Topps 60 Best Cards...#6-10!

So Topps' Top 60 Countdown has finally reached the Top 10. These ten cards received the most votes out of the 100 cards that Topps selected for the collecting public to decide their best of all time. The idea being that the sixty cards would be reprinted and included as an insert set later on in the year. The list of cards that made the cut from #11 to #60 can be found here. So far Topps has announced the cards that earned the sixth through tenth most votes.

Here are card #'s 6-10 on "Topps 60 Greatest Cards of All Time":

• #10: 1952 Topps #261 Willie Mays


• #09: 1973 Topps #50 Roberto Clemente



• #08: 1986 Topps Traded #50T Bo Jackson



• #07: 1954 Topps #250 Ted Williams



• #06: 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson

All well deserving of the votes. Of the five, I voted for the Clemente card. Bo Jackson's card would seem to be extremely high on the list. But memories of Bo's exploits on the diamond and his legendary status as a two-sport athlete, are probably reasons why he had lots of supporters. Amazingly, Ted Williams had more cards make it onto the countdown (#47 '56, #34 '55, #25 '57, #07 '54 ) than Topps' Golden Boy, Mickey Mantle (#55 '56, #30 '53). And that's okay. Because unless somebody sabotaged the vote, everyone knows that the Mick will show up on the Top 5, if not among the Top 2.

Six of my ten picks have now made their appearance on the countdown. And there are five more to go. I'm going to go on a hunch and say that at least two more of my picks are going to show up among the top 5. And I have a feeling I know which two they are. But we'll have to wait and see when Topps decides to post the rest.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Topps Letting Toys 'R Us Join the Exclusive Party

This year, Topps is going all out with it's Diamond Anniversary Theme.

You know about the Red Diamond inserts that Topps has in its packs sold at Target:


And you know about the Blue Diamond inserts Topps inserted in packs sold at Walmart:


But did you know that there are Purple Diamond inserts too??

Purple??!

Purple??!


Yes...PURPLE!!!

Found only at Toys 'R Us (can't do the backward "R" thing...does the company even use an apostrophe???), a ten card set has been discovered that can only be found at your TRU store. Eight are in the picture above (the other two apparently are not yet on the Bay, but have been sold recently).

The checklist (all cards start with #PDC...which stands for Purple Diamond...what does the "C" mean??? Card??!):

• #PDC1 Buster Posey
• #PDC2 Troy Tulowitzki
• #PDC3 Evan Longoria
• #PDC4 Tim Lincecum
• #PDC5 Alex Rodriguez
• #PDC6 CC Sabathia
• #PDC7 Joe Mauer
• #PDC8 Robinson Cano
• #PDC9 Starlin Castro
• #PDC10 Ryan Howard

So run to your nearest TRU store now folks. Just save me a 5 & 10. I'm keeping an eye on the other eight.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Getting the Blogroll Ready for Baseball Season

It's no surprise that the number of baseball card blogs surpass all the other blog categories. That's not a shot against football, basketball, and even hockey blogs and bloggers. But as baseball remains king of the Hobby world, the number of its loyal subjects will remain large.

When it comes to the Sports Card Blogroll, the number of new blogs that sprout will most likely come during these next few months as baseball season begins and runs through it's early stages. But before we prepare for the new entries into the Hobby blogging pool, it is time to remove those who have not been active since the Giants ended the 2010 baseball season with their World Series win.

Before we clean up the roll, let's review the results of last month's cleanup. There were 325 blogs on the active roster. Six were removed, leaving us with 319 blogs. This month, we were able to climb back to 325 blogs as six blogs were added or returned to the active roster. So here now are the blogs that reached the six month threshold of inactivity:

• plaingrayswatch (formerly known as The Paper Chase)
• Baseball Card Nirvana
• Omega Cardboard
• NYC Cards and Swag
• Two Strikes
• Coolio Cards
• Worthless Cardboard
• Care 4 Cards
• Royals Retrospective
• Sox's Thoughts
• Anything and Everything Tim Tebow
• NeedMoMorneau
• The Littlest Baseball Blogger
• 1980 Topps Baseball

That's fourteen blogs that will be removed. I think this is the record for most number of blogs being removed. This sends the active roster spiraling down to 311 blogs (a loss of -8). I am hoping for a quick turnaround and that the number of blogs increases again. We need more voices and opinions on our Hobby.

I'd be more than happy to add blogs from other sports to the Sports Card Blogroll. Whether it's soccer, rugby, cricket, or even wrestling and mixed-martial arts. If you have a blog, or are a reader of a blog that has blogs about the cards or about collecting cards of these sports, please send me an e-mail. If you have a blog that you'd like to recommend for our regular sports as well, please feel free to do the same. If you're like 26 Cent Summer, which was removed from the blogroll but is now back and active again, and would like to be added back to the SCBR, contact me at bdj610@hotmail.com. The more information we can share with the rest of the Hobby Community, the better our experiences in this hobby will be.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Topps 60 Best Cards...#11-13!

