The Box I Got vs. The Box I Want Part 1

I have been flying a little bit low on wax this year.  Reorganizing my collection has meant holding the line on adding large lots of single cards and more focus on assembling card sets from small lots and then filling in with single cards from trades and purchases from secondary market websites such as Ebay.  There are sets that I still have not missed with the wax such as the base Topps sets and Gypsy Queen.  One of my other targeted sets, Allen & Ginter, also released recently.  I had to get a box.

I shared my cool hit from my box on the site earlier last week, with my cool autograph of musician Henry Rollins.  It was a cool card, so I will share again.

2013 Topps Allen & Ginter Henry Rollins Autograph 

Now, the rest of my box was pretty disappointing.  I love Ginter and I loved the look of the cards this year, but I feel like my disappointment had more to do with the players on the hit cards I pulled more than the actual content of the box.  The set is incredible and I have been working hard to put together the base set including the short prints.  So, what do you do when you open a cool box, love the set, and hate the hits?  Swap them out.  I went to work in the middle of the week and came up with some good trades and great improved my take away from this product.

Tonight I will start with my box topper.  When you buy a box with a topper and it's a dud it sets a bad tone for your entire box.  I felt really sad when I ripped open my oversized box topper pack and was staring back at this:

2013 Topps Allen & Ginter Josh Hamilton Cabinet Card

Hamilton has turned into one bad player since he has left the Rangers and joined Arte Moreno's band of underachieving/overpaid band out in Anaheim.  Luckily, Hamilton is a local Raleigh guy and loved by a lot of people in central North Carolina.  His cards are pretty easy to pass on around the area if you are willing to listen to stories about how the person met Hamilton at a Target or Cook Out or something.  Like all Hamilton cards I was able to successfully pass this card on locally for......

2013 Topps Allen & Ginter Miguel Cabrera Cabinet Card

I am not sure the person who swapped me this card has actually paid attention to what's happening this season with this two players, but I walked away quickly got in my car and drove away.  While the Cabrera card is a better card, both are very attractive cards, and very well made.  I love the design with the black and white photo and cool frame.  Even the backs of the cards are really cool....

I love the design and writing around the edges of the card and always like how Topps puts the vintage ads on the backs of the retro brands like Ginter, T206, and Gypsy Queen.  Gives the card a good authentic vintage feel.  Happy to add this Miggy jumbo to my collection and honestly like the cards enough that I might try to assemble a collection of box toppers once I have my base set put together.