2016 Topps: Thoughts Beyond the Base

As I was pulling up the editor to write this post, a thought occurred to me. When I started writing this blog, 2011 Topps was just going live. While I was collecting before that, opening packs of flagship cards that year was pretty much brand new to me. I had no idea what I was getting other than the odds on the packs. Now, by the time the base set comes out, I've had six months for the design to settle in.

Yes, it's good to have a preview of what to expect, to build interest and more importantly for me budget my money based on what I'm hoping to collect. But I don't think we need a six month advance preview. I wish Topps would keep the details of these sets private a bit longer. Back in the '90s and the mid 2000s when there were new products every week, I really didn't know what was in a box until it arrived in stores. I do recall seeing some sell sheets, but most of the time it was very near to a product's release.

Anyway, here's 2016 Topps:

 Everyone's already seen the base design and chimed in their two cents. It's a big change from the past, but that's a good thing. I like 2015's bolder designs, and I like this too. As others have mentioned, I don't like the fading of the background on the corners; otherwise, it's a good design. I think it looks even better on the horizontal cards.

Of course there will be parallels. The now-usual gold, black, pink, platinum, rainbow foil, clear, framed, and printing plate parallels return, along with a "vintage stock" parallel numbered to 99. That might be fun.

As always, there is a whole slew of inserts.

 To honor the late, great Sy Berger, Topps is reprinting one card from every year... again. I hope they do something good with the backs, like tell a story about Berger and the player or something. If there is something good besides a reprinted card, I'm in on this set.

 Perspectives is a 25 card set that seems to offer interesting angles (perspectives) on the game. Will that be through photography or story-telling? I must say that the giant WordArt text on this card ruins an otherwise beautiful photograph. This is a maybe for me.

There will be cards for the 2016 Presidential Candidates. I've always collected these in the past, so I might do so here, too. I'm still trying to finish that 2008 Upper Deck cartoon Presidential Predictors set.

Pressed Into Service will have position players who pitched, too. Jose Canseco is an obvious choice. I'm probably going to get this set as a start to a new mini-collection.

 Topps Laser returns in a 25-card set which looks to be a book-style card. The regular cards will be numbered to 99. I'd love to have a full set of these, but I'm expecting this set to be popular and thus out of my budget for now. Which reminds me, I really want to get working on the 1996 Topps Laser set.

100 Years at Wrigley Field will feature 25 memorable moments at the old ivy-covered ballpark. I'm not a Cubs fan, but a few of the singles could end up in my collection.

Back To Back will be Topps' combo-player insert set this year, with power hitting combos. I guess Maris and Mantle would fit the bill... but Topps doesn't have an agreement with Mantle anymore. I don't care for combo sets unless the design is really appealing.

Something I loved this year and I'm very glad to have back is the First Pitch insert set. Count me in.

As always, Topps will be also including stamped buyback cards.

 As for the hits, manu-relics return. Team logo pins, no-hitter pins, and World Series coin and stamp cards will be back. I like these but they're out of my price range for set building.

Most of the insert sets will have autograph, relic, and autographed relic parallels. There will also be hits for sets titled: World Champion, Postseason Performance, and Scouting Report. Glove Leather autographs, cut signatures, and In The Name relics round out the offering. I rarely handle cards from these sets, other than my type collection.

Topps Bunt will be back too.

It depends on how the insert sets actually pan out, but next year's Topps set has potential. What do you think?

*My* 2015 Topps Series 1 Preview

Everybody's posting final checklists for the first series of 2015 Topps baseball cards, and I've taken a gander or two at the multitude of inserts to be found. I figure that while everyone is looking at the checklists and thinking about what they want, I'll add in my two cents for a few of the sets. Maybe you'll keep me in mind as you bust packs next month!

Let's start with the base cards. I'll get a full set at some point, but there is one card I'm anticipating more than any others: Buck Farmer, card number 193. I like the design with colored stone-style fading borders though, as it's a nice change from the plain white.

Buck (and the other 349 cards in the set) seem to have nine announced parallels (gold, rainbow foil, snow camo, black, pink, plates - which I count as a single parallel, platinum, framed, and clear). But of course there will be Target red, WalMart blue, ToysRUs purple, and probably a few other retail parallels like were issued last year. Keep me in mind if you pull Mr. Farmer from your Topps packs!

 The Highlight of the Year set has some promise. It depends on what the unsigned cards look like. With nine per hobby box and only 30 cards in the first series, it should be very reasonably obtained if I take the plunge.

Many other inserts really don't pique my interest. Other than the throwback minis, there haven't been any stand-out sets in Topps' flagship set in the past few years.

