You know, after five years I kinda thought the Poley Walnuts onslaught was over.
I often inquire as to why the hell Topps keeps doing this. Is it to make people open numerous packs to search for the gimmicks? Is it to drive away veteran collectors, and instead lead them to lives as Pony Enthusiasts (this is the third reference I made. I hope he gets it or I'll keep making them less subtle)? Or maybe there is no reason. Maybe they just have a board meeting, and one guy says "You know what...this tradition stuff is boring. Let's just take the collectors that have stood by our side for so many years, and just mess with them."
In any other company, that guy would be fired. At Topps, he is promoted. In the real world, he will be ridiculed.
This gimmick infuriates me the most because, as we're being led to believe, this card is actually being placed in the base set. There will be no normal Skip Schumaker card, only a card OF A FREAKING SQUIRREL. Of course, if you're a Cardinals hater (like me, thanks to an overly snooty Cardinal fan "friend"), then you might just throw the card out, even if it was a legit Schumaker. Can you imagine versions of this card being produced for factory sets, for gold variations, etc? What if Schumaker gets an All Star nod, and they make a team set? Do they put the frigging squirrel in the set, beside Jose Reyes and Ryan Howard?
Oh, it makes me MAD!
Because I have to end this blog post somehow, I'll say this: There's a possibility that this squirrel card is the only bit of poo Topps will fling at us. That after this, they'll give us a decent set and a gimmickless season.
A very slim possibility, though. About the size of an acorn, being nibbled on by that damn rally squirrel.
Update #1- Well, a lot of you have told me that this is a gimmick, and not a base card like we all thought. So for that reason I must apologize for the tone in the blogpost. I went a little over the top, because I thought Topps was done with these stupid gimmicks. 2011 was gimmick free, and I was kinda looking forward to a clean 2012. No wonder the Mayans wanted the world to end in December.
Update #2- I've also been told that there's a similar gimmick roaming around, featuring a credible player (Mike Leake) fighting with a mascot. There are apparently several of these. Of course, a mascot sharing space with a player isn't as bad as A SQURREL TAKING THEIR SPA-okay I give up.
Update #3- He hasn't gotten it yet. There goes subtlety.
Calm down just a bit, maybe switch to decaf. This card is one of the SP variations. Pablo Sandoval also will have one of him beating up the Pirates mascot. Schumaker's actual base card will be of him.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind this particular short print, because I look at the flagship Topps set as a yearbook of the prior season. If you watched the World Series, then you heard about the Rally Squirrel. It is what it is, just a fun remembrance of the past baseball season which is what cards should be.
That being said, I am not a fan of the gimmicks either. But at least this is a memorable moment from the World Series as opposed to a stupid shiny splotch hidden somewhere on the card or a random insertion of George Bush or Rudy Guiliani.
This is cheesy. If a Cardinal fan gets this, then what binder do they put the card in?
ReplyDeleteAs for the other gimmick of Pablows Sandoval fighting a mascot, I would rather get a card of a mascot stomping on Sandoval. A mascot beating up a giant would be a Dodger fans must have card of 2012.
Lol... love the passion. Great post.
ReplyDeleteSaw this card on a Yahoo article... so maybe it'll attract some non-collectors to become collectors... which is probably the angle Topps was going for.
I tend to agree with hiflew... it's a short print, so it's not the end of the world. Collectors who don't like it can just chase the regular issue card.
Unfortunately 2011 was far from gimmick free, with the 74 legends variation SPs, 60 sparkle variations and the two uniform photoshop jobs (Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford), 2011 had more gimmicky cards than the three years previous combined. Thankfully zero of them are required to complete a set, as mentioned above.
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