The Best Discontinued Set of the Last 10 Years

It's here (sorry for the delay)

I had a lot of good responses in the comments That read something like Masterpieces, Masterpieces, GOTG, Masterpieces, Goudey, something Topps did 8 years ago, and you know what? Those were right on.

UD Masterpieces was a phenomenal set--in fact, 2007 and 2008 masterpieces remain the ONLY sets that I have completed in their entirety since I returned to collecting, so, yeah. It was pretty great.

I've collected cards from Greats of the Game and I love me some Goudey (especially 2007), but they're not it either.

Then three people said "Topps All-Time Fan Favorites." Let's see: Retired players, new photographs on old card designs and on-card autographs. Yeah, I'd say that that is a recipe for fantasticness. One problem: with all the different designs, it didn't really feel like a set per se. Oh, it was cool, but it falls just short of greatness for me.

This doesn't:



That was Lance Parrish that you were looking at in my original post Lance. Parrish. Quiz time, how many mainstream, non-buyback cards does this 8x All Star, 6x Silver Slugger, 3x Gold Glove winning Catcher who sports 324 career home runs and 1000+ RBI have since he retired in 1995? 15. Four of those came out in 1996. Nine (!) came out in 2003. Was 2003 the year of Lance Parrish? Is there some reason that this borderline hall-of-famer has been effectively ignored by the hobby (who's top comparables include 3 Hall of Famers, Jorge Posada, Ron Cey, Benny Santiago and Bill Freehan), but Ty Cobb has ELEVEN cards in 2011 Topps Series 1?!?!

Oh, and that's another thing...


BILL FREEHAN MIGHT HAVE BEEN EVEN BETTER THAN PARRISH!

At least he got some love from Upper Deck, in Greats of the Game and Legendary Cuts etc.

At this point in the show, I realize that I may have digressed from my main point: Topps Retired is the best discontinued set of the last 10 years.

My reasons are twofold, and simple:

1. The cards use a modified design of each year's Topps base set, giving the set a cohesive feel that ties in nicely with the flagship Topps release

2. The checklist highlights the many, many players who were STARS, including some should-be Hall of Famers that have barely graced ANY sports cards since 2006. Right Alan?



Right.

I've got LOTSLOTSLOTS more to say about this fantastic set and how it compares to things nowadays after the jump.

Hey Now...

You see what I'm doing here? If you're like me, any number of songs may have popped into your head. ...the dream is over... and, if you're like me, you now have the horrible all star song in your head. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is.

Consummate Tiger fan and card blogger sixtyfeetsix (aka Jim) was digging through some boxes and found a bunch of extra cards from the 2005 All Star fanfest in Detroit. I happened to be in Detroit for all of the All Star festivities, but didn't make it out to fanfest and also wasn't collecting cards at the time. That's where Jim comes in.

The 2005 All Star Fanfest set had 9 cards, thanks to Jim, I now have 6 of them. I also happen to have a few extras if anyone is interested.

First, there are some great dual Tigers Hall of Famers/HOFer-to-be cards:






Next, a couple of Bronx Bombers:




And finally...


JIM!

I know that people are tired of relic cards, but you know what? I'm not. When someone sends me a card like this out of the blue, I can't help but become overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you so much for the cards, Jim. I am now officially on a mission to complete the rest of the 9-card set.

More Wantlist Slicing and Dicing

Whew. It has been a crazy few days, not the least of which involved swapping our basement room with an upstairs room--a process that is still not complete, but the larger pieces have made their way up our narrow rowhouse stairs. Suffice to say, baseball cards have been at the fore of my mind--I've gotten tons of new cards in the last week or so, but posting about them has fallen down on the list of priorities.

With that said, there has been some spectacular demolition of my "Big 10 Wantlist" yet again. You may remember last time when four out of the Top 10 (11) were ceremoniously stricken from the list. Today, I get to do it again, with more of a top-heavy Jenga-friendly removal of items.

From the top:

Number Two

2005 Topps Factory Set (Tiger Edition)5 of 5 Curtis Granderson

Here's Curtis, before age ravaged his once youthful looks. Or, when he was nondescript enough to be mistaken for somebody else entirely. Interestingly (and sadly), this is his first official Topps card, back when he was still a September call-up guy. This card came courtesy of Barry (Los Gatos on the Detroit Sports Collectors Forum) who sent it to me for future considerations. I am now deeply indebted to him and need to keep my eyes open for some hard to get Topps Tigers that he might be able to use for his collection.

As for the specifics of this card: 1. Curtis does make an appearance:

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2. I am now on a quest to figure out who is on the front of this card. My theory is that it is somebody who was invited to the Detroit Tigers 2005 Spring Training, so that will be my starting point. Look for a post at some point in the future that catalogues my search for this illusive outfielder and his 15 minutes of fame.

Number Three
Oh, the fun doesn't stop with Curtis. How about a "Career Best" card from someone who has actually had a career worth "besting" about:

2009 Topps #CBA-GS Gary Sheffield "Career Best" Autograph

Sheff! People gave Sheff a hard time in Detroit, and not without reason, but this is a guy who has had an incredible career and would be a sure-fire Hall of Famer if not for his prickly personality and steroid suspicions. My guess is that he ultimately makes it in anyway. He was the most dangerous hitter in baseball for more than a handful of his years.

As for his "Career Best" card--here are the other Tigers with autographs in this subset this season: Armando Galarraga and Curtis Granderson. Galarraga was a rookie in 2008. Granderson just finished his 4th full season. Thank you, thank you, Topps for including someone with a long career full of bests and not just whoever you could pull out of your sticker drawer.

Speaking of Career Bests...

Number Four

2009 Topps #CBDR-HC Ryan Howard/Miguel Cabrera (#78/99)

Hey, what do you know about that! This is another premature Career Best card, but these are two guys who have posted incredible early-career numbers and have long, bright futures ahead of them. This is far better than some other Tigers Career Best cards like, say, Jeremy Bonderman. In general, the Career Best relic cards are pretty solid, and I think that the Dual Relics are outstanding. This one, for example, features two of the best young first basemen in the game today, both of whom are huge stars and fit well on a card together. Chalk this one up as a win.

So what does this all mean? Well, three big wants were eliminated from the top of the list, allowing the whole thing to shift up a bit. This also completes my "Career Best" subset needs for 2009 Topps, which is something to smile about. Finally, one of the hardest to find Granderson cards has a new home! Just imagine how nice this card would be if Curtis was actually on the front. Boy, that would have been sweet.

Now, With that now in my possession, the search for the mystery man begins.