2012 Topps Baseball Series 2 picks up where Series 1 left
off.
Photo selection seems to have
improved and the addition of A Cut Above diecut cards make Series 2 a nice set
of cards to collect.
If you
collected Series 1, picking up this new release is a must.
For the purposes of review, we classify Series 2 as trading
cards. You can find Series 2 in a wide
variety of configurations in both retail and hobby. We opened a box hobby box which contained 36 – 10 card packs
with a promise of 1 autograph or 1 relic card per box.
Here are some of the cards we pulled.
Base Set
Cliff Lee, front and back
Carl Crawford, Mike Trout
Clayton Kershaw, CC Sabathia, Albert Pujols
Joe Mauer, Alex Rodriguez, Evan Longoria
Brett Lawrie, Ichiro, David Ortiz
Yu Darvish, Robinson Cano, Andrew McCutchen
Joey Votto, Felix Hernandez, Johan Santana
Base Accomplishments/Checklists
Derek Jeter, Dan Uggla
Gold Parallels
Ervin Santana, Alex Gordon, Martin Prado
Juan Rivera, Jimmy Rollins,Bryan Petersen
Chris Narveson, Clint Barmes, Clayton Richard
Career Day Inserts
Willie Mays
Ken Griffey Jr., Roberto Clemente
Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt
'87 Minis
Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio
Stan Musial, Mark Teixeira, Prince Fielder
Alex Gordon, Brian Wilson, Nelson Cruz
Mound Dominance Inserts
Warren Spahn, Bob Gibson
Dennis Eckersley, John Smoltz
A Cut Above Diecut Inserts
Miguel Cabrera, Johnny Bench
Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander
Tim Lincecum, Prince Fielder, Hanley Ramirez
Golden Moments Inserts
Gary Carter
Ryne Sandberg, Rickey Henderson
Eric Hosmer, Dave Winfield
Ian Kinsler, Adrian Gonzalez
Ryan Zimmerman, Giancarlo Stanton
Gold Futures Inserts
Carlos Santana, Desmond Jennings, Domonic Brown
Drew Pomeranz, Brad Peacock, Jacob Turner
Gold Standard Inserts
Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio
Hank Aaron, Alex Rodriguez
Stan Musial, Chipper Jones
Topps Golden Giveaway Code Cards
Johnny Bench, Derek Jeter
Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum
Carlos Gonzalez, Felix Hernandez
The Hit
Jordan Zimmerman Game Used Memorabilia Golden Moments
Overall Look
This year is a mixed bag for me. Some cards I like, some I don't. Base design is decent. Photo selection Series 2 is much
better than it was for Series 1.
Standout inserts for me are the Golden Futures and Career Day. I’m on the fence about the Mound
Dominance inserts but I do like the idea behind them. The gold parallels still
look muddy to me, as do the Golden Silks.
A Cut Above diecuts are really nice.
Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.
Topps has gone a long way this year to secure some of the
best legends of the game with the inclusion of Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio
and Willie Mays added to the line up established last year of Sandy Koufax and
Hank Aaron. The legends included
in the inserts are fantastic. The
base set is as complete as you could expect.
Do the hits hold up?
There are some super autographs to be pulled. The World
Series Pins and Team Rings cards are impressive, even more so than the Golden
Moments relics and that seems to be the general consensus. Add to that the
bonus incentives of the Wrapper Redemption Program and 14K Gold Cards, Series 2
is packed with hits, but you'll have to buy hobby boxes to get the best of
them.
Will you want to collect them all?
Not sure about a master set this year, but a complete base
set is a must.
Rating
4 out of 5
2011 Topps Baseball Series 2 continues to work well for both
beginning and seasoned collectors.
Your Baseball collection is incomplete without them.
Review box provided by Topps
