A Box of 2013 Topps and the Griffeys it Contained

This will be my last 2013 Topps post, but apparently you are not yet sick of reading about 2013 Topps because here you are.

Happy Thursday night, everybody.

36 packs - Is there a Griffey in there somewhere?

I sprung for a big ol' box of Topps today, mostly to support the only card shop in New Orleans, but also to improve my chances of finally pulling a Griffey so I can write about it.

The shop owner told me I am the first person in the city to buy 2013 Topps as he just got it in today.  Apparently he's not aware of Walmart or Target. 

Let's take a look....

If you're wondering what base cards I got out of that box, I'm gonna go ahead and guess all of them.  I have a huge stack of base cards to go through.  When pulling cards for this post I must have grabbed 80 that were scan-worthy, but I decided to narrow down as most of you have already seen all the best base cards on other blogs.  You know what's up.  And the fact remains that there is no Griffey in the base set, so really, what's the point here?

In all honesty, the set is excellent.  Clean, nice photography, good smell.  No complaints.

 

 

I got zero pinks nor did I pull any camos.  This was disappointing, but not surprising judging by the stated odds.  I look forward to seeing those other designs.  In the meantime, it's sparkly spinach.

I'm trying to get everyone to call this sparkly spinach, by the way.
 

If I bring this back to the card shop for one week in February, I get more cards.  I haven't seen one of these yet, so this was a surprise.  Go ahead and borrow my scan to get your own set for free (don't).

And, of course, lots of these that I can't use yet.  Come on with the redemption site, Topps!  I need a Griffey relic!  A bat knob or a contact lens or some old, uneaten spaghetti.  Some dental floss.  Something.

Finally!  Some of those cool die-cuts.  And they're all refractors, too!  These are beautiful cards and exciting pulls. Neato.

These are extra thick for NO REASON except to fool you into thinking you got a better card.  Plus I got Mariano Rivera (?).  I am wholly against this set.

I really like these, and I'm glad there are 50 of them.  I hope to pull the Griffey from a pack someday, but trades are good, too.....  

A quick word about this insert - It seems the versions you get depend on how you buy your packs.  Here is what I've gleaned from observation and reading everyone's blog posts:

1 - Regular/silver banner versions are the only kind that come in hobby and blaster packs but are not exclusive to them. 

2 - Refractor/silver banner versions come exclusively in rack packs, two per pack.

3 - Refractor/gold banner versions come exclusively in hanger boxes, four per box.

I could very well be way off, but from what I've seen, I think I'm pretty close.  I assume the president of Topps Ryan O'Hara reads this blog.  Or perhaps Douglas Kruep, general manager of U.S. sports and entertainment for the company.  Am I close, gentlemen?

This also means that there are three versions of every player (unless there is a regular/gold banner version, in which case there would be four).  Means more Griffeys for me to find.  Well played, Topps.  Looks like I'll be buying your stuff all year long to secure my Griffey fix.

These are little and plentiful.  I like them OK.  I've always loved this design.  Glad to see it on minis.

The Calling Card inserts are a little ho-hum, but the backs are pretty cool.  So, here's only the backs.
 

This is one of those inserts that looks like a subset, and it doesn't feel like a good pull (hee hee).  Seems like a boring subset from the late 90's.  And I already have two of the Trout, both from blasters.  Not terribly rare or super interesting.  Pretty meh overall.

I have never seen one of these in my life, so I was not really excited at all.  Each box is supposed to contain one auto or relic card, so when I pulled this I gave it a quick read then set it aside and continued busting packs for my auto or relic.  With three packs remaining I realized "Oh, maybe that was it."  Yep, that was it.

yaaaay. :-|

I feel a little guilty not being more excited, what with the card's flamboyant cursive looking so jubilant and happy for me.

But really, what should I do with it?  Should I redeem it or sell it on eBay to recoup some of the cost of the box while Cabrera is hot?  I checked - these are going for around 40 bucks.  He's not a PC of mine, so I really don't care, but at the same time I've never had a "relic" card before and I'm curious.

Better sleep on it.
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Oh, and one more thing:

YYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

This $3 Griffey got me more excited than any triple crown relic that didn't depict Griffey ever could.  Frickin' A, man.  Box worth it.

This is Cut to the Chase #2, which is really #1 because, let's cut to the chase, Topps forgot to put a #1.  I even appreciate how the text on the back kind of "cuts to the chase" by setting up the failure sitch in moderate detail, then jumping straight to the player's success with little/no detail.  It's very Seinfeldian yada yada yada.

Like if someone told you "So, these aliens landed with a plan to conquer us using an army comprised of the zombies of our own dead..............but nope."

"Well, you certain cut to the chase there, but at least the Earth is safe."

(Bonus points if you know the movie for which that is the plot.)

The Darvish and Schmidt also did this with their text, but to a lesser extent than the Griffey.

Griffey looks young.  This picture is 20 years old, and Junior was very much in his prime then.  I wouldn't even mention how young he looks on this card if it wasn't a series 2013.  He just looks like he could knock the skin off of the approaching ball, all Sandlot-style, if he wanted to.

Dude, is Griffey ever the freakin' man or what?