I'm done. 2011 Topps was released this week, and I haven't bought any packs. I don't intend to buy any at all. I realized this week that I'm fatigued, annoyed, and flat-out bored with the current state of cards. I enjoy the quest of completing a set of base cards. If I bought a wax box each of Series 1, Series 2, and Update Series, I'd be out over $200 without completing the 990-card set. I would have duplicates that I'd have to try to trade for the dozens of cards I'd still need. I'd also have a fat stack of meaningless inserts, one or two of which might have drawn my fancy. Maybe I'd even get a gimmicky, meaningless short print or two, most of which are unannounced parallels that are essentially short prints, but no raw data is provided on the odds or distribution, so you never know just how much time and money you'd waste trying to get them all. You can either go nuts trying, or live with the knowledge that your base set isn't really complete.
Stale Gum pointed out that Topps now produces more individual inserts than base cards, and that's ridiculous. I was already leaning away from new product this year, and then I heard about the "twink" short prints. There's that extra push that clinched it. Topps thinks very little of you and me. They think that no matter how they distort and dilute and toy with a base set that we grew up, and that our fathers grew up with, you'll just keep swallowing it and making them richer. The only way you can be heard is by voting with your wallets. I'll still be buying plenty of Topps, but the cards were printed and sold 30, 40, 50 years ago. I'll be giving my money to hobby dealers and fellow collectors. I've got plenty of sets to complete from the past, and I'll enjoy it more (and get more for my money) than I would with new cards that Topps takes for granted. I want all of you to hold me to this. I'll still trade for any and all Orioles cards, but the other 29 teams can take a walk. I'm stepping away from the current scene before it kills my interest in the hobby altogether.
