I Don't Care That These Are For Kids.......

The 2023 baseball cards feel a little slow. It's the middle of April and all we've got so far is Topps Series  1 and Bowman Heritage from 2 years ago. Maybe some delayed 2022 products too. Where is Topps Heritage and Bowman?  

Anyway, strep has been making its way through my house this week. I have avoided it so far, but I spent my Friday hanging out with my middle schooler who felt miserable. Lots of rest, fluids, and some amoxicillin and we are feeling better today. Still, I needed a little entertainment to keep myself going yesterday, so I picked up a few packs of Topps Big League.  

I don't care that Topps Big League is made for kids, it provided a little bit of entertainment on a long day at home with a sick kid. 

Here's what I pulled out of the packs.  

The base cards are missable, but I picked out my favorite three........  

This Molina card is actually a foil parallel, hard to tell from the scan, but it has a silver finish. I did not pull a Pujols base card, which was a little disappointing, but it's a 300 card set and I opened a Blaster box with roughly 100 cards.  

My two other favorites were former Durham Bull Blake Snell and current Durham Bull Jonathan Aranda.  

I am honestly surprised that Aranda has appeared in both 2023 Topps products. I think he's a Major League player, but he's not high up on the Rays prospect list and he is buried in Triple A at the moment.  

Can I bring up the most annoying base card?  

Topps airbrushed a bunch of the players who were traded or switched teams with free agency this offseason.  Several are really bad, but Andrew McCutchen is easily the worst. It's really obvious that the photo on this card was airbrushed.  

Remember when Andrew McCutchen was on the Pirates for 9 years at the beginning of his career? You're telling me that Topps could not have used one of those photos?  I would rather see a dated photo than one where he in on the Brewers and Topps airbrushed him into a Pirates uniform.  

The insert cards are much more kid-friendly.

We've got graffiti name tag.  

Babe Ruth and graffiti. Peanut butter and jelly.  

I did pull an Albert Pujols card. Nice looking insert.    

Yes, it's a video game reference, which seems kid-friendly, but most current kids also think 8-bit games are really lame. My fifth graders talk about NBA 2K. I talk about NBA 96. They don't care about Reggie Miller or Charles Barkley. Not truly kid-friendly. Really, this card appeals to the average Topps customer. Middle-aged, white guy who collects cards and owned a Nintendo, Sega, or PlayStation at some point between elementary school and college.  

I am more of a 16-bit guy.  

These are "Fun Box" inserts.  

These two cards made me think that this insert set was somehow an ode to ballpark food or Lunchables, Ballpark food is okay, Lunchables are gross. I ended up with a few other Fun Box cards that had different backgrounds without the food.  

These feel like leftover Topps Project 2020 or Project 70 leftover cards. The Alonso card with the cartoon is goofy, but I like the Willie Mays with the swirled colors. Might be amongst my favorite cards out of these Big League packs. I guess someone at Topps was not able to quite pull this insert set together, but something decent came out of the effort.  

There are also City Slickers inserts, which are just advertisements for the Nike City Connect jerseys, which are available now at your team's store or at Nike dot com. There are a lot of base cards with City Connect jerseys as well including several Rockies players, which is why I included C.J. Cron in the scan.  

Although, those Rockies jerseys feel like an advertisement for the Colorado DMV.  

Don't forget to renew your license plates.  

Last two cards are the best two cards.  

I love the mascot cards.  

These are just incredible cards. I don't think I have a Rally Monkey card in my collection and that Fredbird card is one of the better ones out there.  There is no Opening Day set this year, so these are going to have to tide everyone over on mascot cards for the year.  

My Top 50 On Cardboard- #16 Andrew McCutchen

My Top 50 On Cardboard
#16
Andrew McCutchen 

2005 Topps Updates & Highlights Andrew McCutchen

There are probably going to be a few readers who are a little surprised that I would put McCutchen this high on my list, but he is one of the players I am most bullish on for the future and would not be shocked if he's even higher on lists like this after he retires.  There are so many players whom collectors seek out and spend really good money on their cards, but what are they really buying?  Sure, Bryce Harper and others look really good at a young age, but to some degree they are still young and unproven talents.  Bryce Harper cards, other young players too, often have trouble justifying the price of their cards in the long run and collectors lose money.  McCutchen cards are already very well thought of, very much sought after, and McCutchen has already done something on the field.

