2011 Topps Series 1 Sell Sheets are Live!!!

On Friday, the Number One Source in the Hobby had posted an article giving a bit more detail about what is to come next year during Topps' 60th anniversary. And I was going to do a write up giving my take on each of the little nuances that came with each of the sample photos.

Forget it.

I was out mowing the lawn (finally...it had been months...literally) when I received an e-mail from friend of the blog, all around good guy, and the guy that gives me the scoop on things, tdlindgren, that Magazine Exchange had just added the 2011 Topps Series One info on their site. Needless to say, that was more important to see.

The sell sheets for the now highly anticipated 2011 Topps Baseball Series 1 product is now live!!!

















There is just so much to talk about here. There will be more reprint insert sets, a new vintage theme, and even a chance to win a one of one card WITH A DIAMOND ACTUALLY EMBEDDED ONTO THE CARD!!!

The Million Dollar Card Giveaway becomes Topps 60th Anniversary Diamond Card Giveaway, with a new website to boot (http://www.toppsdiamond.com/). While the key prizes are going to be the 330 cards with the diamonds in them, there will also be diamond cut inserts, black parallels of said inserts, and also more vintage cards from 1952-2009.

The base set consists of 330 cards, which breaks down as:

• 264 veterans
• 30 rookie cards (with the now exclusive rookie card logo)
• 10 league leader cards
• 5 record breakers (they're finally bringing back this long-forgotten subset)
• 2 Rookie of the Year cards
• 2 Cy Young Award cards
• 2 League MVP cards
• 1 Mickey Mantle card (the lovefest continues)
• 25 cards variation cards featuring legendary players (again)...

You have the usual suspects in the parallel world (golds #'d to 2011, blacks #'d to 60, platinums are 1 of 1), and then you have the diamond parallels (canary diamond- the Ichiro card in the sell sheet - are 1 of 1, the platinum diamond - the Jeter card used in the sell sheet - comes 1 in every four packs). Printing plates (1 of 1, four colors), and silk cards (100 subjects per series) return.

A new vintage insert, the Kimball Champions (Ryan Braun's sample card), takes the place of the Turkey Red inserts from the past couple of years, and they are all mini cards. And for those of you who like reprint insert sets, Topps "60 Years of Topps" will be up your alley. And just like the "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" in 2010, there will be a regular insert card (with info on the card or the set), and an original back card. There will also be a ten card insert set featuring the cards that "would have filled in the missing numbers" in previous Topps sets in regular and original backs to boot. For those who loved the Trading Card History set from a couple of years ago, Reproduction cards (30 in series 1), will feature cards from sets created long before Topps came onto the basebal card scene.

For those who like regular insert cards (like me), there will be tons of sets to chase, including Topps 60, Diamond Duos, The History of Topps, and more Tickets to Toppstown.

Relic card collectors and autograph collectors will find lots of cards to hunt for as the theme of the year centers on the number 60. Sixty, as in the "Top 60" players lifetime in a certain category will have autos, relics, and sometimes both, on cards. There are glove relic cards, and the usual letter patch cards, that can be found in packs.

Whichever of the eight playoff teams becomes World Series Champs will have autograph and relic cards as well.

Product information can be found here:

The initial checklist (subject to change...) can be found here:

Product goes live the week of February 14th, 2010, just in time for Valentine's Day, unless otherwise noted. I can't wait.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama