Topps' flagship baseball set is like a comfortable old friend.
What collectors will find in Series 2 mirrors what Topps has done for years. There are team cards, Future Stars and rookie cards to complement the base set, which picks up where Series 1 left off with card Nos. 331 to 660. That includes 56 rookie cards.
But even comfortable old friends can make you see double.
The blaster box I bought had 99 cards — that breaks down to 14 packs of seven cards apiece, plus a manufactured commemorative card.
Here is where I did a double-take.
I pulled 84 base cards from the set, which included 11 rookie cards. Of that stack, there were 12 base set doubles and two duplicate rookie cards. With prices going up for products—I think this year’s blasters for Topps are about $5 more than last year at my store — it is frustrating to receive nearly a pack of doubles.
So, just 72 base cards this time.
What collectors will find in Series 2 mirrors what Topps has done for years. There are team cards, Future Stars and rookie cards to complement the base set, which picks up where Series 1 left off with card Nos. 331 to 660. That includes 56 rookie cards.
But even comfortable old friends can make you see double.
The blaster box I bought had 99 cards — that breaks down to 14 packs of seven cards apiece, plus a manufactured commemorative card.
Here is where I did a double-take.
I pulled 84 base cards from the set, which included 11 rookie cards. Of that stack, there were 12 base set doubles and two duplicate rookie cards. With prices going up for products—I think this year’s blasters for Topps are about $5 more than last year at my store — it is frustrating to receive nearly a pack of doubles.
So, just 72 base cards this time.
Chalk that up as an error. And no, they are not variation cards. I even checked the codes at the bottom of the cards to be sure.
There was even a duplicate insert card, but I’ll address that later.
The design for Topps Series 2 is similar to the first series. Much of the set has a vertical design, which I like, although there are plenty of base cards with a horizontal look. The player is featured in an action pose, with a nameplate underneath the photo that fades from gray to black and then back to gray.
The Topps logo is stamped in silver foil in the upper left-hand corner of the card front, and the team name is placed at the lower-left of the card inside a baseball design.
The card backs are horizontal, with the team logo anchoring the upper left-hand side while the card number anchors the top right.
Vital statistics are placed between the player’s name, which dominates the top middle of the card. Where there is room, a brief biography is presented above the player’s statistics.
The crisp design and clean layout are plusses.
There was even a duplicate insert card, but I’ll address that later.
The design for Topps Series 2 is similar to the first series. Much of the set has a vertical design, which I like, although there are plenty of base cards with a horizontal look. The player is featured in an action pose, with a nameplate underneath the photo that fades from gray to black and then back to gray.
The Topps logo is stamped in silver foil in the upper left-hand corner of the card front, and the team name is placed at the lower-left of the card inside a baseball design.
The card backs are horizontal, with the team logo anchoring the upper left-hand side while the card number anchors the top right.
Vital statistics are placed between the player’s name, which dominates the top middle of the card. Where there is room, a brief biography is presented above the player’s statistics.
The crisp design and clean layout are plusses.
I found several parallels in the blaster box. There was a pair of Rainbow Foil parallels of Kevin Gausman and DJ Stewart, and a Royal Blue parallel of Chris Bassitt. The Royals fall once every 10 packs.
I also pulled a Gold parallel of Yonathan Daza, numbered to 2022; and a Green Foilboard card of Seth Beer, numbered to 499.
The commemorative was a batting helmet card of Jose Abreu. This was produced on very thick card that was packed into the second pack I opened. The Sox helmet is very cool, by the way.
As for inserts, each pack contains a Stars of MLB card. I hit the average, but there was also a duplicate card of Giancarlo Stanton.
I also pulled a Gold parallel of Yonathan Daza, numbered to 2022; and a Green Foilboard card of Seth Beer, numbered to 499.
The commemorative was a batting helmet card of Jose Abreu. This was produced on very thick card that was packed into the second pack I opened. The Sox helmet is very cool, by the way.
As for inserts, each pack contains a Stars of MLB card. I hit the average, but there was also a duplicate card of Giancarlo Stanton.
The other inserts in the box included a Sweet Shades card of Juan Soto, and a Generation Now card of Brian Reynolds. Sweet Shades, as one might expect, features a star player wearing sunglasses. It’s a 20-card subset.
Generation Now is a more modern version of the insert from the 2007 Topps set. The 2022 version is much nicer and has a shinier look.
So Topps Series 2 brings some continuity for collectors who enjoy building sets. The duplicates are annoying, but how long can you stay angry at a comfortable old friend?
Generation Now is a more modern version of the insert from the 2007 Topps set. The 2022 version is much nicer and has a shinier look.
So Topps Series 2 brings some continuity for collectors who enjoy building sets. The duplicates are annoying, but how long can you stay angry at a comfortable old friend?
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