I'm very discouraged by the state of baseball in 2021. But I'm also a longtime collector of baseball cards, and seeing the new sets usually bring me joy...
But baseball cards have become unusually hot lately. Prices have skyrocketed, and cards are being hoarded. I was lucky to find one booster pack at Target, and can check out the pack of the Topps set. Here are my comments:
1) The front of the card isn't my favorite. I like the white broder and 70th anniversary emblem, but the blue diagonal stripes are a little distracting. But at least it looks different- unlike other years, you can easily identify it's the 2021 set.
2) The back of the cards, however... I think they look great. They are clean and easily readable.
3) The new normal is a ton of varaitions and inserts. The 2021 has 18 parallels of each card- purple to gold foil to celebrating Mother's Day to.... it's an overabundance.
4) And inserts... According to Beckett, the 2021 Topps has 31 different kinds of inserts. Again, it's overkill.
I'm glad I got the cards to check them out. But I have no desire to spend the money to put together a set. Maybe if I fall in love with a special insert, I'll go out of my way to get that. But considering most of my favorite players were in the 70's and 80's and have been long retired, I'll most likely focus on those players instead.
