably have just this one last chance to buy a cheap single "pack" of Topps Baseball Cards, a routine activity for me ever since I was 8 years old. 

Topps still manufactures single "packs" of Baseball Cards - they arrive in what is called a "Display" or "Retail" box. This year they feature 14 cards, in boxes of 20 "packs." But I know of no retail store that still uses these to sell a "pack" of Baseball Cards. Target stores did for a time into the 2010s, but I haven't seen that packaging format at Target in many years now. Elsewhere, perhaps these can still be seen "in the wild," I suppose. But I don't expect to see the classic individual "pack" of Baseball Cards, ever again, unless I am able to visit a cooperative Local Card Shop right close to release time, which isn't always easy for me to do.

Ironically, as part of the very same purchase today, I also obtained a 'fat' / 'cello' / 'rack' / 'hanger' pack of 2026 Topps Series One Baseball Cards at my very same LCS. They sell a lot of retail Topps Baseball Card formats, but they aren't allowed to sell them until a certain number of weeks after the Street Date for the product. And they never obtain the display/retail box with single packs, either.

You may have noticed the single pack I scanned way back up there wasn't exactly cheap either. $8.75 for 12 Baseball Cards. Whereas the 'fat' "pack" I purchased at the same time was just $8 for 36 Baseball Cards. That's the price of Lottery Tickets, essentially, as a 'Hobby' "pack" has a higher chance of hitting an autograph from a young man in his early 20s who is destined to soon have a Major League career of Pitching just 39 innings or so. That is surely worth paying 3x retail prices, isn't it?

It was a great package of S1, too. A bunch of the League Leader cards I wanted, several Tigers, including Tarik Skubal, and also a Paul Skenes card - both Cy Young winners in the same package. I also pulled Houston's Hunter Brown while he was pitching tonight, a Baseball Card experience I always appreciate. The 3 inserts were also very good - I hadn't seen 2026 Stars of MLB insert yet (better than 2025), because that was my first (and last?) taste of 26 S1 retail...

I purchased the fat pack of Series One today because it is probably my last chance to open some Series One this year. I purchased a small stack of Hobby packs back on release day for S1 in February, then got real real busy at work. And before I knew it, 2026 Topps Series One pretty much sold out, everywhere. Sure, I could still order some. But I just like to purchase a few Baseball Cards with my groceries, a "pack" or two a week keeps me happy. 

That is no more. 2026 Heritage is no longer for sale, either. Until Series Two has rolled along, the grocery stores I frequent pretty much had no Baseball Cards for sale. During Baseball season. Massive piles of every other kind of trading card imaginable, but no Baseball Cards. During Baseball season.

So, I am not optimistic about my future of simply enjoying Baesball Cards whenever I buy groceries. I guess that's now just too much to ask of Life, and this always ever more Dollar obsessed Hobby. I will still purchase brand new Baseball Cards, when I see them. But how often will I see them?

Ok, ok, I can't wait any more either. What will be my last (?) First Card from a single retail "pack" of Baseball Cards?

Bummer. I just ripped the foil wrapper on my last "pack" of Baseball Cards. I collect the wrappers, too. Or, did.

I am live-blogging the results here. Sorry, no pop-up What Not store to offer these incredibly valuable collectibles for sale. You'll have to go find your Lottery Tickets on your own. Good luck.

Now, let's take a look...

Yay!

A player I really like.

A cool image, always nice to see something unique, rather than it being used by Topps for some limited edition card instead.

Kwan is having an uncharacteristic poor season; I hope he gets over what is nagging at him. I can't say I am all that optimistic about the Guardians' chances later this season after they got swept at home by the Evil Empire last week. I root for all the teams in the Central Divisions, the AAAA League that loyally keeps Baseball working on the coasts, where it matters.

