2012 Topps Series 2 Quick Preview

Preview images for 2012 Topps Series 2 just came out. Let's have a fast look at the ones that matter!

Or how about all of them.

 If you forgot what the flagship design looks like, here you go. I enjoy the modern, fairly minimal design. I think the logo cutting off the baserunner's body is a bit of poor placement, but what are you going to do?

 This will probably end up being the black /60ish parallel. This is another good photo, though for some reason it feels like he's playing at a minor league park.

 I still say the wood borders would have been a nice change from the tedious white as the flagship design.

 And here's your gold cards again. I'm glad Topps took at least one of my suggestions! As if they read this blog.

 Fake relics are not relics, but done right they are still pretty cool. I liked the coin sets Pinnacle put out in the 1990s, and if this was an affordable release I would build it. I know these things will be running pretty high though.

 So will the team rings, I'm sure. Again, another manupatch style relic, but it's different since it's a ring now. You can own all the rings you collected virtually, for real! Another cool card, but the "real" ring cards will probably be too expensive.

 I believe these are available through the giveaway site. I'll have to pick mine up on the secondary market.

 I think this Mantle is our first look at the 1987-style minis. I like the design, and that's a great picture to use.

 This is another carry-over from Series 1. This has the Donruss relic/autograph-first design philosophy.

 But if I pull a hit like this I'd be fairly happy.

 And if I had a hit like this I'd be really happy. I have a renewed interest in owning a majorly awesome patch card like this, but I can't afford one. That'll go on my fantasy wish list, I suppose.

 Cut Above is a smooth looking insert. I'm guessing they'll be die-cut, which will be nice.

 What a great player to show in your preview images!

 Now that's better.

 And that's nice too. I think I like these two insert sets, as they appear to have some connection to specific events in the players' careers. We'll see what the backs of the regular inserts look like, but these are promising concepts even if they too are hit-based designs.

 These aren't any different from previous years' jumbo patches. I would prefer some sort of sleeve or team logo patch with multiple colors and such, but if I pulled some 1/1 letter patch like this you wouldn't find me complaining!

 I see the 1500 RBI Club designation beneath the white spot. Again, a nice touch that seems to take into account many of our thoughts about inserts - give them meaning!

And we'll end with another nice logo patch!

Being in Japan next year will mean I won't be busting many/any (that's yet to be seen) packs of American cards, but I think the flagship release is growing on me and could be a nice release by the time series 2 comes about! What are your thoughts?

2012 Topps Preview Images (with Inserts and Hits!)

Topps has released a bunch of preview images, and I added them to my post here. If you didn't see it, have a look. I'm sure you'll be excited. Yup.

A "Game Changer" Indeed!

Perhaps you've seen the "leaked" image of 2012 Topps, featuring Ryan Braun.

Here's the image:

I can't help but feel like I've seen it somewhere before. So I started looking through card images over the past several years. I thought it could be an Ultra design. This is the closest I can find:

I thought maybe it was a Donruss design. Maybe 2003?

 No.

Maybe it's the 20th Anniversary logo in the corner on the 2001 set.

Fleer? No. Upper Deck? No.

Where have I seen a similar design before? It's killing me. Chime in if you know.

Anyway, back to this.

Is it a game changer? Not if you're going by design, but the only thing Topps could have done (right) to "change the game" for the base set design is lose the foil (looks like there's plenty of room for foil on this card) and go full-bleed (that isn't happening). I guess we'll have to wait for sell sheets and checklists to see what's really changing.

I like the design, though: simple, attractive, and fairly unobtrusive. It doesn't fill the entire bottom of the card, which makes it look even smaller and more appealing. It's a modern, slick design that I'll enjoy collecting.

Thoughts? Please, leave them below!

Update:

Preview images of the inserts and details have been released via Beckett.com. The Diamond Giveaway will return as a gold giveaway, and instead of diamond-embedded cards it looks like we get gold-embedded cards.

There'll be die-cuts, premium die-cuts and coins (just like the rings), plus autographed cards and 1/1 gold-embedded cards. (This doesn't seem to change the game much from this year's offering.)

Going with the gold theme, there will be Golden Moments inserts and relics, Golden Greats (including coin cards), Retired Rings cards, World Series Champion pin cards, Gold Leaf cards, and solid gold cards. The ring and pin cards sound interesting, at least. Continuing with the theme, Gold Standards and Gold Futures.

Inserts will include 1987 Topps minis (do we really need this?) and Generations (will this be the new version of Diamond Duos?). There are plenty of autographed and relic parallels of these sets and a few other themes.

The base set will be 330 cards (265 veterans, 30 rookies, 10 league leaders, 4 award winners, 5 record breakers, 4 World Series, 10 career statistical leaders).

Parallels of the base set: gold parallels (this time in the canary diamond format), platinum 1/1 and wood 1/1, blacks, plates, and silk.

What am I interested in so far? Based on the preview images, the Golden Moments set might be interesting. I'm sure Topps has some more tricks up their sleeve. Again, it still isn't a "game changer" in my mind (cards made of gold are supposed to be the gimmick of the year?). If the unannounced/not shown inserts don't stand out, I may have to wait for the factory set on this one.