And buddy, I still am. In fact, not long after WW wrote his post about the Cubs set, I received an e-mail from Rich Mueller, editor of Sports Collectors Daily, stating that he read my posts about these team sets (for those not familiar, I have all 30 team sets since 2006, the first year these came out), and wanted to know if I had a list of the variations from these retail sets compared to the regular Topps sets. His article was inspired by the 2011 Topps Nationals Team set with newly acquired Jayson Werth in a Nats uni, even though his regular card in the 2011 set had him in a Phillies jersey. While I actually don't have a compiled list, I did give him enough variations off the top of my head (many that have been previously highlighted here) for him to get a good start on it. The article he wrote appeared on the site the following day (albeit without a link to my blog...not that I'm going to hold that against him, the fact that he put my name on there was good enough).
If you were wondering why I had not yet written anything about this year's products, it was only because the one place that had good enough pictures of the team sets from this year only had 28 of the 30 team sets on their site (the Phillies and the Padres were the missing teams). The site has since added the Phillies, and after asking them about the Padres' snub, was told that they have the Padres' set on back order as they were not able to get any for some reason. Fine. And because I try to be consistent with images and everything, I didn't run my annual article yet (nor had I ordered any product yet as I normally do right around this time). I do have the checklists compiled, and did manage to get a scan of the Padres team set (not the one I would have hoped for, but it will do), so I will have the posts and pictures up shortly.
The point of this post (you mean there was one??!) is that even though I don't have my annual article up about the 2011 Topps Retail sets, I did manage to purchase 17 of the thirty team sets. In the Chicago area, it is easy to find Cubs and White Sox sets, so thanks to Jim at Sports and Gaming Cards at Golf Mill Mall, in Niles, IL, for the two (he was offered the Mets set as well, but didn't bite...Mets??!). The other fifteen I found at the Field of Dreams shop at Woodfield Mall over the weekend. Yes, they are a bit pricey (on everything it seems), but the fact that they had fifteen other teams available besides our two locals made me go against probably better judgement and get one of each. So now, along with the Cubs and White Sox team sets, I am also now in possession of these 17-card team sets:
- Atlanta Braves
- Boston Red Sox
- Cincinnati Reds
- Colorado Rockies
- Detroit Tigers
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Minnesota Twins
- New York Mets
- New York Yankees
- Philadelphia Phillies
- St. Louis Cardinals
- San Francisco Giants
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Texas Rangers
- Washington Nationals
So unless some shop or retailer (I will check some places during the week) has other team sets in stock, I will be looking online for the following 13 teams:
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Baltimore Orioles
- Cleveland Indians
- Florida Marlins
- Houston Astros
- Kansas City Royals
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Oakland Athletics
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- San Diego Padres
- Seattle Mariners
- Toronto Blue Jays
That is, of course, anybody reading this would be kind enough to purchase and send my way any of the above thirteen teams.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
2 comments:
Good luck hunting down the last thirteen....I knew you would get to them!
Not sure if you have seen them yet, but Topps has also made 17-card "American League All-Stars" and "National League All-Stars" sets in the same style of blisters as the team sets. (They were with the team sets at my local Target.) Similar to the cards in the team sets, except with the AL and NL foil logos.
Post a Comment