I'm so used to having no luck at all with anything, so whenever something lucky happens I usually feel a bit stunned. If I get a lucky hit on a pack of cards, my immediate thinking is that perhaps this was intended for someone else. If I open a pack of baseball cards and my hair catches on fire, then that seems like it was more likely intended for me.
I had two crowns put in at the dentist the other day. Ouchie. I decided to reward myself for being a good boy and not fussing too much in the dental chair. I wandered down to the Eaton Centre. I live in the heart of downtown Toronto, which I guess is like living in Manhattan. I guess it's like being in Seinfeld or Friends, but more homeless drug addicts and terrible weather.
The Eaton Centre is a huge mall, mostly for tourists, but also for bored locals. I rarely buy anything there because there are no good deals, so I mostly get something to drink and browse to kill some time and get some steps in. I decided to hunt around for baseball cards. I've had a helluva time finding 2026 Topps locally. One sports card store told me Fanatics ships very little to Canada. We are, however, in an era where even the silliest of retailers are selling sports cards again, and I run into them in the oddest of places now.
I check out a few stores at the Eaton Centre, but no luck. Lots of Pokemon and hockey cards. I leave the Eaton Centre dejectedly, wondering perhaps if good boys don't always get rewards. Across Yonge Street there is a Gamestop, which in Canada has alternated between being called that and EB Games. They used to have one in the mall, too, but it's a comic book store now that sells almost no zero comics and tons of Funko Pops. Junk.
I decide to cross the street and peruse EB Games. Or Gamestop, whatever. They barely sell video games anymore, and they have lots of oddball toys and collectibles, so maybe I'll get lucky with baseball cards.
Boy did I ever. I noticed at the back of the store there was a new glass showcase. It is absolutely full of sports cards, and the wall behind it is hanging full of packs. Like ripe fruit waiting to be plucked. It's so well stocked with current releases. I found a new spot minutes from my apartment where I can buy cards that aren't hockey. See, make sure you are nice at the dentist and you will be rewarded.
I stand at the sports card counter for a few minutes perusing their offerings. It's unmanned. The customer service desk has two employees checking other customers out. They glance over and see me standing there. They look disinterested. I don't blame them, since their employer seems to have them manning two customer service desks at once.
One of them rushes over to me and I select what I want. Two fat packs of 2026 Topps Series 1. I ask him how long this sports card desk has been here, and he says not long. He's not interested in chit chat. I check out with the other employee and they ask if I have their loyalty card. I ask what's in it for sports card buyers. She has no idea. "I dunno, it just helps track your purchases or something," she informs me. I decline. I'm not upset because working retail post-Covid in downtown Toronto is a nightmare.
I come home and open the packs. My luck continues!
I'm initially so confused as to what this card is. It's a parallel of some sort of Samuel Basallo, a rookie from the Orioles with whom I am unfamiliar. There are so many parallels that I have no idea what the heck this is, and I search in vain trying to figure out what the heck this is. I finally check Ebay, and it turns out this is a super short printed base card variation that is going for like $150. Geez. I get kinda scared now because now I feel as if I am going to have bad luck to revert my luck to the mean. This is the second valuable card I have pulled from packs in the past week. I also won money on a scratch ticket and have won four(!) free coffees at Tim Hortons. I swear, I'd better not get hit by a car.
It's a Trea Turner Major League Materials relic card. Now, of course this is only worth a couple of bucks, but I'm just amazed that I pulled this card along with the Basallo parallel in the two packs I bought. For fat packs, relic odds are like 1:45. The odds of me pulling both of these cards in two straight packs must have been crazy high. I'm not a fan of relic cards at all (for the most part), so it doesn't do much for me personally. I'm just more amazed at my luck.
Each pack also had an Ohtani insert. I mean, if I had pulled these two cards and not the others, I still would have considered each of these packs a winner. I'm not an Ohtani fan at all, but I can't really complain about getting cards of such a highly sought after player. It just means I should be able to move these cards for something I really like.
These are the rest of the "hits". I really hate how team name looks on the 91 Topps insert. Why on earth did they do that? None of these are cards or players I care about and am looking to trade them all away, but I really had fun opening these packs.
Let's just hope my luck doesn't suddenly revert to the mean.
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