The Fuss About Utz

Ever since I made that post about those baseball cards that come with Utz chips I've come to learn that Utz appears to be a regional brand. More specifically one limited to the east coast. In some ways I was shocked because for as long as I can remember Utz has always been a brand that's just been on shelves but I never checked it out. I'm more of a Cape Cod chips guy. There's even been big ads for it on Yankee Stadium (both old and new) for years. But apparently it's not a thing for other parts of the country. Oh well.

In the weeks since I posted about these I've bought three more bags, which is to say I've acquired nine more cards. I know I said I wouldn't bother but my local Stop & Shop reduced the prices down to $4 (plus tax) per bag. That's not a bad deal relative to other snacks I would buy and definitely a good deal compared to loose packs of cards I could buy at big box stores that don't even come with food. So I thought I might as well.

Last time the cards greeting me in packs one and two were Rockies. A truly disheartening experience that made me cold, bitter and resentful towards the world. Rounds three and four went a lot smoother.

The cards greeting me this time were Dustin May (LAD) and Dylan Cease (CWS). Followed by Austin Meadows (TB), Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD), Trey Mancini (BAL) and Shohei Ohtani (LAA).

May, Tatis and Ohtani would've made for an incredible trio so I'm pretty psyched to have gotten them over most of the other players in the set. Meadows and Mancini represent awful unpopular and unwanted teams but at least they're decent names so I can dump them onto Gavin or someone like him at some point. Cease is someone I have zero strong feelings about but since he's got that White Sox logo I do have places to send him to. Which is good.

If you're wondering why round five/the last three cards weren't scanned above. Well.

They were duplicates!

Now to be clear, getting Shohei Ohtani twice in a food-issue exclusive is far from a bad thing. I'm a huge Ohtani fan and as a dude with Japanese ancestry in me I'll always support Shobae.

Getting two Rays is always a terrible thing but again, these are bound for Gavin or to a Pirates fan who still likes Meadows even as he turns into a forgettable semi-star in Tampa who eventually gets traded to some contending team in the midwest (or Texas) where his performance is slightly recognized more but nowhere near where it would be if he were in New York or Los Angeles.

Getting two Dodgers rookies is far from terrible though. Especially since I like Dustin May a lot. If I ever have the opportunity I'm probably gonna ask him to sign one of those two food issues for me.

And those were some more Utz cards. I guess.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.

An Awkward Affair

My feelings on Bowman can be described as, mixed at best. I guess some could describe it as a love-hate relationship but both of those words are too strong for me to use. I don't love a product because I believe that brand loyalty is dumb. Nor do I hate a product because if I didn't like something I just wouldn't buy it.

No my issue with Bowman comes down to how there are always some things about it that I care about and other things about that I don't care about. Usually putting me in a spot where I just ignore it entirely because my preference leans towards IPs/TTMs anyway.

Caring: Players I Like

Alright so the kind of stuff I care about is quite simple. The prospects. It's the only reason anyone should care about Bowman.

But when I say I care about the prospects, I don't mean it in a "I'm going to take out a mortgage to buy this player's BoChro autos!". What I really mean is that I'm happy that some of my favorite prospects are getting paid to have their likenesses, names and autographs used on cardboard. It's no secret that minor leaguers are very underpaid, if they can earn even a little bit more to help them in their pursuit to the big leagues that's very good in my book. Obviously a Topps contract isn't going to make anyone rich but I'm sure every little bit helps.

That's why when I see that my favorite prospects are getting Topps/Bowman cards, I get a little happy. The Jasson Dominguezes/Adley Rutschmans of the world will always get these deals but guys on my radar like Ezequiel Duran are a whole other thing entirely. I want "Zeke" to reap some benefits of being a really intriguing prospect. Seeing him get a Bowman Chrome autograph signals to me that he got a check from Topps, that makes me very happy for him. To most of you this name probably isn't much outside of "cool, his name Ezequiel is pretty unique.". But to me he's someone I've seen in person and left me impressed. It's players like Ezequiel who make Bowman a good brand to me.

Of course they can't all be Duran. Duran is unique in that he's actually good. So what about the rest?

Not Caring: Players I Don't Like As Much

This is probably more of a problem I have since I'm an extreme player collector who focuses on select few individuals with immense precision, but seeing the names in a checklist filled with people who don't mean anything to me is what makes me not care about the Bowman offerings, and really most card offerings in general.

Looking at the autograph checklist (because that's all that matters), the key thing to note is that most of the checklist is meh. Unless you pull someone with a Yankees logo, Bobby Witt Jr., Xavier Edwards, Vidal Brujan and maybe Brennan Davis the rest of the prospects in the product are mediocre and won't make you back any money.

And even if I didn't care about money, on a pure personal basis the non-Yanks don't mean anything to me. Am I going to root for them and become a superfan because I pulled their cards? No, I'm going to denounce the product and myself for being dumb enough to buy it instead of putting my money into a savings account that accrues interest (if such a thing exists anymore) so that by the time the Duran superfractor auto shows up I could just buy that instead.

When people say Bowman isn't for them, I know where they're coming from. It's tough to care about a developing player in a sport where development is anything but linear and success isn't guaranteed at all. And a product filled with players like that isn't going to work for everyone. It barely works for me half of the time.

And this is to say nothing of how I firmly believe Bowman and Bowman Chrome continuing to put in MLB players is bad. Established MLB players do not belong in a prospect oriented set. Putting in rookies is as far as a Bowman offering should go. Maybe have an insert set dedicated to former prospects or draft picks or something if they're so inclined, but not the base set. We're already drowning in millions of base cards made for the likes of Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw, we don't need more.

These prices will drastically drop in a few months

Now if you'll excuse me I need to be on the hunt for Ezequiel Duran.

Also if any of you pulls a paper autograph of Ken Waldichuk from Bowman retail let me know. I'm on the prowl for that too.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.