Frankenset Page #62

We've reached the home stretch with frankenset series, for, after today's post, there will be just 12 pages remaining in the 666-card custom set.

Page #62 features cards #550-558 and spans 3 decades (70s-90s). There isn't much else to say, so let's get started with yet another page of my frankenset.

#550 1982 Donruss John Henry Johnson

It's a shame that Donruss got lazy with their set design 1 year later in 1983 because I actually enjoy the look of the Baseball glove with the bat more so than the ball. However, the '83 design is often shamed, as it should, for being practically a copy and paste of the previous year's set.

1982 and 1985 Donruss rank as my 2 favorite designs in the brand's history. I love the '85 cards because of the black borders while the '82 set includes all the colorful uniforms of the 80s like the powder blue Rangers jersey above.

#551 1992 Fleer Ultra Scott Bullett

I'm not sure why the banner around Scout Bullett's name is orange instead of yellow which would be much more of a traditional fit for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Still, as far as the cards from '92 Fleer Ultra go, this one isn't half bad.

I don't know which MLB ballpark is in the background of this card. After all, there aren't many context clues, but if I had to guess, I'd go with Turner Field, former home of the Atlanta Braves.

#552 1987 Topps Larry Sheets

It's been 2 years since Topps "paid tribute" to the 1987 Flagship design by featuring '87 inserts in way too many of their products. After Topps burnt me out on the wood-bordered set, I'm slowly starting to appreciate these cards again, though the design was never one of my favorites, to begin with.

I suppose the Baltimore Orioles logo in the top left corner helped with this as well. There's something about old school insignias and uniforms that bring out the best in any set of cards.

#553 1984 Topps Joe Nolan

I haven't bought as much Series 1 and Series 2 this year as I did in 2017, so I haven't been burnt out on the 1984 Flagship design like I was for '87. In fact, the '84 design still ranks as my favorite Topps set of the decade with '83 coming in at a close second.

Looking ahead, I'm excited for the tribute to 1985 Topps next year in 2020 Series 1, Series 2, Chrome, and Update. I barely have any cards from that set, so I'm going to take this as a way to familiarize myself with this underrated design.

#554 1992 Sporting News Conlon Collection "Bucketfoot" Al Simmons

I don't need to be familiar with the player or the era to appreciate the gorgeous photography on these Conlon Collection cards. Since a large portion of the final ~200 cards are from Topps Flagship, it's nice to have something unique to break them all up.

If you've seen my past pages, you know there are all sorts of different cards in this set, ranging from World Series Champions from 1917 to nicknames cards like the one above.

#555 1991 Topps Turner Ward

Although I was disappointed with their recreation of the 1953 design, I was impressed with the remaining products (1979 and 1991) featured in 2016 Topps Archives.

They did an exceptional job, in particular, with the latter of the 2, even inspiring me to purchase a '91 Topps hobby box at the Baseball card show to appreciate the original cards from yet another set with incredible photography.

#556 1974 Topps Dave Campbell

Similar to the previous 2 sets on this page, '74 Topps includes some fabulous photos across the 660-card set. Moreover, the design is interesting and the price point is fair, all the more reasons for me to collect this year of Topps once I'm finished with '76 and '79.

Speaking of those 2 sets, I'm pleased to announce that I'm heading to the Baseball card show this Monday (Labor Day) to officially get back into buying cards. If I see singles from either of those 2 Flagship sets available, I'll definitely take a closer look.

#557 1972 Topps John Odom

The color choices within1972 Topps are one of the main reasons why I was so adamant about completing this 787-card set. I mean, pink with the Chicago Cubs and red with the Oakland A's. The creativity is through the roof, and the cards look absolutely stunning.

This isn't even my favorite card of John Blue Moon Odom. If you have a spare moment, take a look at his eye-catching 1971 Topps base card. It's certainly worth a look.

#558 1974 Topps Bill Fahey

I'm not certain, however, what would become of my frankenset if I were to start collecting 1974 Topps. There are a fair number of '74 cards in this binder, and I can't say whether I'd move them or not.

After all, that would force me to search for specific cards for my frankenset based on their number, and I'm not sure if I want to rebuild this set years after completing it.

A Small Sample Size

Being that Topps Series 1 is the first Baseball card release of the year, I always purchase a fair number of packs in order to get an idea of who the rookies are as well as what the design will look like for Series 2, Chrome, and Update as well.

