First off, I feel like I have to come right out and say it- I'm collecting this set. Yes, I'm nowhere near completing last year's sets. Yes, I haven't completed collecting a single set since I started collecting again recently. Yes, this means that I am working on four different sets now. It doesn't matter, though. I like these goofy cards and I want more of them. That's the end of that story.I finally saw a blaster of this stuff last weekend and took the plunge. The downside is that the blasters do not have the Target (or Wal-Mart) exclusive Mayo inserts, but they do contain 8 (unsearched) packs for less than the price of 7. By the way, can anyone tell me who the player on the side of the box (pictured above) is? The jersey kinda looks like a reverse-negative, somewhat mangled Phillies logo and the cap logo is totally obscured. Maybe it's someone Topps didn't hold the rights to show?
Pack 1:
268 - John Lackey
412 - Ted Lilly (He's squinting.)
381 - Atlanta Braves (I think the team cards are amazing this year.)
332 - David Ortiz (I can't stand the Red Sox, but I like this card. Plus, it's really hard to dislike David Ortiz.)271 - Lance Berkman (I can't stand the Astros, and it's not hard to dislike Berkman at all.)
117 - Michael Bowden (RC) (I don't like the placement of the Rookie Card logo on these.)
55 - Nate McLouth
255 - Blake DeWittPack 2:
39 - Mike Cameron
82 - Scott Baker
154 - Rich Aurilia (Is he still playing?)
275 - Skip Schumaker (First Cardinal of the set, and it's awesome looking. And they even have Skip's position right this time. Although, he's expected to play 2B this year...)157 - Juan Uribe
C11 - Carlos Beltran Chrome 1176 / 1960 (Not a bad player to get chrome-ized. I still feel like he's The Enemy, going back to his Astros days.)417 - Martin Prado (First double of the set.)
106 - David Eckstein
Pack 3:
207 - Aubrey Huff
70 - Tom Glavine (Topps should have gone 1990 Donruss style and switched Glavine and Smoltz's pictures or something.)
52 - Chris Young (The one that strikes out a lot, not the one that strikes people out sometimes.)
464 - Atlanta Braves coaches (SP) (The coach cards are silly. Floating heads always are. It's cool they stuck to the original set, though. And it was smart to make these short prints, figuring that they wouldn't be as popular anyway.)
387 - Carlos Ruiz 2008 World Series (Nice touch with the box score on the back.)113 - Brandon Moss
186 - Joel Zumaya
280 - Tim Wakefield
Pack 4:
241 - Corey Hart (Another card I already have.)
270 - Chien-Ming Wang (Ditto.)
28 - Nick Markakis232 - Jay Payton
BF10 - Bobby Richardson Baseball Flashbacks173 - Brandon Phillips
380 - Prince Fielder
370 - Jason Giambi
Pack 5:
361 - Gerald Laird
394 - James Loney
422 - Matt Kemp (If I liked the Dodgers, I'd be pretty happy about this box so far.)
58 - Conor Jackson (There's some stupid variation of this card, but this is the normal version as far as I know.)
NF7 - Marshall Space Flight Center News Flashbacks (I still think the black triangles are weird.)269 - Jeremy Hermida
104 - Chris Davis
135 - Devon Lowery (RC) (There's that obstrusive Rookie Card logo.)Pack 6:
297 - Aaron Boone (Poor guy. When I first saw this card, I had no idea he was still in the league and set to play for the Astros. Now he's out for the year due to, er, open-heart surgery. Yikes!)
91 - Kevin Millwood
152 - Jorge Cantu (I drafted him for a couple of my fantasy teams. Hope that works out.)
NAP4 - Josh Hamilton New Age Performers (These are alright looking, I suppose, but they have more of a modern feel. Maybe that's the point.)
455 - Baltimore Orioles Coaches (SP) (More floating-head coaches. Juan Samuel was a Portland Beavers legend in the '80s.)354 - Chris Snyder
188 - Joey Gathright (Does it make any sense that the Cubs gave up on Felix Pie but added this guy? I guess I don't really care.)
Pack 7:
224 - John Russell (This design for the managers cards could make a pretty nice set of its own. Plus, there's nothing but cartoons on the back. Reminds me of Bazooka cards.)191 - Jonathan Broxton
129 - James Parr (RC)
235 - Ryan Freel (I wonder what his imaginary friend thinks of the move to Baltimore.)
298 - Aaron Cook
TN8 - Bob Friend / Cliff Lee Then and Now (Cool, but I think my girlfriend already got doubles of this card, which I suppose means that I wouldn't need her extra.)76 - Jered Weaver
244 - Trevor Hoffman (He's not photoshopped into a Brewers uniform.)
Pack 8:
64 - Matt Harrison (RC)
340 - Ian Snell (Yadier Molina was his personal catcher in the WBC.)
CC-CM - Cameron Maybin Clubhouse Collection (I never got any game-used cards out of last year's Heritage, so this was a welcome sight. Plus, I think I like bat cards a lot more than jersey cards.)338 - Milton Bradley
372 - Brian Schneider
213 - Dusty Baker (This is what the manager card cartoon backs look like. Plus, Dusty is kind of a cartoon himself.)348 - Todd Helton (Everyone's favorite.)
That was an awesome blaster. So far I have opened 3, and have yet to get a game used card. The last one I opened, I never even got a chrome card. At this rate, it might have been cheaper for me to buy a hobby box, lol.
ReplyDeleteI may also try to complete this set myself, and have some doubles and triples for trade when you reach that point.
Definitely Ryan Howard on the blaster.
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteI have doubles of Then & Now Bob Friend and Roy Halladay. Lucky you.
Man, I'd happily get you something for the "Friend" "Lee" (Friendly??) card!
ReplyDeleteOnce I get some more of this stuff, I'll definitely start looking to make some trades.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I'm likely going to try and collect the relative affordable inserts from this set, but if I get another Friend-Lee card, it's yours. I do have some other Indians cards I want to send you, regardless of whether you win the contest or not.