A better than a blaster online mix of cards?

I don't really look to stray from my usual places to get cards whether it's in-person or eBay, but I stumbled upon a f/s thread in one of the trading card forums I read through - I did some virtual browsing and when a seller has pictures with his listings as opposed to blocks of text, it's probably easier to attract some impulse purchases.

I'm not as familiar buying off forums, so I didn't want to go too crazy with what I committed to pick up - including $4 s/h, my grand total was was $19.50, which wasn't too bad, though it wasn't like a bulk purchase in-person, where I end up with a lot of cards for what I've spent.

I jumped at a shiny $1 parallel of Ken Griffey Jr. - Junior Griffey may still be at the top of the list as 'the superstar' from the past 30 years, though the emotional attachment that goes with collecting his miscellaneous cards makes me old.

I jumped at a shiny $1 parallel of Derek Jeter - it may sound redundant, but I feel the same with Jeter as I do with Junior Griffey, where maybe I should focus on more of the 'here and now' guys in the MLB, rather than the all-time greats of my formative years who are sort of dated.

I snagged binder cards of Justin Verlander, Walker Buehler for $0.50 each and spent $1 on a Ichiro Sepia parallel - no biggies, but material I can use to make more pages with for the individual players.

I spent $3 for a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. relic and $2 each for an insert and a Sepia parallel - where I still prefer Vladimir Guerrero Sr. as seemingly an all-time card blogger favorite, it may just be time to collect the younger Guerrero with the same enthusiasm as his pops.

I paid $2 for the pair of Sotos and $1 for the buyback card - like Guerrero Jr., Soto is a young, relevant 'here and now' superstar, so I don't know about being able to collect him seriously, but being on the hunt for his loose cards might be a 'directive' on the down low.

The 'buyback card' is a 1973 Topps Pat Corrales #542 - while there was no care at all where the buyback stamp was placed, so the card itself clashes with the modern touch, it was hard to pass up the rather anachronistic 'parallel' of a vintage classic.

2019 Donruss 30 card value pack

I wanted to like Donruss as a ‘niche’ baseball card product years ago, but for the most obvious of reasons - it’s just not something I’ll go out of my way to get a look at.

#96 Mallex Smith
#49 Steven Duggar
#110 Luis Severino
#82 Austin Meadows
#54 David Peralta
#88 Clayton Kershaw
#47 Ramon Laureano
#66 Sean Manaea
#98 Kyle Schwarber

#205 Grayson Grenier - Breast Cancer parallel serial #’d 16/25
#62 J.D. Martinez - Holo Red parallel
#N5 Juan Soto - Vector parallel / Nicknames insert
#231 Framber Valdez - faux 1985 Donruss style
#168 Hunter Pence
#238 Bryse Wilson - faux 1985 Donruss style
#147 Freddy Peralta
#243 Matt Boyd - faux 1985 Donruss style
#171 Matt Carpenter
#246 Eric Haase - faux 1985 Donruss style
#140 Kevin Pillar
#209 Tanner Rainey - faux 1985 Donruss style
#239 Ryan Tellez - faux 1985 Donruss style
#181 Blake Snell - ‘Zilla’ variation
#21 Christian Yelich - Diamond Kings
#185 Trevor Story
#192 Matt Chapman
#9 Yoan Moncada - Diamond Kings
#165 Javier Baez
#198 Sandy Alcantara
#157 Gleyber Torres

A couple of newish Shohei Ohtani finds

2018 Topps Heritage High Numbers 1969 Collector Cards Shohei Ohtani #69CC-SO [$4.99 BIN plus $1.00 s/h] - I've tried not to worry about the glut of Ohtani rookie year cards because it's just hard to really keep up, but this was a cutesy looking retail exclusive insert.

I've still spent money on random card things, but felt like I’ve bought less retail blasters - it maybe the case where I don’t get a chance to get this card at all unless I get it outright.

I may have paid a premium for this card, but maybe it evens out with how much it costs to have it shipped to me - that sounds stupid when I realize the card will probably be in a PWE, but it is what it is and I don’t mind as long as the card arrives safely.

2018 Topps Now Shohei Ohtani / Juan Soto AL / NL Rookies of the Month #824 [$4.95 BIN] - the final regular season Ohtani card through his rookie year, though there maybe a card for when he wins the American League Rookie of the Year award.

I’ve kept up with just about every Topps Now Ohtani card released through his rookie season - a caveat is that no autographs or parallels perhaps, but those weren't realistic pickups for me.

Maybe the cards will be nice to go back through - especially if Ohtani is still is on that dual pitcher / hitter track.

Because it won’t be his rookie year anymore, I don’t think the plan is to get all the Topps Now Ohtani cards in 2019 - though I’ll keep an eye out for any ‘interesting’ ones.