Even though there are many sets out there that are better than Series 1, the fact that it's the first release of the year gives me an incentive to buy a couple of blasters or even a standard hobby box. 

The same, however, cannot be said for Topps Series 2. No matter the year, it seems that Series 2 is always pale in comparison to the initial Flagship set. Despite Topps' best efforts to boost the jumbo box odds and feature 4 popular rookies in Series 2 compared to virtually none in Series 1, I can never get invested in this set.

It also doesn't help that sets like Panini Prizm and Topps Stadium Club (which releases tomorrow) are out around the same time as Series 2. Pretty soon, Allen & Ginter and Topps Chrome will be added onto this list, and Series 2 will be left to sit around on Target and Walmart shelves all across the country.

Each year, in spite of all of these factors, I usually end up buying a small sampling of Topps Series 2, nothing more than a blaster box, in hopes of pulling something that'll motivate me to like this product a little more. Even though I landed an Ohtani rookie last year, the rest of Series 2 was very average.

Simply put, Topps crams most of the superstar veterans into Series 1, leaving little-known rookies and below-average veterans for their second series. If Topps continues with this method, Series 2 will never be as popular as Series 1. 

Today, I went to my local Target and, among other things, picked up 2 fat packs of 2019 Topps Series 2. I felt like this sample size was large enough for me to formulate my own opinion on this year's product, whether it's positive or negative.

Unfortunately, it appears that the 2019 version of this set falls under the same umbrella as the previous releases; underwhelming. 

Maybe my rack packs were just unlucky, but I struggled to pull a ton of cards of players that I recognize, and this is coming from someone who actively watches Baseball and hobby box breaks.

At least there were some throwback uniforms included to distract from the lackluster checklist. I love the Braves jersey that Inciarte is wearing, and while I have no clue who Jace Fry is, I appreciate the inclusion of this 80s White Sox uniform.

Including Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, there are 5 highly sought after rookie cards (with parallels) in 2019 Topps Series 2; this group includes Kikuchi, Eloy Jimenez, Pete Alonso, Fernando Tatis Jr, and, of course, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Being the most desired rookie of 2019 means that Guerrero Jr is featured in 2019 Topps Series 2 as an SP. However, his card doesn't seem to be too rare as most of the box breaks and recaps that I've seen on YouTube and Twitter have yielded a Vlad rookie card.

If nothing else, the 2 36-card rack packs were reasonable when it came to cards of my 2 favorite MLB teams. However, the limited checklist means that I'm not necessarily pulling the biggest Red Sox and Cubs players out there.

I'm not sure about what it takes for a pitcher to qualify as a rookie, but Bobby Poyner pitched 44 innings last year, so I'm wondering how he's still considered a rookie in 2019. 

Steven Wright is returning today from an 80-game PED suspension, and I've practically given up all hope that the 34-year old will contribute anything to the team. He's struggled immensely since an All-Star season 3 years ago, both on and off the field.

On the other hand, Eduardo Nunez is pretty decent overall, and Cole Hamels is a player that I collect. I've also grown more fond of this year's Flagship design as the year has progressed, and I'm ecstatic, truth be told, for Topps Chrome.

Topps produced a lot more Series 1 and 2 in 2019 than they have in year's past, meaning that even if you pay the same amount of money for cards, you'll end up with fewer inserts/parallels and a lot more base cards. 

Nevertheless, that didn't stop Topps from including some sort of retail exclusive insert in each of the 2 rack packs that I purchased. These Franchise Feats cards appear to highlight the history of each MLB team along with a picture of the face of their franchise. 

While including Roberto Alomar and Rickey Henderson on these cards is somewhat unnecessary, the concept is fairly unique, and I love the logos that Topps selected, especially for the Oakland A's.

Another reason why Topps was able to produce so much Series 1 & 2 this year is the inclusion of these bland 150th-anniversary parallels. The only thing that distinguishes these from a base card is the gold foil logo in the bottom lefthand corner. Other than that minor detail, everything else is the same.

After buying 2 rack packs, this 150th-Anniversary "parallel" was the only parallel card that I pulled; no gold, no rainbow foil, nothing else but this. As much as I enjoy collecting (and feel bad for) Starlin Castro, I wish that Topps would've either left these out entirely or partnered them with some sort of border color. 

