Topps Ignores All Named HUDSON and Swag from Thorzul Will Rule:

Was in a recent Multi-Sport Group Break run by Thorzul Will Rule.

2012 Topps Chrome #HP94 NL Pitching Leaders

This is a nice one for us Phillies fans as we begin the 2015 season with so much dread. The card serves as a reminder of the good old days way back in 2011 when the Phillies had a rotation so stacked that Cole Hamels was relegated to #3 starter behind Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.

Topps packed this League Leaders card with SIX bobbing heads to match the design of the original 1963 Topps #7 NL Pitching Leaders Card. The trouble is that the NL had a 3 way tie for 6th plays in Wins in 2011. Zack Geinke, Daniel and Tim Hudson all had 16 Wins.

Topps decided to go with six heads rather than stopping at 5. Greinke got the floating head and the Hudson's got snubbed.

An oddity in all this is that the Original 1963 Topps League Leaders cards each had 5 players with the exception of ties: The aforementioned card #7 and Card #4 AL Home Runs leaders.  For Heritage Topps had to decide to either A) Echo the original six heads and snub two players or B) go with the default 5 head design and ignore the oddity of the original set.

I think the wrong decision was made. I would have gone with 5 rather than put myself in the position to pick and choose which player gets on the card.

Another observation is that on the original 1963 LL cards, the player in the center was the overall Leader. On this card Topps either elected to or accidentally place the pitchers in order from top left to bottom right. Ian Kennedy led the league in Ws, while our hero Roy Halladay finished 3rd.

Flip

2012 Topps Chrome #HP94 NL Pitching Leaders (b-side)

There's your proof of the double Hudson Snub. Both players sit there at 16 Wins with Zack Greinke on the back of the card. 


Hoop and HandEgg
This was a four sport break, I had the Vikings and Celtics in the break. I think my Hockey team may have been the Flyers, but it doesn't matter here as like the 2014-15 Flyers we came up emtpy on the ice. 

2002 Donruss Gridiron Kings #GK-8 Daunte Culpepper

I have seen a handful of Vikings games, I am pretty sure Culpepper is the QB I have seen most.

Bigtime violation on Donruss' part here as the Kings part of the Gridiron Kings flair overlays the artists' signature.I did some hunting around to identify the snubbed artist but was unsuccessful.

2008 Topps Baskeball #160 Chrome Kendrick Perkins (#d 61/288)

2008 Topps baseball was a disaster for a variety of reasons. The shame of it is that there is  a distinct design with the carnival letters however  there were at least two big missteps. 1) The photography for the set was abysmal and 2) The Topps logo being placed Top Center made for ridiculous cropping issues.

By the time the Basketball set was issued Topps had corrected the logo issue by moving it to the lower right. Additionally the Hoop Photography is an improvement over baseball.

Fleer Game Time Michael Bennett (#d 712/2001)

I have a minor college cards collection which this Michael Benntte card will fit into nicely. The design on this Fleer card looks like somebody tried to modernize 1956 Topps and failed miserably.

Sources and Links
Trading Card Database

WAR Stories Phillies 2015+ Domonic Brown

Today our Phillies 2015 WAR series takes a look at corner outfielder Domonic Brown.

1963 Topps #32 Domonic Brown

The Phillies demise over the last couple of season has happened for a number of reasons. Diminished production from veterans is the cause most often given, but the inability to develop new talent has also played a role. The flip side of the above Dom Brown card has a cartoon that summarizes the Phillies shortcomings at the lower levels.

1963 Topps #32 Domonic Brown (b-side)

The Phillies 2010 minor league player of the year has generated a 3.0 career WAR in 430 games.

Aside from a great month that made Brown an all-star in 2013 he has been a fairly pedestrian player. His offensive numbers have been mediocre at best, couple that with no other mentionable skill beyond his sporadic hitting and you have the quagmire that is Domonic Brown.

I will put down Brown for 1 good month in 2014 plus some improved defense resulting in a +1.5 WAR.
2012 Topps Heritage
I am a fan of 1963 Topps, it is a set I didn't really see until I returned to collecting as an adult. It is an inspiration for 1983T which is one of my all-time favorite sets.

Once the excitement over 2015 Topps dies down a bit we will start looking 2015 Heritage and it's inspiration 1966 Topps. 

Sources n Links
Phillies 2015 WAR Index
baseball-ref
Cardboard Connection 

Sunday Night Baseball: Victor Martinez 2012 New Age Performers #NAP-VM

This weekend the Detroit Tigers host the San Francisco Giants in an interesting inteleague matchup that features two teams battling for a playoff spot. Tonight the Tigers are attempting to salvage the final game of the three game set to avoid a being swept.

