Cracking a Hanger of 2013 Topps: Lots of Royal Blue Stuff

Everyone's showing off Ginter, so that means it's about time for me to show what I got in my hanger of boring ol' flagship. For my birthday, the good ol' Ma wrapped me up a box of 2013. I haven't opened much from anything this year, because, like every year, I'm cheap. I buy discount, always.

But I won't stop Ma, if Ma so chooses to gift me the new goods.

So what did I get?

A few green sparklies. Pretty nice names to get Hosmer and Pujols. Two Royals out of the three greens in the box. Keep this in mind. Spoiler alert: it's the theme of this box. Oh yeah, and it's the title.

Some more inserty inserts. Love those Calling Card inserts, though Pap is about the worst card I could get.

Then a bunch of these Chasing History thingies. I was pretty excited to only get one current player in Kemp and the rest all Hall-of-Famers. These are some regal-looking cards.

And finally, a crapload more Royal blue. I'm happy to land a hit, even if it is a Moustakas, which really has no place in my collection. I guess, for novelty's sake, it's the first piece of blue jersey I own, I think. Pulling a camo parallel feels pretty lucky, too. I think Lough is actually doing decently lately, too.

So, a pretty decent box overall, even it the colors were all wrong.

I Drove to Texas for Two Cards

I recently made a little road trip from Tennessee to Texas, which was a pretty insane climate shock for a Michigander. It was under pretty sad circumstances, to help my little sister in a time of grieving. As sad as the situation was, I still got to do a road trip with my awesome sis, who has been noted on this blog in the past for her cardboard gifting.

So, the south is pretty dern hot, eh. Beautiful, though. I actually really enjoyed all those mesquite trees and stubby cacti in west Texas. But that water, man. Holy hell, that's undrinkable!

I found a little mall card shop in little sis' hometown of San Angelo. Sportsmaniac is a little mall shop. It was nice and clean and had some lovely cards. Me, I prefer musty messes of disorderly dime boxes. The closest they had to that was a $2 box. I found two pretty neat cards.

I don't really care about Gordon Beckham, but it's a piece of hat! How about that? Do you like my hat? I do not like your hat.

I couldn't pass up a piece of "college worn hat" just for the sheer novelty of it. The piece is all stained and stitched and looks to have maybe an ink stain. I love the really used game-used cards. This may eventually end up as trade bait, but for now it's a neat card to have.

And I found this Mike Trout Heritage Minors rookie. I figured that's just too good of a deal to pass up for $2. Arkansas Travellers was a team name I was unaware of.

So that's it. I drove all the way to Texas for two cards that cost me $4. Oh, yeah, and to hang with little sis Holly. So it's time once again to show off the best card I ever received as a present. Boom:

Best little sister ever, right?

More Bowman Heritage I Don't Really Need

Adding needs to my 2007 Bowman Heritage set is slow-going these days. I only need a few more cards, and I fear Bowman may bring back Heritage sets before I finish.

A recent trip to a not-so-local LCS yielded a few cool additions to the set. They had some hits for a buck. Now, I'm not really hoping to collect all the Pieces of Greatness GUs, but, hell, for a buck, why not?

I have a heap of admiration for this card's design. I love the stands in the back and that they decided to feature Kent bunting. Another feature I dig is how the player's full legal name is printed. Franklin, eh? 

This one's a little less interesting, but Rich sure does look happy. Whatever happened to this happy-go-lucky Canadian? Baseball Reference doesn't know, but they do note his full name as James Richard Harden. So, there goes the full name theory.

Maybe if the player has adopted a version of their middle name as their first name Bowman decided not to step on any toes. Fan favorite Trot Nixon's full name is Christopher Trotman Nixon. But, hell, you'd call yourself Trot, too, if given the option.

OK, I'll leave this full-name issue now. This is the last 2007 Bowman Heritage hit I snagged for a buck. Like Harden, here's another previously effective pitchers who went AWOL. Too bad, too. Dontrelle was fun to watch, and his wind-up makes for a great-looking card.

So, as much as I'd like to just get the base set of 2007 BH completed, it's not going to happen soon. Luckily, I can just keep filling my pages with stuff I don't need like this.