Hooray, we're finally there!
Today, I just want to recap the last 13 posts.
Day 1: My wife surprised me with a bunch of cards shortly after the release. I opened a hanger pack, a rack pack, and a handful of retail packs. They're still the only packs I have opened to this point. I wanted to stay away from new packs until the fortnight was over, to see if I still want to buy.
Day 2: Vertical cards. The photography has been a hot topic for this year, but I'm not sure why. I thought the photography was pretty good on average, with many unique shots. I do think Topps zooms in a bit too much on some action shots.
Day 3: Horizontal cards. More interesting photos, including the World Series subset. gotta love the seagulls.
Day 4: The store parallels. Red for Target, Blue for Wal-Mart and Purple(?) for Toys-R-Us. I just don't get it. I don't need to be reminded of where the card came from. I'd much rather have team color parallels, but I don't see that happening. That said, I certainly won't avoid collecting the parallels for my PC players.
Day 5: The Gold Parallels. I'm a fan.
Day 6: Gold Standard. It's the first insert set I highlighted, and the first one that looks Panini'ed. I like the foil medallion, but the cards are a little underwhelming.
Day 7: Golden Moments. I'm a fan of "Moments" cards. They put you in the game situations, which is always good. The design is Panini'ed, but not as bad as some. I tweaked it a little and thought it made it a little better, but the set isn't too bad.
Day 8: Golden Greats. C'mon Topps, you were almost there on this one. Get rid of the fade and make the medallion foil. That makes it a flagship-set-worthy insert.
Day 9: Golden Futures. I like them, though It's the "Golden" insert set with the least Gold, ironically.
Day 10: Timeless Talents. Boring and repetitive and boring and repetitive.
Day 11: Classic Walk-Offs. Ugh. Based on the comments, most people seem to agree that this insert was the biggest failure. The auto-patch variation is fantastic, but at 10 copies apiece, that doesn't fully justify the design.
Day 12: '87 Minis. Follow the worst insert set with the best. I'm a fan of these because the cards backs just felt right. They'll make good trade bait.
Day 13: Golden Giveaway. Topps is showing that the momentum of the Million Card Giveaway and the Diamond Giveaway can, in fact, die a slow death. There are far fewer real cards that can be redeemed, making most code cards just a dummy card.
Day 14: Hey, that's today.
My thoughts on the set as a whole:
I'm a low-budget collector, so I likely won't get to appreciate the auto/relic/patch/etc. designs in person. There are some great higher-end cards in the flagship set, but that isn't what it should be all about. The pin cards look great, as do the rings, and I like the blaster patches that I've seen.
The set doesn't blow me away, but I rarely expect the flagship set to do so. My PC players don't have a ton of cards in the set and insert sets, so I won't be buying a ton trying to find many. This set will still be like any other flagship set for me, though. I will continue to put retail packs and rack packs in my cart from time to time, to quench the thirst of opening packs.
I hope you enjoyed this fortnight of 2012 Topps. I may have to do the same with some other sets.
I do have one request. I desperately want 2 cards from 2012 Topps that I don't have yet. #'s 3 and 139. The first is for my Topps #3 collection. The second is the Scott Sizemore card. While I'm on Scott Sizemore, I also need his 2011 Topps Update card #111. I don't think 3 base cards is unreasonable. I have 2012 Topps to trade.
As for other happenings during this fortnight,
I surpassed 100 followers, 450 posts, 1,000 comments, and 50,000 pageviews. You guys left 26 comments on the first 11 posts, which I greatly appreciate. I'm currently on pace to surpass my record for most posts in one month. I owe my motivation to all of you who read this.
The purpose I have always had for this blog is for it to be a welcome diversion for both myself and anyone else who may need or want it. Right now, I need it more than ever. I have high hopes for the rest of this year, and plan to continue having "series" posts like this fortnight, the super bowl countdown, and the Christmas posts.
Thanks for reading!
3 comments:
i think i said this a few days ago, but it feels appropriate to reiterate it now... great job with this series! i enjoyed it every day - it made me look at each aspect of the flagship in an interesting and different (and critical) way - and i think that's great for a new-ish collector like me. and i don't mean critical as in "negative" - i simply mean you made me look much more closely at things i just casually appreciated.
I have to catch up on a couple, but congrats on a nice run and hitting some milestones too!
hi cardboard mistress
i have # 3 (garcia) and #139 (sizemore) for you
email me your address
i love the blog
thanks for writing it
niknikon@earthlink.net
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