Hobby Impact-
McCutchen's rookie cards are in the loaded 2005 releases which also feature rookie cards of Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jay Bruce, and a few others.  Clustering multiple important rookie cards into a set always seems to help out, so the company is helping out McCutchen beyond his MVP performance on the field.  McCutchen has autographed rookie cards too.  I would recommend sticking with the 2005 Bowman card though since his Topps Updates autograph is on a sticker.  His Bowman Sterling autograph is also a sticker.  All of his rookie autographs are likely to run you close to $100, so be prepared to part with something to land one.

Outside of his rookie cards, other good McCutchen cards (short-prints, relics, autographs) are going to be competitively priced and can be a challenge to find at times.  There are some really good Pirates fans floating around out there and they love Andrew McCutchen.  I have tried to add some good cards of the Pirates outfielder to my collection over the years and always find that I have to frequently go over budget on dollars or trade bait to land good cards.  One of my favorite McCutchen's....

2010 Topps Triple Threads Andrew McCutchen Jersey/Autograph

McCutchen has a great signature and has remained pretty consistent over the years.  This cost me a little too much probably, but it's a great looking card and I love running across it in my box of autographs.  To give you an idea of the premium that seems to be attached to McCutchen cards I found a pair of Triple Threads autographs from the Pirates star and another comparable player, the Dodgers Matt Kemp.  Here's a look at how similar cards of theirs price out on Ebay.  First McCutchen:

There are cards like this on Ebay that are higher and lower, but this seems to be the average going price for a McCutchen autograph from a great set.  Now, here's the Kemp comparable Kemp autographs:

Pick a different site and a different card, same thing...

Clearly there is already a premium on McCutchen cards.  He's only 27 and plays on a team that is likely contend for the next several years.  There is already a premium on McCutchen cards and it has the potential to grow even more in the near future.

On The Field-
Let's start off with the really simple one first: McCutchen is a really fun player to watch.  He's pretty good at everything.  He plays a good center-field, hits for average, and has some power.

Really, as a player under 30 I am not sure that people really understand how good of a player McCutchen is at this point in his career.  People are aware that he won the MVP last year, but it's not like a came out of nowhere to do it.  So, let's take a deeper look at where McCutchen stands as a 27 year old center fielder.  

JAWS rates him as the 84th best center fielder in MLB history.  That doesn't sound too impressive until you look at the list and realize he's already passed a bunch of good players by who have played a much long time than him.  That list of names includes: Coco Crisp (12 years vs 5 years), Jacoby Ellsbury (7 years vs 5 years), Matt Kemp (8 years vs 5 years), and Josh Hamilton.  

When you flip the discussion over to OPS+ McCutchen does even better in the discussion of great center fielders.  He already ranks inside the top 20 ahead of Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Kirby Puckett.  He's also ahead of future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr and he's actually only one point behind Dodgers legend Duke Snider. 

Clearly McCutchen still needs to continue to put up the numbers he is putting up and do it for the better part of another decade, but he seems to be one of those players who has Hall of Fame potential. 

Favorite Card-

I am not sure what's going on here, but it looks pretty cool....

2012 Topps Andrew McCutchen SP

2013 Topps: A Quick Review

I have started to dip my toe into the pool of 2013 Topps cards and wanted to take a minute to offer my quick two cents on the first new product of the year.  I approve of the 2013 Topps base set.  It also features a few nice inserts and parallels.  There is always room for improvement, but I am actually going to assemble the base set and inserts this year out of enjoyment and not because it's the Topps set and that's what I do.  So, to make this a better and more enjoyable read I am going to pick out three pros for you picking up a few packs or singles out of the 2013 Topps set and one reason to possible set that pack of cards down (probably not).



Pro: The base set cards feature a nice clean design and Topps has switched up some of the parallel cards and they look really nice.  

2013 Topps Daniel Descalso 

I picked this Daniel Descalso card because I could almost picture Ozzie Smith making a move like this to throw out a runner at first base.  Descalso's got the polyester uniform and all.  I think the design is pretty simple this year with the infield design in the bottom left-hand corner and the colored lines extended around the outside of the card.  My favorite since the 2008 Topps with the circles at the top of the cards.

