2012 Topps - Instant Impressions

I picked up two of the $10 72-card cereal boxes last night at Modell’s. Is that the right term? Cereal box? Hanger Box? Anyhow, I was going to get a blaster, but figured for the same price I’d rather get nearly double the cards with these two boxes. I am a little bummed I didn’t get one of the manupatches though. The ones I’ve seen posted have been pretty cool.

Overall, I like the design more in person. I’m a little bummed about the glossiness. The cards feel very slippery, and I need them to hold a signature for my TTM requests. The black bar behind the player’s last name makes it tough to read in some instances.

The backs of the cards are pretty standard, and overall I think Topps did a good job with the factoids. For example, I did not know that Ryan Braun plays ping pong with Reggie Miller in Malibu. I actually like these nuggets more than the standard “On May 28, Braun had 2 HRs and 5 RBIs in a 13-6 Brewers win.”

Speaking of the backs, the stats are weird. Since when did “W” replace “BB” for walks? And Slugging Percentage is now “SP.” Seems weird since no one uses those abbreviations.

The photography looks great. Topps did a nice job picking memorable photos and showing a few shots that are unconventional.

The collation in my two cereal boxes was horrendous. I got a bunch of dupes, and they were in the exact same order as the previous box. Player for player. I didn’t even grab the boxes that were closest to each other on the display.

I do not understand the “Active League Leaders” cards. Look at the card below. Andruw as a Dodger is a questionable choice. League leaders from the previous season, you bet. Active? Odd, especially the way players jump from league to league these days.

The gold shiny parallels…not as attractive as the Diamond Anniversary ones from last year. These are too yellowy. Too mustardy.

The inserts – the gold motif is overdone. I felt like they were all the same.

I like the mini’s – they are cool…but didn’t 1987 Topps Minis look like this:

Overall, I enjoyed taking a look at some new product. I’m not up in arms about any of it – it’s not worth it. I have more important things to stress about these days. I like it enough, don’t love it. I’ll probably pick up another blaster or hanger/cereal box at some point.