Three random pickups.

I recently picked up a few items that were a little out of the ordinary.  First, while at Target, I came across some of the 2008 Topps flagship base card jumbo rack pack thingies.  I have no idea what they are called, but they have 22 base cards and a pack of gum.  They are a little bit of a throwback to old school rack packs since you can see the first and last card.  I bought this one for the front card.

This isn't actually the first time I've bought one of these.  I bought one like a year ago, but my willpower was nonexistent as I opened it after about a week of owning it.  I didn't have the 2008 Topps David Wright at the time, so it wasn't too big of a deal.  Now, I have one copy in my binder and one in this unopened pack.  The last card is Willy Aybar, so that helps me to not open it.  It's sad that I get strung out over not opening a pack of just base cards.  The second pickup is actually a book.  Some of you may know that I'm not much of a reader.  I read several books in college, though only one of them was for fun.  That's right; 6 years of college, 1 book read for fun.  It came out to around 1/7th of a page per day.  The other 30 or so books I read in college had rousing titles such as: Analytical Mechanics of Space Systems; Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion; and Applied Optimal Control.  This pickup is a book that will serve as a good reference checklist.

Ok, so you may be wondering why I bought a price guide (when I have no interest in book value) from 2009 (when it is currently 2011, if I'm not mistaken).  I'll tell you why, dammit.



It was a dollar and it has a picture of a 2008 Topps Justin Upton.  Seriously, a dollar.  They have a whole stack of them.  Dawgbones...this was the Ollie's on Mercury Blvd...just so you know.  They have more of them as well in the collectibles book section (across the aisle from the sports book shelf).  Not a hugely important book, but I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point.  I mainly like it because the 99cent price tag is right next to the $22.99 price tag.  The final item(s) I also picked up at Ollie's, and they had a ton of them. 

1990 Collegiate Collection Notre Dame Fighting Irish Trading Cards box.  36 packs of 8 cards per pack featuring historic players, coaches, and games.  Each box was $4.99.

I've got no real interest in Notre Dame, but my cousin is a big fan (his kid's name is Rockne), so these may end up in his hands at some point.  The set is 200 cards, so if you do the math of 36x8=288, I should get a set.  Well, in 1990 you didn't really get a complete set using that math.  I ended up 8 cards short.  That meant I had 96 doubles.  Frustrated, I bought another box and completed the set.  Only now I have 196 doubles and 180 triples.  You would think I'd have a 2nd set, but no, I am 4 cards short. I'm 20 cards from a third set.  The temptation for a third box is definitely there, and there is a good chance I would end up with 3 sets, maybe even 4.  But, what the hell do I do with 3 or 4 worthless sets of something of which I don't even necessarily want 1 set? DAMN YOU OLLIE'S AND YOUR REASONABLE PRICES!!!

On a side note, I will show some of the cards from this set eventually.  There are some incredibly good names in there, SpastikMooss.  For example, Bill Shakespeare - playwright, poet, punter and halfback. 

If you made it to the bottom of this post, congratulations, you now get a heads up that you should check the blog on July 4 for a free and easy contest.