A Fortnight of 2012 Topps: Day 3

Yesterday I showed the vertical cards, now I'm showing the horizontal cards.  The horizontal layout often gives you the opportunity to catch very unique moments, and this set was no exception.  Here are my favorites from the cards I pulled:

Any plate at the plate where the helmet is in the air along with some dirt is a great card.  The Chacin is just an interesting perspective that really gets you into the game.  It also seems to be the card that best uses the space leftover on the right end of the surfboard nameplate. The Sandoval is especially unique because it's a scenario you don't get too many chances to capture, and it was captured well.  The Reed Johnson card has shown up several times in the blogosphere, and for good reason.  The timing with the seagulls is just too good.

A down spot for the horizontals this years is the repeated subset of League Leaders.  I didn't scan any, but they have three players left to right.  I think it's time to bag this layout for a year or two and do something fresh.  I did like that Topps included both 2011 Leaders and All-Time Active leaders.  I say scrap the current layout, and scrap the duos inserts from the past couple years and have a duo insert with the previous years leader and the active leader.  It would kill two birds with one stone.

As far as I'm concerned, the big win in the horizontal base cards is the World Series subset:

Highlighting the different moments in the playoffs, and especially the World Series is a must in my opinion.  The Topps flagship set should have some year-in-review quality to it, and these cards fit the bill.  They work perfectly as horizontals, too, thanks to the World Series logo in the lower right corner.

That's it for the base cards.  Now the fun can really start.