 However, I am somewhat interested in Gallery of Greats. These will be paper-framed cards similar to Gypsy Queen, but with only two per hobby box and a 25-card checklist, I think I'm going to pass.

 There are a couple odd insert sets on my list, though. The Baseball/History insert set of 30 cards will have fifteen non-sport events paired with baseball events that happened on the same day. I have an interest in history and the linking of two facets of American culture is quite appealing. With four cards per box, I can probably get the full set without much travel.

Speaking of culture, here's a set I've been asking for since arriving in Japan. BBM has issued a First Pitch subset in its second series each year for about a decade. The checklist is full of has-beens and never-weres for the most part, but I like the effort and I will definitely build this set as quickly as possible. The checklist has fifteen cards but I haven't seen any odds. Again, if you aren't interested in these, I have a great home for them here!

There are some insert sets that I have yet to see - Robbed, First Home Run, etc. And Cardboard Connection lists two other retail sets that I could chase if they're obtainable and attractive: The Babe Ruth Story, and The Jackie Robinson Story.

So, for the first time since 2011, I'm actually excited about flagship Topps! It's only two weeks away.

What, if anything, are you going to collect from this year's release?

Preview and Thoughts: 2014 Topps High Tek

Yesterday, I brought the details on Panini's 2014 Golden Age set, but Topps also released details about the return of Topps Tek, due out in November.

Originally released 1998-2000, Topps Tek was a higher-end release which featured plastic cards with multiple background design variations. This made for a bunch of collecting possibilities. Do you go after one card from each variation, build a set of a single variation, build a set without regards to the variations, build a set with an even distribution of variations, collect a player "rainbow" of sorts, or try to collect the entire matrix?

The inaugural 1998 set had the largest checklist with 90 cards and 90 patterns. This makes for 8100 different base cards. There is one parallel set, but no inserts.

The 1999 set had 45 cards, 30 patterns with home and visitor uniform photos (thus making 60 variations), one parallel, and two insert sets.

The 2000 set had 45 cards, 20 variation patterns (#16-20 were color variations), one parallel and three insert sets.

It's interesting to see how basic the Tek sets were in the late 1990s, with the exception of the variation theme. How does 2014's High Tek compare?

Only eight cards will come per box, including six base cards, one parallel, and one autograph. It appears that the base cards will have 12 variation parallels, in addition to nine different serial-numbered (99 copies or less each) parallels.

Those numbered parallels are called: Gold Diffractors, Ice Diffractors, Disco Diffractors, Clouds Diffractors, Black and White Image (#/15), Red Storm Diffractors (#/10), Blue Dots Diffractors (#/5), Charcoal Galactic Diffractors (1/1), and printing proofs (1/1).

Two insert set concepts will be revived from past releases, with the 25-card Teknicians Diffractors (1999 style) set and TEKtonics Diffractors (2000 throwback). There's also something called Low Tek Diffractors. All three of these will have autographed parallels.

In addition to the autographed inserts, autographs will be found from the base card design, with Disco, Clouds, Black and White (#/15), Red Storm (#/10), Blue Dots (#/5), Charcoal Galactic (1/1), and print proof versions (1/1).

So, what do I think? I am with the masses on this one: turning this into yet another high-end release is a mistake. The cards look beautiful, though, and I'll have to use the secondary market to gather the variations. I like the inserts too, but due to the high-end nature of this release I'm sure they'll be way out of my price range to build a set. 

It's a shame, really, that Topps is continue to cater to a smaller and smaller group of buyers. The collecting base is abandoning fresh boxes because the money involved in buying the box supports the cost of creating the "lottery" effect; when Topps has a great idea they make it so difficult to obtain that the fun is sucked right out.

These might be the kinds of cards kids would be interested in buying if they could afford them. They are very flashy, new, and exciting, instead of "boring" cardboard. I love "boring" cardboard, but children need something really cool to catch their eye. And really, shouldn't that be part of Topps' concern? I don't like cigarettes or smoking, but I have to give the tobacco companies kudos for creating marketing that (covertly) appealed to kids while still attracting adults.

Thoughts?

"Oldie" (2013) but goodie.

Preview and Thoughts: 2014 Panini Golden Age

While I was in Korea, Panini and Topps released details of two upcoming sets that I'm interested in.

First up is Panini's Golden Age, back for a third year. This is Panini's answer to Allen & Ginter and Goodwin Champions, two other sets I enjoy collecting. For the hit chasers, the fairly-standard one memorabilia and one autograph per box formula is being used, plus a box topper which could be an additional memorabilia card. All images come from Panini's blog/website.

