First Impressions - 2017 Topps Series 1

This will be a pic heavy post. Johnny Cueto - the first card pulled from the first pack of 2017 for me! Not sure what compelled me to sleeve this card and put it in a card holder, but the first card each year is kind of like a "reverse wallet card" to me...

There are a TON of horizontal cards in Series 1 - I haven't decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It would be crazy if Topps went all Horizontal again, this year has plenty of examples.

The backs - Colorful! Vibrant! Not everyone has an instagram, and that's OK. Beltre's instagram would probably be awesome, but I guess we'll never know. The mystery just makes it better in our imaginations.

Marcel Ozuna for a control, Base card. The parallels have the series listed in a reflective faux foil just underneath the name plate - probably makes finding those refractors a little easier?  

Whole lotta inserts. Did you know that Topps released a set in 1987? Don't feel bad if you forgot, I think they only had a few in last year's set. (Snark aside, I do like the rainbow "Future Stars" so much better than the current version). This is a 100 card subset.

Hey Remember These? I guess they didn't want to do another reprint of Jackie's Rookie card? Maybe there's several different ones, but Jackie had the only non-rookie reprint.

"Fielding Award" - did Topps forget to pay Rawlings for the rights to the Gold Glove name?

First pitch is back! These are nice, I hope they made one for Kevin Garnett at last year's Twins Opening Day! Oh, they didn't? What about a different one from Minnesota? Oh, none. But 7 different Cubs? OK.
Rookie Cups are back too! These are the right scale for this design, good job Topps!

Let's Promote Bowman!!!

This is two different insert sets - a 100 card insert set called "Topps Salute" - and another set for Jackie Robinson Day. Seems like a lot... 

One more insert set - 5 Tool players. Is Rizzo a 5- Tool Guy? He stole 3 bases in 2016 . . . Oh well, It's a cool card either way.

Gotta Share the Twins.

They have some great photos for Twins this year, so that's a nice consolation for them being a terrible team the last 4 years.

To close it out here are some of the favorites from the cards I pulled.

I think that percentage wise, it feels like there are more good / interesting / fun photo selections than in the past. The design itself is fine, though I'm not a fan of the player names - they all seem like they are the wrong size, either stretched out or scrunched down to fit in the space provided. Really need to stop with the inserts of old cards reprinted, and don't really need the 1987 Topps design in Flagship - just stick it in Archives or something. First Pitch is fun - why don't they do National Anthem singers? Just a thought. I like 2017 Topps, I won't dump them in a garbage can and then throw that can off the bridge.

Happy 2017 everyone, may your packs be filled with all the cards you need!

2017 Collecting Goals

I made some ambitious goals for 2016, so what I've put here in 2017 may look a little familiar. I think hard to meet goals are good, it makes the year more interesting!

Here are the cards I am targeting in 2017, along with runners-up that I will chase (just not as hard/expensive):

Mickey Mantle 1956 Topps #135:

If I'm ever going to finish my 1956 Topps set, all roads lead through this card... After reeling in Aaron, Clemente, Mays, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson and the big Luis Aparicio rookie, Mantle looms large. I will be patient. I will stalk eBay. When the time is right, I will strike!!!
Runner-up:  Mickey Mantle 1965 Topps #350

1956 Topps - Complete Set! 

I am close enough to taste it. I have less than 50 cards remaining to complete the set, and most of them are commons or minor stars. I think I can finish the set this year, assuming I can find a Mantle in my price range!
Runner-up: Complete 1969 Topps Deckle Edge Insert set


"Satchell" Paige 1953 Topps #220

I have a fair number of Paige cards in my collection (including a reprint of this card), but none from his playing days. This card hasn't been on my radar in the last year, but I'm putting it on there now. The 1953 Topps Set is literally a work of art, and ol' Satch is one of the most remarkable and intriguing baseball players of all time.
Runner up: 1949 Leaf Satchel Paige

Ted Kluszewski 1957 Topps #165

My dad grew up in Central Ohio and my whole family are Reds fans. This is one of the more iconic Reds cards from the 50s and Kluszewski is a beast. This card is probably going to be the most affordable on the list so far, but I am going to be a bit pickier on condition- I will be a stickler for really red reds and a bright, centered border. 1957 Topps cards have a tendency to fade over time...
Runner-up: 1957 Topps Frank Robinson RC

William J. O'Neil, T206 tobacco card

I've been "working" on the T206 Minneapolis Millers team set. This guy's name is very similar to mine, so he's the next guy on the list for me to chase!
Runner-up: Jimmy Collins, T206

1964 Topps Venezuela Set - add 50 cards towards completing set

My current progress on the Topps Venezuelan set of 1964 is 117 out of 370 - that's a shade over 30%. I would love to get closer to 50%, so my goal for 2017 is to get 50 more cards for the set - that would get to 45% complete, which is fairly ambitious considering I added ZERO new cards to this set in 2016...
Runner-up: Specifically the 1964 Topps Venezuelan League Leaders subset - Cards #1-12


Reduce and ORGANIZE! 
Several other collectors have stated similar goals, to get their collections into a more organized and focused state. I have lots and lots of cards that frankly are not part of my future collecting plans. The only bummer is that most of them are not really appealing to anyone. My collection of Braves, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, Blue Jays, and Pirates have been picked pretty clean through trades, most of what's left are those 80s and 90s junk wax that no team collector really needs anymore. There's a bit more variety for the other teams, but again, most of it is not anyone's first choice.
By the end of 2017, I would like to have a much better grasp of what exactly is in my collection, and what I have to offer to others in trade.