Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2012 Houston Astros

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2012 Houston Astros
• Record: 55-107, sixth place, NL Central Division.
• Managers: Brad Mills & Tony DeFrancesco
• Card on the Top: Jed Lowrie

The checklist consists of the following players:

• HOU1 Jed Lowrie
• HOU2 Jordan Schafer
• HOU3 J.D. Martinez
• HOU4 Brett Wallace
• HOU5 Chris Johnson
• HOU6 Wandy Rodriguez
• HOU7 Jason Bourgeois
• HOU8 Jimmy Paredes
• HOU9 Humberto Quintero
• HOU10 Brett Myers
• HOU11 Carlos Lee
• HOU12 Brian Bogusevic
• HOU13 Jose Altuve
• HOU14 Bud Norris
• HOU15 J.A. Happ
• HOU16 Matt Downs
• HOU17 Minute Maid Park

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2012 Topps eponymous set:

• Jed Lowrie has the same picture, but on the base set, the picture is further out and you can see more of the bat and even the catcher's knees:
  
  

• Jordan Schafer is fielding in his base card:
  
  

• Chris Johnson is pictured fielding, but in a different uniform:
  
  

• In the base set, Wandy Rodriguez is pictured in a different uniform:
  
  

• Jimmy Paredes' card features him fielding, and is also horizontally oriented, but...(theme here):
  
  

• You can see what Humberto Quintero looks like in his base set card:
  
  

• Brian Bogusevic did not have a base card in the eponymous set, but he was added to the Update Series:
  
  

We could play "If This is His Topps Card, What Card is This?" all day long with this set as seven of the sixteen players have different cards found exclusively in this team set.

Next week's featured set will be the 2008 Los Angeles Dodgers.  Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Update Series.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama