2019 Topps Now Taylor Cole / Felix Pena #503

To keep up bit-by-bit with this collecting thing, I had to go grab a couple of copies of this card because it was nice for Angels to come together with a combined no-hitter in the tribute game for Tyler Skaggs - it would have been nice if at least the back photo was of the players coming back to throw their #45 Skaggs jerseys on the mound as a nod, but it might have been in bad taste [to 'sell' that image on a card so soon].

Besides the occasional online purchase [as shown] to scratch the itch - I've felt my dog days are here and I'm kind of disinterested at the moment.

Part of what I do has been trying to supplement the strictly card collecting part with some in-person graphing - but the opportunities haven't been as obvious, things have tightened up and I've got to suck things up as my graphing buddy has been MIA.

I’ll get back to things at some point, and even it is a struggle at the moment - but I don't know if I can do things as a collector if I don't get to go out and see some players and try to get their autographs.

It maybe the hot weather and being holed up inside my house - but I feel like these have been the times where I don’t want to mess with my cards so much.

Maybe my brain turns into mush and I don’t do anything while still lurking on other collector's blogs, social media and forums - I feel like I’m always on the fringe from where everyone else is at the moment and can’t entertain the idea of falling into whatever else interested in.

2019 Topps Now purchases - Ohtani

I stumbled upon an eBay promo code[$3 Off $3.01+ Purchases] and while I'd abstained from collecting Topps Now Ohtani cards past what I'd gotten his rookie year - I thought I'd make an exception for this latest Ohtani feat.

I like the multiple images used on the back of the card, but I don't think the image choice on the front of the card is optimal - a shot of Ohtani on base after his last hit to get the cycle would have been much better than the one chosen.

Looking to pick up the Ohtani cycle card, I figured I might as well grab this card if I could find a seller listing both cards - I don't like the Tommy La Stella butt shot, but it's a cool game highlight to see an Angels trio hit back-to-back-to-back home runs.

Because of an impulsive trigger finger perhaps, I bought this along with the back-to-back-to-back home run card as a pair instead - now it looks like I'll have three 2019 Topps Now Ohtani cards in-hand to look forward to, which isn't a bad thing, though not something I'd planned to keep up with.

2019 rookies / Topps Now / Topps Living

I bought the first Topps Now cards of rookies Yusei Kikuchi, Fernando Tatis Jr., Chris Paddack, Eloy Jimenez, Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - as is, I couldn't keep up with the flood of daily email blasts from Topps, so I've ignored cards made for the wave of other quality prospects called up including Michael Chavis [Boston Red Sox] Austin Riley [Atlanta Braves], Keston Hiura [Milwaukee Brewers], Nick Senzel [Cincinnati Reds], Brendan Rodgers [Colorado Rockies] and Cavan Biggio [Toronto Blue Jays].

Starting with Shohei Ohtani in 2018 there was a push see if I could add selected Topps Now / Topps Living cards as something different but rookie year relevant - after Ohtani, there was Ronald Acuña Jr., Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto whose cards I kind of looked for on the side.

The Topps Now / Topps Living cards are nice souvenirs in-hand and maybe a premium in my mind was buying a Topps Now issue gave me a game dated card that might have fulfilled the desire to have something 'here and now' as opposed to much later when I might not care as much - as is, the cards are not as valuable compared to rookies’ eventual pack pulled issues.

I'll probably get picky and wait on graded versions of any Topps Now / Topps Living cards - I just feel like I won't be such in a frenzy to look for any particular one like last year.

2019 Topps Now Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #137

I guess I felt like a sucker after reading the Night Owl post about Topps spamming this card up - still, I had been looking forward to picking up Vlad Jr.'s first Topps Now card.

Compared to the Vladimir Guerrero [Sr.] universally noted in professional baseball as a guy who can hit them wherever it was literally pitched - the already jumbo sized Vlad Jr. is supposed to be a better slugging talent at the same stage of their MLB careers, so the hype has been through the roof.

Admittedly, I hesitated on pulling the trigger to get my one lousy copy when eBay sellers had them up for pre-sale [usually for around $5, though in mass quantities, they may get them for roughly a couple of bucks each] - I waited until the next day's set of Topps Now cards came out until browsing around to see if the listed prices had spiked just a bit and whether I can order one.

The print run for the Vlad Jr. cards was 19,396 [which is the most for any Topps Now card] and the game dated, on-demand cards just doesn’t have the same appeal as pack pulled cards - maybe as an extension of the love for Vlad Sr. however, I'll see about trying to collect his son in here and there, even if prices for his key cards are just not within my budget.

2019 Topps Now Mike Trout Road to Opening Day promo

I probably this card in the mail for making at least one Topps Now purchase through Topps.com last year - while I bought my 2018 Topps Now cards from eBay, my lone Topps Now purchase off Topps.com was a Vladimir Guerrero autograph.

With the $300 million contract signed by Manny Machado and Bryce Harper still looking to sign a similar or likely better arrangement - the speculation over Trout's future has mushroomed.

It pisses me off because it has me uneasy about Trout's standing with the Angels - I think the Angels have always had Trout's back, even as fans [like me] have thought about how the best player in baseball should not be playing on a team that isn't contending for anything.

I want things to play out for the next two years and don't want to face the reality the face of my home team and yes, Major League Baseball - might be lured by the Philadelphia Phillies [his home team on the East Coast] or end up in the middle of the lineup for the New York Yankees.

I can't imagine Trout playing for another team and maybe an ideal extension would be a 7-8 year deal for something approaching $400 million of Angels owner Arte Moreno's money - if Trout does move on, the way I think about it is that someone else will get his 30s, but the Angels and their fans got his prime years.

Maybe the cliche don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened applies here - though the only acceptable scenario is Trout gets locked up as Angel for life and things turn around as far as getting other pieces to build around him.