2012 Topps Heritage New Age Performers #NAP-VM Victor Martinez

The last two years Miguel Cabrera has been the AL MVP, but this year the Tigers offensive MVP is Victor Martinez. At age 35 the veteran DH is batting .335 with a league leading .406 OBP. The former catcher has also provided the Tigers with middle of the order power, logging 30 Home Runs for the first time in his career.  It is a longshot, but if Martinez has a big week he could make a run at the triple crown - He is off the pace by 5 points in BA, 7 Homers and 10 RBIs ranking 2nd, 7th and 5th respectively in those three categories.

2012 Topps Heritage New Age Performers
NAP has been a part of Topps Heritage since the set debuted in 2001. The 2012 edition of the insert set consists of 15 cards cataloged by player initials. In additions to Martinez the Tigers are also represented by the aforementioned Miguel Cabrera. The Phillies also have 2 players in the small set, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.



Sunday Night Baseball Looking at the schedule the Tigers open their upcoming home series with the Division Rival Kansas City Royals with the odd Monday Day game. The scheduling snafu is the confluence of events conspiring against the Tigers. They are important enough to get the Sunday Night slot, however their local football sibling Detroit Lions are playing on Monday Night Football. This adds up to the Tigers playing a late Sunday Night game followed by a quick turnaround for a Monday Day game.

Sources & Links
Baseball-ref
MLB
Baseball Cardpedia
2014 Playoff Teams 

Sloppy Topps: 2012 Topps Cole Hamels Retros - seeing double?

One of the problems with producing both Archives and Heritage is that Topps is cannibalizing their designs at such a rate that a new release of any retro product gets a yawn.

To make matters worse, Topps will occasionally mail in their effort. 

2012 Topps Archives #7 Cole Hamels
2012 Topps Heritage #132 Cole Hamels

I didn't build either of the 2012 Topps Selfies sets - yes I said Selfies, lets face it Archives and Heritage are at some small level a by-product of Topps narcissism - regardless, I didn't notice this bit of Topps sloppiness until recently.

Ok the Archives card looks a bit airbrushed, but I am pretty sure we are talking the same picture here.


Yes Neither Archives nor Heritage are high end products, but both sets run at over 30 cents/card retail. With those kinds of numbers, I would like to see at least a little bit of work. 2012 Topps Archives including the 41 card All-Time Fan Favorites short prints runs only 241 cards - how much work is it for Topps to get pix on those 241 cards that are unique?


Sources
Urban Dictionary
Baseball Cardpedia

 

2012 Topps Heritage Retail Blaster Phils Cards

2012 Topps Heritage was available at my local Target in 3 configurations.  Blaster $19.99, Rack $5.29 and single packs at $3.19 I think.

Here are the Phils relate cards from the Blaster I picked up. 

2012 Topps Heritage #136 Jonahtan Papelbon

My first card of the offf-season catch as a Phil. 

2012 Topps Heritage #29 2012 Rookie Stars

This is the 2012 version of the card I referred to yesterday.  I believe this is the regular version (2012) while the 2011 version would be the variation.  Who knows?

2012 Topps Heritage #7 LL Pitching 
2012 Topps Heritage #13 Phillies Team

More floating heads League Leaders and the Team Card - that gives me 2 Phils Base cards out of 71 which is about the right ratio.

By The Numbers
1 Blaster Box
$20.15 (including PA Sales Tax minus 5% Target Discount)

71 cards

65 Short Set

67 Base Cards

4 Phils Related with 2 Phils Base Set Cards

 

1 sticker - M Cabrera 

2 High Numbers - K Seager, CarGo

1 Target Red Parallel - A Avila

1 T&N - M Bourn w/ Aparicio

1 NAP - T Lincecum)

1 NewsFlash - Alcatraz Closes

Etc
Will glance at some of the non-Phils over the next couple of weeks - intersperse those cards with some Opening Day postings. 

At least one 2012 Topps Heritage Variation Has a Precedent

I doubt there will be any discussion, sarcasm, or vitrol regarding the 2012 Topps Heritage Variations...

But at least one of the variations does have precedent:



1963 Topps #29 1962 Rookie Stars
1963 Topps #29 1963 Rookie Stars


For more information regarding these cards click here

For more information on the 2012 Topps Heritage variations/errors/SPs check Cardboard Connection.