My 2012 Topps Opening Day Experience

Today's post is brought to you by the word of the day: boondoggle

This past Friday, I was having a frustrating morning, so I decided to go to my local LCS after work and buy myself a box of cards. I haven't ripped any wax since my birthday in December and it would be a nice calm ending to the day.

"Ahhh" I thought. "That would be nice. Sit down and bust some packs, maybe crack a nice cold beer."

And then it hit me. My girlfriend and I were leaving straight from work to go to my house. So, I did what any guy would do and immediately went through all the possible options in my head. Out of everything I could think of, I decided to be honest with her. I know, I'm shocked too.

Now of course she knows that I collect. It's impossible to hide it if you've ever been in my house, but I really didn't think she'd be too excited to come to the card shop with me to buy a box.

"Hey, I just needed to go grab something real quick after work." I said.
"...is it baseball cards?" She replied.
How the fuck did she know that?!?! I thought to myself.
"You have that smile on your face that you make when you're doing something nerdy." She said.

Damn it.

She agreed to come along, so we made our way over after work. She wasn't too excited until we went inside and saw that they have a gumball machine and a Betta fish. That made her happy. In the meantime I got my cards and we went back to our regularly scheduled programing. We got back home and I put the box in my closet to open for the next morning. It wasn't until about 9:00pm that she asks me "Where are your cards?"
"In the closet." I said.
"Go get them!!!" She responded excitedly.
"Y-you want me to open them, now?" I asked confused.
"YEAH!"
"...ok, but you understand if I'm suspicious right? Like, is this a trick?" I asked her.
"Noooo, I wanna open them together!" She's really excited now.

I go get the box, cut the shrink wrap off and the next thing I know she's ripping the box open and grabbing packs out of it. I've never been so happy and confused at the same time.

"Who's this? Who's this? HEY, a Met!"
"Hold on, hold on." I tell her.
You see, she doesn't entirely understand the concept of "condition". She's ripping the packs and then yanking the cards out. I'm cringing, hard, but I don't want to kill her buzz by teaching her how to properly open a pack of cards. Maybe next time.
"Just put them over hear when you're done so I can look through them and see what's there."
"OK!" She said.
"Look at him, he looks so happy! I like his beard! What team is this? They have pretty colors! Huh...GAAASSSSPPPPPPP!!!!!!"
I've never even been this excited over a mere baseball card before, and I've pulled this. So I'm a little concerned right now.
"Arrrre you ok? I ask.
"LOOK AT HOW FUCKING CUTE!!!!!!!!!!"
She turns the card to me and it's Screech. The Nationals mascot.
"Yeahh, that's uhh... that's Screech." I said.
"KAJSSOIHEGNEKMNEA" She's completely incoherent. Nothing in the world matters to her right now except for the fact that she has just pulled a picture of a grown man in a bird costume out of a $0.99 pack of baseball cards. The room could be on fire, she'd never notice.
"So you like the Mascot cards?" I asked her. "I think there's one for every team. You can have any that we get from this box and then I can make trades to get the rest of them for you."
"Really?! Yes! I would love that!!!"
Good. I thought. She can say actual words again.
"Yeah and you can have any cards that you want too. Well, except for the Mets of course. I uhh, I need those." I said.

All in all she took about ten base plus the Mascot cards. I was so proud.

So now to the part that actually matters to you guys, the contents of the box and what I have to trade away.

The last Opening Day box I bought was in 2007, but after opening this one, I think I'll be buying every year. The box was a blast to open and keeping in mind that it's for kids and the hits or few and far between, it was very well done. The inserts are fun and there's no weird, barely connectable theme. The photography is great on both the base (obviously) and the inserts as well. One box will get you close to a complete set, a couple of trades and it'll be finished. And the best, as far as I'm concerned, is it's only $35 (after tax) for 36 packs and that's from my LCS who seems to be the median in terms of box prices.

Let's get to the goods...

First off, I won;t bother showing any base cards. If you really need to know what they look like, I'll give to a description.
Close your eyes.
Imagine a 2012 Topps Baseball card.
Now remove the foil.
There it is, you've got it.

Blue Parallels #'d/2012:


Joey Votto
*Traded* Buster Posey *Traded*


Justin Upton
Freddie Freeman


*Traded* Justin Masterson *Traded*
*Traded* Jason Kipnis *Traded*


Scott Baker

Superstar Celebrations:


Matt Kemp
Justin Upton


Martin Prado
Mark Trumbo
Ryan Braun
*Traded* Geovany Soto *Traded*
*Traded* Joey Votto *Traded*
*Traded* Dan Uggla *Traded*

Opening Day Stars:


Jacoby Ellsbury
*Traded* Josh Hamilton *Traded*
*Traded* Evan Longoria *Traded*
*pending* Albert Pujols *pending*
*Traded* Joey Votto *Traded*

Elite Skills:


Justin Verlander
James Shields
Ian Kinsler
Felix Hernandez
*Traded* Barry Zito *Traded*
*Traded* Ichiro *Traded*
*Traded* Andrew McCutchen *Traded*

Fantasy Squad:


Evan Longoria
Jose Reyes (He looks fucking stupid in his new uniform)
*Traded* Justin Upton *Traded*
*Traded* Tim Lincecum *Traded*
*Traded* Justin Verlander *Traded*
*Traded* Miguel Cabrera *Traded*
*pending* Albert Pujols *pending*
*Traded* Mike Stanton *Traded*
*Traded* Roy Halladay *Traded*

Everything listed and pictured is for trade. If you're looking for base cards to fill out your set, I'm your guy! Leave a comment or shoot me an email!

(...Joe)