Sophmore Slump

One of the benefits of a player you like going through the dreaded sophmore slump, is that you are able to pick up cards of them a lot more readily. And cheaply too. Mr Heyward is an example of that.

I've gone from not even seeing cards of his as people hoard them away in tightly sealed vaults, to being able to pick them up at card shows and card shops whenever I want.

I visited one of the local shops awhile back and they brought out this little beauty from behind the counter.

 From 2011 Topps Lineage. No one seemed to like this set but me. Although I still didn't collect because of the price point, and the dreaded UNO backs. But this one had a decent back to it.

 For those of you scratching your heads as you can't remember seeing this one in packs, it's okay because it wasn't available in packs. It was a box topper. And bigger than the normal 2 1/2 x 3 1/2.
Here's a shiny Phil Hughes to demonstrate.

Phil is for trade by the way......

Jason set me back $1.25.

Now the only problem is........ how the hell am I going to store this sucker???

2011 Topps Pedigree.... Blood lines... Ancestry...

  so basically Topps put out another fail. Surprise. With no incentive to make great products... guess what? No great products. No one seems to like Lineage. There are issues about it for sure. The backs are the worst backs in card history. They are so bad, I couldn't bring myself to scan them. Also, their bastardization of the Spanish language is unforgivable.

I bought two packs at my LCS for $10. And I got CHIPPER!!!!!!

Let's see what else I got.

 Jay Bruce and Kurt Suzuki. Yawn.

 A Mutt, Ike Davis.

 Nolan Nolan Rollin', Keep those cattle rollin', RAWHIDE!

 Young Mr Weeks.

 And a very shiny Todd Helton refractor.

 Hey look! A pop up pecker version of Joe Mauer.

 Pack two.

A Brandon Beachy rookie! Brandon has the second most strike outs among rookie starters.

 some Sox rookie I've never heard of.

 Ty Cobb! Sweet!

 Holy Hammerin' Hank Aaron Bat Man!!! Chipper, Beachy, and Henry!!! My luck is never this good.

 Love the Milwaukee logo.
This is my dude. The one I pull in every single pack and brand of cards I buy. Nice to see you again Pedro.

 Paul O'Neill??? Nolan Ryan, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, and Paul effing O'Neill??? Do we really need to add Yankees to the set just because? And Paul is a Red to boot. Not a damn Yankee.

 a really shiny Brooks Robinson refractor!!! (really? Paul O'Neill?)

 and a pop up pecker Mickey Mantle! (Paul O'Neill? Anyone?)

Now to me, it looks like the same guy designed both of these sets. That's the brand new Victory hockey set at .99 cents per pack. Except the card stock is better on the Victory.

And that takes me to my point about Lineage. It would've been a really great set IF

1) They didn't let an 8 year old design the backs.

2) Lose the autos and the Patch cards

3) Put this baby out at $1.50 per pack.

Imagine the fun of chasing the useless but fun inserts and the base set with the cool old guys (except paul O'Neill) at $1.50 per pack. The quality and value per box would be spot on.

But at $5 per pack, and crappy autos, this is one epic loser of a product. So I'll trade for my Braves. Or buy them for .18 cents each off of Sportslots.

You can buy packs for a fiver if you want, but I doubt you will.....

oh yeah, all of the cards here, except for the Braves, are up for trade. Yes, even Paul O'Neill.