2013 Topps Emerald Tom Layne

Topps also switched up the base card parallels for the 2013 set too.  Topps had been running the usual gold, retail red/blue, black, etc, etc for the better part of a decade.  This year they have added a Desert Camo parallel and an emerald green parallel.  Not sold on the desert camo, but the emerald green cards are really nice.  I am not going to put together a whole set of them, but I will at least do a Cardinals team set.  Maybe a Rays.  

Pro: The 1972 Minis are the best mini set since mini has come back into style.

2013 Topps 1972 Mini Trevor Bauer  

Topps has been into minis the past two years.  I enjoyed the 1987 mini set last year and it brought back some great memories from my childhood.  However, I have always liked the look of the 1972 Topps cards and I was really excited to see that they were been used as the design on the mini set.  Very well done.  

Pro: Topps has become better at using the die cut card.  

2013 Topps Cut To The Chase Andrew McCutchen

I am not bitter about the fact that we are now done to one officially licensed baseball card company, but I do like to reminisce about some of the past set from put out by companies not named Topps.  Pacific used to make a mean die cut card.  Christmas ornaments, crowns.  You name it and Pacific could make a die cut card.  Topps has been much more conservative about die cutting in their cards over the years.  I am not going to post a non-2013 Topps picture, but go search 2009 Ticket To Stardom Die Cut.  Lamest Die Cut ever.  I was actually pretty excited about the Cut To The Chase insert this year and was surprised that they aren't harder to find.  A well done die cut worth owning.  

Con: I have bugged Topps since last October about including Justin Ruggiano in the Topps set this year.  They included Brian Fuentes as a Cardinal, without a 57 jersey airbrushed on, among other players that may not be as worthy as Ruggiano.  

Yes, I collect Justin Ruggiano cards.  First, he's probably the greatest Durham Bull while wearing a Durham Bulls uniform.  He actually owns most of the team's offensive records.  Second, he played well for the Miami Marlins last year and had an OPS of .909 in almost 300 at-bats with 13 home runs.  What's not to love?  

There are several candidates I could throw under the bus for Topps to kick out of the set in favor of a Ruggiano.  I've already pointed out Brian Fuentes, but there are at least a dozen other cards in the set I could live without.  For example:  

  

Just flipping over the back of my Emerald Tom Layne card shows that he went 0-10 last year in the minors, but still got a card in the 2013 Topps set.  Don't even look at the bottom right corner for his WHIP and ERA.  Wow.  Luckily, Topps has placed Justin Ruggiano in the second series of the 2013 Topps set.  

30 Year Top 50: 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights

#8- I am generally not a huge fan of the Chrome lines that Topps rehashes out every year, but I have to tip my cap to them with the 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set.  The set features a brilliant list of rookie cards which have allowed this set to quietly become one of the best sets released during the past decade.

2005 Topps Update & Highlights Ryan Braun

When Topps issues a Chrome version of a set I generally yawn.  The Chrome lines of Topps cards started in 1996 with the release of the 1996 Topps Chrome set.  The Topps Chrome cards looked exactly like the regular 1996 Topps cards except they had the Chrome effect.  To show collectors who do not dabble in the world of modern cards the difference, the card above is the Topps Update & Highlights version of Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun.  This card was later placed in the Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set too which is pictured below.  

2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights Ryan Braun

I am not sure why, but collecting the same cards over again, but with different finishes never excited me.  There is generally a monetary difference between the base set and Chrome sets, but it is usually caused by a few select rookie cards.  I always managed to add the Chrome rookie cards that I wanted for my collection without opening a bunch of packs or sinking money into a box.  Instead, I could always find the cards as singles on the secondary market.  The game changer for the Topps Chrome sets started in the mid 2000's when Topps started placing autographs and a wide variety of parallels into the sets.  The changes caused collectors to flock towards the Chrome products, and in particular, the 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set.

2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights Jered Weaver 

As I mentioned before, the Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set started off with a set of great rookie cards.  The rookie cards included Ryan Braun, Jered Weaver, Ryan Zimmerman, Andrew McCutchen, Matt Kemp, and several others.  The Chrome single cards rookie easily surpassed the Topps Update & Highlights base set singles.  Within the Chrome Update set the different parallels then added even further value to the rookie cards.  

2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights Black Matt Kemp

There were several different variations on the rookie cards.  The most basic parallel card in the Topps Chrome Update set is the refractor card which has been a constant throughout the Chrome sets.  There were also Chrome Black and Red parallels which were limited in production to 250, for the black, and 65, for the red.  These parallels are highly coveted by collectors and they often sell for a premium.  For example, a basic Matt Kemp Topps Chrome Update card can be found for around $10 on Ebay or CheckOutMyCards.  The black parallel of the Kemp card usually reaches prices north of $100.  

