A come back + a little bit of complaining.

Hey guys.  I have decided to try and post again on a semi-regular basis.  My scanner is not fully operational at the moment, so you will not be getting pictures for a little bit.  I should have it fixed very shortly.  Honestly I just never really needed it when I wasn't blogging, so replacing it was a very low priority.  But I guess that means until I get that problem fixed, I need a thousand words for each missing picture.  

Just a quick idea for what I intend to write about.  It will mostly be Rockies, but I do plan to break out a couple of my old features and go forth with them.  Rating the Rookie Cups was one of my favorites to write and I will definitely be bringing that back on hopefully a weekly basis.  I have actually maintained and improved my Cup database.  I m such a dork that I have a full rotisserie setup for each position for full season and career comparisons.  I know a lot of you are not into basketball, but I am.  I won't be talking hoops much, but I will on occasion.  For some it will be a learning experience it will be a day to skip past the Quarry.  

 

I won't be doing any type of comprehensive custom card sets like I did for several years, but I will occasionally show off some fun customs I will and have done.  I do still have a 60-70% complete 2015 Quarry Unlimited set that I worked really hard on and will show off.  I also have a fully 100% complete 2015 Quarry Unlimited NBA set to show off as well if there is any interest.  Both sets are based on 1976 Hostess with team colors being used instead of the RWB bicentennial scheme of the original.  Personally, I like the NBA version more just because there is a bigger variety of color there, but they are both fun.

Now that the fun stuff is over, let's talk about 2021 Topps Series 1.

As a Rockies collector, I have gotten used to being beaten down by Topps.  On occasion, they will surprise me in a good way.  As bad as 2020 Update was, the Rockies still had Chris Owings and Phillip Diehl make their Rockies debut in the set.  And there were a couple of other underrepresented Rockies like Jairo Diaz, Jesus Tinoco, and Drew Butera in the set.  Several new Rockies like Daniel Bard and Matt Kemp were missing, but I figured they would be in Series 1 for sure.  So as bad as it was, at least there was something positive about it. 

Then I see the checklist is being released and I get super excited as usual.  Will the Rockies get the 11 cards they should get in the 330 card set?  Will it be the first Rockie cards of Bard, Kemp, or Mychal Givens?  Will likely starting catcher Elias Diaz get his first Rockies card?  Will Antonio Santos be the ubiquitous team rookie that most fans have never heard of?  Will the recently waived rookie Ashton Goudeau get his only Rockies card?   So many questions. 

Then the list came out

24 Nolan Arenado
33 Yonathan Daza
68 Charlie Blackmon
73 Colorado Rockies Team Card
76 Jon Gray
107 David Dahl
129 Daniel Murphy
177 Ryan Castellani RC
206 Wade Davis

Of the 9 cards, there are only 4 players currently on the Rockies roster, and of those only 3 actually played for the Rox in 2020.  The team card is useless in my opinion and should be used for another player.  Put team cards in Update if you need them, but not in a 660 card main set.  I can give them a pass on including Arenado because that is a recent trade (one that I am still not comfortable talking about).  I can also give them a pass on Murphy because he retired the same day the Nolan trade happened and at least he will get a full stat "sunset card."  David Dahl is somewhat okay simply he did end the season with the Rockies even though he didn't play much last year.  Yonathan Daza is a head scratcher because this is not his rookie card and he didn't play a single game in 2020.  In my opinion, there were a lot better options than Daza for that spot.  The other one that just befuddles me is Wade Davis.  Wade Davis was released before the 2020 season was even over.  Why is he there?  It is ridiculous that he is there instead of Daniel Bard or Mychal Givens or any other Rockies reliever.  

So to recap the answers to my questions were no, no, no, no, and no.  Sigh.  To top it off the Dodgers got a 20 card team set along with a 30 card Bellinger insert set.  Double sigh.  I really wasn't expecting much, but I was at least hoping for just one new Rockies player on a card and I didn't even get that.  Oh well, at least there is the 86 Topps insert set that I plan to build in full.  I may try to build the silver pack chrome version as well.  

Sorry for the bitter complaining, but it's better than not posting at all, isn't it?

Talk again later.