What would you pay?

So, you walk into Target, and they have opened a new box of the $1.59 packs. You could care less about the Pokemon, Bella Sara, Webkinz, anime, and wrestling cards. Only a passing interest in the Football, Basketball and Hockey cards.

Bingo!

There is a whole column of 05 Leaf, 06 Upper Deck, 07 Upper Deck, 08 Upper Deck (Series 1!), 07 Upper Deck Masterpieces, 04 Fleer Platinum, 05 Fleer Platinum, 06 Fleer. 54 packs in all, about $90.

What do you do?

a) Say, "No thanks, I've already got too many cards," and walk out.

b) Pick a few of each and hope that you find the relic/auto/super-rare parallel/fantastic insert in each pack?

c) Take the whole friggin' lot?

Well?

(tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock...)

Yeah, me too. "c" all the way.

I did get a few nice collectibles out of all of them, such as a Jeter Rare Starquest, one relic, and a Fleer Platinum fold-out of Piazza. Not great, but OK.

I guess that is why I should be buying Hobby Boxes of this stuff if I want to finish sets. I've been sucked into

The Swirling Vortex of Desparation in Trying to Find the Autogamers!

(cue the dark music: DUH-DUH-DUH-DUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!)

I've gotten away from the reason I got back into the hobby: set collecting, specifically Topps sets. I have finished the base 08 set, and I'm close to finishing the 08 Heritage. But what have I gotten myself into!??!!? I now have complete common sets of Ultra and UD in many flavors!

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

(cue the Charlie Brown-kicking-the-football-while-Lucy-pulls-it-away clip)

So, how do I save myself? Do I altruistically give away all my Brewers to Thorzul and all my Braves to dayf? All my Phillies to Chris Harris? All my (pre-2007) Devil Rays to my son?

Do I sell it all on eBay for the low, low starting price of $9.99?

Do I roll them all into cardboard logs and use it to start fires in my fireplace this winter so I don't have to heat my house? (I guess that would depend on how far a cardboard log would go, and whether the cost of the natural gas to heat the house would be more than the equivalent thermodynamic blah-blah-blah....)

I think I'll keep things around for a while. I'm kinda having fun with it again, tearing open pack upon pack, hoping for that elusive Derek Jeter auto.

In the meantime, I'll see if I can make a few trades....