2012 Topps Archives First Look

My first impressions on Topps Archives is a thumbs up.  The price tag on this rack for a single 14 card retail rack pack was $5.34 at my local big box store. 
Highlights

 2012 Topps Archives #88 Mike Schmidt

2012 Topps Archives #108 Cliff Lee
2012 Topps Archives #188 Vance Worley

2012 Topps Archives Sticker #67S-I Ichiro
2012 Topps Archives #138 Joe DiMaggio
2012 Topps Archives #32 Adam Jones

That's right the 14 card pack included 3 Phillies!!! which is probably a record for a small pack for myself.

I like this set better then what Topps did with Lineage last year.  The base cards in Lineage was just to drab for me.   It doesn't hurt that the four years that were chosen for Topps Archives 1954, 1971, 1980 and 1984 are among the better designs in the Topps arsenal.  

My 2 initial complaints are 1) The cards are on the newer posterboard rather then the classic cardboard upon which the original sets were produced. 2) The 5.30/pack retail price comes out to over 40 cents/card - kind of heavy for retail.

Regardless, my first impression is a good one.  I haven't looked at the cards much in detail, but I am thinking that a Hobby Box may be in my future. The 200 card set size appeals to me, there appears to be a fun array of inserts - although they may be a bit confusing.

There is one other thing I like about Archives - judging from my limited 13 card sample, I like the photography - the shots are cropped as tightly to the subjects.  I am a fan of trying to figure out what game in which the photos were taken.  The last few years Topps has delivered some great digital close ups, but they are often too close for my liking.

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Junk - First Quarter

I am going to start with Junk first - The Junk pulls are so much more fun.  Here are the nominees for Junk of the Year from the First Quarter.


January

2009 Topps T206 #26 Chein-Ming Wang
Topps gets the nod here for including Wang in a year end set despite that fact that he barely played (and poorly at that) for a World Championship Team.
 

February

Chunky guys from 2010 UD 
Pablo Sandoval
Marlon Byrd
Carlos Lee

I didn't like this set at all.  It was just drab.    


March


 
 2010 Topps Opening Day #M15 Mr Met

Any Mr Met card is sure to get a Junk o the Month nomination from Team Phungo 

Ok Your Turn Phungo Readers:

What is Junk of the Month for the first Quarter of 2010:
1 - Chien Ming Wang
2 - Pablo Sandoval
3 - Marlon Byrd
4 - Carlos Lee
5 - Mr Met


Please vote in the Comments.

February 2010 Pull of the Month and Million Card Give Away Dilemma

The dilemma is what should I do with my pull of the month?


It is one of the best cards I could of asked for - It is a Philllies Card. It is aVintage Card. and it is on Phils 1963 Topps Want List - Check, Check, Check.

Unfortunately somebody posted that the shipping is $2.92 per card + 53 cents for each additional card.

As much as I love this card - $3 to Topps is over the limit for me. Mauch is considered a great tactical manager, but he never reached the World Series - He was the Phils skipper who helmed the team during their historic 1964 collapse.

And his cards are basically commons. A quick study found that a 63 Topps Mauch card did recently sell for over $6 shipped on ebay - it was in EX-MT condition though. There were also over 50 commons that sold for under $2 shipped. I consider Mauch a common and can't see the 3 bucks.

For those of you that keep track of such things - my pull of the month came from a Mantle Card:


Meh of the Month


I could of just randomly selected almost any card that I got in my two rack packs of 2010 UD. And honestly the lamest card was probably the one of Target Field featured in my previous post - although I have started to see some better looking stadium cards from this set recently.

Instead I decided on this triumvirate of rather unflattering photos. I know Carlos Lee is a big man, and ditto for Kung Fu Panda - never thought of Marlon Byrd that way. But I think all three of these photos make these guys look a little chunky.

For a look back at January's Phungo Pull of the Month click here.