Polar Opposites

A little over a week ago, I received an email from Jon of A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts, telling me that he had a card for my 2019 Panini Prizm project that he wanted to send my way.

Though I was determined to find something to give back in return, he insisted on sending me this card and didn't want anything in exchange for it. I sincerely appreciate this act, Jon, though I'll make sure to find something for you in the coming months.

Anyways, when his letter arrived in the mail today, I had some idea of what to expect. Sure enough, I opened it up and was greeted by a red mojo parallel of Gary Carter, numbered out of 299 copies.

Out of the 2-dozen plus parallels in this 300-card set, I'd have to rank the red and blue mojos near the top along with the donut circle cards and the burgundy shimmer refractors.

Aside from Bowman mega boxes and Series 1, 2, and Update silver packs, Topps doesn't do anything with mojo refractors, but I've seen my fair share of them in Panini Prizm and Chronicles Baseball along with a ton of Basketball and Football sets.

Moreover, Carter is one of a handful of retired players featured in this set, and the photo Panini chose is perfect because I never would've guessed that the card is unlicensed.

I would've been more than happy with the Carter parallel alone. After all, Jon didn't ask for anything in return, and I need all the help I can get with this project.

However, he sent one more card my way, something that couldn't be more different than the Carter parallel but a card that I was absolutely stoked to get.

A couple of weeks back, I purchased my first 1952 Topps card from my LCS, a Cubs card graded by PSA at a 3. Now, thanks to Jon's extreme generosity, I have a card from every single Topps Flagship set.

Ever since the debut of the Topps Living set, I've become fonder of 1953 Topps. I only have a card or 2 from the online exclusive, but the details are unlike any other set, licensed or unlicensed, produced nowadays.

Having my first '53 Flagship card in-hand, I see wh Topps puts so much emphasis on the details in the Living Set. After all, that's what they did 66 years ago when they didn't nearly have as much technology as they do today.

Considering how long it takes me to complete sets that I already have a reasonable number of cards from, it would be nearly impossible to complete the 1953 Topps Flagship set.

That said, I'll keep my eye out for singles in the future because now that I have one of these cards in hand, I have an even greater appreciation for these beautiful cards.

Thanks again for the cards, Jon. This was a much-appreciated surprise.