At least I will remember that card, easily. Onwards...

another easily memorable card

...of a player not playing this year, oops. (PED suspension, followed by injury)

I do like the 2026 horizontals; this design is growing on me much more than 2025 ever did.

another small victory

I quite like the Future Stars cards this year

I collect them, every year

&, I just finished listening to the Tigers-Astros game

this is why I buy brand new Baseball Cards

to see what the players look like

A Series Two standard - a sort-of journeyman, sort-of backup Catcher

a lot of complete Baseball players in 2026 Topps Baseball,

seems to me - not a torso-after-torso-after-torso set. Good.

'nothin but net?

I thought I was looking at a Basketball Card there upon first glance

I'm not sure what Lourdes is doing there in that image as he approaches third base, but I suspect it might be against the Unwritten Rules perhaps. Maybe this is OK if Arizona's dug-out is on the third base side of the field at home, so his ... gesture? ... is for his teammates. 'Cuz otherwise I would expect some chirping.

This card is quite a contrast to a bunch of cards I saw this afternoon as I delightfully lost myself in some Dollar Boxes at the LCS. Those were absolutely loaded with various Bowman and Bowman Chrome cards, 'cuz Baseball Cards are all about Prospect Baseball Cards. Those Bowman sets were so jammed with Batters Batting and Pitchers Pitching - and almost zero other images - I bet the Fanatics Baseball Card miners assigned to Bowman production must sometimes fall asleep at their workstations. Am glad to see this image diversity in 2026 Topps Baseball. Let's hope the roll continues -

who? more Series Two, that's who

Just as I babble about a Hitters Hitting card I immediately hit one. This card gave me huge flashbacks to all those Bowman cards this afternoon, but for a different reason - in those cards I kept seeing a Detroit Tigers card of a player I had never heard of, last name of Massey. I hate it when I see a Baseball Card of my favorite team and I can't even figure out who it is on the card. Thus I don't Bowman, bro.

You can't stop Series Two.

You can only hope to contain it.

the Baseball Card gods are smiling on this last "pack"

the best "packs" have a card from your favorite team in it

luckily for the Topps Baseball Card miner creating up-to-date Baseball Cards via software wizardry, the Tigers had #59 available for Valdez to wear this year, too

bonus points for this being the 2nd card in the "pack" to be from tonight's game

I love Baseball Cards

two leg-kick cards in a row

how cool is that?

I'm slowly falling into a Hunter Greene collection, maybe. That's probably more because I keep finding him on cards I want for various themes; he was a Dollar Box score just this afternoon for a "None More Red" collection you will see here, some day. Dig the red glove on this card, too.

But, yeah, I read the backs...on this Baseball Card I learned that Hunter Greene already has 500 strike-outs, and here I haven't even got his Rookie Card onto a binder page yet. So many Baseball Cards, so little time.

And your 2004 Major League Leader in Hits was...

ain't no insert like a Series Two insert,

I'll just say that

Cesar Izturis, batting for the Dodgers, was 10th in Hits in 2004

bet you didn't know that

Central Division hot pack!

who needs all those famous Baseball Players from the coasts

I've got Series Two Baseball Cards to entertain me

if you are thinking this card might depict a Home Run trot,

well you had always best read the backs,

which confirms the suspicion by talking up Wallner's Homers

well played, Topps

plus, I gots me some Canadia!

They are Central-division located, kinda-sorta,

so a Central-division team kinda-sorta finally made the World Series again

Great Lakes division? 

works for me

the back of this card really didn't work out for the Topps Card Back writer

it has Jays manager John Schneider declaring:

"Tony is going to be huge for us."

sorry, Jays

Santander (as with Johan Rojas) hasn't played this year. For me, this card is a perfect example of something that is really nagging at me about the game of Baseball: Veterans are becoming pointless to hire. To succeed in the game today, human bodies must be so perfectly fine tuned to perfection that they then can't handle regular athletic activity. Mike Trout and Kris Bryant are the poster children for this problem, amongst 2010s stars. On the Tigers we are seeing this now with Gleyber Torres; a great re-signing who really lengthens their line-up - when he can play. Which is not often, any more. Gonna need more Bowman cards, sigh.

nothing says 'fallen-hot-prospect-now-just-good-everyday-player' 

quite like moving to Series Two

Well I certainly won't forget my last pack of Topps Baseball Cards. That's just how my brain (mostly) works, sometimes. Blogging about cards does help in that regard. I hope you enjoyed them, and I hope the retail businesses of the world, or, more specifically, northern Michigan, somehow, somewhere, step up and bring back a single pack of Baseball Cards for me to purchase. Please?

