Sunday Randomness - Back to Normal?

Very recently I got a call from my brother who was out and about. He stopped by a big box retailer and found a shelf full of cards! Maybe this is a sign that things are getting back to normal, or maybe he just got lucky this one time. Either way, it was good to see a few goodies sitting on the shelf. And what a selection they had! I'm not even sure what to collect anymore, but the lure of ripping some packs was almost irresistible. Even better was the last report I heard, there were no lines and no fights broke out in the parking the lot.

Maybe it was the knowledge in the fact the sun is setting on Topps, but for the first time in years - yes YEARS - I shelled out money for shiny, new baseball cards. Not sure I'm happy about it yet as I try to limit my collecting to the cardboard gold of yesteryear. 

I really can't complain about buying a 2021 factory set. If you read the fine print, limited to this big box retailer is the fact that Topps created a whole parallel set and you won't know if you've got it until you crack open the set! This is new to me, encouraging people to buy whole "chase" sets! Apparently one in three is a parallel and the thought did cross my mind to buy 3 sets. Who knows? Maybe its far cheaper to buy multiple sets then continually ripping packs trying to put together a parallel set. However, I'm not sure what I'd do with three sets, but boy would I be disappointed if none of those were a parallel! So I'll just be happy with the one I have.