The design here is throwback, as always, and the 150-card base set features lots of non-baseball subjects. In fact, a quick scan of the preliminary checklist shows that the baseball player might be in the minority! That's fine with me. The players listed are those who rarely see cards - Eddie Gaedel, for instance. There are some usual suspects, too - Nolan Ryan and Ty Cobb are both listed. There are 10 base card variations.

Parallels include white (1:120 packs), black (#/15), and "First Fifty" (#/50). The minis are the best parallels, though, because there are seven different historical back types to chase: 

Croft's Swiss Milk Cocoa, Hindu Cigarettes (Brown and Red), Mono Cigarettes (Blue and Green), Mello-Mint Gum, and Panini logos (#/15). Like Topps did with the T205/T206 releases about a decade ago, the use of different advertising backs changes the rainbow to something with more variation to it!

As I mentioned before, each box will contain one autograph, most likely from the 50-subject Historic Signatures set. There are four Historic Cuts autographs numbered to 20 or less, plus nine Classic Buyback Autographs cards. Plenty of baseball stars and celebrities are in the set, including Tatum O'Neal back to sign more after last year's Bad News Bears set, Dick Van Dyke, Sophia Loren, Lee Majors, and Catherine Bach. The three children from the original Lost in Space TV show (Bill Mumy, Marta Kristen, and Angela Cartwright) are also in the set.

There are 40 Museum Age relics, including Fay Wray, Patsy Cline, and managers Sparky Anderson and Tommy Lasorda. The 11 box topper memorabilia cards are numbered to 50 or less each, and include George H.W. Bush, Warren Spahn, Johnny Carson, Duke Snider, Rodney Dangerfield, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Joe Frazier.

The set is rounded out by a few insert sets. Above is an image from the Fan Craze set (8 cards, 1:12 packs). Headlines is a nine-card event-topical set found 1:12 packs. Seemingly identical in idea is Newsmakers, an eight card person-based set (1:24 packs). 1913 National Game falls 1:12 packs, with a 12 card checklist, and Star Stamps rounds out the release with a 30-card, 120 subject set found 1:12 packs.

The previously mentioned box toppers come in three formats. The 5x7 toppers has 12 cards (1:40 packs), and there's a 30-card Darby Chocolate 3-card panel set (1:60 packs) as well. Found 1:24 packs is the Hobby Box Bottom Three-Card Panel; with nine cards in the set there must be three separate panels. It's interesting that they give pack odds instead of box odds here.

I really enjoy Golden Age; Panini makes a strong effort to bring new, oddball subjects to base set, and to add autographs and relics of those subjects whenever possible. I know I want a base set already, and the mini backs are very appealing. I see several cards on the autograph and relic checklists I wouldn't mind having, if prices are reasonable of course.

As for the inserts, I've been trying to build a mini-master set of 2013's cards but they're quite pricey online, which I guess is a good thing since that means they hold their value. Depending on how this year's cards look, I might try to do the same, but I really would like to decrease the number of sets I'm working on.

Now, if only Panini would do a modern version of a set like this, with active players in multiple sports and current celebrities, musicians, and actors. It doesn't need to have a throwback design, something similar to Americana but with more-popular, current subjects.

What do you think?

The Return of Topps Tek

Topps recently announced the return of Stadium Club, though I haven't heard any details besides the promo image:

Provided it's affordable, I already know I want the base set. According to Beckett News, Stadium Club will be delivered in a format similar to Finest, with three mini-boxes per box. That's a somewhat-promising idea.

Another set has resurfaced, too:

Topps recently announced that Topps Tek will return, but I haven't heard any real details yet.

Tek is one of those sets I completely missed when I stopped collecting cards for a few years. But I have retroactively been chasing a "rainbow" for all the base set variations for each set. I need several variations for the 1998 set (as of this post, patterns 5, 11, 15, 16, 22, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 35, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50, 51, 54, 58, 59, 62, 65, 67, 68, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 80, 82, 84, 87, 88, 90) and some inserts from the 1999 and 2000 sets for my "mini-master" collections.

If the new Tek stays pretty true to the original, with a bunch of patterns and a few small insert sets, I will be behind this set as well!

Why am I jumping on board the return of Stadium Club and Tek sets? Simply this: they provide variation.

Topps has provided us this over the last few years: A flagship set, a prospecting set with about 15 different versions (Bowman, Chrome, Platinum, Sterling), shiny metallic sets (Chrome, Finest, Tribute, Sterling), and throwback sets (Ginter, GQ, Turkey Red). So with Stadium Club, there's a set that provides full-bleed high-quality photography. And with Tek, there's a set with something "modern" but not just shiny. Depending on the player selection and price, I might be compelled to do a full "rainbow" of one player.

