it's time for the 2014 topps dodgers/2014 topps dodgers factory team set card by card comparison

i finished last year's post comparing the topps flagship cards to their team factory set counterparts (a year ago to the day) by asking 'what is the point' of these factory team sets?  here's hoping that there is more variation to the 2014 version.  it's topps flagship on the left, team factory set on the right.

adrian gonzalez

no difference other than the factory set is more like opening day - no foil for the names or the topps logo.

matt kemp

topps moved the logo on the factory set, for literally no good reason.

clayton kershaw

same

brian wilson

i fear that we have seen the biggest difference that this set has to offer.  the factory set features a much, much better version of wilson's card - the portrait orientation works a lot better.

kenley jansen

landscape works well for this card, so no need to make a change.  and, topps did not.

hanley ramirez

the pose is reminiscent of matt kemp's on his card, except here, topps left the logo in the busy spot.  it would have made sense to move it on this card.

yasiel puig

it's the same.

aj ellis

ditto.

zack greinke

again, no difference.

carl crawford

seriously

josh beckett

what

chad billingsley

is

andre ethier

the

juan uribe

point?

hyun-jin ryu

...

dan haren

logo displacement is no cause for me to continue to buy these sets.

dodger stadium

there's the last card of the set - the only one without a companion in the flagship.

it's nice, but it's pretty much the same view we had in last year's set.  topps had done a good job in 2008 and again from 2011-2013 offering a variety of views of the stadium.  maybe it's time for topps to add a manager card to the set (we still haven't seen donnie baseball in a flagship design yet), or give us a prospect (joc pederson?), or even, god forbid, put vin scully on a card.  come to think of it, that's probably what they will have to do to make me a buyer in 2015.

nothing rhymes with purple

no, nothing rhymes with purple, but jose hernandez is pretty happy that i found a 2014 topps heritage blaster that came with a purple refractor parallel in each pack.

i know a few of you have also found one of these, but this is the first time i have been so fortunate.  this was the second (and final) blaster i purchased of heritage this year, and as bad as the first one was, i think i deserved all of this purple.

one pack included two of the parallels - this david ortiz card

and the fat panda, pablo sandoval

will the dodgers trade in one large third baseman for another when this season is done?  stay tuned.

more purple - nelson cruz

cliff lee

patrick corbin

carlos beltran

edwin encarnacion

and jose bautista

the blaster also yielded a joey bats jersey card

don't worry - there were some normal cards in the blaster, too.  like this lance berkman final tribute

yes, these are berkman's complete career stats on the back.

i was a fan of berkman's in the early 2000's - who wouldn't have been - but i was secretly glad that he saved some of his poorest regular season play for his short stint with the yankees.

i was a juan marichal magnet, although both cards i pulled feature him as a giant, and not as a dodger.  here's a baseball flashback

and a then and now insert, featuring max scherzer

more giants - a high numbered hunter pence

and another high number, derek jeter

there was a third high number in the blaster - wil myers

who was also the subject of the blaster's target red parallel

as for dodgers, there were only three - aj ellis

dan haren

and matt kemp

so i had to grab this sandy koufax/clayton kershaw then and now insert from another source

speaking of other sources, the non-dodger cards in this post are available - preferably for some dodger blue purple, if you know what i mean.

2014 topps gypsy queen is on the shelves!

at least at one of my local targets.  i picked up a blaster and a 3-pack earlier today.  here are some of the cards that i found inside.

dodgers - duke snider

the duke card is even grainier than the others in the set.

yasiel puig

and dan haren

topps gave haren manny mota's number.  the dodgers should retire 11 in mota's honor in my opinion, but they already gave it to one of their recent international signees, erisbel arruebarrena, at least for the media events following the signing.

there are plenty of retired guys like the duke in the set this year.  for example, jim bunning

steve carlton

larry doby

rickey henderson

pedro martinez

greg maddux

who is wearing a memorial patch for eddie mathews, so cue the eddie mathews card

and here's another brave - phil niekro

here are some active folks, some in new uniforms, like prince fielder

buster posey is still a giant, though

and, for some reason, here's christian yelich

and, there are plenty of inserts, like these n174 type cards - wade boggs

 bryce harper

and rickey henderson

here are a couple of debut all-stars inserts - miguel cabrera

 and evan longoria

plus a couple of glove stories - mike trout

and carlos gomez

dealing aces are back - here's cc sabathia as proof

you know there are minis, too - josh hamilton

marco estrada

 willie mays

pablo sandoval

a black bordered (/199) alfonso soriano

and, the hit of the blaster i guess, a sepia bordered chase headley (/99)

i have no idea if i pulled any short prints or variations because there is no checklist information available anywhere that i could find.

here are two of the three framed white border parallels that i got in the rack pack (jose reyes was the other) - prince fielder

and robinson cano

i like this year's design better than the previous issues - it seems simpler.  but, i'm not collecting the set or anything like that.

what do you guys think?