Topps Holiday Advent Calendar - Day 5

 It's been a difficult week here at Collector HQ, but the weather is expected to warm up somewhat this weekend. My 16 year old is having a birthday dinner at Chili's with her friends, so 13 year old and I are going to get the old Christmas tree up sometime tonight. She asked me to take her to Barnes & Noble tomorrow, which is a much more appealing proposition now that I know they have cards.

But I really shouldn't buy myself more cards until I open the ones I already bought from B & N.. right?

We're one-fifth of the way through the Topps Advent calendar already? Let's see what's inside door #5

A standard 5-card pack of Topps Holiday. We've seen a parallel and an insert in each of the first two packs...

I'm seeing a pattern here - and not just the plaid border. Each basic pack has an insert and a parallel. Not sure if Duran belongs on the "Nice List" - Santa must be in a forgiving mood. Odd that there would be three Ranger cards out of the four others. 

According to TCDB, the Nice List inserts are one per Holiday pack so this pattern will likely continue throughout the calendar. Also, the Buyback packs can yield cards from as far back as 1980. Most of the known reissues are from newer sets however. 

Since we're almost guaranteed to pull a base 5-card pack with a Green Plaid parallel and a Nice List insert, I'll try to make tomorrow's post a little more special. It's unlikely that three of the first six packs would be hits, but you never know...

Thanks for reading!

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Topps Holiday Advent Calendar - Day 4

I'm not feeling very cheerful today. Still sick, still haven't put up the Christmas tree. And I have to go through bags of decorations in the basement to decide what we should still use for this year. Hopefully I'll kick this flu for good by the end of Friday. 

We've been on a bit of a "hit" streak with the Topps Holiday advent calendar. All three packs have had an insert - and the last two yielded only chase cards. Can we keep that streak going?

I'm ripping the sides of door number 4 so I don't have to bend the pack (still had trouble getting it out)

It's a base Holiday pack. Is there another insert in here?

Another Nice List insert, and another Green Plaid parallel. Also the Hayden Birdsong has dinged corners, probably from the extraction. I'm gonna have to bust these open a bit more carefully.

Wish I had more interesting things to day right now. Maybe we'll see some more hidden goodies from this box soon. If not I may need to rip some other stuff just to fill out these posts 😁

Thanks for reading!


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Topps Holiday Advent Calendar - Day 3

This is going to be a slightly shorter post as I'm feeling well enough to put up our Christmas tree. My daughter wanted it up before we went to Connecticut and she's had to wait three more days while I fight the flu. 

Let's see what's behind door number three...

Okay.. I guess this is going to be a very short post. One whole card, huh? But -- it's a buyback! Could there be a vintage card here?

Before I open this.. has anyone kept up with Shane, formerly of the Shoebox Legends blog? I know he was building a buyback Frankenset..wonder if he ever finished it? He has a YouTube channel I've checked out from time to time but there are so many video creators out there I can't keep track of them all. 

Anyway, here's the card:

Oh wow, an original Topps card from all the way back in... 2024?!? When Joe Biden was president and everyone loved Taylor Swift? And the Chiefs were good at football and Anthony Rizzo was an active baseball player??! 

Yeah, that was a while ago. I actually wanted the Red Sox to sign Rizzo for a hot minute after Triston Casas went down and Rafael Devers was traded. He couldn't have been worse than Abraham Toro and Nate Lowe, could he? I guess Boston wasn't that desperate - or Rizzo knew he was finished - since he retired near the end of the 2025 season. 

Hopefully the Sox sign the Polar Bear this winter. Or bring back Kyle Schwarber. We need a power bat.

Is your Christmas tree up yet? When do you usually put yours up (and take it down)? 

Thanks for reading!



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Topps Holiday Advent Calendar - Day 2

I came home from Thanksgiving Weekend with the flu, and had to catch up on four days of work while sick. Didn't get very far. 

Today I had to *wink wink* work from home again because I had a door installation and chimney inspection scheduled and I'm out of PTO. Also I'm still sick and we had an inch of rain today and my basement flooded. Did I get any office work done today? Lol, no. But I did finish my Christmas shopping :)

Which brings us to day two of the Topps Holiday Advent Calendar:

We've hit the evergreen pack already?!? Okay let's see what's inside.

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

ev·er·green

/ˈevərˌɡrēn/

adjective

adjective: evergreen

1. relating to or denoting a plant that retains green leaves throughout the year.

   "the glossy laurel is hardy and evergreen"

   • having an enduring freshness, success, or popularity.

     "in Hollywood parlance, Star Trek is an evergreen asset"

   
   

Ernie Banks certainly qualifies. I don't know how popular Juan Soto is, relative to other current superstars. But his success is undeniable. 

Dylan Crews though.. eek. Slow down there, Fanatics. Wait til he has at least an average season before calling him popular, successful, and enduring. Maybe they're referring to his "freshness"? 

This was a short rip, so we've got time to check out the backs.

All hail our sports memorabilia overlords.  Huzzah.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the office to catch up on six days of work, then I have to order some groceries because we are completely out of food. Thursday is my daughter's 16th birthday. Friday.. maybe things settle down a bit? 

Thanks for reading!





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Topps Holiday Advent Calendar - Day 1

As promised, The Collector is counting down the days 'til Christmas with a daily reveal from the Topps Holiday Advent calendar:

Now that December has begun, we can crack this open:

Here's the booklet with 12 pack-sized presents on each side. What will we do on the 25th? I've got that covered 😉

What's behind door number 1? A standard five-card pack of Topps Holiday.

Btw, these packs are tough to take out of the tray. I nearly bent the cards pulling this pack out. Might have to shred the sides of the box in the future.

Not a bad first pack - three base cards, a Green Plaid parallel, and an Aaron Judge insert. 

Pack #2 tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

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