Saturday, February 3, 2018

2018 Topps, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Building Other Sets


There it is - the first card from the first pack I opened of 2018 Topps. I've decided to keep the 1st card pulled in a separate spot.


Here's the last two years of first cards, just to give a sense of the evolution of the borderless design.


Here's the back - the trade with the Rangers looks like it worked decently well for both teams. The Rangers don't have Fielder anymore due to his retirement, and Kinsler is moving on to the Angels this year, but both teams ended up with several seasons of production from their player.


I purchased a blaster and 2 loose packs - and I ended up with just two Twins. The lens flare effect on the team logo doesn't really do much for me. It just gets in the way - might be better if the light source was behind the logo instead of in front.


Some nice action shots for the young guns.


The veterans are all brooding and intense. They've been through some things.


The horizontal shots are back again, which is usually a good idea. Overall, I thought there was a nice selection of photos for Series 1.


Here's where everything comes off the rails. The inserts have been getting more generic looking and unnecessary. I'd much rather have more base cards than these. The 1983 Salute is a head scratcher - the design was just recently used for Archives, and while I will be the first to admit is one of the better Topps designs of the junk wax era, it still seems like a slot that could have been used for something else.

The Derek Jeter set... I get it, that's fine, but I will just be trying to get rid of them. Opening Day... Why? Topps has a whole set dedicated to Opening Day, we don't need an insert set on top of it. Then there's the Home Run Challenge card.

Check out the website. This "card" is just an ad for the promotion, not the actual Home Run Challenge insert. You can't even use this card to enter the contest! Wasting space in the pack.


Ugh. Get over yourself, Topps. This is masturbatory.


This is the manufactured Relic, Royals fans, hit me up... Overall, the base set is fine - I'd prefer borders, but the photo choices are good and there's a variety of rookies and veterans. No Bartolo Colon? That's a bummer. The inserts are terrible, I would have preferred bringing back First Pitch and/or adding National Anthem singers or something. The inserts also seem position player heavy - would have been nice to throw the pitchers a bone too.


The blaster came with a bunch of coupons, and this last one caught my eye. What set is this? I checked Topps website and Cardboard Connection but I didn't see any upcoming releases for Topps with "BL" initials. The coupon is good from May to August, so I'm guessing this is a product coming out in the summer sometime.

13 comments:

  1. It's official. You have my favorite use of the word "masturbatory" ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with this comment... and Brian's use of the word to describe that insert.

      Delete
  2. If Topps dipped into the archives and used some never-before-seen designs... like maybe alternate designs or designs for sets that never made it past the drawing board... THAT would be awesome. Hell, even old Topps magazine designs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would gladly trade quality over quantity with the insert sets.

      Delete
  3. I'm with you on the inserts, and I've been saying it for years. I don't see any this year that catch my eye. I don't mind the base set, though.

    Your juxtaposition of the action shots and the brooding vets is very poignant. And I think the photos used for all of those players are appropriate, too. Good eye.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If you need a taker for the Alex wood card, I'm your guy. I don't want the Jeter though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually pulled a few Dodger inserts, I've got them set aside for you. I'm still building a return for the last mailer you sent me!

      Delete
  5. I agree with you about the Topps NOW inserts... that's just too much.
    Didn't Jeter have a special insert set last year? Now we get another? I think Kris Bryant has one also, but I'm still not a fan.

    I am a fan of the photography, especially the Javier Baez card.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're spot on about the base set being the only desirable part of this year's set. I'll trade or buy for one and be done. Hopefully, Bunt and Ginter will look good later. Might play around with Opening Day (the set - now we have to say that).

    ReplyDelete
  7. I, too, am curious to see what comes of the BL coupon. Hadn't seen that Baez yet, easily one of my favorites from '18 Topps thus far.

    ReplyDelete
  8. BL= Bunt Light? Whatever it is, we won't be able to drink it. The inserts are boring as heck. And what's the manu-patch about - the evolution of baseball? Too caveman for me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey Brian, I need to make sure you haven't moved, sending some Twins your way.

    ReplyDelete