2005 Topps Chrome Update Andrew McCutchen Autograph

The 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set also featured autographed rookie cards.  There are roughly 17 autographed rookies in the set and the two best cards belong to Reds outfielder Jay Bruce and Pirates star Andrew McCutchen.  While both are sticker autographs, they are in high demand and often fetch for a nice price on the secondary market.  A raw copy of the Bruce might fetch around $30 while the McCutchen card hovers just south of $100.  

Overall, this is my second favorite 2005 release.  There is one more 2005 set that ranks above this one in my opinion, but the single rookie cards in this set are a can't miss for any baseball card collector.  The fact is, that this set started strongly when it was released, but has continued to gain steam and popularity as the players have reached the majors and have played there for multiple seasons.  While some might look at the value of the cards in this set as excessive and high, the value in the case of the 2005 Topps Chrome Update & Highlights set is well worth with it.  

30 Year Top 50: Topps Triple Threads

#34-This post is going to be slightly different than the other posts that I have made for my Top 50 countdown.  I came up with the idea of doing this countdown leading into my 30th year in baseball card collecting this summer and put thought and consideration into where to rank all the different card sets that I have brought into my life since the summer of 1983.  The Triple Threads brand started in 2006 and is still currently running.  Every summer I eagerly await the release of Triple Threads and cannot wait to pick out a handful of really cool cards to add to my collection.  In many ways, the Triple Threads set is a top 10 on my personal list, but looking at the big picture and taking into account important rookies, design, etc, etc this is where it falls.  Note that I did not attach a year.  I do have a few I like more than others, but not a clear cut favorite.  Let me walk you through why I love this product:

2006 Triple Threads
I was initially really excited about the release of Triple Threads in 2006.  I rushed up to a card shop, which is no longer with us, in Durham to buy a pack.  Quickly spotting the product behind the counter I bought a pack of the high end product and immediately remembered my rule about high end wax.

2006 Topps Triple Threads Dan Johnson Dual Jersey/Autograph

Starring me back in this face was this Dan Johnson card.  Of course, he ended up playing for the Durham Bulls and won the International League MVP, so I would have ended up with the card in my collection anyway.  Right?  Disappointed, I did not open another pack of Triple Threads the rest of the year.  Since that time I have traded for a few.

2007 Triple Threads

My second venture into Triple Threads went much better.  I opened approximately zero packs of product, but worked the secondary market very hard to come up with a few gems for my collection.  My favorite:

My first Triple Threads card with a patch piece was a Shawn Riggans with two jersey pieces, a piece of green patch from the old Devil Rays unis, and an autograph.  I found it cheap in an Ebay auction and picked out the card since Riggans was having a great season for the Durham Bulls.  Riggans struggled in the majors and now out of baseball.  Still a cool card and turned the corner for me on this product. 

2007 Topps Triple Threads Shawn Riggans Dual Jersey/Patch/Autograph

2008 Triple Threads 

We all have misses in life and the 2008 Triple Threads set was a miss for me.  I didn't have many players I was excited to collect out of this set and the players I did collect, well....

2008 Topps Triple Threads Elijah Dukes Triple Bat/Autograph

I think I also picked up a few Jo Jo Reyes cards, Melky Cabrera, and a few other infamous characters.  I did pick up a good selection of Matt Holliday relic cards from this set after the Rockies run to the World Series.  This was the first year that I really went after the relics cards along with the autographs.  More recently, I landed a nice Dimaggio relic piece in a trade.  

2008 Topps Triple Threads Joe DiMaggio Six Piece Relic

2008 Topps Triple Threads Matt Holliday Six Piece Relic

2009 Triple Threads

I have two favorites in my collection from the 2009 set and would rank this set in a three way tie for the lead in the best Triple Threads sets.  My favorite card I picked up in 2009 which is a Ryan Braun patch/autograph.  This card has patch pieces from his Futures Game relics, the red/black/yellow pieces along with a thicker piece of black or navy patch.  I also love the word: HAMMER on the card.  If I ranked all of my Triple Threads cards against each other this would finish in the top 5.  

