Topps has had a couple different editions of the Archives set, both of which heavily vary from one another. The first set began in 2001 and only lasted a couple of years while the revived Archives set debuted in 2012 and has been released each year since then.
Personally, I don't have one that I like all that much over the other simply because of how they are quite different from each other. Today, I'm going to explain the differences between the first edition of Topps Archives and the one we see released nowadays.
The major difference between the 2 Archives sets are the sets Topps chooses to include in the set. The first edition wasn't just limited to 3 or 4 sets, but rather, all of the Topps Flagship sets they wanted to use. Take 2001 Archives, for example, this set includes cards from (I believe) every year of Topps up until, well, 2001. The vintage cards from the 60's as well as 80's cards are the most prominent while the 50's and 70's don't fall too far behind, and rightfully so. No one buys Topps Archives to see junk wax 90's cards, they want to see vintage.
On the contrary, the newer edition of Topps Archives set usually has 3 different sets that all consist of 100 cards. This adds up to 300 cards, which is also the average number of cards in a base-heavy non-flagship set like Archives, Gypsy Queen, Stadium Club, and Allen & Ginter. The set size highlights yet another difference between the 2 sets. The '01 Archives set was released in 2 series of 225 cards each, creating a 450-card set, much larger than today's Archives sets.
One of my favorite details from the first Archives sets is the gold Archives stamp placed on each and every card. The first Archives cards were meant to recreate classic and iconic cards from the last 50 years of Topps. For example, this 1985 Topps card of Bob Watson looks just like the original 1985 Topps Bob Watson card.
See what I mean?
I find this detail pretty interesting if nothing else. However, after a while it kind of makes me think "why bother collecting this set if all the cards look just like the originals?" It kind of defeats the point of the set. However, the inclusion of all past players in the set (unless they were still lingering around in 2001 and 2002) makes up choosing the same photos as the ones on the original cards.
As for today's Archives sets, the only stamped cards are the Fan-Favorites autos. The stamps don't show up super well when scanned, but the stamp just shows that this is an Archives Fan-Favorite auto, the major autograph set within Archives. I pulled this Jose Vizcaino auto out of a box of 2016 Archives, and I still have no clue who this guy is. It's cards like this that make me apprehensive about buying an Archives hobby box. I don't want to pay $100+ dollars to get autos of guys like this. Unless I can find some Astros super-fan or some Jose Vizcaino enthusiast to trade for this card.
Although you split Archives into just two different product lines, the fact is Topps is continually tinkering with the product. They know they've got something, they just aren't sure what. This extends to the autographs, Topps was responding to consumer/collector requests when they went for players like Mr. Vizcaino, there (who, btw, played 18 years in the majors with 8 different teams...so not exactly a nobody). Point is that most product autographs are all about the big name stars and collectors wanted the chance to pull autos of hometown favorites who may not have reached that level (say Mike Greenwell instead of David Ortiz, or Chuck Schilling instead of Yaz). The problem with that logic is odds are the autos you pull won't be players from your team and, thus, are likely to disappoint (as a Mets fan, a Chuck Schilling auto does nothing for my head). So you're paying premium price for less than a premium feature. This is why I think Archives should be a Topps.com exclusive like their minis or A&GX. That way, you could specify your team at the time of purchase and, instead of the auto coming out of the box, they'd send you something like one of those "silver packs" which would contain an autograph or two of fan favorites from YOUR specified team. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI agree, building up on the fan-favorites autos could be a good idea if it was for the team of your choice. That way, you could still enjoy the lesser players autos because you have a much greater chance of actually knowing the guy you get an auto of.
DeleteActually, the Archives name was first used back in 1991 for a reprint of the 1953 set, with some new "cards that never were" thrown in.
ReplyDeleteI completely forgot about those but you're right, I've seen those cards before and I have some of them myself. They're pretty nice looking overall, though the backs are not my favorites.
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