Topps 2015

Well, it's that time of year again (or it has been for a few weeks).  But, it's the time for the Topps Company's flagship line has hit the shelves again.  This is an exciting time of year for baseball card collectors.  I bought a few packs of the Topps 2015 (jumbos) and the verdict, at least the verdict of Can't Hit the Curve (for whatever it's worth) is in...

Topps 2015 Baseball is...wait for it...out-freaking-standing.

While Topps normally does a fairly decent job (at the low-end...think 2008) to pretty good, this year I think the company has outdone themselves.  The card design is beautiful.  A little bit flashy, but not overdone.  Great images.  A HUGE set.  This is a good one folks.

Normally, I'm not really a Topps flagship collector.  This particular year...well, my bank account may take a hit.

The set itself is 350 cards for Series I.  This is likely to clock in at over 700 by the time that series 2 is added sometime later.  So, set collectors should be prepared to purchase many boxes if you are going to be building the set on your own instead of just buying a pre-packaged set (that's boring).

There are the normal variations and some of them are:
Gold:  #'d/2015
Snow camo:  #'d/99
Black:  #'d/64
Pink:  #'d/50
Printing Plates:  1/1
Platinum:  1/1

So, many variants are involved in this set.  My only gripe is that the traditional stamping method used by Topps (basically, just black printing on back) is a little bit old-school and cheap.  Come on Topps. Let's go with the foil stamping for those variants, huh?

Moving on.  Hit chasers will have a tough time.  The hobby boxes have one hit...my guess that this will likely be a Game Used card for the most part although autographs can be had.  The jumbos have one autograph per box...that's kind of low for a jumbo box.  But, that's ok.  Just be forewarned hit hunters, you may get a bunch of game used.

The autograph selection is typically strong.  You'll see the likes of young stars like Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, and Yasiel Puig.  So, pretty good.  But, there are some older timers in there, as well.  Mariano Rivera, Mark McGwire, Rickey-being-Rickey Henderson, and Hank Aaron all make an appearance.  Pretty good stable of autos out there somewhere.

But, what I think is exciting is the possibility of hitting cut autographs (which are predictably very rare...but there is a chance!) of:  Bill Clinton, Ted Williams, Gerald Ford, General Eisenhower, and Steve Wozniak.  A very interesting and historic lot of cuts.

The checklist is huge.  So, here's a link over to our friends at Cardboard Connection and you can view the entire thing there.  CHECKLIST.

Overall, we think that Topps has stepped up their game on this year's set.  Gone are the lame white borders, the lame black borders (which chipped horribly) and new colorful but tasteful borders have been introduced.  The photos are typical Topps-quality.

Kudos, Topps.  Now, go buy a box.

So much stuff to cover.

Well, the season is over.  Congrats to the SF Giants once again.  Every even year they win it, it seems.  So next year...well, they'll probably suck.

Here's a little run-down of the happenings in the MLB just recently.  Not like I am ESPN here but at least I can give you my thoughts (as if you care).

1.  Giants are champs.  This is not the big story here.  Madison Bumgarner is the story for this post-season.  Remember at the beginning of the season?  MadBum was not even the ace of the Giants staff.  That honor went to Matt Cain...who was sidelined with injury.  Bumgarner stepped up and was fucking golden.  Nice work.

2.  Royals shock the world.  These guys were not supposed to be that good.  Seriously.  But, they played like a cohesive unit and got the job done in all the right spots.  So, kudos to James Shields (a personal favorite) and the rest of them youngsters (except Billy Butler).  Great season but just couldn't pull it out.

3.  The ship in Tampa (rather, St. Pete) is sinking.  First, GM Andrew Friedman resigned to take a sweet position in the Dodgers front office.  Can't really blame the guy.  Going from a measly payroll to an organization flush with cash was a no-brainer.  Then...well, then it was Joe Maddon who declined the option on his contract so he could shop his wares to the rest of the league.  Maddon, while not the perfect genius some anoint him, was a perfect personality for this Rays team.  The young guys fed off of his energy and enthusiasm and his positivity.  Now, he gone.  What's next moving the team to Montreal?

4.  A-Rod is back.  Love him or hate him, the Yankees activated Alex Rodriguez from the restricted list today.  The team stated "If he can play, he'll be in the line-up".  Prediction:  A-Rod will solely DH next year.  Or, if he plays in the field he will do so only at first.  You heard it here first, bitches.

