All I've bought so far for 2017 Topps flagship is two rack packs.. Tom from the Eamus Catuli blog provided me with a hangar box to start the year, and I almost don't want to buy any more. Why you ask?
Because I only have 3 doubles so far. Addison Russell, Jimmy Nelson and Archie Bradley. All of them horizontal cards.
I've noticed a distinct uptick in the number of horizontal cards so far in this years set. I have 129 cards out of the 350 in series 1. 102 vertical, and 27 horizontal.
With a lot of the photos that Topps chose for this years set, the horizontal layout is a good choice. Howie Kendrick is a good example of that. Vertically, that card probably would have lost half of Howie's body...
The team cards also work with the horizontal layout. The Marlins and Angels do a fine job of making my point. Ryan Braun's card also works, the photo and layout allows the entire swing to be shown.
Logan Morrison's card is also a good example of a card where the shot is worthy of the horizontal layout. There's a lot going on in that photo, and a lot of people to be shown. Vertical just wouldn't have worked here. Robbie Grossman's card is another good example; vertically we just wouldn't have been able to see enough of what's happening during that shot. Yulieski Gurriel is even better, the full extension still doesn't seem to be enough for him to catch the ball. Don't think you get that with a vertical shot.
These 3 cards may not be good examples, as all we have out of the ordinary here is Adam Lind playing basketball with his helmet. I wonder if he hit the shot...
I'll be interested to see if the 1:4 ratio of horizontal to vertical cards holds out as I build series 1. The reason it struck me is that I don't remember this many horizontal shots on cards over the past few seasons.
It may just be the way that the cards are being packaged. The box/packs that I've opened so far have had the horizontal cards grouped together, which made them stand out to me.
Anyone else notice the uptick in horizontal cards? Or am I seeing things?
Thanks for reading, Robert
I'm a fan of the horizontal shot, but only when it's done right. With this particular design I feel there is quite a bit of wasted space at the bottom, but Topps did a nice job with the photo selection from what you show above.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do think you are correct: there has been an uptick in horizontal cards, but I don't have any concrete evidence to support that claim.
I noticed more in my few packs, and I also noticed that they were grouped together which I found odd. I like my horizontal cards (in primarily vertical sets) to be restricted to team cards and specials.
ReplyDeleteI gotta say, I noticed it too, but was too lazy to see how it compared to other years.
ReplyDeleteI haven't collected much flagship the last few years so I can't say if there are more horizontals. I like them. I would think that collectors who put their cards in binders might have issues with vertical and horizontal cards on the same page. Makes them hard to browse.
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