2009 Topps Triple Threads Ryan Braun Triple Patch/Autograph

My second card I picked up a few years ago after watching Nolan Reimold play for the Norfolk Tides. Sometimes I get a feeling about a player I watch in the minors and was fairly impressed by Reimold.  I found this card on Ebay really cheap and figured I would, at worst, have a really cool looking cards.  Reimold is looking like a regular though, so I think I did well with this card.  I love the orange jersey pieces and the yellow/red/black patch piece like the Braun. 

2009 Topps Triple Threads Autograph

2010 Triple Threads

I loved the 2010 release of Triple Threads.  If I had to narrow the Triple Threads sets down to the best, this would be another among my favorites.  The best part of the 2010 release was the inclusion of on-card autographs.  In someways, it gives this release a slight nod over the 2009 set, except the more standard looking Triple Threads cards were still sticker autographs.  My favorite two on card autographs were Andrew McCutchen and Howie Kendrick.  The McCutchen was my first McCutchen autograph and the Kendrick card is just signed really cool.  I've always like Howie's signature and I like how he just wrote over the whole card.  

2010 Topps Triple Threads Andrew McCutchen Jersey/Autograph

2010 Topps Triple Threads Howie Kendrick Jersey/Autograph 

The regular Triple Threads cards were still cool, but again, Topps used sticker autographs.  My favorite has to be Zorilla.  Ben Zobrist.  Again a personal Top 5 Triple Threads card. 

2010 Topps Triple Threads Seven Piece Relic/Autograph

2011 Triple Threads

The 2011 release was similar to the 2010 release in many ways and again, I would consider this to be among the three best Triple Threads sets along with the 2009 and 2010.  The veteran cards were generally sticker autographs.  My favorite is my Miguel Cabrera autograph, which I also collected all of the similar relic cards.  

2011 Topps Triple Threads 13 Piece Relic/Autograph

The young star players in the set were on card autographs like the 2010 release, but I felt the design of the 2011 cards was a little truer to the set.  

2011 Topps Triple Threads Jaime Garcia Triple Jersey/Autograph

The real drawback to this set, in my opinion, is the veteran cards with a single piece of jersey or patch.  If you are going to use sticker autographs the only reason to duck the design of the Cabrera card above is to cheapen the product.  I love the Matt Holliday card below, but I would have gladly tried to find a copy with multiple relic pieces in the regular Triple Threads format.

2011 Triple Threads Matt Holliday Patch/Autograph

2012 Triple Threads

I feel like the set has taken a little step back this year.  Still a really cool product and I own several really nice cards from the set, but the player selection is a little lacking in my opinion and there are several cards which are repeats from previous years.  Also, similar to the 2011 is the pattern on the autographs. Veterans are on stickers, younger players are on card, and there are single jersey autographs that are also stickers.  My two favorites from 2012:

2012 Topps Triple Threads David Freese Autograph

 2012 Topps Triple Threads Lance Lynn Jersey/Autograph

If you like the follow up I do on card sets not in my Top 50 be sure to check back tomorrow for a special piece I am putting together on a few sets released over the past few years similar to the Triple Threads releases.  

Manu Excellence

Topps has been issuing manupatches for the past five years.  While they weren't necassarily the first company to use manupatches in their products, they have continued to evolve the products throughout the years.  Topps started off in 2008 when they issued an All-Star Patch for the members of the National and American League teams.  While the cards didn't really look like a patch, they were still really fun to collect.

2008 Topps Matt Holliday National League All-Star Patch

2008 Topps Justin Verlander American League All-Star Patch

Note the bottom corner of the Holliday Patch card differs from the Verlander patch.  The World Series logo was added to the bottom of his card since the Rockies appeared in the World Series in the fall of 2007.  Kind of unique.  Topps also issued a set of Red Sox patches commemorating their 2007 World Series Championship.  

2008 Topps Jason Varitek World Series Patch

Topps continued their venture into manupatches in 2009.  They issued two forms of patches that year in the form of letter patches and All-Star and Postseason patches.  The manupatches took on more of a patch appearance.  The letter patch sets were very similar to the By The Letter set that Upper Deck used in their SP Authentic releases.  The Topps letter patches, unsigned, featured many great Hall of Famers.  I worked on putting together a few of these sets for some different Cardinals players and Browns Hall of Famer George Sisler.  

