"Finest" Can Mean So Many Things
(I’m pretty sure Topps is working on their own definition)
Hobbling naively back into the hobby in 2007, I knew little of the expanded landscape of trading cards. It wasn’t until 2008 that I realized that there were different levels of cards, somewhat resembling social classes. You have your First Edition and Opening Day cards which are so far down the Low End ladder that you can see them sneaking back in line for seconds at the soup kitchen. Then you have the Super Insanely Ridiculous High End cards such as Sterling and Premier that are so elite and upper crust that even Perez Hilton blogs about them. Thankfully, there’s a middle ground solution to whet our appetite for the slick and shiny without having to sell the family dog. One such solution is the over-the-top Finest set by Topps. Being that I’m the type of guy that thinks Red Lobster is a fancy restaurant, Finest was, at the time, the most incredible set of baseball cards I had ever seen that I could also afford. And, so, in 2008, I jumped on my first master box of Topps Finest. What an incredible experience it was. Likely a once-in-my-lifetime experience. In the three mini-boxes that composed the master box, I pulled four… yes… FOUR on-card autographs, a rookie redemption, and a Frank Thomas cyan printing plate (which I eventually flipped on the ‘bay for a bill). The design was interesting–not perfect, to say the least–but all of that SHINY. I was hooked. And for nearly a year I sat anticipating the 2009 turn. This past Monday, my long wait came to an end…
MUSIC
Yes – Fragile
PURCHASE TYPE
Hobby Master Box, eBay, $85.00 + $10.00 S/H
PACKAGE DESIGN
Call it a direct effect of the economy, but the first thing to notice in this package design is how much smaller the master box container is compared to last year. Upon further inspection, it has come to my attention that this is caused by the use of two mini-boxes within the master as opposed to last year’s three mini-boxes. A huge positive to the packaging this year is that, unlike last year’s puzzling brick wall box, the design matches and reflects the card design. Sure, Topps couldn’t stay away from New York on the front, but at least this time it wasn’t another Damn Yankee. Well, actually, using Ted or Tommy would have been interesting. I suppose sticking to baseball players is probably the aces way to go, no matter how much I used to think "High Enough" was the greatest song ever written.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
For a product that’s essentially just one step above flagship, everything here seems to be presented very well. A great design that’s not as gaudy and clumsy as those in the past, a good amount of gloss coating (unlike last year where the coating was so thick that all of the cards curled), and an interesting new Autographed Letter Patch Rookie program. What could go wrong?
THE PRODUCT
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Base
The first time I saw the design comps within the sales sheets posted online, I was both very excited and a bit apprehensive. The translation of the digital file pre-print on screen made me feel like the set had potential to look overproduced. I did, however, enjoy the direction of the design and couldn’t wait to see it printed, glossed, and chromed. I have to say, these cards are, as Sidra would say, spectacular.
An interesting thing to note: most of the card numbers correlate with the uniform number of the player represented on his card. For instance, Justin Morneau’s card number is 33. Joe Mauer should have gotten number 7, but he was relegated to number 60 when Jose Reyes was given the New York treatment.
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Inserts: Refractors
Plain, blue, green, gold, red, white-framed X. I pulled a refractor in just about every pack I ripped. Five were plain, five were blue, and one was green. Five of the refractors were virtual dupes of base cards I had already pulled.
Something I really like about the colored refractors this year is that Topps isn’t raking you across your eyes with a flaming fish hook by covering the entire card in the refractor color. This time around they’ve limited the coloring to the border and even allowed some of the refractor portion to remain as-is. Another thing that I’ve found interesting about the refractors this year is that if you hold them up closely you’ll notice a bit of a background design underneath the refractor chrome layer. I feel it’s a nice touch that adds interest and depth to the design and also helps distinguish the refractors from the base.
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HIGHLIGHTS
The big gimmick this year is the all-new Autographed Rookie Patch cards in every mini-box. The packaging seemed to be guaranteeing that I’d be pulling a total of two of these on-card graphed manupatches. Well, it took until the very last pack of the first box to finally get a taste.
Not a terrible looking card. As has been mentioned by others many times before, it’s unfortunate that the players were made to sign on the letters. The signing area is so thin that it’s hard to make out the signature. This card pulled is a refractor version and is numbered 01/75. I’m sure you’ve noticed the raised portion of the "jersey" on the left side of the card. Nothing an iron won’t fix, right?
Now that I knew what these cards were all about, the anticipation built to see whose manupatch I would pull next. I ripped up the second box, and in the very first pack, I pulled…
Wait, what? *Looks back at the previous card* *Looks at current card* ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?! Not only did I pull the exact same player, but I pulled the EXACT SAME LETTER! IN BACK-TO-BACK PACKS! What are the odds of this happening? I don’t know thing one about how these card companies distribute and package their packs and boxes, but I would like to think that someone somewhere has a system in place to keep something like this from ever happening. It’s not hard to tell that there is something or someone controlling the sorting in some fashion. All you have to do is pay attention to the placements of the refractors in each pack. They all fall in the exact same spot. I know the economy is rough, but someone PLEASE tell Topps to create a Quality Control position that oversees the seeding of cards into packs, packs into boxes, and boxes into cases. This is just… well I never! Have you ever?! I mean, it’s bad enough to pull any dupes at all in a box of only 60 cards from a 150 base card set, but THIS? Frankly, it’s uncalled for and unprofessional. God, I’m starting to sound like a box of Sterling…
After pulling my second Angel Solome "L" card, I get that sinking feeling realizing that there are five more packs to go and no more letter patches to pull. I start realizing that the players and refractors I’m pulling are pretty much all duds. I start to realize that this whole box is the opposite of loaded. In fact, it’s unloaded. And then… much to my surprise… I pulled…
Of course, there is no word yet as to who the particular rookie will be assigned to card #6, and there certainly is no guarantee whether or not it will be an autographed card. If it is, I’m pretty sure it will be Angel Solome. I seem to have some good luck falling into his graphs. Of course, this means that the countdown is on. Shortly after I post this, I will be entering in the redemption code found on the back. Then I will sit back and wait it out. This will, no doubt, last for nearly a year and will likely result in a nearly worthless card. I CAN’T WAIT!
FINAL SCORE
This was the ONE SET that I was looking forward to this year. While the design is absolutely lights out, and the quality of the physical cards themselves is fantastic, the contents are disappointing. Perhaps I was a bit spoiled by the loaded box last year, but there is no excuse for the way this box was seeded. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t even be anywhere near this disappointed if I had pulled a different player for my second manupatch. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a crotchety old crank. I’d still be disappointed. As it is, though, I’m more deflated than Kirstie Alley on Jenny Craig. Congratulations! That just earned you a 1992 Topps Manny Ramirez! We had such high hopes for you. Thanks for letting us all down.
