Pack #1
Jim Thome
Kevin Gregg (sporting glasses, but not SUNglasses...drat)
John Lackey (horizontal!) +5
Prince Fielder (many, many extra players) +5
CYMTA-Tony Gwynn...sweet
Legendary Lineage-Ozzie Smith and Jose Reyes (horizontal!) +5
Toppstown Ryan Braun
KC Royals team card
David Dejesus (sunglasses!) +5
Akinori Iwamura (flying bat)! +5
Total for Pack 1 = 25 pts (text in green cuz this pack was MONEY)
Pack #2
Tyler Flowers
Shane Victorino
Ryan Doumit (bonus player!) +5
Edwin Jackson
Chris Pettit
CYMTO - Jim Palmer...nice card
WTWY - Ryan Doumit
Toppstown Youk! No points, but my first sox.
Barry Zito
Tobi Stoner
Total pack #2 points = +5....el stinkarino! (written in brown because...well...it was NOT money).
Pack #3
Ryan Spilborghs
Andre Ethier
Toppstown Vlad Guerrero (leader of the pack) +5
Turkey Red-Mark Teixeira (current player) +5
CYMTO - Evan Longoria..yeah, I have about 8 of these laying around....could be a bipping coming on?
Houston Astros team (horizontal) +5
Luis Durango (sunglasses) +5
Matt LaPorta (sunglasses) +5
Dodgers Franchise History
Elvis Andrus (sunglasses) +5
Total pack #3 = +30...muuuuuch better.
Pack #4
Carlos Gomez
James Shields
Curtis Granderson
NL Wins Leaders (horizontal) +5
NL HR Leaders (horizontal) +5
Million card giveaway featuring Ichiro
Peak Performance Prince Fielder
Toppstown Josh Hamilton
Rickie Weeks
Kevin Hart
Total for pack #4 = 10 pts (MINI stinkarino).
Total pack 1-4 = +70 pts
Product: Early Impressions - Well, after four packs in, I am obviously still undecided as to my overall thoughts on the product. I do have a couple early impressions though. First of all, as a hand-collator, I am very happy to see much larger card numbers on the backs of the cards. I file my cards in boxes, so it can get a little dark in there and last year's numbers were tiny. Big ups to Topps on that.
The photography is pretty hit-and-miss, just like last year, but I think that this year the extra color arching and huge team logos really make the vertical cards seem a bit squished. The landscapes seem to work much better with this design. (By the way, the number 1 card in the entire set is Prince Fielder "knocking down the bowling pins" (see above). I thought the choice was an interesting one. Does Prince represent Topps and their new ruling of the license kingdom? Hmm...
Inserts are pretty good so far. I think the CYMTO are a cool touch, especially for newer collectors like myself who have never so much as sniffed older, classic cards. I definitely want all of these. Being a father as well, I appreciate the "when they were young" cards. I am also looking forward to collecting all of the Tales of the Game series, though none have appeared yet. Turkey Red as an insert is sooooo 2009, but they are still nice.
Just one more thought as a wrap-up...what is up with the SMELL of Topps cards? I noticed it first with the Updates and Highlights set in October and the same sour, musty smell seems to have arisen again in this set. If you don't know what I am talking about, go smell you cards right now! GO!
Where is my one per post mention, as per our copyright infringement agreement?
ReplyDeleteGotta love the airbrush job on AKI! Couldn't they have airbrushed the rest of the rays in the background?
ReplyDeleteI believe you made that arrangement with my opponent. Nobody backs JD into a corner. Besides...I would have no idea which of your sites to link up anyways :)
ReplyDeleteLongoria Bipping!!! Bip me, please :)
ReplyDeletenobody ever requests a bipping unless they are crazy or need kinder for the fireplace.
ReplyDelete