Happy 2nd Baseball Card Day!

 

We've had one, yes.

What about 2nd Baseball Card Day?

It's true. For me, there are 2 big Baseball Card days every season. Today, for me, is the 2nd one - the Detroit Tigers first Spring Training game. Perhaps, such a glorious day for your team was yesterday. 

The Baseball portion of the day began perfectly, when the MLB At Bat app finally managed to stick the launch - the broadcast began with long-time Tigers broadcaster Dan Dickerson reciting a short ode to Baseball, a nod to Ernie Harwell doing the same thing on each season's first broadcast. MLB has not been faring well in delivering me this enjoyable rite of spring in that I would guess I have heard it about twice in the last 7 years.

That was sweet. Immediately afterward, Dickerson introduced his broadcast partner, long-time MLB starting pitcher Dan Petry. And then... MLB cut to commercials and obliterated the next simple joy of another rite of spring - hearing the announcement of my team's first starting 9, year 2026. Not well done.

To be fair, this sometimes happens on FM broadcasts on certain stations. What I particularly dislike about losing the line-up announcement to commercials is that the same broadcasters, both MLB and some radio stations, inevitably also broadcast filler commercials for themselves, because they couldn't sell all the possible ad spots. Let.Me.Hear.The.Lineups! Is that too much to ask of a paid audio subscription service?

I'm pretty sure the simple frustrations of enjoying audio Baseball lead me to focus on also having some packs to rip on Spring Training Opening Day. This year I largely went with a brand new "2025" Baseball Card set, released just 3 days ago:

Stadium Club is usually the "blaster" where I most notice the pointless extra packaging of 8 separate packs instead of a single brick of the 40 cards. Here we go with one last 2025 First Pack -

zero complaints

Say it with me now: "Baseball" "Picture" "Cards"

I will surely once again be enjoying a new Stadium Club release. I expect it has a perfect record in this regard. This year's design is simple, small, & baseball-esque.

I quite liked my 2026 First Card. Is that the Catcher gear for a "Brew Crew" game in Milwaukee? I'm not sure but will be doing some sleuthing on that as, if so, this will be a clutch add for my Brew Crew collection.

Let's flip over

another elegant effort; the background image is a subtle nod to the name of the product. I particularly appreciate the font size on Stadium Club.

I must confess that I always hope for repeat of a card back feature from the very beginning of Stadium Club — the use of the player's Rookie Card for the card back image. Another year of SC, another nope. Heritage Stadium Club? I'm ready.

Not seen on that card, but on many other cards, is a small detail in the "Acquired:" line, which reveals the round and even pick # in that round, for players still with the club that originally drafted them. Trivia on the back of a Baseball Card is a good thing.

Another truly "Stadium Club" image, as with the Contreras card. Another good thing.

The inevitable bad thing in Stadium Club packs: parallels. Always, in my opinion, completely useless. That's something which is particularly bugging-me when each card costs 62.5¢. I do not want Stadium Club parallels. 

This one actually scans better than it appears in hand, as it is the 1/blaster Sepia parallel. In a tiny bit of grace from the Baseball Card gods, there are no more Sepia parallels AND Orange parallels. Let us hope they never return.

Touchdown!

I pulled this card while the Tigers were batting for the first time in 2026. I briefly suspended pack openings on the thought that the Tigers #1 Ace would be on the mound for "Opening" Day, wouldn't he? 

No, no, that's not how it works on the first day of Spring Training. Duhh.

