I went the cheap and easy route on 2014 Topps Update this year, getting a complete set from a breaker on eBay for about the price of a blaster. That means that I don't really have to pick up any packs if I don't want to. But it is still fun to bust something at least to see how it looks coming out of the packs. My wife picked up a hanger box from Target for me, and here's the stuff that caught my eye.
Jose Altuve was the Astros' lone representative in the All-Star Game this year, and he got a decent card out of the deal. There are plenty of batting and throwing and running shots out there, so it's nice to see Topps use some of the more casual photos.
There were plenty of All-Star cards in the box, but here is a selection of the better ones. I am no Jeter fan, but the All-Star game was all about him since this season was his retirement tour. All but a couple of the All-Star cards in my box featured American League players, and the National League guys who were featured didn't do anything for me, so this is a pretty one-sided display.
A few of the base cards caught my eye. Vance Worley has got those distinctive glasses, and the Pirates' uniforms always seem to look good on baseball cards. I included Vogt and Qualls because they're an Athletic and an Astro. I don't think I pulled any decent Blue Jays cards, so I don't have one on here. I'm not a huge Cardinals guy, but Pat Neshek is a card collector and deserves some blog love for that. I liked the picture of David Ross with his ring, and I put the Figueroa card on here because it's just an awkward picture. I guess it's okay to include the Gatorade shower on a baseball card, but it feels a bit overdone.
And I can't ignore the horizontal cards. Tanaka gets included because before he got hurt he was about as big as Jose Abreu in the collecting world. I imagine the market on him will pick back up soon enough, though, as long as he is able to come back and pitch moderately well. I just thought it was funny that Shin-Soo Choo decided to take his bat with him. He'll probably discard it soon, but it seems like most guys are letting go of the bat right away, and it looks like he's ready to use it to make sure he doesn't get tagged out. Fuld is here for being an A, and Kurt Suzuki gets included because it's an action-packed play at the plate shot.
Jason Heyward seems to be the guy whose inserts I've been pulling lately. Not really a problem, I guess, but the Braves are probably in the bottom 10 teams I would be interested in collecting. I should really do a list sometime. The Puig card is a little bit awkward, and the Michael Wacha is from that Future is Now set that seems like it has been going on forever. The Paul Goldshmidt Power Players card is pretty nice, though, with a bit of a reflective sheen and bright colors. That is an insert set I might put together at some point.
As far as parallels go, I got the requisite Gold parallel, this one featuring Adrian Beltre. It's numbered out of # 1279 / 2014. The Red Hot Foil card continues that parallel set from Series' 1 and 2. I also got a Pink parallel of Rafael Montero, numbered # 22 / 50. They're seeded 1:29 hanger boxes, so that is a pretty big pull, although Montero isn't really a big money name. Still cool to get some kind of color out of a Retail product. I also pulled his Red Target-exclusive parallel and his base card. There were a few more of the Red Target-exclusive cards in the box but I didn't bother to scan them.
And that's about it for this one. I don't have much more to say about this stuff. It's what you expect from an Update set. Some people like all the All-Star cards and the preponderance of rookies in the set. Some people want less of that and more of the middle relievers and traded guys. I don't know that I've formed an opinion really one way or the other. I just like new cards.
Update has been pretty fun for me the last couple of years because the PIrates have sent a lot of players to the All Star Game. I try to pick up the relics on the cheap when I can. As far as the set goes I'm in the middle like you.
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