blog bat around

I may be late but I suppose I'll give it a go for the blog bat around.

There wasn't too much I was disappointed in set-wise this year. Everything had its ups and downs, which is par the course for Topps every year. I'll start with what forced a change in my collecting and buying habits.

Bowman:

I bought way too much Bowman this year. Getting caught up in the Bryce Harper lottery really took a toll on my sensibility. I shouldn't have but I did. I bought too much, put together a set and sold it for way too cheap. Never again. Bowman will be sampled from here on out and won't be bought in mass quantity again.


Heritage:

Another set I bought way too much of. I attempted the set but the short prints really got to me. 75 of them is a tough assembly. I think from now on 50 short prints is my cut-off (stuff like Ginter, Gypsy Queen, etc.). Heritage is a solid release every year and I won't say that it isn't, it's just too much for me to want to collect and have to chase down. Another set that I'll be buying limited amounts of.


Now that thats out of the way, lets get on with what I really liked from 2011.


Flagship:

Topps had a very solid design this year and I really liked the look even more than 2010 (which I'm a big fan of). Most of the card being used for the picture, nothing being obstructed by logos (2010) or a huge top and bottom name plate (2007 and 2008). The parallels were fun and at least a little different than last year. The inserts were where Topps kind of faltered this year but there were at least a few that were good.


Diamond Stars:

Case in point. I loved the Diamond Stars insert set. It has 90's written all over it. In an age where inserts are one a pack, as opposed to one a box in the 90's, this looks like something I would have been pulling out of a pack of 94 Fleer. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know but I think its 90's all the way in terms of design.


Kimball Champions:

Now here we go. Before series 1 hit, I had actually never heard of the Kimball Champions set from 1887. I would love to get an original but haven't found one cheap enough yet. The set from this year spanned all three flagship issues, meaning I had something to collect all year round. I love the look of the set although I don't think they should have doubled up on some players. I'm still collecting the Update set so if you have any let me know!


Allen & Ginter:

I said before Ginter came out that I wouldn't be picking up too much of it but once it dropped I quickly got sucked into Ginter madness. I seem to be in the minority that really likes the design of the base set. The inserts were interesting and the minis are always fun. I did manage to complete the full 350 card set and even went as far to grab that nice binder that Topps offered up through their website. It wasn't the cheapest but the coupon from the Diamond Giveaway helped with that. The set looks great in the binder too.


Stickers:

This was a nice surprise this year. It definitely brought me back to my kid collecting days, when I collected Panini baseball stickers and MASK stickers (remember MASK toys? Mobile Armored Strike Kommand? They were awesome) and putting them into their respective books. Another set I haven't finished but hope to before the 2012 comes out.


That about wraps it up. Again, a good year for Topps as a whole complete with its ups and downs. Mistakes were made this year by me (namely buying too much) but will surely be corrected this year. As for Topps' mistakes well, let's just hope they learned something too.