When I saw how bright and colorful this year's Topps Finest offering is I knew I had to get the set, but I didn't want to try building it through busting packs. I couldn't see the value in that, especially when I was able to get the full base set of 100 cards on eBay for about $17. A box of Finest is going to have a few inserts and autographs, but more likely than not won't pay for itself. And it's going to take at least two $100+ boxes to build a full base set.
I scanned the whole set so I could upload the photos to Zistle and figured that if I am going to go to all the work of scanning and cropping these images, I might as well post them up here and get a few free blog posts out of it.
The thing I noticed right off the bat is how dang many Rangers there are in this set, probably because there are three of them within the first 10 cards. I should probably do a count and see how many cards each team gets in the set. I might not do that, though, because it sounds kind of like work. The problem is that I have already raised the question, so my mind will not just let me set the question down and walk away. After extensive research, I have found that the Rangers have 8 cards on the checklist.
I believe that is the most cards of any team in the league, with even teams like the Yankees and Dodgers getting 5 and 6 cards listed, respectively. The Athletics and Astros each get 1 card in the set, and the Giants have 2 cards on the checklist.
The bulk of each card-back is taken up with the player's 'Finest Performance.' Most of these are a great moment from their 2013 Major or Minor League season, but Guerrero came from Cuba and gets a special category listing highlights from his time playing there.
The yellow-to-green fade of this particular color scheme reminds me of a Fruit Roll-Up. This Spongebob Roll-Up isn't the exact one I was looking for, but it's close enough.
I am rapidly running out of things to talk about here. I know this guy isn't Gordon Beckham, but that's the first guy I think of when I see this card. I guess there's only room for one Beckham in my life. Sorry Tim, David, and Victoria, but Gordon is my Beckham because he has occasionally contributed to the downfall of my fantasy teams by being the least reprehensible 2B on the waiver wire when my #1 guy was injured.
Jay Bruce may have pooped his pants just as this photo was taken. And with the move to potty jokes the devolution of this post is complete.
Kemp is the 2nd Dodger in the first 10 cards in the set, but it didn't elicit the same response as the 3 Rangers players did. Probably because the Dodgers have a few cards between them and all the Rangers are clumped together right smack in the middle.
Who? I guess Jimmy Nelson took some time out from chasing Superman around and learned how to throw a baseball. I know, Superman's sometime sidekick is named Jimmy Olsen, but it's pretty close. How would you like for your Rookie Card to call you out as 'jumbo?' Apparently this dude did pretty well in the minors, but has struggled a bit with the Brewers this year.
Well, that's the first ten cards in the set. I will probably post more of them at some point unless I get bored with this project.
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