Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2006 Topps Arizona Diamondbacks

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

• Team: 2006 Arizona Diamondbacks
• Record: 76-86, fourth place, NL West Division.
• Manager: Bob Melvin
• Card on the Top: Luis Gonzalez

The checklist consists of the following players:

• ARZ1 Luis Gonzalez
• ARZ2 Shawn Green
• ARZ3 Brandon Webb
• ARZ4 Orlando Hudson
• ARZ5 Tony Clark
• ARZ6 Chad Tracy
• ARZ7 Conor Jackson
• ARZ8 Russ Ortiz
• ARZ9 Claudio Vargas
• ARZ10 Brad Halsey
• ARZ11 Miguel Batista
• ARZ12 Craig Counsell
• ARZ13 Orlando Hernandez
• ARZ14 Johnny Estrada

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 2006 Topps eponymous set:

• On Conor Jackson's base card in the 2006 Topps set, the newly established Rookie Card Logo appears on the bottom left of the card. Not so on the team set:
  
  

• Brad Halsey was traded by the Dbacks to the Athletics on March 26, 2006. I guess we now know how Topps was able to get a picture of him in an A's jersey:
  
  

• I don't know about you, but I think I like the retail card of "El Duque" better than the card used in the base set, even if it looks like another photoshop job:
  
  

• Same opinion goes for Johnny Estrada's card...the team set would have been better used as well:
  
  

So of the 14 players included in this set, there are two cards that features a different picture in the retail set that was used in 2006 Topps set, one that was eventually used in the base set (but under a different jersey), and one slight variation to the card found in the base set.

Next week's featured set will be the 2012 Chicago Cubs. 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