Like the 150th-anniversary cards, I ended up with 1 of the 1984 Topps design inserts in my 2 rack packs, and I'd say I did pretty well with the player that I pulled. While the first series featured Baseball's rookies and veterans in the base design, Series 2 showcases the superstars of today's game in the '84 Tops All-Star design.

Seeing this card makes me long for the All-Star card designs of the 70s and 80s. Even though Topps features Future Stars on some players sophomore year cards today, I still wish that they'd revert back to stellar All-Star cards like the ones in the 1984 design.

Still, even with the Yelich insert pull and the Kikuchi and Jimenez rookies, I'm not all that impressed with 2019 Topps Series 2. Let me put this into perspective; 2019 Topps is an extremely base card heavy set. I pulled 2 parallels/inserts (Castro and Henderson) of players that I collect. 

Besides those 2 cards, I landed just 2 other cards for my PCs; the Cole Hamels card from earlier in the post and the Rickey Henderson card above. I only pulled around 5 non-base cards, meaning that around 67 of the cards from these 2 rack packs were strictly base.

I collect exactly 250 players, so to only land 2 base cards of guys that I collect and 4 total means that this checklist isn't very strong. 

Unless anything changes, remind me to skip Topps Series 2 next year. I'll be perfectly happy with Series 1 and Chrome instead.

Frankenset Page #51

Continuing on with the pages from my 666-card frankenset, today I will be showcasing the 51st page from the set. I'll be picking up where the 50th page left off, meaning that I'll commence with card #451 and continue through #459. At this point, I'm almost 70% of the way through my custom made set. 

#451 2005 Topps Jorge Posada

I wonder why I chose this particular card for spot #451. For starters, I don't like the 2005 Topps Flagship set; there's too much foil and I'm not a fan of sideways text. The player featured on this card, Jorge Posada, always seemed to get clutch hits when the Yankees played the Red Sox. It didn't matter the conditions or the pitcher, Posada dominated against Boston.

I suppose that I selected this card because of the action image that Topps chose to include. After all, I've always liked cards that feature in-action photos of catchers making key plays.

#452 1984 Topps Chuck Porter

A few years back, I found and opened a sealed box of 1984 Topps at the Baseball card show for relatively cheap money. I never ended up trying to complete the 792-card set, so I have a slew of miscellaneous base cards from this stellar Flagship set.

Although some of them ended up in player or team collections, many of these cards didn't have a particular place to go. This is the reason why I have a ton of '84 Topps base cards, including Chuck Porter, in my frankenset.

#453 2003 Fleer Tradition Brian Tallet

Although I don't remember the exact set, I'm aware that the 2003 Fleer Tradition product is based on a previous Fleer release from the 1960s. That set eventually inspired the design for '03 Tradition, one of Fleer's more successful products that lasted for a number of years. 

Even after they went bankrupt and stopped producing cards, Upper Deck continued the Fleer Tradition name for many years. Out of all the designs, the 2000 and 2001 sets are my personal favorites.

#454 2011 Topps Alberto Callaspo

2011 Topps, as far as modern sets are concerned, is one of the best Topps Flagship sets out there. The design isn't overly complicated, and I'm grateful for the days when Topps used borders in their base sets.

The high point of the product is the photos, ranging from action shots to hitters in mid-swing at the plate. Although Joe Mauer's card will go down as my favorite, Alberto Callaspo's isn't too shabby either.

#455 1989 Topps Johnny Ray

The further I get into my frankenset, the more Topps Flagship cards I come across due to how limited the choices can get once I reach the 400s and above. Towards the beginning of the frankenset, I could feature all sorts of inserts and oddball releases whereas, now, my choices are rather limited, forcing me to choose cards from sets like 1989 Topps to fill the pages.

#456 2003 Topps Robin Ventura

From 2000-2003, each Topps Flagship set featured a very distinct border color, either grey, teal, bronze, or dark blue. Personally, I find the dark blue the least successful of the 4 Flagship sets due to how simple and boring the color can get.

While any shade will become repetitive across a 600+ card set, dark blue is such a standard color. Other options like crimson or dark green would be a little more stimulating across an entire Flagship set. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind 2003 Topps. It's just not my favorite Flagship set out there.

#457 1992 The Sporting News Conlon Collection Ted Blankenship

I can never seem to get enough of the Sporting News Conlon Collection set, arguably one of the most intriguing concepts of any Baseball card product ever released. The photographs are stunning, yet they don't become repetitive or boring despite how similar they can be.

