Feeding the Habit: 2014 So Far...

I'm still trying to figure out this blog thing. Upon its launch, I had Feeding the Habit posts up for each Card Night of busting packs. That proved to be a terrible idea. I quickly fell behind with all of the scanning and writing, plus there just weren't always cards worth showing. It all became rather pointless.

Well, I've gone too far again. This time, in the opposite direction. I've waited so long that I'm about to bombard you with a gazillion cards that have popped out of packs for me in the first two months of the year. Fortunately for you, I'm gonna be economical with the "literary" portion of the post.

First up, the repack finds. Let's play...

What am I hoping to uncover among the junk wax jungle to be found your standard repack?

2002 Topps Archives Don Newcombe BRO #90
2004 Fleer/SkyBox Autographics Shawn Green LAD #54
1988 Topps K-Mart Memorable Moments Pedro Guerrero LAD #11

Dodgers that I still needed.

1999 Bowman's Best Al Leiter NYM #64
2007 Topps Finest Brandon Webb ARI #34

Shiny (though dusty) pitchers.

2005 Fleer Tradition R.A. Dickey TEX #204
2007 Topps Heritage Jake Peavy SDP #352

Non-shiny pitchers.

1987 O-Pee-Chee Dan Quisenberry KCR #15
1996 Topps Chrome Randy Johnson SEA #43

Alternate versions of pitcher cards I already had.

2002 Topps Ten Jim Edmonds STL #179
1997 Pinnacle Ozzie Smith STL #122

Cool (coincidentally Cardinal) non-pitchers.

1994 Upper Deck Greg Maddux ATL #320
1994 Upper Deck Kirby Puckett MIN #325

Hall-of-Famers that slipped through the cracks back in the day.

1974 Topps Milt Wilcox CLE #565
1977 Topps Frank White KCR #117

Random vintage, usually good for at least an upgrade.

1993 Leaf Ray Lankford STL #297
1996 Leaf Brian McRae CHC #109

Aesthetically pleasing cards (can't go wrong with that Wrigley ivy).

1978 SSPC Yankees Diary Mickey Rivers NYY #13
1986 Topps Stickers Nolan Ryan HOU #24

Oddballs!

1999 Topps Todd Stottlemyre ARI #356
1993 Upper Deck Robb Nen TEX #687

And, of course, mini-collection hits, including the biggest, best and most favoritest: Getting a Grip.

1998 Bowman's Best Dan Reichert KCR #188
1993 Score Select Rookie/Traded Jeff Reardon CIN #135T

Unlike Rollie Fingers, Jeff Reardon agreed to shave his facial hair to become a Red. Was it worth it?

1991 Upper Deck D.J. Dozier NYM #3
1990 Topps Glossy All-Stars Cal Ripken BAL #16

The mini-collections are not judgemental. Whether you played 25 big-league games or 3,001, you use a Doughnut or wear a Turtleneck, and you're in.

1996 Fleer Ultra Robby Thompson SFG #571
2000 Fleer Tradition Mickey Morandini CHC #326

And that's why you can't beat repacks.

Of course, it's the beginning of a new year, and that means busting into a new Topps flagship set. I avoided looking at all of your posts about these out there. I enjoy seeing the cards for the first time when they break out of a pack and into my hot little hand. Believe it or not, I managed to be quite successful at avoiding unwanted previews (though it was impossible not to have had the Puig image burned into my retina long before the cards hit the shelves).

2014 Topps 75th Anniversary Buybacks 1971 Topps Gary Nolan CIN #75
2014 Topps 75th Anniversary Buybacks 1974 Topps Paul Lindblad OAK #369

That said, I had seen these before, though without the little foil stamp. These were the two buybacks to come out of my hobby box. Not bad. The Nolan is odd because it's not only pretty badly miscut, but there appears to have been a piece of tape affixed to the top of the card at some point. Really gotta dig the Lindblad card for its patterns and lighting and angles and colors and sense of motion. Yum. Pretty sweet that they're both pitchers, too.

Speaking of sweet, what did you get for Valentine's Day? I came home to find not only a card and chocolates from my beautiful and brilliant wife, but one one of those 72-card Topps hanger boxes! You really have no idea how lucky I got when Cathy came into my life. Imagine pulling a quad auto/relic Ruth/Cobb/Robinson/Mantle card in a pack. My wife is better.

2014 Topps Yellow Bryce Harper WSN #100
2014 Topps Yellow Dustin Pedroia BOS #166

These were the two yellow parallel cards to show up in that hanger box. To paraphrase Whitey Ford, we got us a coupla Charlie Hustles here!

While it's 2014 for Topps, it's still 2013 for Panini (at least it is for me). That's a good thing because last year was the year that they really made me take notice. There was a lot that I liked among their 2013 releases.

2013 Panini Pinnacle Clear Vision Complete Game Mariano Rivera NYY #CV10
2013 Panini Prizm Red Pulsar Aroldis Chapman CIN #152

That said, this Mo card is a bit of a mixed bag. Shiny, transparent, nice picture, excellent subject... but "Complete Game"? I know it's all just part of a parallel thing, but still, it's just plain jarring to see. Mo started ten games in his rookie season, completing none. End of the Mariano Rivera, starting pitcher, story. Meanwhile, gaudy though they may be, Panini's Prizm Pulsars really work for me. Especially when you get the kind of color synchronicity that you have here with the Reds' Cuban Missile.

2013 Panini Cooperstown Signatures Whitey Herzog MG STL #HOF-WTY (599/699)

I'll finish with this, the second autograph that I've pulled from this set. Pretty exciting, especially since I dig manager cards.

Whew! Made it. Maybe monthly is the way to go with Feeding the Habit posts...

End transmission.