Sunday, February 14, 2016

I'm a little late to the party, but I have an excuse

Part of my monthly card show purchase a couple of weeks ago was something I hadn't bought in quite a while.  I splurged for a hobby box of 2016 Topps, for a couple of reasons.  First, I'm building the set, so instead of piecing it together with a shit load of retail packs, I thought I may as well get it over with (most of it anyhow) in one shot.   Second, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

First of all, the base set collation was good.  I only pulled one duplicate (Mark Melancon) which I can live with.  Second, I was very curious as to what I was going to pull when the dealer said "good luck" after I paid for the box.  Lottery, here I come!  I needed just 40 cards to complete Series 1 after opening the box, and that dropped to 30 after opening a couple of rack packs.  Manageable for sure.

I do not mind the base set, there are some good photos in there.  I like that Topps included World Series, team cards and cards like the Hollywood Production card (battery powered, a cute play on words).  

As it is every year, the inserts are just too damn tedious for me.  I don't care for them, and never will.


Nice pairs of teammates on these cards, but they just don't fit for me.  I'll never be a master set builder, so these are available. 



OK, I get it, these guys got to pitch.  Did any of them do it a few days after an appendectomy?  If not, then I would say that they were hardly "pressed into service".  Unless they did it just after their uniform was ironed.   Available to anyone who wants them.


Cards commemorating a ceremonial baseball toss.  Only Mo'ne Davis should be on one of these, the rest of them I'm sure didn't get their pitch to the plate.  Even better, Carrie Brownstein was in the box twice.   Anyone want any of these?


Perspecitves.  OK, some pretty good names and photography on these.  I'll call this the insert set of the year so far.  Still, not my cup of tea.  I also pulled Craig Biggio twice.   Up for grabs to anyone...


LOL!!  Berger's Best in my opinion is just a rehash of "Cards Your Mom Threw Out" a few years ago.  For me, it's a big fail.
The 100 years of Wrigley is a nice tribute to a stadium that I still have to visit someday.  All 4 of these cards are available.


Now, these 3 cards are truly a mixed bag of emotions for me.  One, they made me laugh.  Helping me enjoy my box break certainly helped.  Maybe these would have been better in the Opening Day release, which is more geared to the younger collector, in my opinion.  The kielbasa catchers mitt is my favorite of these...which are all available.


Another type of parallel set.  Foil.  Sorry kids, no comment on these.  They're available.


All of you who have read my blog over the years knows that I enjoy a good gold, pink, black, blue, green or yellow parallel.  But the borderless cards for 2016 really make these parallels disappointing for me.  I really liked pulling gold parallels from packs the past few years, because you could actually tell they were gold.  I actually missed the Gordon and Holliday cards until I looked at all the cards a 2nd time.   Not good.   These 5 are available.   Speak now.


I really haven't pulled any great hits from hobby boxes (outside of the Gwynn auto a few years back from A&G).  This Mauer jersey with a thin pinstripe isn't that bad though.  Joe does need a shave though.   It's available to any Twin or Mauer collectors in the blogosphere.

I didn't bother scanning the 2 buyback cards that I pulled, because to be honest I'm tired of the concept.   Would rather have had 2 base cards that I needed rather than a '74 Boots Day or a '84 Ron Oester with the special stamp on them.   You want them?  Let me know.

I'm no designer, so I will not comment too much on the design other than to say it's OK, but I do miss the borders.  Leave the full bleed to Stadium Club or the other higher end products is what I say.  Want to make me happy Topps?  Cut the number of inserts down, or failing that, quit reusing old ideas.

That's my $60 worth...

All of these cards are available....leave a comment, and if you only want 1 or 2 of these cards, let me know if a PWE works for you.

Thanks for reading, Robert

19 comments:

  1. Mauer please. And all the First Pitch inserts minus the duplicate. I have some Jays for you. Let me make which base you need too.

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    1. Mauer is yours. I'll send the first pitch inserts as well. The base needs are on the want list, just 30 to go.

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  2. To me, Brownstein is the pick of the First Pitches, but I pulled one in probably the one rack pack I'll buy this year.

    I believe the Biggio Perspective is a night card? I'll take one of those.

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    1. The Biggio is indeed a night card...I guess I should have posted this before I sent your envelope yesterday. I'll send you that plus a trio of Dodger dupes I have.

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    2. I'm with NO for Ms. Brownstein's work in both Sleater-Kinney and Portlandia. That second show -- in small doses -- really cracks me up.

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  3. I would be very interested in the buybacks.

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    1. Jon, I would be glad to send them your way. Please send email to rmitchell6700 AT yahoo dot com with your address and send them to you ASAP. Let me know in the email if PWE is OK as well. Thanks,

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  4. I actually like the 100 Years of Wrigley inserts. The Pressed Into Service would have been better if they actually showed the player pitching.

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    1. The 100 Years of Wrigley is one of the better ideas that Topps had this year IMO. I've just never been a big insert fan...

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  5. I'd be super interested in the teammates inserts and the one of Canseco pitching, what are you looking for in return?

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    1. If you have any duplicate Blue Jays from this years Topps, I'd be interested in those. Send email to Rmitchell6700 at yahoo dot com if you could. Thanks!

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  6. I could use all the foils and golds. I'm sure I have a bunch of blue jays for you. Email me at ttorcato AT aol DOT com if you wanted to trade. Thanks.

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  7. I could use the Holliday gold and the Cardinals eggs Wacky Package.

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    1. The Cardinals Wacky package is yours Marc, I'll see what Jimmy is looking for as far as the gold and get back to you. If you want to send me an email, rmitchell6700 at yahoo dot com, that would be great.

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  8. I really like the Perspective set. That Harper is really cool looking.

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    1. Agreed Matt, the photos really do look good. My insert phobia prevents me from lavishing praise though :)

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  9. That Mauer isn't too bad. The stripe really helps, although I agree that his beard sort of offsets the pinstripe.

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    1. AJ, the Mauer card is definitely all right, my beard comment was more on the fact that I can never recall seeing Mauer with one.

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  10. Robert, I have all the base EXCEPT for these...41, 49, 84, 96, 112, 184, 253, 335.

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