On Location: Walter Johnson Athletic Field

Each card will present a stadium or other baseball landmark I've visited. This is card number thirteen in the series...

Side note: the field itself is a traditional rec field, sitting in a very large, quiet regional park. Visitors will either have to pay to drive to the field, or walk approximately 1/2 mile from the (free) street parking. The walk itself is enjoyable, following a stream.

2011 Topps Update Preview: Parallel City

Images and details have just arrived regarding Topps Update, weeks before Series 2 even hits the shelf. Scheduled for release in October (as usual), the set will contain the expected 330 cards, including 55 rookies and the usual All-Star highlights and traded players.

Workout jersey relics return. I like the desert motif in the background - one thing Topps seems to really do well is theming the All-Star relics to the location.

With workout jerseys come workout patches. Again, the desert theme looks great. But there's nothing new here - All-Star jerseys have been used for years.

Here's something new - sort of. Next 60 will be (you guessed it) hot rookies done exactly the same as Topps 60. This preview image shows a 1/10 serial numbering and the card is in red, but I have no idea yet if this is a parallel.

Returning from the regular set will be the manufactured glove patches, more Diamond Duos (I have had enough of them and I haven't even seen series 2 yet), Kimball minis, Topps 60, sketches (including ones done by players), silks, and more of the 60th Anniversary autographs.

The diamond parallels will continue, and new in the Update set will be two additional parallels.

 The blue parallels will be known as Hope Diamonds.

The burnt sienna parallels will be known as Cognac Diamonds.

"But wait! Ichiro didn't change teams this year, and I want him in a Hope Diamond parallel!" you say. Well, fear not, because Topps is inserting Hope and Cognac parallels for series 1 and 2 into Update packs. This means that jumbo packs will have a whopping 4 parallels in each pack. No word on other packaging methods, though apparently regular packs will have only 10 cards each. And there's no word on how limited these two new parallels will be.

I like the look of the blue Hope Diamond parallel image, but this is something that should have been done from the start of the year, or not at all. I have to wonder if boxes containing regular packs will have more packs or perhaps a separate "parallel" pack.

2001 Fleer Ultra Greatest Hits: A This Card Is Cool Feature

This Card Is Cool brings you the sets I find worth collecting. This is sixth in the series.

I have an infatuation with cards printed on plastic. In fact, this is only my sixth TCIC feature and yet it's the second featured card set made from acetate. (Here's the first.)

 The Greatest Hits set features ten players in regular and platinum (serial numbered to 10) versions. The cards are made of sturdy plastic, and die cut on the "CD" or "record" side of the card. As you can see from the images, the card is meant to replicate a record album falling out of its cover.

 Keeping with the theme, two "feature songs" are advertised on the front of the card, and many of the songs are actual hits by other artists. Griffey Jr. features Thriller, Jim Edmonds rocks out to baseball classic Centerfield, and McGwire is the Sultan of Swing.

Five cards are shown here - missing are hitters Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken, Todd Helton, and Derek Jeter, and the only pitcher in the set, Pedro Martinez.

 The card backs continue the musical theme, with short paragraphs explaining how "rocking" each player is on the field.

While the concept is done as a tongue-in-cheek cheesy homage to classic album covers, it's a unique concept that is well executed.

This is not the first card to follow a music theme. Leaf released a CD-inspired Frank Thomas Greatest Hits set in the 1990s, and baseball cards that were actual playable records were released in the 1980s (and probably before).

If someone were to revisit this set today, who would be in it, and what would their two songs be? I think Tim Lincecum, were he in the set, could have the hits "Light My Fire" (Giants fans will get the double reference - if you know both reasons why I picked this song comment below) and "Freak Out".