The last few posts were the base cards, today I do the parallels. You get 1 Emerald Foil parallel per pack out of the HTA jumbo box – so I got 10 of those cards. Here’s 9 of them.
Topps has done a similar type of parallel 3 years in a row now. Diamond (silver), then Gold, now Emerald (green). They also had blue this year with the Silver Slate mail-ins. In 2014 Topps is going with Red Foil. We’ll see how those look.
As they have for a number of years (someone who has been back collecting longer than me probably knows the exact number), Topps has gone with a gold parallel. Got a Puig here – can’t complain about that! Also, this card of Zoilo Almonte for some reason made me think of former Little League World Series pitcher with the same surname.
I don’t particularly like the Gold parallel concept, and all the colored parallels Topps has been using (Red Target parallels, Blue Wal-Mart parallels, etc.). It’s not so much that I don’t like the cards, but I think it’s leading to a base-card trend that I don’t like. Dime Box had a good post on this recently. Basically, Topps has only considered a white border in recent years. I think some of their more interesting years are when the flagship set has a different color border – like 1962, 1987, 1975.
- White border – 46 years (counting 2014)
- Colored border – 14 years (1962, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1987, 1990, 1998-2003, 2007)
- Mixed border <white with some interruption> – 4 years 1953-1954 1963, 1986
That’s 10 of the last 11 years, however it’s not just that. Some of the white border designs have noticeable internal borders that make it seem like a colored border. Think 1972 or 1959. But that wouldn’t go as well with a myriad of colored borders fit for parallels. I hope Topps bucks this trend a bit in the future.
I did pull some numbered parallels – you have the option of camouflage (/99), pink (/50) or black (/63), and even the silk cards. I got a black card of Adam Jones’ All-Star card that looks pretty nice.
I also got a pink card of Steve Delabar. Delabar is notable – he pitched an immaculate inning this year against the A’s. That’s 3 strikeouts on nine pitches. His victims were Adam Rosales, Coco Crisp and Chris Young.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the other inserts I pulled.
Lifetime Topps project 
If there are any Dodgers there you’re not interested in keeping, let me know. Haven’t done much with Update, but I think I can roust up some wants.