An Expected Package of Unexpected Cards

Roughly 2 weeks ago, Kerry from Cards on Cards and the recipient of my Secret Santa package from the end of last year, reached out to me, saying that he'd put together a collection of cards that he wanted to send my way.

Immediately, I was impressed by his generosity in that he wanted to send something my way completely out of the blue, and he didn't ask for anything in return. However, I was even more impressed when the package arrived in the mail.

My posting schedule has been inconsistent for the last month or so, and while I've wanted to write this post for several days as a way to show my appreciation, I simply haven't gotten around to it, and I apologize for that.

As for the actual contents of the package, there is a broad coalition of all sorts of cards. A large number of them feature Red Sox players, but there are also a fair number of set needs from my want list mixed in as well.

For example, a few needs from my 2018 Topps Archives set, including an SP of Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen in the 1959 Topps combo card design.

Coincidentally, one card from each of the 3 designs replicated ('59, '77, and '81) was featured in addition to the combo card which has to be my favorite of the group.

But as I mentioned earlier, Red Sox cards constituted most of the contents of the bubble mailer, and a significant portion of those cards featured players that I collect.

I was familiar with most of the products, but the card in the upper-righthand corner continues to leave me slightly mystified. At first, I thought it was a sticker, but I soon found that the cardstock is too thick.

Plus, J.D. Martinez is shown on the back, so it must be some sort of 2-player insert, though I don't know what set it's from.

I wouldn't be able to highlight every Red Sox card that Kerry sent me as it would take far too much time, but I can point out a couple of highlights that really stood out to me. Surprisingly, many of those cards are from Panini products.

2 of the cards above, the Babe Ruth insert and the Ortiz in the bottom-lefthand corner, are from a couple of sets (Diamond Kings and Leather & Lumber), that I've never purchased in my life.

To me, something like this is one of the primary benefits of having a card blog. You can connect with so many different collectors and come across cards that, otherwise, wouldn't end up in your collection.

Lastly, when 2019 Topps Chrome Update was released toward the end of last year, I raved about the 150th-anniversary cards and how Topps chose excellent images for the chrome cardstock. Little did I know there were 2 Red Sox players whose cards I'd yet to come across.

Williams and Yaz, along with David Ortiz, constitute the Boston players featured in this checklist, and they seem like the 3 most qualified guys to be included if you ask me.

The pictures, particularly Yastrzemski's, work unusually well with the chrome cardstock, something you wouldn't necessarily think would happen.

This package was certainly an unexpected act of generosity. Thanks so much for putting this together, Kerry. I'm going to try to send something your way in the next week or so.

Best Insert of the Year?

A set that I usually skip out on upon its release each year, Topps Chrome Update takes most of the rookie and All-Star game cards from the base Update set and prints them on gorgeous chrome card stock. Then, they add a couple of insert sets, refractors, and autographs to the mix, releasing the product as a retail-exclusive.

The promise of adding chrome rookie cards from this year's class to my collection intrigued me to test the waters with this release, but the 150 Years of Baseball inserts captivated my attention, even more as quite possibly my favorite part of this set.

Though they weren't the only inserts to be featured in Chrome Update, both the checklist and photography behind this simple set give it a ton of appeal. In Series 1, 2, and Update, I didn't think much of these inserts other than the fact that they'd be great additions to my player collections.

The chrome design, however, elevates these cards to the point where they rank as some of my favorite cards of 2019. The refractor finish on these beautiful cards looks terrific, even more so in-hand rather than in a scanned image.

Just like the standard inserts, the chrome cards pay homage to the greatest players, moments, and seasons in Baseball history with a checklist of ~25 cards. The insert sets from Series 1, 2, and Update, on the other hand, featured much larger checklist sizes, some as high as 150 cards.

The Chrome Update set, however, consists primarily of retired players so that the most noteworthy aspects of Baseball history are showcased. Whereas Update featured players like Alex Bregman and Dwight Gooden, Chrome Update sticks to HOF legends like Cal Ripken Jr and Rickey Henderson.

Another benefit of having the checklist be mostly retired players is that I can add these gorgeous cards to my player collections, though I might want to build the insert set and keep them all together instead.

From gold tier PCs like George Brett to recently-created ones like Tony Gwynn, the set features a wide range of Baseball's brightest stars. I have not, however, found a checklist for 2019 Topps Chrome Update, so I have no clue who's in this set aside from the handful of players whose cards I pulled.

The beauty of this set, moreover, is that the images could be from present-day, the early decades of the 20th century, or any year in-between. Simply put, Topps did an excellent job with this entire set, so much so that I was able to justify the $20 per mega box of 28 cards.

Hank Aaron's card, for instance, looks like something you'd see out of Stadium Club. The background, on the other hand, features a player wearing the #4, though I can't tell if there's another number after it that the photo cropped out.

Assuming that the player does wear #4, it's probably Danny O'Connell or Red Schoendienst, for they were the only Milwaukee Braves players to wear #4 during Aaron's career before the team relocated to Atlanta in 1966.

One of the first 150 Years chrome inserts that I pulled was Mike Trout, presumably the only active player on the checklist. For a while, it was his card that captivated me more so than any of the others. 

There's just something so special about how this refractor looks in person and how the rainbow shines and pairs with his red home uniform. 

At this point, given his accomplishments and stat line, it's far from a hot take to declare Trout one of the game's greatest players, though he has more work to do if he wants to keep climbing the list.

As much as I absolutely love the Mike Trout card, Babe Ruth's greatest moments insert may go down as my favorite card of 2019. The black and white photo, in person, with the chrome refractor finish, is truly indescribable. I almost have to take a picture of the card to showcase just how beautiful it is.

I'm not sure whether Topps has used this photo of Ruth in the past, but even if they have, they did an excellent job of repurposing the image for this card. 

Upon pulling this card out of one of the packs, I concluded that the 150 Years of Baseball insert from 2019 Topps Chrome Update can sufficiently rank as one of the greatest insert sets of the year.

The Ruth insert, moreover, might just be my pick for the card of the year.