Last part of this break, we'd pulled our share of Kris Bryants, buybacks, and one of the biggest rookies of the year. Now, we're getting into the nitty gritty. More stuff, more players in new uniforms, and more of those delicious combo cards, up ahead:
Pack 13- As you can see, one of those parallels got a little chilly...
Mariners rookie and Orioles breakout star. Not sure if Paredes is a long term star or a 2015 highlight.
Two great horizontals. Ranuado's is great because the out-of focus background is in motion, almost.
Bryant and Russell's is great because it's somber, well-filtered, and just looks really nice.
Here are the parallels I got this pack, and they're both kinda big. The gold parallel is Mike Folty, who I already pulled a relic/sticker-auto of in a Panini product. The ice parallel, which is numbered to 99 and is in fact a real thing, is of two Diamondbacks rookies, Enrique Burgos and Oscar Hernandez. Not sure if they'll pan out, but still pretty cool.
Pack 14- From what I can recall, this pack was amazing, because all of these people are binder-people. Except the Mick, but that's a buyback and that's a beast of its own.
Heaney spent a total of five seconds with the Dodgers, in between being traded for Dee Gordon and Howie Kendrick.
Harper...man, if he has seasons like he did in 2015, he will be unstoppable.
Jonathan Papelbon's last card as a Philadelphia Phillie...and, alright, that's pretty classy, him and K-Rod playing catch with a couple Brewers and Phillies fans.
Inserts- A Mick The Quick buyback, and a P&P insert of George Springer, who was born with a stutter and has struggled to overcome it his whole life, which is pretty inspiring.
Two postseason standouts- Josh Donaldson, a guy who will likely be taking home MVP honors this year, and Carlos Gomez, who dodged a trade to the Mets to become an Astro...which he's probably regretting right now, but if that happened, they never would have gotten Cespedes.
Two big rookies. Mahtook's a nice one, but Ahmed is part of what could be a phenomenal young infield in Phoenix.
Pack 15- I mean, at least you can tell the inserts from the base cards, I guess...
Eddie Rosario's rookie, which is pretty damn huge, and Tyler Moore's gold parallel.
Jim Palmer in a Whatever Works insert. The font there reminds me of the title font for Guardians of the Galaxy.
ASG card of Wade David, the guy who's been unstoppable in the ninth this year.
The two cards everybody wants. Kris Bryant's wonderful RD card, complete with Wrigley background, and Josh Donaldson's premier Blue Jays card, which is actually pretty damn nice.
Pack 16- We did get a few doubles in this pack, but there wasn't a ton in the rest of the box.
A WW insert of Wade Boggs, once again mentioning his love of fried chicken.
And a pretty nice shot of Mike Trout from the ASG.
A HRD shot of Manny Machado, the guy who could bring relevance back to Baltimore again next year, and a 1961 buyback of Don Gile, which is actually pretty cool.
Pack 17- I haven't showcased too many combo cards, but I like them. I feel like they add some character to the product, and I hope they do more next year.
Wow, an insert of Shawn Green. No, this isn't 2002.
And Chi Chi Gonzalez' rookie. Not the cornerstone of the rotation this year, but could be pretty big.
Two famous dodgers. Kendrick had a pretty decent 2015 in LA, and Robinson...well, he's Jackie Robinson. Also, they tend to use that Robinson photo quite a bit.
Yeah, this one I wanted. Love Didi. Think he's pretty awesome for the team. Hope he has more seasons like 2015.
Pack 18- Halfway through the box now. Now the good stuff begins to start happening.
L-R: Great infielder, steroid abuser and promising young pitcher.
Also, here's an RD card of a guy who NEEDS to have a better 2016.
Two NL standouts. Turner did a fantastic job standing in for Juan Uribe. Peralta had a second amazing season at short in St. Louis, and got a starting ASG gig.
Pack 19- Man, there were a lot of Dodgers in this pack.
This is a very awesome card, but you don't even get to see Alex Guerrero's face. It's mostly the Yasiel Puig show.
Two outstanding ASG shots. Dozier's is graceful. Tulo's is hysterical.
Two bay-area standouts. The Lawrie is a pretty cool one, and the Duffy gold parallel is something I'm definitely gonna hang onto.
Pack 20- Very AL-Central heavy, this one.
I saw Zach McAllister's rookie debut back in 2011. Also, that is a sweet throwback.
Pollock's is a little less awesome, and for a second I thought he was Joey Votto.
Can I just say how much I absolutely adore this card? There is so much to love.
Two Tigers. Anibal Sanchez' Rarities insert, and the last card of David Price as a Tiger.
That Zo card is pretty awesome, because of how astonishingly well he's been doing this postseason. The Dyson gold parallel is not too shabby either.
Pack 21- Blackjack.
Two guys who were, and still might be, in the Boston Red Sox system. De La Rosa was traded for Wade Miley, and essentially took his place at the top of the rotation. Holt had a stellar season, but hasn't been able to fit into a concrete place in the field.
Two awesome cards. I do love the Heston one, because of how happy they all look. The Boxberger is pretty nice, too.
Pack highlights. A Jeff Samardzija card, which is always nice, and a gold parallel of Eddie Butler.
Pack 22- Lots more going on here, folks.
Dear Topps,
Phillippe Aumont pitched one game this year, allowed a shit-ton of runs, and was released immediately afterward. How come he has a card in Update and Aaron Altherr doesn't?
All the best,
A frustrated Phillies fan
Three impressive horizontals. The Lindor is a great static field shot, the Pham works so well as a horizontal, and the Killebrew is also great, mainly by name.
Thankfully there's a card in here of former janitor and current-baseball-killer Evan Gattis. And yet Topps keeps crediting him as a Future Star. Sighhh...
Three straight awesome cards.
A card of Nori Aoki as a Giant, after his awesome season there.
A rookie card of probable Mets backup Kevin Plawecki.
And what probably will be one of the few cards of Jose Reyes as a Rockie.
Pack 23- So...this is the most colorful Topps set we've had since the 70's. Not because of the border. Because the photos POP. They don't always do that. But they're doing it really damn well here.
Two guys that were amazing once.
Ah, yes. How could you forget this 1974 highlight?
Good to see Victorino's still hanging in there. I really wish he'd play better, though.
And yeah, Joc Pederson, the kid that almost won the Home Run Derby.
An ASG card of JD Martinez, and that semi-rookie of Matt Duffy.
Pack 24- Jeez, it's so good that the gold parallels barely even pop.
Erasmo Ramirez, part of the surprisingly-nice Rays rotation, and Mike Trout, who's...Mike Trout.
Three great horizontals. My favorite is the grandam, though. There's a background, a foreground, and there's a horizon. There's so much going on, and I love it.
Yeah, and the Bambino's pretty awesome too.
Jonny Gomes is no longer on the Braves. He's been batting off the bench for the Royals. Also, it's sad that Beckham isn't playing everyday anymore.
A gold parallel of Brock Holt, and a ASG card, and a nice one too, of Michael Wacha.
That's all for today. I'll post the third and final part in the next day or so. And yes, we finally get to that hit.
