The Countdown to 2012 Topps Has Begun...With Super Short Prints?

Remember last year when Topps took advantage of the Red Sox' high profile free agent signings of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez by inserting super short printed variation cards of both players in their soon-to-be-new jerseys (photoshopped for your convenience of course)?  Well, they're at it again.

Above is the preliminary cover for March's Beckett Baseball (Thanks Chris for the clarification).  I'm going to make sure I get a copy as it's about Topps and it's a must have for this collector.  But take a look at the main cards in the photo.  No, not the Pablo Sandoval card that depicts Kung Fu Panda fighting Parrot Pete (what is with that bird anyway??!)  It's Albert Pujols in an Angels jersey and Jose Reyes in his new Miami Marlins uniform. 

According to the Number One Source in the Hobby, Topps managed to print these two cards (#'d 331 and 332 respectively) and add them to packs of the new 2012 Topps Series 1...IN LIMITED QUANTITIES!!!  And there will be more news to come until T-Day.

Somewhere, in an almost abandoned blog on the outskirts of Philadelphia, a writer is preparing (if he has not already done so) to continue his war against gimmicks.  And Topps has fired the first shot.

To paraphrase that great Miami philosopher Horatio Caine, "Things...(puts on shades)...are about to get interesting."  (cue Roger Daltrey's "Yeahhhhh!" from The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again!")

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama