Featured Breaks

2007 Topps [x3 @$1.99 each] retail

I've been looking forward to breaking some 2007 Topps - I thought I was just being a baseball card nerd but through the week the product has blown up because of a Derek Jeter card that was photoshopped with images of Mickey Mantle and George W. Bush. I was just planning to pick it up because it is 'new.'

I guess it is how it goes and I see how it works - where someone like me is looking to see what the newest cards of a flagship product look like, but now the interest is heightened just a bit more, because there is some gimmick to be supposedly had. So if I can't quite avoid picking up some packs here and there, if for a number of reasons, base brand Topps just doesn't [usually matter].

I finally got three 12-card packs at Target [$1.99 each] from a fresh, sealed box - I was hoping [now] to get one of those Jeter cards, which may or may not have long-term value, but did not. I pulled a black and white Mickey Mantle insert card #'d MM 57 on the back.

The back bordered base cards look pretty sharp.

Five reasons base brand Topps may still matter:
1.) Old faces, new places - in the last several years perhaps, Topps has really been proficient in airbrushing new uniforms for players who signed or got traded to new teams over the off-season. It is unique, if silly to pull a 2007 Topps Barry Zito in game action, wearing San Francisco Giants threads already. There are less instances, where you are pulling cards of old faces still pictured with their old teams, even though players pictured with Photoshop threads haven't played one regular season game with their new clubs.

2.) Topps is a rite of passage - it is the most accessible brand of baseball cards and you always want to see the latest version of the release, even if you've had enough of it in about two months. It is part of tradition, a product that signals that baseball is back in play.

3.) Comprehensive player checklist - there are likely more opportunities to pull common cards featuring players you can get random autographs from either in-person or through the mail.

4.) Good and plenty - packs typically contain 12 cards per pack.

5.) Cheap - packs are $2 each

Five reasons base brand Topps don't matter:
1.) With many other baseball card products - you know it is just 'base brand' Topps here and you can get it all year long.

2.) It is or will be available everywhere and in nearly every form - blasters, factory sets, Walmart, Target, gas station, special team set blisters, rack packs, plastic wrapped 'window' packs, et al.

3.) Redundant players - you don't need to add one more card of typically mediocre MLB veterans to your commons collection.

4.) Photos are never as sharp - quality of the base cards are fine, but there is are no photos with 'personality.' It is mostly hitters hitting, pitchers pitching, fielders fielding kind of a mentality.

5.) No 'special cards' to chase, especially in retail - most of the cards you'll need will likely be coming out of nickel bins. There are other ways to get the base cards, if it is all that you are looking for.