I pretty much gave my thoughts on this set the other day, which you can feel free to read over here. I'll just let the pictures do the talking from here on out, for the most part.
I decided that since the set is out now, I'd do a gallery of Series 1, and make separate galleries for Series 2 and U&H. I'm not sure if I'll create a composite gallery at the end or not. Either way, here's Series 1:
Base Set
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#1b Hank Greenberg (SP) | #29 Aubrey Huff | #35 Rick Porcello |
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#68 Brandon Inge | #84 Nate Robertson | #119 Wilkin Ramirez |
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#171 Hernandez/Sabathia/ VERLANDER LL | #201 Detroit Tigers | #212 Magglio Ordonez |
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#222 Curtis Granderson | #254 Edwin Jackson | #263 Placido Polanco |
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#277 Jarrod Washburn | #293 Brett Dlugach RC | #309 Gerald Larid |
Inserts Seems to be a variety of opinions on the inserts this year. I think that they're pretty much all good, and that even the mundane (Toppstown, Peak Performance) are better than their 2009 equivalents. Legendary Lineage really stands out for me as being nicely done.
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#TR15 Hank Greenberg | #TR27 Edwin Jackson | #TR38 Rick Porcello |
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#TR47 Curtis Granderson | #TTT15 Miguel Cabrera | #FCTTT15 Miguel Cabrera |
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#PP35 Miguel Cabrera | #PP50 Ty Cobb | #WTWY-JV Justin Verlander |
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#TOG1 Ty Cobb | #PR3 Ty Cobb | #5 of 45 Ty Cobb |
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#LL5 Cobb/Granderson | #LL21 Greenberg/Braun |
Manufactured Patches Whoo boy has Topps fallen in love with these. There are two different "sets" of manufactured patches in Series 1, so to speak. The first--a continuation of last year's concept--is a series of retail blaster-only inserts featuring "historical commemorative patches." Basically, cards of players commemorating a World Series or All Star Game. I actually really like these cards, but still have a beef. Of the 4 Tigers cards they've released of this type in the last two years, they've already repeated a patch on us (Hank Greenberg: 1935 World Series). That's lame.
On the other end of the spectrum is this year's hot commodity--hat logo patches. I'm not sure if people think that these are actual hat pieces, or if they just really like the design, but these cards--each numbered to 99 copies, are routinely selling north of $20 each. Also, there are a ton of them. Topps gave us 8 (ed-apparently there are 9-ish. Seems as though at least one of the Topps MHR-19 Cobb's was produced with the wrong logo swatch, according to one listed on eBay. Not sure if that's the only one or if there are a few messed up like that, but I grabbed a screenshot anyway) different Tigers cards of this ilk, which I think is too many considering the consistency of the Tigers hat logo over the years. This should be pared down just to the unique types IMO. Still, they look really nice and if the prices fall at all, I'll have to try and pick some up.
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#MCP-7 Hank Greenberg | #MCP-22 Al Kaline |
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#MHR-19 Ty Cobb | #MHR-20 Ty Cobb | #MHR-19 (Error) Ty Cobb |
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#MHR-31 Al Kaline | #MHR-66 George Kell | #MHR-67 Hank Greenberg |
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#MHR-158 Justin Verlander | #MHR-160 Miguel Cabrera | #MHR-178 Rick Porcello |
Relics and Autographs There's an interesting cross-section of autographs and relics in Series 1, ranging from the inexplicably mundane (Bonderman Peak Performance Relic) to the inexplicably awesome (Hank Greenberg/Ryan Braun Dual Relic) to the ridiculously rare ("In the Name" 1/1 Relics from the back of All-Star jerseys). In all, there's plenty to chose from and something for everybody. For a flagship set, it seems like there is a really wide range, including plenty of high-end level pieces. The cards break down into the following sub-categories: Peak Performance Autos & Relics, Legendary Lineage Relics and In the Name Relics.
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#PPR-HG Hank Greenberg | #PPR-JBO Jeremy Bonderman | #PPA-RP Ryan Perry |
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#PPJR-MO Magglio Ordonez (#/30) | #PPJR-MC(?) Miguel Cabrera (#/30) | #PPAR-CG Curtis Granderson (#/50) |
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#LLR-GB Hank Greenberg/Ryan Braun (#/50) | #PPA-CG Curtis Granderson | |
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#ITN-64 Curtis Granderson "G" (1/1) | #ITN-64 Curtis Granderson "O" (1/1) | #ITN-39 Edwin Jackson "A" (1/1) |
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#ITN-64 Curtis Granderson "D" (1/1) | #ITN-64 Curtis Granderson "N" (1/1) |
Silk Collection Silk Cards are like a partial parallel set of the base set, and three Tigers make the cut here. Each one is numbered to 50, has no card number, and they are really cool to have in hand. Well worth picking up if you can get them cheap, otherwise I generally pass on them. They look nice this year, although I think last year's were better:
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Brandon Inge Silk (#/50) | Edwin Jackson Silk (#/50) | Rick Porcello Silk (#/50) |
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Curtis Granderson Silk (#/50) |
Sketch Cards There's never a lot of good information about what sketch cards are really out there and how many there are of each player. We do know this, each card is technically a 1/1 although each player may have multiple cards. They're not numbered so they're hard to keep track of in checklists. Anyway, I'll add what I find as I find them. To start, Miguel Cabrera will hold down the fort.
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Miguel Cabrera Sketch Card (1/1) |
