THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT 2018 TOPPS THANKS TO A PACKAGE FROM GROGG

I BOUGHT ONE PACK OF 2018 TOPPS. IT WAS A WAL-MART RACK PACK AND THE REASON I BOUGHT IT WAS BECAUSE I SAW AN ENDER INCIARTE CARD ON THE BACK

I DIDN'T LIKE IT

LIKE, A LOT

THE ENDER HAD A ROLLER MARK ON IT AS WELL

DIDN'T BUY ANOTHER FLAGSHIP PACK ALL YEAR. STILL HAVEN'T BOUGHT ANY THIS YEAR. HAVE MOSTLY NOT PICKED UP ANY TOPPS AT ALL OTHER THAN A FEW PLAYERS I LIKE OUT OF DIME BOXES LIKE JASON HEYWARD AND ADRIAN BELTRE. THEN @GROGG ON TWITTER (YOU SHOULD FOLLOW HIM IF YOU LIKE BASEBALL) SENT ME A GINORMOUS PACKAGE FULL OF GOODIES AND INSIDE THE PACKAGE WAS WHAT APPEARED TO BE MOST OF A BOX OF 2018 TOPPS SERIES 1

GROGG HAS A TRADITION OF RIPPING OPEN A BOX OF SERIES 1 TOPPS SO HE CAN FEEL ALIVE KNOWING BASEBALL IS NEAR. GROGG ALSO HAS A MASSIVE VINYL RECORD COLLECTION AND A SMALL APARTMENT AND WHEN NEW WAX COMES IN, SOMETHING GOTTA GO. THE CARDS NOW HAVE A NEW HOME AND I NOW AM UNWITTINGLY BACK IN THE TOPPS FLAGSHIP COLLECTING GAME



I..... HAD FUN SORTING ALL THESE CARDS. I ALSO LEARNED A LOT ABOUT 2018 TOPPS. HERE IS WHAT I LEARNED.

OK I'VE COMPLAINED A LOT ABOUT THE DESIGN EVEN THOUGH IT'S BETTER THAN 2016 AND 2017 (blecch). THE ESPN GRAPHICS THAT GOT SNAPPED BY THANOS IS OK AND THE WATERSLIDE MOTIF IS, UH, DIFFERENT I GUESS. FULL BLEED BORDERS ARE BORING. THE TINY BIT OF FOIL IN THE LOGO IS USELESS EXCEPT TO DIFFERENTIATE THE SET FROM OPENING DAY AND EVEN THEN THESE THINGS LOOK A LOT LIKE OPENING DAY. BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS DESIGN THAT REALLY BUGGED THE CRAP OUT OF ME AND I COULD NEVER PUT MY FINGER ON IT.

THEN I LOOKED THROUGH MOST OF SERIES ONE AND IT FINALLY HIT ME

ALL THE TEAM LOGOS HAVE THIS BULLSHIT JJ ABRAMS LENS FLARE ON THEM
UGH I HATE IT
STILL BETTER THAN THE LONDON FOG AND STEEL GIRDER CRAP FROM '16 AND '17 THO

THE BACKS ARE FINE. SWOOPY THING, BIO, HASHTAG, FLAVOR TEXT, STATS. ALL I CARE ABOUT IS "CAN I READ THE FUCKING CARD NUMBER"

I AM HAPPY TO REPORT THAT YES, I CAN READ THE FUCKING CARD NUMBER, ALTHOUGH BETTER ON THE BRIGHT COLORS THAN ON YELLOWS AND GRAY. IT WOULD BE UTTERLY FABULOUS IF THEY WOULD DITCH THE UNNECESSARY SERIES 1 LABEL AND MADE THE NUMBER BIGGER BUT THESE THINGS ARE DESIGNED BY INCONSIDERATE WHIPPERSNAPPERS WHO CAN STILL SEE OUT OF THEIR EYES

THE FALSE FOIL FUTURE STARS BANNER IS KINDA QUAINT. I DIG IT. THANKFULLY THERE ARE NO BULLSHIT JJ ABRAMS LENS FLARES ON THE ROOKIE CUP

TAKING THE ESPN THANOS WATERSLIDE BULLSHIT JJ ABRAMS LENS FLARE DESIGN AND JUST SHOVING IT OVER TO THE RIGHT ON HORIZONTAL CARDS LOOKS LIKE CRAP. IT SEEMS LAZY AND IT LOOKS LIKE CRAP. I DON'T LIKE IT. BOOOO, TOPPS , BOOOO. DESIGN BETTER CARDS

LIKE YOU DID IN 2019

UM, SO THANKS FOR THAT. SOMEONE'S FINALLY LISTENING

NOT A BIG COMPLAINT, BUT I PREFER LEAGUE LEADER CARDS WITH MULTIPLE PLAYERS ON THEM. AL/NL LEADER OR TOP 3 IN THE LEAGUE. I CAN SEE PEOPLE LIKING THIS BETTER TOO. IT'S PERSONAL PREFERENCE REALLY

