My recent fascination with 2014 Topps Heritage notwithstanding, I've bought very few current-issue baseball cards over the past four years. I recently found myself in Target with some time to kill, so I wandered into the card aisle looking for bargains. I spotted a $20 repack box that was full of 2012 and 2013 Topps products, 20 packs in all, and took the plunge. If nothing else, I figured it would give me some trade bait (assuming that I ever put forth the effort to initiate trades with other collectors again) and a few packs of Allen and Ginter and Heritage without the usual sticker shock. Besides, within the span of a few hundred new cards, I was bound to find something to surprise me. I actually laughed when I pulled this Luis Ayala card from the lone pack of 2012 Update. It was new to me, and the image of the jacket-clad middle reliever pointing a bat at the camera with what I hope was mock-menace was a welcome departure from the customary sea of stock action photos that has come to define Topps' flagship set and update series. It's always nice to have a reminder that card collecting can be fun...what a concept, huh?
