uh-oh, not 2012 topps again...

Yes, again.


In the few short weeks that 2012 Topps series one has been out, there has been polarizing opinions about Topps, the hobby and the set in general. Either you love the set or you hate it.

Two VERY excellent reads about 2012 Topps are here and here.

The first if from JayBee and the second is from Cardboard Icons. Both are actually responses to those who feel that Topps has gone off the deep end and to those who have sworn off collecting either it or all together.

On a personal level, I have grown very fond of this years set and the more I look through the cards, the more I like them. The 'surfboard design' is fine by me and leaves so much room for the excellent photography.

Here is what I added to my personal collection from this year's series 1:


The Mantle- yeah, I sort of collect Mantle but it's only out of convenience and he was a hell of a player in the 50's

The Jays team set- at 7 cards deep, it's not much but the selection is good (Bautista, Lind, Arencibia and Morrow to name a few)

Player collections- Josh Hamilton, Chris Coghlan, Troy Tulowitzki and Danny Valencia all have cards present.

Guys from Connecticut- three new ones! Pavano of course but two rookies, Andrew Carignan and Jared Hughes join the CT fray!

Rookie cups- five new rookie cups for the ever growing collection.

Batting pitchers- this set has two "batting" pitchers. Really they aren't batting but they are in hitting mode and are two of the best shots in the set, see for yourself:

Yeah, we've all seen these to death by now but I can't help it.

While I am sure what I am buying less, my initial purchase of the jumbo box plus the complete sets of the base and 87 minis, haven't stopped me from picking up more. I've been grabbing hanger packs at the local Wal-Mart and Target. Again, I just can't help it, its a great bust. I have bought no blasters, rack packs or even single packs at retail. The hangers haven't been crazy either though, I think I'm up to six total (with Mrs. Wrappers surprising me with one of those!). I like both the red and blue bordered parallels and really like the golds.

So here is where you come in. If anyone has any of the gold, blue or red parallels, I will trade for them if you have any available. I'll even take those elusive purple ones from Toys 'R' Us as well (haven't seen them myself). If you have any of the parallels, shoot me a comment and we'll make a deal.

Also if anyone needs cards from 2011 still to finish up sets, let me know as well. I have a ton of Chrome, series 1, 2 and Update, some Ginter (no short-prints) and some other sets as well. Drop me a line!

One last thing, if we had been talking trades before this morning, I have sent out many packages today, some expected, some unexpected, so if we were in discussions about a trade, you'll soon have the cards from my end and if you weren't talking to me about trades a couple of you will have a little surprise as well.