My Wife Loves Me!

If you've been an astute reader of my blog, you probably have noticed that I haven't opened a single pack of 2012 products.  I did purchase the 2012 Topps Barry Larkin relic from eBay - and I acquired the other two Larkin inserts via trades - but otherwise I haven't gotten anything from 2012.  For that matter, I haven't gotten anything from earlier years either - other than the various group breaks.

That all changed the other day though.  My wonderful wife went to Wal*Mart for some various supplies we needed (Wal*Mart is always a dreaded trip in our household - I probably offered to paint the deck or something to get out of going).  Anyhow, when she got home she told me she had a surprise.  Silly me, I figured she got me a new package of socks or something.

Nope, she did WAY better than socks.  She presented me with a pair of 2012 Topps Heritage rack packs and one of those Value Boxes with 2012 Heritage and 2012 Topps flagship in it.  You can imagine how stoked I was at this surprise!

Because I have the self-restraint of a kid in a toy aisle, I quickly ripped through all the goodies...ok, I did space it out by forcing myself to grade a full page of Calculus I exams in between opening each pack.  Whatever sort of self-bribing that I had to do, it was worth it.  The exams got graded - and better yet (for me), many glorious baseball packs were opened!

I know all you are probably tired of all things 2012 (except Gypsy Queen which I suspect I'll see a plethora of posts about within the next few hours) - but you know what, deal with it.  It's my blog.  And when your wife gets you cards, you better show 'em off!

Here are some of the highlights.  First, the flagship.

I didn't get a single Red from the flagship packs - but I did pull nine different inserts.  I think part of my disenchantment with the flagship can be directly attributed to the sheer number of inserts (most of which are uninspired and boring).

Here's a scan of all my inserts - let's see which hold up as cards that I could see myself collecting:

First, the 1987 minis.  I guess the minis are ok - but I have two issues.  One, I'm still mad at minis of this size since I can't even seem to track down the 2011 Lineage 1975 minis of just the Reds.  Two, I prefer my minis the size of Ginter minis so that I can hold them in 15-pocket pages.  Minis this size simply don't store well.

Golden Moments (Pedroia), Gold Standard (Molitor), Gold Futures (Trumbo), and Golden Greats (Pujols). Four different insert sets centered on the idea of gold.  Unfortunately, none are particularly compelling.  I think I like the Gold Futures design best...and that's the one that seems to emphasize "gold" the least.  Go figure.

The Timeless Talents cards are a rehash of Diamond Duos and the ilk.  Yuck.  The Gold parallels are nicer than last year's diamond parallels...but again, it's basically more of the same.  I went after the shiny once - I certainly won't be doing it again this year.

Finally, the one set that I actually liked - the Classic Walk-Offs.  I like a little baseball history in my cards - and while I would have preferred not to have three copies of the same image on the front of the card (a bit creepy if you ask me), it's still the best designed card (in both aesthetics and concept) out of the all inserts.

Luckily, for as lackluster as I found the inserts to be - I found the base cards to be great.  Specifically, the photography on the horizontal shots.  Check out these beauties!

Matt LaPorta

The look of happiness and celebration.  I know Topps did a lot with the celebration shots - including short prints in the flagship set.  That's ok by me though since it evokes a sense of pure joy and happiness...something that baseball cards ought to be all about!

Josh Hamilton

You don't always have to have an original idea for a photo in order for the card to rock.  The "ball right before/after hitting the bat" has been done a million times over - but it can still be epic.  The swing, the catcher, the umpire, and even the foul pole all contribute to this piece of cardboard greatness.

Nolan Reimold

Another celebration shot - but the Orioles don't often have a lot to celebrate, at least not since Cal Ripken Jr. retired.   Need more proof of the O's misery?  Maybe you missed this gem:

Source: http://www.holdoutsports.com/2012/04/evidence-that-playing-for-orioles-has.html

Hah!

Jhoulys Chacin

I might not be able to spell his name without directly staring at it (and even then I'd put my odds at 50/50 at best for spelling it correctly), but I do love the card!  Like the Hamilton card, the photo shot isn't original - but it's well executed to the point of almost perfection.  I would have liked it slightly more had Chacin just released the ball so that it would be between him and the batter.  On an unrelated note, I think all ballparks should have trees in the background - makes for fun photos!

And the final base card that caught my eye:

Ben Revere

I don't know if I'll do a card of the year post or not.  I doubt I'll remember this card.  But, if I do happen to a card of the year post and this card is nowhere to be seen, remind me of my stupidity.  What an awesome card!  From the flying Twin to the flying grass, the sunglasses to the ball about to land in the glove, the entire thing is great!

Good stuff Topps...now if only we could get rid of the foil on the player names.

Along with the flagship packs, the value box also included this little beauty.

There are only three different options for players - and while I would have preferred the Griffey Jr, it's hard to complain about any Willie Mays card.

As for the Heritage packs, the two rack packs produced a pair of short prints and a single Red.

The two hobby packs in the value box were much better though in that they produced a Pope...

...and a relic card of James Shields.

I certainly wasn't expecting a hit - so that's a fun bonus!

Many, many thanks to my wife - what can I say, I'm a lucky guy!