First Taste of 2010 Topps

Much like last year, someone brought me in a few Target packs of Flagship Topps the week before my Jumbo boxes were set to come in. Last year, it was P.A. bringing the cards in; this year, that honor went to Pete. I opened 8 Target retail packs and, so far, was pretty pleased with what I saw...

First off, the design is pretty cool. I really liked last year's design, and this year is right up there for me. I'm one of those people who kind of get tired of the white bordered cards, and it is always nice when they throw in a change-up, but the last 2 years have been really nice. I like the above card for one reason only. It shows one of my best friends favorite players (Russell Martin) without it being Martin's actual card. I always thought it was fun identifying the unnamed players on other cards, and this one was no exception.

Hooray. Topps. Town. Has. Returned. I. Can't. Contain. My. Excitement. I like that they have players on these, otherwise, I'd throw them in the trash...

I got a good many of the Red Back inserts. I was going to scan the Mantle I got, but I figured all 5 billion Yankee fans on the blogs would do that, so I scanned ole double X. Jimmie Foxx. Man, he was awesome. That'd be a sweet cut auto to get sometime... hats another blog for another day, lol.

Which brings me to 'The Cards Your Mom Threw Out...'

I pulled two of them, the 1977 Topps Reggie reprint:

Here is the reverse of the card: And here is the 1976 Mike Schmidt. Now, I had no idea, but apparently the ones with the actual card backs on them are short printed or something, and since this was the first of these I pulled, I had no idea until Pete caught a glimpse of the back.

See, I wasn't lying, stats on the back. Cool, huh? Anyone else know about this variation??
Now, I thought this next one was pretty cool, I am reading the book (off and on) called After Many a Summer, which talks about the move of the Dodgers and Giants from New York to California. Yes, I got the book to familiarize myself with my best bud's favorite team, but it really is a good read, and I always like to read about the history of the game.

So, I opened 8 packs of 2010 Topps and got only one Oriole. Freaking Ty Wigginton. Really? I mean, hes an ok player, but why couldn't I have pulled Roberts (who I think wont be in until series II), STICK, Reimold, Wieters, etc etc.

I really like the next Tales of The Game card of the Wizard doing one of his trademark flips. Really nice ptoto!

Speaking of nice photos, I like this POV show of Jose Valverde. I'm so glad Topps has taken initiative lately to have some great shots for their cards. I think the hobby got away from that for a while, its nice to see some of what has come out between last year and this upcoming year.

Prince Fielder must have thought Ryan Braun was Guillermo Mota for a minute...

Ahh, pulled a Lincecum. Can't go wrong there. Nice card of him.

So, after all this, man I can't wait until I get the call from Blake saying 'Your box is here!' I ordered a case + 1 box so I will get 3 boxes, Pete gets 2 and Max gets 2. It sucks Max probably won't be there for our box busting party, but when he gets here to open his, it will be just as nice. I'm just glad that after everything, he still enjoys doing this kind of thing with me!

I also really want to thank Pete for bringing the packs in last night. I hate that P.A. was watching George Strait and couldn't make it, but he hopefully will be there when we bust the case... I really can't wait, I hope I get some sweet pulls and have stuff to blog for a while haha.