Stadium Club is Coming Back!

Topps released this image recently. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. And not because it's Bryce Harper.

Stadium Club hasn't existed since 2008, and it's been over 10 years since the set before that was issued. I have been saying for a long time that I would love to have Stadium Club back: I miss high-quality, full-bleed, borderless, interesting photographs on my cards with minimal design elements.

The design reminds me a little of the 2003 and 2008 issues, with some differences, of course. I'm happy with the design above, though a little more color in the banner would be nice. But what will 2014 Stadium Club look like as an issue?

I'm hoping Topps learns from its past mistakes and keeps it simple. I want an obtainable complete base set - a return to the sets of the 1990s with a few hundred cards and no short prints. Especially not 33% of the set being short-printed. No silly variations, rookie SPs with two different versions, or 25% of the cards in the base set sporting autographs. Seriously. Short prints don't belong anywhere but Heritage if it's recreating something from the original issue. I hate them. 99% of the sets I collect are complete in my mind without the SPs.

I know they'll do parallels. The card above has a Members Only logo. First Day Issue and gold parallels were pretty standard back in the day, too. I don't care much about parallels, but they really need to cut out the rainbows because there are plenty with Bowman, Chrome, Finest, and these days flagship Topps. And I really hope they avoid Chrome and Finest.

If Topps wants to make Stadium Club Chrome or Finest again, that should be a separate insert with its own design. I liked the inserts Topps did for TSC Finest in the mid 1990s.

Speaking of inserts, Stadium Club hasn't had any really super-awesome insert sets. I liked the jumbo box toppers with the larger photos from 1993, and now they can be even nicer given improvements in photography. And as a photography-based set, Stadium Club should have some more awesome photos that fit into some categories - maybe celebrity photographers (Pinnacle's Brinkley Collection comes to mind), unique angles, fun dugout shots, and so on.

It could turn out that Stadium Club is an online-only product like Turkey Red or Minis. It could be a limited promotional issue that is used as a prize for the online game. Or it might be an insert in some other release. If it's attainable and attractive, I'll chase it any way. But if Topps goes nuts and makes it super high-end, I will be completely disappointed.

Topps, if you're out there listening, I hope you consider the real collectors when creating this product. I know you have to put the crazy 1/1s and super-limited autographs and patches that I'll never get to appease the money-throwing gamblers that drive your marketing strategy these days, but make sure the rest of the product - the stuff those gamblers don't care about - is great for the rest of your customers.

What do you think? Are you interested in a return of Stadium Club? On what conditions?

I've Been Waiting: 2014 Donruss Preview

Let's round out a trio of 2014 previews with Panini's 2014 Donruss offering.

Coming next month, Panini is about halfway where it should be with the return of the Donruss name.

The base set will only have 200 cards. This isn't exactly a flagship release, and pushing it to 400 or more would be a much better idea. I'm sure all the big name veterans will be in this set, so if Panini wants to do a second series it will be lacking in star power, or have a bunch of the same players in both series. Perhaps next year would be a larger set.

Something Panini could do in future releases is push for the Topps Total aspect, and issue a card for all players from the 40-man roster, or everyone who had playing time the prior year. The 200-card set includes Diamond Kings (30 cards) and Rated Rookies (15 cards), so only 155 base cards will be issued. I like the look, though the borders seem a little large; 1987 Donruss is one of the set's most memorable designs.

As far as parallels, Silver Press Proofs, Season Stat Line, and Career Stat Line cards appear one per box. Donruss has included Gold Proofs in the past, and there is a possibility for other unannounced parallels to be issued.

 Speaking of Diamond Kings, I'm very happy to see these back. But I'm very sad that they aren't art cards. It's almost a sin! Dick Perez might be under contract to Topps, out of budget, or retired at this point, but could they find another artist? The 1984-series based design will also have box toppers and autographed versions. I really hope this will be an artistic set, so I can go after the box toppers. Otherwise, I'll grab the base cards of the subset, which appear four per box (of 30; that's 7.5 boxes to complete the set). Four Rated Rookies (of 15) will be in each box, too.

 Two Hall Worthy inserts will be in each box. I like the look of these, which obviously are patterned after Hall of Fame plaques in Cooperstown. Other inserts include The Rookies (2 per box), Breakout Hitters (2 per box), Breakout Pitchers (2 per box), Team MVP (1 per box), and No-No (1 per box). I expect these all to have parallel versions, though it would be nice if Panini kept things simple. There are already (at least) 10 base insert sets plus the two short printed subsets and all the parallels, relics, and autographs!

