A Visit to the Archives

I was in a hobby shop (more like a warehouse, actually) in Austin recently and decided to take the plunge and see what Topps Archives in 2012 was all about. I was prepared to hate this set from the few things that I had read about it. In fact, you could almost say I was hoping to hate this set for the sake of my bank account. As it turns out, I don't feel strongly one way or another about it, which means it will end up in that wishy-washy category of things I might buy at a later date if it's cheap enough (but I probably should stay clear away from if I know what's good for me.)

Here's the one pack I purchased in detail:

170 - Justin Upton (Sure, sure, there were no Diamondbacks around in 1984. I guess Topps gets a B here for creativity.)

30 - Jacoby Ellsbury

64 - Derek Holland (I suppose this doesn't look as bad as, say, the Upper Deck sets that ripped off this very design.)

115 - Gio Gonzalez (The 1980 design is definitely under-represented in the whole Topps tribute thing, at least in my opinion. I suppose there aren't a lot of iconic cards from the original set aside from the Rickey Henderson rookie card.)

67S-MC - Miguel Cabrera 1967 Stickers (These are fun, I have to say. Are these actual stickers, though? Has anyone tried to peel one of these?)

86 - Trevor Cahill (Okay, fine, I'll bite. My biggest problem with these cards is the same as everyone else's as far as I know: they are pitifully thin. I guess we're spoiled from the thick Archives/Fan Favorites/Heritage cards of the past, but these don't even approach the original cardboard thickness that your garden variety 1989 card has. While they're not paper-thin like mid-'90s Fleer, for $3-$4 a pack, you expect something a little more substantial than a gloss-less 2012 base card.)

129 - Darryl Strawberry (It's a bit odd to see a retired player in this set with a design that only predates his rookie season by a few years.)

 197 - Allen Craig (Great way to end the pack!)