Wednesday, February 2, 2011

My first date with 2011 Topps

I hit a couple stores just to pass some time this afternoon, and I picked up a few packs of 2011 Topps.  It's always fun opening the first product of the year.  Let's get to the cards:

My first 2011 Topps card is...






 





Pack 1: Nick Markakis, Lance Berkman, Jose Lopez, Michael Young, Angels, NL HR Leaders (Pujols, Dunn, Votto), Carlos Santana ToppsTown, Troy Tulowitzki Topps 60, Diamond Giveaway Code Card, Ronny Cedeno, Ryan Braun, Jaime Garcia.
>>> Not much on the base card end.  The Diamond Giveaway gives me something to look forward to.  ToppsTown and T60 inserts are kinda boring.











Pack 2: Alex Gordon, Carlos Carrasco, Neftali Feliz, Ben Revere RC, Jeremy Jeffress RC, Aroldis Chapman RC, Diamond Duos Lance Berkman and Brett Wallace, Albert Pujols 60 Years of Topps Reprint, Chris Young ToppsTown, Gregor Blanco, Andrew Cashner, Rickie Weeks
>>> Nice to grab the Chapman rookie.  The Diamond Duos is an ok set.  The Pujols is a reprint of his 2010 card.  I could really live without a reprint of last year's card. I get it, one card for each year, but still. 











Pack 3: Clay Buchholz, Coco Crisp, Matt Capps, Kevin Millwood, Chris Perez, Mickey Mantle, Alex Rodriguez T60, Diamond Giveaway, Aroldis Chapman ToppsTown, Juan Gutierrez, Xavier Nady, Alcides Escobar.
>>> Still nothing crazy.  Another DG code and a Chapman insert.  The Mantle card is pretty sweet this year, but I'm a little over Mantle being included everywhere.  











Pack 4: CC Sabathia, Torii Hunter, Koji Uehara, NL Wins Leaders (Halladay, Wainwright, Jimenez), NL RBI Leaders (Pujols, Gonzalez, Votto), Pedro Ciriaco RC, Ubaldo Jimenez ToppsTown, Arizona Diamondbacks Diamond Parallel, Justin Upton, Jason Bay, Todd Helton
>>> This was the pack I was waiting for.  My first diamond parallel which I love, and it's got Justin Upton on it, no less.  Follow that up with the base Justin Upton, and I'm ecstatic.











Pack 5: Kevin Correia, Alexei Ramirez, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Rick Ankiel, Carl Pavano, Ryan Dempster, Derek Jeter T60, Carl Yastrzemski 60 Years of Topps Reprint, Robinson Cano ToppsTown, Jimmy Foxx 1934 Goudey Reprint, Neil Walker, Trevor Hoffman, Evan Meek
>>>Nice inserts in this one: a couple Yanks, a sweet '75 Topps reprint of Yaz, and an awesome '34 Goudey reprint.



















Rack Pack: Mike Napoli, Mark Ellis, Jonathan Papelbon, Jorge Cantu, Rafael Soriano, Trevor Hoffman 600 Saves Checklist, Scott Cousins RC, Jake McGee RC, Lars Anderson RC, Edinson Volquez, Bronson Arroyo, History of Topps (Topps is founded by the Shorin family), Jason Heyward ToppsTown, Carlos Gonzalez, Angel Pagan, Pedro Feliz, Derek Lowe, Ty Wigginton, Fausto Carmona, Gil Meche, Ryan Raburn, Brian Matusz, Boston Red Sox, Buster Posey ROY, David Price, Aroldis Chapman RC, Kyle Davies Diamond Parallel, Ryan Howard T60, David Price Kimball Champions Mini, Diamond Giveaway, Diamond Duos Wade Boggs and Kevin Youkilis, Jim Edmonds 60 Years of Topps Reprint, Roger Bernadina, Brian Wilson, Jhoulys Chacin, Chase Utley
>>> Only one double on the day and it's Aroldis Chapman, so that's not too bad.  The History of Topps insert set isn't too spectacular.  I like the Kimball Champions minis, but they don't really fit with Topps flagship.  The Edmonds is from 1993 Topps, yes, because I was dying to remember 1993 Topps. 























Not too shabby for my first rip of 2011.  I haven't decided if I want to go after the base set (I got 71 different base cards), so essentially I got 2 keepers (Justin Upton base and Diamondbacks Diamond Parallel).  Let me know if you see anything you like.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the Kimball Champion minis too. From the looks of things, that might be the only insert set I chase this year. I might even wait and just buy the factory set after they release series 2, and just buy the minis on COMC or the 'bay.

Greg Zakwin said...

Could you throw the Santana and Heyward ToppsTown cards and the Edmonds on my pile?

I think my Upton lot came in today, so I'll e-mail you when I open the bubble mailer.

Dawgbones said...

I like that Diamondbacks parallllelll. Damn, I forget how many L's there are in that word, so I give you enough to choose from. I don't know if I'm collecting this whole set, but those Diamond cards are way cool. I disagree on the Toppstown cards though. Last year's TT cards were boring, I really like this year's design, that blue background really has improved the look of the set, and moving the code to the back of the card makes it less distracting to the design. I may look for some of those mini's too.

Justin McLeod said...

Any Cubs you come across, of course, please set aside for me. And the Berkman/Wallace DD, too