Topps-O-Cuff Rip Off Update! Packs 1-4

Well, after much time planning and waiting, and waiting some more, the Rip Off is officially under way! I have to say that this is a completely different approach to pack ripping that I am used to. Normally I am just looking over the cards, sorting them, and filing them away. But in the instance of the competition, I find myself really eyeballing every card and hoping that I can find a sneaky way to add a +5 to my score. After all, who really wants to lose to a Yankees fan? Leaves a horrible taste in my mouth just thinking about it. Well, here is the breakdown of packs 1-4

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!