Lacking Hot Takes

You probably don't read this drivel for hot takes about whats happening in the world of cardboard. In fact I don't really know why you read my nonsense, but I'm grateful you come along for the ride. My guess is you all secretly think I'm Bob Walk or love hearing about a new middle reliever auto I picked up! 

As most of you know I'm not a set collector.  I'm always jealous of fellow bloggers that can dissect a set so perfectly and then compare it to sets across years.  These posts are important as they are nice change of pace from the "sick hits" collecting mentality on most social media sites. I feel like the blogs help as a nice way to show that people can appreciate all types of collecting.  Sometimes it is good to have a little base card appreciation 101. I'm just not the person to teach it. 

My collecting brain tends to focus more on content than design. I can look past a lot of design flaws if some obscure Pirate or Mountaineer is featured.  I love base cards, but don't feel like I'm a good person to give a review of an entire set.  The set as a whole could be piss poor, but if a Pirate middle reliever got his first card you better believe I'm buying that card.  I'm also likely posting said card on the blog and praising whatever Panini Pantheon Spectra Triple Play Onyx set it came out of.  

In some ways I kind of wish my collecting brain would tell me "hey that card is kind of ugly." Unfortunately the side of the brain that likes well thought out design is overruled by the one who likes variety. "Hey Matt this is your left brain, that 2015 Panini Prizm set looks like shit." More powerful right brain, THAT SET HAS A JARED HUGHES CARD!!!!.  That pretty much sums up my collecting and why I rarely do set reviews.  

Ok, I better show some cards now.  Maybe I'll try and do a review! 

Contenders is a well known football and basketball set that features a deep rookie checklist. I've long been a fan because deep checklists means I can find obscure Mountaineers.  When I heard they were making a baseball version I was excited.  The 2015 set was a personal favorite because it featured 3 Black Bears.

Whenever you feature college baseball you are obviously making a niche product. On the flip side it makes for a nice way around the MLB licensing issue.  If you like prospect autos you should check out this set.  You can get some big names for a fraction of the Bowman price.  I think all three of these cost me around $7 total.  Both Hayes and Newman are big prospects in the Pirates system and Kramer is coming off a huge season. 

Now all of you go out and buy Contenders autos based on this glowing review!

Thanks for reading!

Newman!

I'm pretty pumped up tonight.  WVU basketball plays host to #1 Kansas in what should be a fun atmosphere. WVU beat Kansas in Morgantown last year and took them to overtime in Lawerence, but this Jayhawk team is much better. The last time the Mountaineers beat the AP #1 team was 1983 against UNLV. We are due!

Baseball card time.

Have you checked out the new Panini Contenders set? If you are a fan of the football version this set is for you. Right about the time it went live I started looking for a few of the Pirates. This package had a little bit of an adventure getting to my house, but it arrived safe and sound.

2015 Panini Contenders Kevin Newman Auto and Variant Auto

I got to see Kevin Newman a few times when he was a member of the Black Bears, but his time in Morgantown was brief. He got sent to Charleston when Cole Tucker went down with injury. I'm not sure what to think of Newman as a prospect. I think the key is being able to stay at short which so far seems to be the case. I'm guessing the Pirates will push him through the system quickly as he was an advanced college player who was a first round pick.  Hopefully he'll crack AA this year.

Let's Go Mountaineers!