2012 Topps - First Look

I'm sure I a little late to this party but I suppose that my opinion counts as much as anybody else's here in cyberspace.

First off, I like the design. I'm not in love with it but I like it. I think the surfboard thingy is a bit too large but it's OK. I like it better on the back of the card. No photo on the back this year but the little fingernail sized photo they put on the back last year was a waste of space.  My major beef with the design:

1. As I said the surfboard (is anyone other than the Night Owl calling it that?) is a little too large.
2. I continue to dislike silver foil on a black background, mainly because it doesn't scan well. Topps probably doesn't care about that
3. The team name on the back is almost impossible to read. Maybe it's my 60 year old eyeballs but small gold colored letters on colored backgrounds are difficult to read.

My bigger beef with Topps is with the mix of cards I got. I bought a rack pack, a hanger box and a blaster. This came to 152 base cards. How many players did I pull who are considered stars? Exactly three, Derek Jeter (2 copies of the same card), Roy Halladay (the only Phillie I pulled) and Mickey Mantle (2 of those as well). Did they save all the big names for Series 2?

At least, the photography is generally good. Here are some of my favorite cards from what I got. I'll make a post on the inserts later in the week.

The Mick

Jamile Weeks being chased by a guy in a creepy mask. Run Jamile!

A good action shot of Jeter.

Alcides looks like he's about to slide into a open manhole. Sometimes a design element gets in the way.

Pablo, the Flyin' Venezuelan.

Sorry, Jordan, there's no crying in baseball.

From Brent's Wikipedia entry "Lillibridge garnered notoriety and a significant amount of media coverage after he made two back-to-back, game-saving and game-ending defensive catches while playing right field on April 26, 2011. The catches comprised the two final outs of a game played against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium and resulted in the Chicago White Sox getting the victory". I suppose this is one of those catches.

"Mr. Umpire, can we discuss that last call?"

I did get three Astros. And since you can't read the last name and even I don't know who this guy is, his name is Jason Bourgeois.