After days of waiting, Topps finally added card #'s 11-13 on their Topps 60 countdown. Making way for them to announce (hopefully soon) their Top 10 cards as voted by the collecting public.

Here are card #'s 11-13 "on Topps 60 Greatest Cards of All Time":

• #13: 1970 Topps #712 Nolan Ryan
• #12: 1982 Topps Traded #50T Cal Ripken Jr.
• #11: 1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire USA

Thoughts. Well, they couldn't get any higher I guess. I voted for the McGwire card for my ten best. He almost cracked the Top 10. I'm going to go off a limb that it is more about the card than the player as if it was, and I am certainly in the minority of this thinking, he wouldn't have even made the 60 in the first place.

Before we get to the Top 10 (and it looks like the site today has card #'s 10-6 up), I want to review my votes from back in December when this whole thing started. My Topps 10 included (and my reasons behind the selections):

• 1952 Mantle (if this card isn't number one, then you might as well shut down the legitimacy of the site, the reputation of the company, and the sanity of the collectors/voters who rigged it so that it won't win)
• 1954 Banks (needed to put a Cub in here)
• 1957 Aaron (the reverse negative that made even Aaron feel bad about it - he thought he posed incorrectly on purpose)
• 1973 Clemente (has, sadly, the complete stats of probably the greatest players, if not human beings, on the planet)
• 1984 Mattingly (when I started collecting in 1987, this card was KING)
• 1985 McGwire (between the home run chase and my first forays into collecting online, this card was KING)
• 1987 Bonds (admit it what other reason was there to include this card other than to stir the pot)
• 2001 Suzuki (one of the most sought after cards in the 21st century...still is ten years later).
• 2001 Pujols Traded (see Suzuki)
• 2006 Gordon (gimmicks aside, finding this card was akin to Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket)

It looks like some of the cards I picked will make the Top 10. But how many? Here is the list of cards #60-#11:

• #60: 1973 Topps #615 Rookie Third Basemen Ron Cey/John Hilton/Mike Schmidt.
• #59: 1983 Topps #498 Wade Boggs Rookie Card
• #58: 1974 Topps #456 Dave Winfield Rookie Card
• #57: 1958 Topps #47 Roger Maris Rookie Card
• #56: 2007 Topps #40 Derek Jeter (with George W. Bush/Mickey Mantle)
• #55: 1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle
• #54: 1989 Topps #647 Randy Johnson Rookie Card
• #53: 1987 Topps Traded #70T Greg Maddux Rookie Card
• #52: 1992 Topps #156 Manny Ramirez Draft Pick
• #51: 1959 Topps #514 Bob Gibson Rookie Card
• #50: 1967 Topps #581 Bill Denehy/Tom Seaver 1967 Mets Rookie Stars
• #49: 1956 Topps #79 Sandy Koufax
• #48: 1955 Topps #50 Jackie Robinson
• #47: 1956 Topps #5 Ted Williams
• #46: 1953 Topps #244 Willie Mays
• #45: 1987 Topps #366 Mark McGwire
• #44: 1957 Topps #302 Sandy Koufax
• #43: 1978 Topps #36 Eddie Murray
• #42: 1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn
• #41: 1955 Topps #123 Sandy Koufax
• #40: 1977 Topps #110 Reggie Jackson
• #39: 1985 Topps #181 Roger Clemens
• #38: 1985 Topps #536 Kirby Puckett
• #37: 2001 Topps Traded & Rookies #T247 Albert Pujols
• #36: 1960 Topps #148 Carl Yastrzemski
• #35: 1956 Topps #33 Roberto Clemente
• #34: 1955 Topps #2 Ted Williams
• #33: 1955 Topps #164 Roberto Clemente
• #32: 1985 Topps #3 Dwight Gooden Record Breaker
• #31: 1969 Topps #260 Reggie Jackson
• #30: 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle
• #29: 1963 Topps #537 1963 Rookie Stars Pedro Gonzalez/Ken McMullen/Pete Rose/Al Weis
• #28: 1982 Topps #21 Baltimore Orioles Future Stars Bob Bonner/Cal Ripken/Jeff Schneider
• #27: 1954 Topps #94 Ernie Banks
• #26: 1979 Topps #116 Ozzie Smith
• #25: 1957 Topps #1 Ted Williams
• #24: 1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson
• #23: 1971 Topps #5 Thurman Munson
• #22: 1954 Topps #90 Willie Mays
• #21: 1984 Topps #182 Darryl Strawberry
• #20: 1993 Topps #98 Derek Jeter
• #19: 1984 Topps #8 Don Mattingly
• #18: 1975 Topps #228 George Brett
• #17: 1987 Topps #320 Barry Bonds
• #16: 1964 Topps #125 Pete Rose
• #15: 1953 Topps #220 Satchel Paige (Satchell)
• #14: 1957 Topps #20 Hank Aaron (Reverse Negative)
• #13: 1970 Topps #712 Nolan Ryan
• #12: 1982 Topps Traded #50T Cal Ripken Jr.
• #11: 1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire USA

Reviewing the list, and knowing that almost all his cards were among the 100 card nominees, it is very strange, but not surprising, to see that only two of Mickey Mantle's cards made the list of fifty so far, with one card for sure getting into the top ten. I'm wondering if Topps actually thought that all of his cards would have somehow made the countdown...