5.  RIP Oscar.  Sadly, Cardinals phenom Oscar Tavares passed away over the weekend while driving in his home country.  Just a really sad situation and my heart hurts for the Cards Nation.

That's all I got for now.  Until next time!  Sayonara!

Topps...Don't Ignore Us

I've had two low-level redemption cards sitting in redemption limbo for over two years now with the Topps company.  Seriously low level.  Matt Purkey, I believe.  Same player for both cards.  Ridiculous.

So, I wrote an email to Topps a couple of days ago and asked for anything just to get these redemption cards cleared.  I really, honestly do not care what they send back.  I'd take one of those sweet throwback Topps t-shirts they are hawking on the website (those are sick).  Anyway, have I heard anything back from Topps?  Nope.

Crickets, people.  I hear crickets.

But, I shall not give up.  Topps is a good company (albeit a lot slow with redeeming these blasted redemption cards) and I feel that they will do the right thing and replace them cards with something.

I believe!

Happy Saturday, peeps.

What To Do When Your Favorite Player Gets Traded

Now that the trade deadline has passed, I think things have settled enough to talk about it.  Yes, I am a Tampa Rays fan.  I am not afraid to express my allegiances and never have been...even during the (s)Hit Show years and the failed experiments with aging sluggers (Canseco, Castilla, etc...).  Anyway, the trade deadline happens every year, yes.  Players get traded from team to team, yes.  Sometimes...like this friggin' year...your favorite player gets traded.

So, if you have a personal collection (or PC) of a certain player, what do you do with that personal collection if that player is traded?

I raise this point because David Price is my favorite player in baseball.  He was the best pitcher the Rays have ever had on the mound.  Ever.  David is a solid dude and treats the fans, teammates, and coaching staff with respect.  Plus, he's  a friggin' warrior.


But, now he's in Detroit.

I have just about every common card ever made by every company for Mr. Price.  Do I keep them?  Do I sell them?  What to do?

Let's get real here.  If David Price had not come up through the Tampa system I'm pretty sure I would not be a huge fan.  If Price had come up through the Padres system, I'm sure I would still respect his game but I would hold him in the same regard that I hold...Adam Wainright.  Great pitcher, but not a fan of the team.

With that one paragraph I answered my own question.  I am a David Price fan.  I will be no matter what team he plays for because he came up with US.  We watched him grow and become an ace and win the Cy Young.  So, my cards and my sweetspot ball I got in Spring Training from David (he really is a cool dude)...all of that will be staying in my house.

But...I am not one to tell others what to do.  If Pujols fans out there feel that they were betrayed when Albert took the money and moved to Bev-er-leeeeee (Hills, that is)...I feel it's perfectly reasonable for you to sell all your Pujols memorabilia.  If you support your team over individual players then I think you have the right to ditch the players memorabilia, burn the jersey...whatever.

But, me?  Naw, I'm gonna keep it all.

Hell, right now he's the only Cy Young winner in Tampa Bay Rays history.  I collect history.

2014 Topps Pro Debut

Even with the minimalist design and the logos that I can't quite always put my finger on,  I like Topps Pro Debut.  Since the first release (in 2009, I want to say and am too lazy to look it up), I liked the idea of hitting prospects early and starting to collect their cards from the minors.  Plus, Debut has never been too expensive.  That's key for a frugal collector.  But, I've snagged some nice stuff out of Pro Debut in the past...a Mike Trout jersey, a Cardinals prospect signed printing plate, patches, etc...

The minor league card concept his hardly a new one.  Teams have been coming out with their own sets of player cards since seemingly the beginning of time.  Yes, in the past they were mostly regional and were hard to get if you never got to that particular ball park.  Then came the internets!  Then came Pro Debut!  The minor league card had gone nation wide!

Anyway, this year's installment of Topps Pro Debut just carries on the tradition of the past.  A clean, white border with solid photos and a tiny team logo in the corner.  That's it.  Simple and nice.  Perfect for having players sign.

The set has 222 base cards and a bunch of SP's a parallels and colors (oh my!).  But, the basic set collector...this is easily do-able.  Of course there are autographs and patches there, too for us 'hit' chasers out there.

