I Haven't Bought New Cards in Ages. I Think I Know Why.

I've been thinking about the fact that I really haven't bought much in the way of baseball cards this year.  Granted, I did buy a full case of Allen & Ginter, but that was a result of sales from last year's case.  I bought a few blasters of Topps Archives and, well, that's it.

No Heritage.  No Chrome.  Not even any flagship.  No Opening Day.  No Bowman anything.  Nada.

Thinking about why that is (besides money of course), I think I have the solution...

Boredom.

I've noticed a general malaise creeping over a lot of the blogs lately.  Some of our most esteemed blogging brethren have packed up their proverbial bags and headed for greener pastures.  Others have got bat crap crazy with ponies, politics, or even Legos (oh wait, that last one was me).

I believe it was Night Owl who lamented a few days ago about how the blogs were silent in regards to Topps' announcement of 2013 Topps Heritage.  I'm guessing we were silent because I'm not the only one bored.

Heritage is the same thing every year.  We know the designs by heart (Topps beat the reprints into the ground for the last five years or so)...and so now they aren't special.  Seeing current players on old designs?  Yep, hello Topps Archives.  Seeing all the old designs?  Yep, hello Cards Momma Threw Out.  Et cetera, et cetera.

And then there is the flagship brand.  

Camouflaged cards?  Sounds great if I have a hankering to open a pack of cards while hunting.  Oh wait, the crinkly foil would scare off the game anyhow.

Pink cards?  Yeah, the best way to pander to the female demographic is to slap some pink on there.  Right on Topps, I bet it's that easy.

Gold parallel, mini, short prints, gimmicks, squirrels, who gives a rat's patootie anymore?

I think what I'm saying is that I need to see something new.

I like the idea of the Panini Triple Play set.  Unfortunately, my Wal*Mart doesn't carry them - and since I have no place besides Wal*Mart to buy packs of cards on whim (i.e. when the wife sends me to get milk or maybe eggs), I didn't get the chance to purchase any.

You know what my Wal*Mart does carry though?

Series 8 of the Lego Minifigures.

That's right.  I can't buy packs of cards, so I buy $2.99 packs of Lego minifigures.  And I love 'em.  Not a bad one in the bunch.  I bought four packs - and since I can't show off any cards, the least I can do is show off Lego dudes (and a dudette).

Actor / Thespian

I used to play with Legos as a kid with my younger brother.  We had tons of Legos - and I still had my collection I could probably sell it all on eBay and pay for at least two or three years worth of baseball cards.  Of course, if I still had my collection I would be keeping them all - and maybe selling baseball cards in order to acquire more Legos.

The point of the matter is actually the skull in the actor's hand.  Throughout all my years of playing with Legos as a kid, I never realized that one side of a Lego guy's hand stuck out far enough so that a block could sit on it as if the figure were holding the item.  Not once did I figure that out.  To the best of my knowledge, neither did my brother.  I'm entirely too tempted to try and see if I can find some of my old Legos in my parent's house and see if maybe the Lego company changed the figures hands after I stopped playing with the toys.  That would make me feel better.

Anyhow, moving on.  The second minifigure is a female skier.  

If you ask me, that's an awesome figure - and there is a male skier in a previous series of minifigures that I still need to track down.

Third, I got a Santa Claus.  

Of the four figures, this one is probably the least exciting in terms of interesting pieces or things I learned...but it's probably the most "useful" figure - I could at least use it to decorate around the holidays!  Heck, the skier would fit in with that theme as well!

Finally, I got the football player - complete with trophy and shoulder pads.

I love the minifigures...and you can be fairly certain that I'll be buying more of these since the card aisle remains a wasteland of crappy Bowman, strange Pokemon-esque games, and blasters of Allen & Ginter (which I definitely shouldn't buy).  

You see Topps, the Lego company knows how to separate my money from my wallet.  They offer a varied product.  A product with enough innovation despite remaining true to a formula (16 figures per series).  A bit of fun in an otherwise way too serious world.  

In other words Topps, if you don't start innovating you will lose me as a collector (at least of new products).  While I know you don't care about me personally, you do care about the collective conscious of sports card collectors.  And you know what, if the blogs are any indication (and they should be since only the most passionate collectors would even think about starting a blog), the people are getting bored.  And bored people turn to other things.  Like Legos.

You know what, I still want the Lederhosen guy.

And the robot.

And the conquistador.

And the cowgirl.  And the businessman.  And the pirate.  And the diver.