 Studio will return with black and white portraits, although odds haven't been announced. This could be the toughest insert pull in the release. I've never really latched on to Studio, though I find a lot to love about its uniqueness in prior years. Studio Heritage was one of my favorite insert sets to collect each year.

 Elite Series and Elite Dominators inserts will be #/999, and autographed versions will be numbered to only 10. I would love to put together a full series run of the Elite Series inserts, similar to my attempt to complete the Upper Deck Baseball Heroes perpetual insert set.

 Power Plus inserts fall three per box, and Panini released a preview image of an autographed version. The design harkens back to 1985, when Donruss issued a jumbo-sized Action All Stars set. The 1985 design is better, only because of the giant headshots instead of the split screen.

 Speaking of autographs, there are two in each box. Most box busters will probably find Donruss Signatures, which might come with parallel versions. It's a simple, clean design that helps the autograph stand out, and I like it.

One relic will come in each box, and those will be Game Gear relics. The design reminds me a little bit of 1982 Topps, but it is a nice throwback design.

Panini has done some things right. They're bringing back several recognizable series names and including a lot of classic designs. There are big names in the release - the sample relic and autographs are all pretty big stars. And depending on your tastes, the insert sets are collect-worthy, unlike most of Topps' predictable flagship insert offerings.

However, there are areas to improve on, even before the release; mainly, the base set is too small for a flagship and the Diamond Kings should be art. I could be speaking too soon on that aspect. By recycling old designs and old series names, Donruss becomes another Topps Archives. I think that the Score name could be brought back as an inexpensive flagship brand, though, and Donruss becomes a mid-level annual release. But, then Panini has Pinnacle, which did the same thing with a futuristic throwback feel.

There's no reason the sets can all coexist. Donruss covers the traditional flagship line, Score a possible budget line with Pinnacle being a more modern line. Prizm takes care of the Chrome route, and Golden Age is the truly vintage throwback set like Goodwin and Ginter. And then there's Cooperstown, which has a lot of potential for a few years (if they honor enough of the more obscure players, as they should) before it just really repeats itself.

I know I'm down for the base set and the Diamond Kings subset. We'll see what those inserts without previews look like!

First Thoughts: 2014 Topps Pro Debut

My favorite leagues might be the lower minor leagues. I could get all righteous and talk about how pure the game is at that level - players don't make a lot of money and they haven't been jaded by fame, etc. And that probably has something to do with it. But really, it's just a different feel. It's a relaxed event, with smaller crowds, lower prices, a local feel, and less hype (think: sound and video effects, walk-up music, and so on).

I love MLB games, but I think I'd prefer to have a season ticket to a smaller A- or AA-level team. I seriously considered buying season tickets for the Gwinnett Braves while I was living in Georgia (money was the only real issue) - when there was discussion of a rookie level team around Atlanta about seven years ago and my town held one of the stadiums they were going to use, I had immediately decided I would be a charter season ticket holder. Too bad that never followed through.

Anyway, despite my interest in the minor leagues, I've never really collected minor league sets. But that doesn't mean I have no interest in them.

2014 Topps Pro Debut base cards use the same design as the MLB flagship base cards. I haven't talked about the 2014 design though I will whenever Series 1 comes out. The ubiquitous parallels come in gold #/50, silver #/25, red 1/1, and printing plates 1/1. Like the 2013 issue, some players will have variation cards.

The relics are called Debut Duds. In a few years, let's look back at the checklist and see how many of the players turned out to be duds. They come in gold /50, silver /25, and jumbo patch /5 parallel versions in addition to the base relic cards. There's one relic in every box.

I'm not about the normal, and this is not normal. Several of the minor league mascots will have their own card, though these will be embroidered manufacturered patch cards, limited to 99 copies each. I'm somewhat disappointed about that - I'd love to see a comprehensive mascot set. Gold parallels will be numbered to 50 and red parallels are 1/1s. There don't seem to be printing plates for this - the only set in Pro Debut without them.

Another set of interest to me is the hat logo manufactured patches, because many of those minor league logos are cool or funny. Last year's set had 50 cards; let's hope that this year has 50 different teams. These too will have gold /50, red 1/1, and plate 1/1 parallels. One manupatch is inserted into each box.

Of course, the big draw of minor league sets are the autographs, and there are two per box. These have stickers, and use the same design as the base cards. Gold /50, silver /25, red 1/1, and plates are available.

Really lucky box busters will get a dual player Side By Side card, with two minor league prospect autographs. And these will come in gold /10, red 1/1, and printing plate versions too.