5 Packs of 2018 Topps Series 1

Real talk: I've been battling illness all week, which explains why my posts have been so sporadic. This was a hell of a virus, and I appear to finally be ahead of it, which is a great feeling. In celebration, I checked Target for Series 1, and found something astonishing...75% of the selection of hanger boxes, rack packs and blasters of the product, that were new a week ago, were all gone. Only the little basket of single packs remained, which was still fine, as I still scooped up 5 of them with no problem. It is kind of nice that people are buying more packs now. Amazing what a genuinely good product will do to sales.

Pack 1-
297- Paul Goldschmidt. Obviously not in a Cards uniform yet, of which I am thankful.
255- Andrelton Simmons
155- James McCann. Great shot, though he's since landed in Chicago.
328- Yonder Alonso, now ALSO in Chicago.
A trio of 3 dupes, Abreu, Rosario and Stroman, which I already have dupes of
Cactus League insert of Francisco Lindor...who won't be playing much in the Cactus League, since he just got injured.
Stars of the Game insert of Trey Mancini. These are minimalist and shiny. Not bad.
283- Rich Hill. More dupes
52- JT Realmuto. Now a Phillie.
302- Jose Berrios
2 more dupes
321- Jack Flaherty
136- Brad Peacock

Pack 2-
17- Caleb Joseph
236- Sean Doolittle. Hopefully he'll stay healthy this year
247- Sam Tuivailala
223- Jose Ramirez, still a standout in Cleveland
317- Kevin Gausman
293- Andrew Miller, now in St. Louis
195- Brett Phillips, a dupe
Cactus League insert of Mike Trout. Not a bad one to get, too
Stars of the Game of Adam Jones
4 dupes
234- Austin Hedges
153- Hunter Strickland
139- Mitch Haniger

Pack 3-
318- Cedric Mullins RC, which should age well
332- Ryan O'Hearn
301- Tanner Roark, now on the Reds
240- Trey Mancini
350- Nick Markakis. Kinda cool he got the 'end of the set' number.
3 dupes
84T of Matt Chapman. Very cool
Stars of the Game of Marcell Ozuna, who looks great on one of these
2 more dupes
201- Marcus Semien
96- Trevor Williams
148- Brandon Belt
58- Carlos Martinez

Pack 4-
206- Jaime Barria
264- Avisáil Garcia, now on the Rays
343- Sal Romano
16- Charlie Blackmon. Great shot of him, too
159- Astros TC
339- Josh Harrison
134- Sean Reid-Foley
199- Mike Clevinger GOLD #'d to 2019
Stars of the Game of Nick Castellanos
Gleyber Torres insert of Spring Training 2017, which uses the same photo as is 2017 Bowman rookie card.
121- Joey Wendle
199- Mike Clevinger. And the regular version!
330- Lorenzo Cain, looking dramatic here
11- Mike Zunino. Now with the Rays
271- Shane Bieber
72- Chris Taylor

Pack 5-
100- Mike Trout. Well, now I don't need to spend the big bucks on that one.
124- Jason Kipnis
95- Dennis Santana
140- Daniel Poncedeleon
3 dupes
287- Jesus Aguilar GOLD #'D to 2019
Greatest Moments of Mike Piazza. On the Mets this time
Stars of the Game of Wil Myers
3 dupes
22- Adalberto Mondesi
109- Michael Conforto
224- Odubel Herrera. At least we end with the only new Yankee or Phillie in these packs.

Solid enough stuff, and a lot of base needs, but even a week later I still have dupes in packs. Lovely.