So six of my ten choices cracked the Top 60. The other four have a shot at making the Top 10 (Mantle, Clemente, Ichiro, Alex Gordon). Whose cards made the Topps 10? Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

If You Want to See All 60 Sparkly Cards in Series 1 Together...

This is Ryan Braun's Sparkle card (2011 Topps #1). Want to know where to see the rest?
Give thanks to friend of the blog, eBay rival, and all around good guy Craig Parker. Because he took time out of his busy day to put together images of all 60 cards that have those lovely sparkles that I mentioned on this post late last week.

Because I have not asked formal permission to use his images, I highly recommend going to Craig's website http://www.mytoppscards.com/sparkles. Not only are there images of the 60 cards for your perusal, but he also circles where the sparkly thing is on each card. So that when you're searching through your cards (yes, it turns out that these things can be found in retail packs...although I didn't get any in my packs), you will know exactly where to look. Many can be found rather easily. Others, not so much.

Thank you Craig for doing this. Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if you managed to win them all.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

To the Winners of the All-Star Rookie Contest

Just a heads up to the eight winners of my All-Star Rookie Team contest that I didn't forget you guys and that after finding a card shop that was STILL OPEN (Dean's Dugout...you will be missed), I was finally able to acquire and mail out your prizes.

Not only will there be the hobby packs of 2010 Topps Update series like I promised, but also packs of 2011 Topps Series 1 included (one pack of each out your way).

I'm sorry it took this long, but I was in a bit of shock when I drove to the closest shop by me only to find the place empty. So thanks to Jim at Sports & Gaming Cards at Golf Mill Center in Niles, IL, for the packs and the latest scoop on the local hobby scene.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Figures. Sixty Sparkle Cards in Topps Series 1

After feverishly checking eBay auctions and social media outlets, message boards and other checklist sites have been compiling lists of confirmed 2011 Topps cards with a certain twinkle to them. A couple of places had found sixty and remained steady for some time.

On Topps' Facebook page, it has just been confirmed that in fact there are 60 cards within series 1 that sparkle somewhere on the card. The checklist:

1 Ryan Braun
3 Jon Lester
5 Joey Votto
15 David Wright
20 Hanley Ramirez
23 Jaime Garcia
25 Carl Crawford
35 Shin-Soo Choo
40 Justin Upton
42 Mariano Rivera
44 Martin Prado
50 Alex Rodriguez
60 Andrew McCutchen
61 David Price
67 Vladimir Guerrero
70 Kyle Drabek
75 Jered Weaver
78 Mike Stanton
80 Desmond Jennings
100 Albert Pujols
102 CC Sabathia
108 Zack Greinke
110 Aroldis Chapman
120 Mat Latos
128 Manny Ramirez
140 Brett Anderson
150 Miguel Cabrera
165 Jeremy Hellickson
166 Josh Johnson
169 Chipper Jones
174 Roy Oswalt
177 Brian Matusz
195 Nick Markakis
200 Ichiro
208 Clay Buchholz
209 Carlos Santana
210 Brian Wilson
214 Chase Utley
216 Jose Bautista
218 Victor Martinez
236 Nelson Cruz
240 Andre Ethier
241 Wandy Rodriguez
247 Starlin Castro
250 Carlos Gonzalez
255 Torii Hunter
269 Stephen Drew
270 Ubaldo Jimenez
271 Adam Dunn
275 Clayton Kershaw
290 Ike Davis
293 Justin Morneau
294 Luke Scott
299 Chris Carpenter
300 Roy Halladay
307 Alex Rios
315 David Ortiz
320 Michael Young
322 Brent Morel
330 Derek Jeter

I had originally thought that all 330 cards were involved. But at least now we know that the number of cards is much smaller. Still, doesn't make them any easier to find. And for all the naysayers and "gimmick" callers, give Topps some credit. They've finally succeeded in making us look at base cards again.

Now if they could only confirm that there are 24 legends variation cards instead of the originally planned 25. This doesn't include either Crawford and Gonzalez Red Sox variations...

Or this monstrosity supposedly found at some card convention in Atlanta (thanks to Bill Kearney on bringing this to my attention yesterday). More on this card after I do a bit of digging about Brian Wilson and The Machine.



Sincerely,

JayBee Anama