Rookie! Wheee!

The blaster stats weren't full-on ridiculous in that regard, at all, as of the 33 base cards, only 7 were Rookie Card cards. I have seen slightly worse ratios in small checklists; SC is slimmed down back to 200 cards this year, so RCs could have easily gotten out of hand. Just one blaster sample though.

That concluded the 5 card pack. Of the 33 base cards, 3 were Retired players; often a highlight of Stadium Club, perhaps those lights will be a little dimmer this year.

As usual, routine In Action photos can create Baseball Card perfection in Stadium Club, even with an image point seen countless times before...

something also true of Hitters Hitting cards

The Tigers love continued excellently in this blaster:

This is how to Stadium Club.

Although this is a Detroit image from the 2025 season, it felt like the perfect image to pull a few minutes before the Tigers prospect strode to the plate in Florida. Batting Practice is always a welcome sight on a Baseball Card in my opinion, and was a perfect accompaniment for a Spring Training appearance. Particularly as Jung is very, very much "on the bubble" in his sophomore season, with a solid crew of Tigers infield prospects coming along right behing him.

I even managed to pull a 2nd repeat Cy Young award winner card from the same blaster!

Now I get it.

Best Pitcher Face = Best Pitcher.

I suppose this is a new SC insert though the little cardboard box doesn't brag on that fact like it does with this next insert:

strong Land of the Lost vibes

check out the true Rainbow Foil

these things photograph very well

The total blaster contents were:

2 inserts

5 parallels

33 base

7 RC

3 retired

A few more, of interest

I always like Steven Kwan cards.

This is the Base Lime Green parallel probably exclusive to retail blasters, the only retail format it seems. At first I found this a bit more acceptable than the previous pink can of paint dumped on to the card. I simply imagined I was looking at Kwan playing in Oakland, but underwater, and all was kinda queasy well. Because, I like Steven Kwan cards.

But then, I pulled this card -

That's the way an "Oakland" card should appear, I suppose.

However, this wiped out my grudging acceptance of the Kwan parallel.

Then, the Baseball Card gods again took pity on the newly poor Stadium Club purchaser...

much better than playing in the San Francisco Bay

let's discount double-check, side-by-side

no doubt, SC parallels still dumb

Fortunately, no one buys Stadium Club for the parallels. Do they? Purchasing packages of Baseball Cards just to get the parallels, hmmm, let's not get all Baseball Card existential here. Instead, we suffer the dumb-dumb parallels to get to the good stuff SC always delivers -

- and 2026 Stadium Club does indeed deliver. I was fortunate, I thought, to find a 2026 blaster for $25 at my temporary LCS near where I work. I would expect the local Big Boxes to charge $35 and I doubt I would pull that trigger. Nor will I likely repeat this blaster purchase as I will just plan on buying the most fun cards on the checklist from Sportlots for 20¢ each.

As a once weekly dopamine hit from "ripping" however, a small acquisition of Stadium Club is a good way to get motivated to finally dial in that Sportlots interface (I feel like taking notes might help) and get myself some of the most striking cards produced each year. Baseball Picture Cards. 20¢. Can't wait.

A few more new LCS treasures

 This year I was lucky to be able to visit an LCS on the day some brand new Baseball Cards were released, back on the 11th when 2026 Topps Baseball Series one appeared.

However I can hardly visit an LCS without also looking at the old cards. I didn't have a whole lot of time for that, on that visit, but I managed some finds...

This card checked several very current boxes for me. Buying it felt like a great way to celebrate the surprise of the Tigers seeming to "push in the chips" for the 2026 season with a pair of big name starting Pitcher signings, JV being the 2nd of those after also hiring Framber Valdez for the next 3 (will there be 3?) seasons.

I had never seen this card before, not being one to deliberately look for Team USA or Futures Game type cards. As if there aren't enough Rookie Card cards to pick from, there are also of course "pre" Rookie Cards, sometimes also called Prospect cards, and although this next terminology - "pre-Prospect" cards - might not be in common usage, I well know there are cards created for players before they are even prospects, too.