Additionally, one can learn quite a lot about Baseball history by reading the card backs from this set. I never knew who Ted Blankenship was before I came across this set, but, thanks to The Sporting News, I do now.

#458 1984 Topps Kiko Garcia

Here we have another card from the 1984 Topps set with an additional powder blue uniform. Clearly, these jerseys were quite prominent throughout the 1980s, for a plethora of teams wore these uniforms on a day-to-day basis.

I often go back and forth between 1983 and 1984 Topps as to which design I prefer as they are fairly similar. Currently, after seeing how well Topps recreated the cards in the 2019 Series 1 set, I'm leaning towards 1984.

#459 1980 Topps Mickey Lolich

We end page #51 with the 7th and final Topps Flagship card of this page, this time from the 1980 set. The card of choice is Mickey Lolich's base card on the San Diego Padres, one of my favorite cards of this underrated pitcher who also spent time with the Detroit Tigers. 

The gold uniforms are pretty bold, but I'm a huge fan of almost all retro jerseys, though I wouldn't mind seeing the brown Padres uniform of the 1980s as well.

Let the Festivities Begin

Well, it's finally here. After months of anticipating the release of 2019 Topps Series 1, I finally made my first purchase of 2019 Baseball cards in the form of a standard hobby box earlier today at my LCS. 

Included with the box was a silver pack, the promotion that Topps has been rolling out for the last few years with the purchase of a Series 1, 2, or Update hobby or jumbo box. 

Since Series 1 jumbo has been a letdown so far in terms of what its produced and the pack odds, I went for a regular hobby box instead, where I'm guaranteed 1 autograph or relic. Plus, I still receive 1 of the silver pack cards with my purchase compared to 2 for a jumbo box.

Truth be told, I haven't even busted the seal on my hobby box yet so today's post will be solely for the silver pack cards. I'll probably take this weekend to open, recap, and sort the cards I pull in a couple blog posts before getting settled for the Super Bowl this Sunday.

Since this is the first time I've ever opened a hobby box of Topps Flagship, the silver pack I received is also the first of the hobby-exclusive packs that I've ever opened. However, I've watched enough YouTube videos to know what to expect. I'll be getting 4 cards with chances of a colored parallel or even an autograph with the 4th card in the pack.

This year, Topps is paying tribute to the 1984 Topps design, so in addition to the '84 insert set, the silver pack cards are also in the 1984 design, though they feature a particular chrome refractor that I believe is called a mojo refractor, but don't hold me to it.

Without further adieu, let's see what I get out of my first ever 4-card silver pack.

#T84-30 Darryl Strawberry

Just because I've never opened a silver pack before doesn't mean that I haven't found past promotional cards in the dime or quarter bins. With that being said, it's a completely different story to actually pull these cards from packs. 

Not to mention, the cards actually scan surprisingly well, and they look awesome in-person. Darryl Strawberry isn't a guy I collect, but that doesn't make this picture or the refractor any less stunning.

#T84-14 Bo Jackson

Nice! 2 cards in and we have a player I collect, featuring an exceptional photo as well. Bo Jackson is often represented in these type of products like Archives and other throwback sets, but it's weird to see him in the 1984 Topps product considering that his first Topps card was technically in 1986. 

The powder blue uniform looks absolutely awesome and is undoubtedly the proper choice for this card. Moreover, the pink background behind the headshot of Bo is another specific detail that I'm quite fond of.

#T84-7 Corey Kluber

All the card backs say the same thing, a quick blurb about the '84 set and how 2019 is the 35th anniversary of the product, so I opted not to include photos of the card backs in favor of the awesome refractor photos on the front. Kluber is another guy who I collect, so I'm 2-3 as far as that goes. His card, like the first 2, is truly well-done, and you can tell that Topps put in an exceptional amount of effort to perfect these promotional cards.

#T84-50 Cal Ripken Jr.

While I was unable to land any serial numbered refractors or autographs, I landed cards of 3 players I collect from my first ever silver pack opening, so I'm incredibly pleased about that. For one reason or another, the Cal Ripken Jr. card might be my favorite despite the awesome uniform that Bo Jackson is wearing on his card. Something about Ripken and 1984 Topps causes the 2 to work so well together, and the result is an awesome way to end the pack.

I realize that today's post was short, but I only recently got the box in-hand and I really want to take my time with both the box break and the post I write on it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to open my first ever box of cards from 2019. Wish me luck.