a brand new blast from the past

the very first time i purchased a pack of baseball cards was at a 7-11 convenience store in 1978. for those of you not familiar, 7-11 was/is a chain of gas stations with convenience stores attached, although the ones in my hometown did not sell gas. anyway, there was one about three-quarters of a mile from my house, so it was an easy bike ride or walk for us neighborhood kids.  i bought most of my packs of cards there in 1979 and 1980, too, but transitioned to the lcs in 1981. 

i don't know if 7-11 continued to sell cards later in to the 1980s and beyond, but i did find some cards at a convenience store in orange county around 1993 - that's when i was gobsmacked by the price of a pack of something called "flair". i bought the pack, anyway, however. i don't think that store was a 7-11.

a few years ago, local convenience store/gas station chain known as "superamerica" was acquired by the speedway brand. then at some time in the recent past, 7-11 acquired speedway.  the changes so far have been subtle - the stores now feature the signature 7-11 big gulps, and i noticed they've been selling some funko pop collectibles. a few months ago, i even saw an empty box of 2022 topps series 1 on a shelf.

since that time, i've kept an eye out for baseball cards when i stop in a store, and sure enough, i found some series 2 packs last month. 

they were behind the counter by the cigarettes, of course.  anyway, for the first time in four decades, i bought packs of baseball cards at a 7-11, even if the sign out front still says "speedway".  let's see how i did:

pack 1:

the pre-insert cards in the pack are not very exciting. the michael chavis card is probably the best, thanks to the negro league uniform.

a brewers hot pack! both inserts featuring members of the brew crew. i thought briefly about entering the yelich card as i have not ever "called my shot" but i didn't. sure enough, he hit a bomb in coors field the next day.  here's the rest of the pack:

all landscape cards. i like the byron buxton card very much.

on to pack 2:

a couple of former dodger farmhands in o'neil cruz and frankie montas, plus a joc pederson card that would be a keeper (that's dodger catcher will smith in the background) except i already picked a single up from sportlots.

no brewer inserts, but these two are just as uninspiring.
the luis arraez card is decent with the mike bell memorial patch and view of target field behind him as he exits the dugout, but really there is not much to say about this pack.

i'll have to check and see if the local speedway/7-11 stores carry update when it comes out, although i've already ordered a box of it so i may not be interested in searching out packs. the nostalgia of buying packs at a 7-11 (or semi-7-11) is already wearing off.