hot purple (not pink) target purchase

i made a target run last week. no, i wasn't there to try to get my hands on the hot pink starbucks stanley tumbler, but i did cruise down the card aisle and was surprised to see it pretty well stocked with baseball product. i saw some sort of 2023 topps update box that i hadn't seen before - the packs were all visible and there was a pack including some sort of coin (i think), but i passed on it. i did pick up a blaster of 2023 topps chrome update as well as one of 2023 topps heritage high number. one of the blasters was way more interesting than the other.

the first heritage high number card i found was robbie grossman's

i suppose that is world series champion robbie grossman these days. i remember him from his time with the twins, but there isn't anything special about the card other than the preponderance of red.

that same pack yielded a high number short print of oscar mercado

and a purple chrome refractor parallel of jhony brito

yes, i had picked up a hot box, and at this point i was pretty interested to see what other refractors i would find.

next pack included a combo card

the image that topps chose doesn't convey a lot of "brotherly love", but maybe their parents had to separate them and put the cooler between them to stop the back seat road trip madness. i don't recall ever having those issues with my brother because our longer road trips were usually taken in our camper/rv and there was enough room and spaces to hang out solo.

i got excited in the next pack when i saw this reynaldo lopez card

because i knew that the "american league" angels cards were super-short prints. unfortunately for me, it's only the regular heritage cards that have been reprinted with the moniker and inserted in high numbers packs that are short prints.

it was another yankee as far as the purple refractor - kyle higashioka

yankee hot box i guess.

next pack had another high number short print - brandon williamson

sporting the alt jersey and the lou gehrig day patch. 

this pack also included the 1974 topps stamps insert of the cubs

some teams featured in this release have two stamp inserts in high numbers, but i am not sure if the cubs do. this one features only current cubs (as of the end of the 2023 season, anyway). 

the third purple refractor of the box was kevin newman

sporting the kroger ad patch. 

not much to report from the fourth pack other than the purple refractor

julien hails from canada although he played college ball at auburn. he garnered some down ballot roy votes this year, and i know a few twin fans here that are pretty excited about this guy. 

fifth pack included this card

which is a flagship heritage base update card. it's number 100 so isn't part of the high numbers set, and fills the space in the flagship checklist that was supposed to be held by kolten wong. wong's card was mistakenly printed as #327 instead of #100, and #327 was already occupied by andrew chafin.

i also found a now & then insert of lourdes gurriel jr

although there is no mention of his name on the front of the card. plenty of room for it, though.

the purple refractor for this pack is david bednar

bednar is one of those guys in high numbers who didn't switch teams, but was rather just not included on the flagship checklist. being the team's closer certainly helped him get a card in high numbers.

sixth pack included the third short print of the pack 

korey lee was a first round pick of the astros who joined the white sox during the 2023 season. not sure if he is in play for the primary catching role in 2024 with the exit of yasmani grandal or not.

the purple refractor in this pack was enmanuel valdez

i was not familiar with valdez, but he appeared in 49 games for the red sox and may be their second baseman next season.

seventh pack was the best of the bunch in my opinion.  this trevor rogers card 

isn't a short print or anything, but i scanned it because it features a photo from pride night at dodger stadium on june 16, 2023. it will go in my dodger stadium mini-collection, and it pairs nicely with the emmet sheehan topps now card that was issued due to him making his debut that same night. both teams wore pride-themed hats that are visible on the cards. i am glad that topps isn't avoiding showing these patches on cards.

the highlight of the pack, and of the blaster, really, was this red parallel of one of the dodgers' 1974 topps stamps inserts

don sutton and tommy john are an odd pairing with miguel vargas and james outman, but i'll take it. we are probably a couple of years away from seeing sutton's perm on heritage cards, but the inclusion of john in this year's high numbers made me smile.

one guy that could have replaced either vargas or outman on that card is bobby miller. this pack did yield a miller purple refractor

so that was fun for me to find.

last pack included an awards winner insert of justin verlander

and an andrew mccutchen purple refractor

between the short prints, update card, inserts, and hot box refractors, this blaster certainly beat the odds. what a fun rip even though the base cards were pretty meh.

as for the chrome update blaster, my guaranteed pink refractors were tanner bibee

and luis guillorme

there were two sepia refractors (not shown), and i found a couple of inserts, too. as for dodgers, i found three base cards - noah syndergaard, miguel vargas, and jason heyward

i did pick up a dodger insert from chrome update a week or two earlier - j.d. martinez

and his all-star game refractor. i'd like to find more of these and plan to dig through some boxes at a card show this weekend. wish me luck!