A few autographs in the checklist:   Clint Frazier, Kyle Hunter, Nick Ahmed, Trevor Gretzky...you're getting the drift here aren't you?  These are the kids.  These are FUTURE players.  One thing most people like is that for a box of Pro Debut to show if it paid off or not is that one must wait.  Not just months, either.  Oftentimes, years.  In our culture of immediacy this sort of thinking and waiting is just intolerable.

But, to me, that's what makes Topps Pro Debut so fucking great...

*Cardboard Connection once again "loaned" me some info.

Oh yeah, I bought two packs.  You know, because research... Anyway, I didn't get shit.  Except for a base Carlos Correa and base Bubba Starling.  Come to think of it...I'm not actually sure what I got.  I'll just have to wait and see!

2014 Goodwin Champions

While the newest version of Allen & Ginter is completely awesome.  The newest version on Goodwin Champions is just...shit.

The cards themselves are hideous.  Gold (maybe brown-ish) card stock.  The ever present 'hand painted' images are just sort of...blah.  In fact, the whole set just seems kind of lackluster.  It really makes me feel like we may be witnessing the death spiral of the whole GC series.  Upper Deck will have to do something pretty soon in order to revive this dud.

One redeeming quality is the collation of autographs.  Supposedly, there are 3 per box.  This is higher than just about every other product out there.  So, that's a plus.  But, you just might pull an Ickey Woods, Joel Rosario, or a Will McGirt auto.  However, knowing that this is an Upper Deck product the company is likely smart enough (and they ARE on the checklist) to sprinkle in a Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, or Wayne Gretzky auto in here and there.  This alone should keep people buying.  Maybe.

Of course there are subsets galore.  Monsters, WWI cards, blah blah blah.  For my tastes, and I'm sure for the tastes of the readers (both of you!) of this blog...there just ain't enough baseball in there.

So, for that fact alone I give this set a solid D+.

For research purposes, I bought a single pack.  I like Paul Coffey but a base card AND a mini of Paul in the same pack?  Sigh.  I did pull a Theo Fleury Goudey card so that was kind of cool.  But, I did not get ONE baseball player.  What the fuck, UD?

Verdict:  Skip it.  Buy something else and pick up singles of Goodwin Champions as you see fit.

*As always, Cardboard Connection is rad for the info hookup.

RIP Tony!

2014 Allen & Ginter

I know, it's been forever since I have posted about the hobby.  Maybe it's because I am feeling disenchanted with the prices and the products that are hitting the shelves in recent years.  Yes, they look awesome.  But...normal folks can't afford fifty bucks a pack (Five star, Museum, etc...I'm looking at you!).

Then comes the new edition of Allen and Ginter.  Once again, Topps does this one right.  The 2014 set of A&G is absolutely amazing in it's simplicity and class.  As always, it's a high quality product, pleasing to the eye, and not to heavy a hit on the checkbook.  Kudos, Topps!

The set itself looks like a do-able situation for those set collectors out there with a reasonable 350 card base.  Of course there are the inserts, the minis, etc...which are a separate animal on their own.  But, I am one of those rare creatures that just loves the mini cards.  Don't know why.  Maybe it's just because I have an affinity for small things!  Topps has thrown in a 'metal' mini card set too.  I may have to check that subset out.

The autograph selection looks nice, as well.  They've got Biggio, Glavine, Trout, Myers and a whole host of other signers in the series.  The variety of the baseball autos looks solid.  Then there are the non-baseball autos.  Here they've got Anthony Bourdain, Snoop (Dogg) Lion, Kevin Smith and others.  To me, it's a very weird set of non-sport autographs.  Other than a few, I would probably be disappointed if I pulled one.

Topps has also thrown in a booklet card subset, which is a nice touch.  I don't remember if they had these last year (don't think they did).  But, the subjects of the booklets looks REAL strong.  Josh Hamilton, David Wright, Evan Longoria, Tulowitzki, and Darvish are all represented.  These may take some luck to pull or some coin to procure, but may be worth the cost/risk.

Just chock full of subsets and inserts, the 2014 version of Topps' Allen and Ginter will guarantee that with each pack you open...you'll likely be surprised.  Which is a good thing.  Me?  I bought one pack (trying to pay of debt, here) for research purposes.  What'd I get?  Not much.  A McCutchen base mini and a Kershaw base that will likely go out TTM for an auto.

The verdict:  Buy it.  But lots of A&G.  As Snoop Lion would say, "It's the shizzle".

*Once again, much love to the folks at Cardboard Connection for their info and images.