Meanwhile I am in the beginning stages of a new effort at collecting 2005 Topps, a design which is also quite perfect for my simple one page Player Collections, with the dramatic LAST NAME up there at the top. So discovering a 2nd VERLANDER card (a fresh take on the idea is his 2025 Archives card, though in a Giants uniform) will potentially fit into multiple collecting efforts, particularly since his card in 2005 Topps Baseball says DRAFT PICK on top, which is far from ideal. His 2005 Topps Chrome card does say VERLANDER on top, but that card only appears in an autographed version. Justin never warmed up to signing Baseball Cards afterwards; his autos are rare and expensive as a result, and of course so many people only want autographed Rookie Card cards, so his '05 TC Rookie auto will never be a card that I own as it sells in the four digit range I believe.

However I remained perplexed for a bit on just what set this card appeared from. So many collectors are so excited by the prospect of somehow obtaining their very own priceless '52 Mantle card, for pretty much every first round draft pick, every year, that countless pre-Prospect, Prospect, and Rookie Card cards exist for a chance for people to believe they can luckily complete that completely unrealistic quest. One result is "Futures Game" cards might appear almost anywhere in an impossible-to-know-them-all galaxy of Baseball Card product, in a set, or an insert set, or an online-only release, or who knows where; I certainly never ever care about the idea.

Fortunately, this card finally offered up the necessary set origin clue, on the back of the card -

- that being the "UH220" - the card #

which reveals that this is a card from 2005 Topps Updates & Highlights.

That theme - a new-to-me Tigers card from an update set, quickly continued:

2010 Topps Update

2010 did drop the "Highlights" concept from Series Three, and was perhaps considered the Update "Set" internally at Topps as this is card #US-37.

Personally I never warmed up to the 2010 design with the seeming graphical conceit that we are looking through a keyhole or possibly a camera aperture of the kind known as a "fisheye lens." I do however quite like the use of Team Color to create that effect, and overall the design stays out of the way to let the game of Baseball be the focus, not the graphics. The result of all that, for me, is just a very slow-motion effort to build a Tigers team set and probably not much else from 2010 Topps Baseball.

I will probably need another copy of this card however, as I was quite pleased to discover a Tigers card to use on a small collection of "It's a Pop-Up" cards.

Also I can note that 2026 Topps owes a tipped cap salute to 2010 Topps, it appears.

Very small collections informed my next pull from the single's box...

2004 Topps Baseball

® & © 2003 THE TOPPS COMPANY INC.

Yes, you are seeing that correctly; that is how the teeny-tiny legalese on the back of the card reads. This card must have been created not long after the era when the Topps Baseball set for the coming season was fully publicized and graphically disseminated via advertising -BEFORE- Christmas, a trend I completely abhorred, leading to the copyright date not matching the official season of the actual Baseball Card.

None of that has anything to do with why I kept this nice example of a Topps Gold parallel, which was because although I always like Manager cards, I particularly like Manager cards showing one "In Action," as the Baseball Card lexicon describes it. And I figured I would never ever see a copy of this card for sale ever again, regardless of being a parallel or just a boring base version, so this was my one chance to chip away at reaching 9 nifty Managers, In Action cards.

Those three cards were delightful finds from just a single row of 'single digit' cards ($1 ~ $10) in a multi-row box; that particular LCS had 5 more rows of them I could peruse on some anticipated future visit. Alas, sometimes the greater enemy of enjoying Baseball Cards is not cost, but Time, and that is all the cards I can scan for you right now, although that LCS visit did offer up some other surprising treasures -

yes, the Good Ole Grateful Dead on some cards, a new release from Upper Deck

stay away, is my advice, as a GD fan of several decades

will scan some soon

&, finally, this It Also Comes in Packs delight:

Preview: It was a "fun rip"

scans soon-ish

cya then