More Archives Trade Bait

I picked up another Topps Archives blaster at the last card show in town, this time for the even more ridiculous price of $10. I have a bunch more base cards, so if you happen to be working on the set and need some of those, just let me know. Or, if you just want cards from your team, that works too.

I just thought I'd post the key cards from the blaster instead of everything. I am also officially collecting the 3-D set (want list is posted) and managed to snag the Mickey Mantle card from it.

I'm not sure what the difference is between the high number reprints and these that have the gold foil stamps on them. If only Joe knew the damage that he would do in the media back then.

I believe this is a short print.

Here's another gold stamped reprint thing.

I wasn't aware of the term "catfish" until this whole Manti Te'o thing went down. Weird stuff. This is one of the cloth-ish inserts.

This is also a short print.

Finally, here's another cloth-ish card.

Let me know if you need anything from this post or are missing base cards.

Up For Grabs: 2012 Topps Archives

As promised last week, this is the other blaster that I picked up at the card show for the low, low price of $12. I bought only one other pack of this product this year, and I was pretty disappointed. It's something I really wanted to be excited about, and I absolutely love the inserts, but the base cards being on the cheap and lazy white card stock made me think twice about forking over $3.19 a pack. If blasters were always and forever $12 a piece, and if they were as good as this one, I might have changed my tune. Oh well.

This is going to double as an "Up For Grabs" post as well. In breaking with my usual box break format, I am just going to list out the cards. If you need 'em, let me know. There's only a few cards that I will be keeping, and I will note them below.

Pack 1:
100 - Miguel Cabrera
140 - Buster Posey
186 - Brian Wilson

157 - Carlos Gonzalez Gold

222 - John Kruk
147 - Justin Masterson
194 - Gary Carter
35 - Zack Greinke

Pack 2:
26 - Paul Konerko
76 - Victor Martinez
128 - Shin-Soo Choo
180 - David Wright

67S-CG - Carlos Gonzalez '67 Sticker

85 - Matt Holliday - not for trade
137 - Jason Heyward
179 - Michael Bourn

Pack 3:
21 - Jeremy Hellickson
71 - Jimmy Rollins
122 - Dustin Pedroia
172 - James Shields

160 - Eddie Murray Reprint
10 - Ryan Braun
70 - Joey Votto
123 - Ryan Vogelsong
- Topps Pennant Ad (Rangers)

Pack 4:
13 - Mark Teixeira

56R-JC - Johnny Cueto Jersey

- Joey Votto 3-D - not sure if I'm trading this one. I'm trying to decide if I want to go for this set.
173 - Daniel Hudson
11 - Curtis Granderson
58 - Tommy Hanson

Pack 5:
62 - Hanley Ramirez
113 - Ryan Howard
164 - Kevin Youkilis
5 - Freddie Freeman

214 - Mitch Williams
111 - John Axford
162 - Jayson Werth
2 - Nick Swisher

Pack 6:
54 - Jemile Weeks
101 - Adrian Gonzalez
156 - Ubaldo Jimenez
33 - Jon Lester

77C-RJ - Reggie Jackson Cloth
52 - Geovany Soto
102 - Dee Gordon
152 - Johnny Cueto

Pack 7:
83 - Craig Kimbrel
135 - Mike Napoli
184 - Jim Rice

58-KK - Clayton Kershaw / Sandy Koufax Classic Combos

500 - Duke Snider Reprint
18 - Tom Seaver
67 - Justin Verlander
118 - Desmond Jennings

Pack 8:
1 - Matt Kemp
59 - Hunter Pence
112 - Todd Helton
161 - Chase Utley

69DE-15 - Joe Morgan Deckle Edge
169 - Michael Morse
42 - Aroldis Chapman
80 - Troy Tulowitzki - not for trade

Bonus Pack! (I bought this recently. It has a short print.)
90 - Joe Mauer
126 - Rickie Weeks
176 - Eric Hosmer
9 - Brett Gardner
236 - Chili Davis
37 - Jose Valverde
139 - Ivan Nova
87 - Clay Buchholz

[updated 12/24/12]

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!)

2012 Topps Archives 3-D

Want List:

Babe Ruth
Dustin Pedroia
Miguel Cabrera
Roberto Clemente


[updated 12/14/24]