One of my favorite insert sets from the flagship Topps baseball product is First Pitch, which is an ongoing set that highlights different people who have thrown the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game. There is usually a decent mix of names on the checklist, including celebrities, athletes, and the subjects of feel-good stories. I usually pick up a set as soon as another series of Topps is released. I don't always know or like everyone on the checklist, but I enjoy seeing who gets picked and what their story is.
I didn't scan all of the cards in the 2017 Topps Series 2 First Pitch set, but I scanned a handful of them. Isaiah Mustafa is an actor who is most known to me as the Old Spice spokesman.
I don't know who Jannawockeez are, but that card is freaky enough that I included it for shock value. Brian Shaw is a strongman who has trained with a guy I know from the Army National Guard. I also saw him pick up a car like 15 times at the Bodybuilding.com Fitness Expo here in Boise a few years ago. It was on some kind of hinged sled, so he didn't lift the full weight of the car, but I saw a lot of strong strong dudes try to pick it up and fail. I think it would be neat if Topps could get autographs and relics from him for an Allen & Ginter release. Camilla Luddington is an actress whose work I am not familiar with, and Luke Donald is a golfer of some renown.
The First Pitch set has been a part of Topps for several years now, and I hope it continues to be a part of the checklist. It's one of my favorite parts of the product.
The First Pitch cards always serve as a reminder to me of how out-of-touch I am with current affairs and culture. But they are a fun concept.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't recognize 80% of the folks in the set, either, but I really enjoy having cards of the ones I am familiar with.
DeleteYeah, I like these a lot too even though I don't know a lot of the pop culture people. Too bad they didn't expand on them this year like they said with the National Anthems. Probably too expensive for diva royalties.
ReplyDeleteA National Anthem set would be cool, but you wouldn't really get the variety of subjects you see in the First Pitch set.
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