Blaster Master

OK.. so 2016 Topps has been out now for several days and people have had a chance to see a little bit of everything. Here's some of the contents of the blaster box I picked up:

The Perspectives subset reminds me of Stadium Club with a little less info on the front. It does a great job of focusing on the photography.

 Topps is bringing back "Wacky Packages"  -

 MLB Debut is just what it sounds like - nice to see Satchel Paige in the subset.

A few of the more interesting series one images. Ervin is more typical, it's one of the rainbow foil parallels.

And since this was a blaster, it came with a manufactured "relic" medallion:

 Remember when Cespedes was an A? Not that long ago...

 I am less enthusiastic about 2016 Topps - It remains to be seen how the other sets fare.

Jumbo Shrimp

 Now that's a great shot. This is the kind of card usually limited to Stadium Club, but I'm glad it found its way onto the flagship. That's the kind of thing that will make a collector start a "bat flip" mini-collection.

 The Jumbo Pack was a bit of a disappointment, actually, possibly because Bautista was on top, and set a nigh-on-impossible standard for the rest of the cards. Are those throwback unis for the Tribe, or is that their regular threads? Looks like a retro design, regardless...

The Mays card mentions the story of getting called up to the Giants while he was watching a movie in Sioux City, IA. The theater manager turned up the lights in the middle of the film to ask if a "Willie Mays" was in the audience. Pressed into Service is another pretty cool concept - I hope Adam Dunn's pitching appearance is in the set. I would have gone old school with the Dodgers' BACK to KCAB - Reese and Robinson? Koufax and Drysdale? (Maybe it's only position players?) The Bo Jackson reprint is all fine and dandy. Maybe it will inspire kids to go out and spend the 50 cents for the real thing in all its gum stainy, wood grainy glory. That card should not be glossy!

The King is Dead . . . Long Live the King

Another year is upon us, and next to Opening Day and Spring Training, I can't think of anything more exciting in the baseball world than opening the first pack of cards for the year.

Topps is looking to expand its borders in 2016, all the way past the edge of the cards.

 The first card of 2016 for me is rising star, outfielder Odubel Herrera. He led the Phillies in WAR in 2015, he could do it again this year. He's a Rule 5 draftee, just like my buddy Johan Santana.

the backs.

 The two inserts in the pack - I get what they are going for with Berger's Best, but... Do we really need more reprints? BACK to KCAB is an interesting enough concept to pair some dynamic duos. Should be looking at three Hall of Famers there, hopefully that'll be true this time next year.

Here's the back of the Piazza insert, which Topps has helpfully labeled a REPRINT.

 The best images from the first pack were these two horizontal heroes, hoping to be fully upright and healthy in 2016.

First Twin! First Cy Young Winner! First Rookie! First Mookie!

Overall, I like this set - I got a pack (the ones shown above), a Jumbo Pack, and a Blaster. I'll show the rest over the next two days. I will say there are a lot of closely cropped action shots of the pitchers - Arrieta's card is a better looking example. The smoke effect looked really cool on the Buster Posey preview that Topps released, but on some of the cards, it just obscures the context of the action / play.

2015 Topps is dead. Long Live 2016 Topps!