2009 Topps Legendary Letters Commemorative Patch Rogers Hornsby

The All-Star and Postseason Patches were also pretty cool and continued into the 2010 Topps releases. I enjoyed the 2010 All-Star and Postseason patches a little bit more than the 2009 version.  The 2009 manupatches had a strong focus on the All-Star games.  For example, Topps did issue a Postseason patch for the Cardinals in 2009 that featured Stan Musial's 1942 appearance in the World Series.  The Cardinals All-Star Patch release in 2009 actually featured Frank Robinson as an Oriole and not a Cardinals player.  

The 2010 manupatches aligned the players and teams to a specific event that was likely memorable for for fans.  Willie Stargell was decked out in an all yellow Pirates polyester jersey with a 70s inspired 1979 Word Series patch.  Where there Cubs cards?  My two favorite Postseason patches were the Evan Longoria 2009 American League Championship Series patch and the 1982 World Series Patch of Ozzie Smith.  

2010 Topps Ozzie Smith 1982 World Series Patch

2010 Topps Evan Longoria 2008 ALCS Patch

Topps also release a set of hat patches in 2010, but I wasn't a huge fan of the set.  Some of the logos followed the traditional hat logos, but some of them mimicked the holiday hats that the Major League teams wear on Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day.  Pretty ridiculous when you team up a modern tradition with a player like Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, or many other retired greats from a previous era.  

The 2010 Topps Update featured manu-bat barrels.  Really cool.  Topps also offered variations on the barrels with limited print runs.  Plain wood barrels were numbered to 99, black to 25, and pink to 1.  Excellent concept from Topps to give the patches a bit of a break.  

2010 Topps Update Alfonso Soriano ManuBat Card 

Topps returned to the patches in 2011 and went with a retro theme picking out cool logos from the past and pairing them with a current player on the franchise.  There were many cool patches issued throughout the set and were really fun to collect not only across a favorite team, but also remembering some of the cool logos in other teams pasts.  Thought about going with the Mariners pitchfork, but here are two equally cool examples:

2011 Topps Evan Longoria 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Patch

2011 Topps Andrew McCutchen 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates Patch

This year Topps went manucrazy for some baseball history.  They started out with three manu-products in their initial Topps base products.  First, they had player patches that featured the last names of Hall of Famers stitched in cursive across an older piece of fabric.  These reminded somewhat of the 2008 manupatches, because they were patches in name only.  Not really very patch like at all.  Not their best effort, but just a warm-up for the manu-excellence that would follow.  

2012 Topps Historic Stitches Bob Gibson Patch 

The other two manu-products followed closer to the bat barrel products issued in the 2010 Update set.  They took a piece of baseball and turned it into a cool product.  For example, the second product in the initial Topps base releases this year was a set of Retired Rings.  This set featured some of the all-time greats of the game with a cool piece of ring with the player's retired jersey number on the ring.  Topps also issued a similar set of patches in their retail boxes, but the reitred number was stitched and not displayed on a ring.  I love the rings, but the retail numbers are also excellent.

2012 Topps Commemorative Retired Number Patch Stan Musial

2012 Topps Retired Rings Stan Musial

Topps also issued an excellent set of World Series pins in their base set this year.  Assuming your team has won a World Series in recent years, then they likely have at least one card in this set.  The pins are metal and generally follow the same design pattern across the different eras of players shown on the cards.  For example, the 1967 Cardinals pin on the Bob Gibson card is nearly identical to the Albert Pujols pin for the 2006 World Championship team.  It would be cool if the pins were somehow unique, but this manu-concept was another excellent collectible for fans.  

2012 Topps Bob Gibson 1967 World Series Pin

Which brings us to the end and in my opinion the best manu-product Topps has issued over the past five years.  I really enjoyed tracking down these two cards from the 2012 Topps Update set featuring Ozzie Smith and Stan Musial.  The cards hail from the Gold Hall of Fame Plaque Set.

2012 Topps Update Stan Musial Gold Hall of Fame Plaque

2012 Topps Update Ozzie Smith Gold Hall of Fame Plaque

I have had a stand alone blog post for a Sandy Koufax autograph, but never a manupatch.  However, these cards might be worthy of such a distinction.  I have been impressed by how much Topps has been able to evolve the manupatch cards over the past five years and think that this latest effort is by far their best effort.  Definitely worthy of a tip of the cap to Topps for producing a quality product and continuing to innovate the manupatches.  Looking forward to what the 2013 releases bring.