THERE WAS ONE DOUBLE IN THE PILE I RECEIVED, BUT! IS NOT A DOULBE AT ALL!! IS A SUPER RARE SHORT PRINT VARIATION!!! ONE OF ABOUT A HUNDRED OF THEM IN THE SERIES. I DON'T KNOW IF GROGG NOTICED THIS THE FIRST TIME AROUND BECAUSE I SURE DIDN'T NOTICE UNTIL I HAD THE WHOLE BOX SORTED

I FRICKIN LOVE THIS CARD. I'M GLAD I HAVE TWO OF THEM

SOOOOO

THIS IS A GOLD PARALLEL. THIS... IS HOW TOPPS DECIDED TO GET AROUND THE WHOLE 'LACK OF BORDER' DILEMMA. THIS LOOKS GOOFY. I DON'T LIKE. IT'S IN MY TOPPS GOLD PARALLEL FRANKENSET BINDER BUT I AIN'T HAPPY ABOUT IT. YES I HAVE A TOPPS GOLD PARALLEL FRANKENSET, DOESN'T EVERYONE?

THIS IS A RAINBOW FOIL PARALLEL. I THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE EVIDENT IN THE SCAN BUT IT KINDA IS? THESE ARE DUMB AND STOOPID AND USELESS UNLESS YOU GET A COOL PLAYER. ALEX BREGMAN COUNTS AS A COOL PLAYER

SO HERE'S THE BIG ONE. 1983 TOPPS IS ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE SETS EVER. THE PREVIOUS RETRO SETS LOOKED PRETTY GOOD  SO I HAD HIGH HOPES. WHICH WERE MOSTLY DASHED BY THE CARD STOCK. THE FRONTS LOOK PRETTY GOOD THOUGH! ALTHOUGH THEY SCREWED UP THE YELLOW ON THE PIRATES CARDS AGAIN

THE BACKS LOOK... OK. CARD NUMBER IS TOO SMALL. THE FAKE PRINTED CARDBOARD ON GLOSSY STOCK IS JUST WEIRD. THE REST IS... OK. I WOULDN'T LEAVE THESE CARDS BEHIND IN A QUARTER BOX IS WHAT I'M SAYIN. 50 CENT BOX, MAYBE

THESE ARE DUMB
TOPPS Y U FUCK UP BORDERS
NO BORDERS ON BASE SO YA GOTTA RUIN '83
BLUE LOOKS NICE ON A BRAVES CARD THO
BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT

B-E-S-U-R-E-T-O-D-R-I-N-K-Y-O-U-R-O-V-A-L-T-I-N-E

I COUNT THIS AS AN AARON JUDGE ROOKIE CARD. IT'S GOT THE LOGO! I DON'T MAKE THE RULES

THIS IS A HUGE INSERT SET OF SEEMINGLY RANDOM STUFF INCLUDING HOLIDAYS, LEGENDS AND ROOKIES THAT DOESN'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE BUT I KINDA LIKE IT BECAUSE THERE ARE NO BULLSHIT JJ ABRAMS LENS FLARES ON ANY OF THE LOGOS. GOT A TIM RAINES WITH A GORGEOUS EXPOS LOGO IN MY DIME BOX POST FOLDER I'M DYING TO SHOW OFF

AN UNSCRATCHED HOME RUN CHALLENGE CARD. I DON'T KNOW HOW THESE CARDS WORK AND IT'S EXPIRED ANYWAY. LOOKS LIKE A BOWMAN DESIGN THAT GOT ABANDONED HALFWAY THROUGH

THIS DESIGN IS BAD. NOT TOPPS FIRE BAD, BUT CLOSE

THIS DESIGN'S JUST KINDA MEH. FIELDING AWARD, YAAAAY. I APPARENTLY ALSO NEED TO CLEAN MY SCANNER

OF COURSE THE ONLY TWO INSERT SETS I LIKE ARE THE 100 CARD MONSTROSITIES

 A CRUMMY COMMERCIAL. I HAVE EXACTLY ZERO SERIES TWO BUT I'M SURE I CAN BUILD MOST OF A SET OUT OF DIME BOXES, NICKEL BOXES, PENNY BOXES AND PILES OF BULK JUNK. THIS IS ALSO A CLINT FRAZIER ROOKIE CARD AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED. LISTEN THE LOGO DOES NOT LIE

THERE'S WAY MORE WHERE THIS CAME FROM, I GOT AT LEAST TWO MORE POSTS OUT OF THIS GOODIE BOX. THANKS FOR SPRING CLEANING GROGG!