In which I pick up a few modern Topps cards

I struggle a bit with the question of whether I want to buy any current cards.  I've bought very few so far since I resumed collecting in 2017.  I find the modern concepts of parallels and inserts and hits all to be a bit overwhelming; when you bought a pack of 1989 Topps, for example, it was a lot clearer what you were getting.  Of course the modern situation could be more interesting than a pack of 1989 Topps.  So I haven't bought any blasters yet, but I am wondering if I might want to when next year's cards are released.  I have a while still to think that over, I guess.

2015 Topps NL Batting Leaders.

In the meantime, an eBay seller included some bonus cards for me.  I had purchased a number of small sets that I've been featuring, such as the 1978 Topps Phillies team set, the 1988 Chef Boyardee, 1987 M&M's, and so on.  I have a few yet to feature as well.  I'm not sure which order came with the modern cards as a throw-in, but it's always nice to get a bonus.  I even got this league leaders card with Harrison and McCutchen; that means that of all the small number of modern cards I own, four of them now have Cutch.

2016 Topps Mike Trout.

2016 Topps Albert Pujols.

I'm not showing all of the cards the eBay seller threw in, but I will say that other than the above 2015 card, the others were a handful of 2016 Topps flagship.  Here are two stars, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols of the Angels.  I really only have been watching the Pirates the past couple of years, but I gather people like to get cards of Trout.

2018 Topps Legends in the Making Felix Hernandez.

2018 Topps Legends in the Making Justin Verlander.

Then, the other day, I bought two twelve-card packs of 2018 Topps flagship at Target on a whim.  I reckon this brings my count of post-1994 cards in my collection up to about 75.  I got these two Legends in the Making inserts, and one other insert as well.  Like I said, I've really only watched the Pirates the past few years, so my knowledge of other players, especially in the AL, is spotty.  I have heard of Verlander at least (and featured a card of his once before) but actually don't think I had heard of Felix Hernandez.  Looking him up now, I see that he won the 2010 AL Cy Young; in my defense, I didn't start watching baseball again until the end of the 2015 season.

2018 Topps Adam Frazier.

2018 Topps Gorkys Hernandez.

I am very happy to have pulled one Pirate from my two packs; it was Adam Frazier, who seems to have a promising career if he finds a regular place to play.  Although it's the end of 2018, let me give my brief review of the flagship set: I like the card fronts overall, with many great pictures such as on this Gorkys Hernandez card.  I find the graphic design only slightly annoying in that the wave obscures a bit of the player's name, but otherwise I think the logo and the wave give good energy leading into the photo.  I think I like that the 2019 design has a border on at least some sides, though.  I do find the backs lacking, as there's a lot of white space and I'm not interested in knowing their social media handles. 

Thanks for reading!