Completed master set – 2011 Topps Lineage

I finally knocked the last part out of the master set fo 2011 Topps Lineage.  After finishing up the ’64 Giants Box Topper set back in August, I finished up the 1975 mini parallel set last month.

Info about my base set:

How I put the set together:

• 153 cards from my first hobby box
• 41 cards from my second hobby box
• 1 card from a Group Break
• 5 cards from trades

Card that completed my set: #194 – Cal Ripken ASR (I picked up the last card in a trade from Napkin Doon – 4 years ago!) – see picture below.  I’ve had this set completed for a while – but it took me 4 years to wrap up the 75 mini parallel set.

General Set Info:

Set composition: 200 cards – 48 retired players, 142 current players, 10 All-Star Rookies

Out of the ASR subset – 6 are retired players, 4 are current

Player with the most cards in the set: 10 players – 2 cards

Each of the players in the All-Star Rookie Team subset have 2 cards.

Johnny Bench, Willie McCovey, Joe Morgan, Cal Ripken, Chipper Jones, Ichiro, Andre Dawson, Andruw Jones, CC Sabathia, Tom Seaver

First Card and the Hundreds: #1 – Sandy Koufax, #100 – Babe Ruth, #200 – Tom Seaver ASR

Highest book value: #13, #194 – Cal Ripken

Most notable card: #1 – Koufax (see above)

This isn’t a base set that has any intention of having a notable base card – so for this, I’ll pick the #1 card.  Sandy Koufax being signed as a Topps sponsor was a pretty big deal this year, and he was in just about every set where Topps included retired players in 2011.  I thought he was most appropriate.  Also, this card is kind of interesting because it’s clearly photo-shopped (Night Owl posted on this a little while ago – I spent about 5 minutes trying to find the exact post then gave up).  Koufax has a Brooklyn cap on, but it’s obviously a game in LA’s Chavez Ravine.

Best card (my opinion): #158 – Monte Irvin

The background in this photo is awesome.  It’s just an all-around awesome card in general.

Second best card (also my opinion): #1 – Sandy Koufax

Wrong hat or not, this is a really cool photo with the edge of the stands in the background and the sky in the other side as Koufax gets ready to hurl one of his many strikeouts.

Best subset card: #196 – Ichiro

It was either this or the Johnny Bench where he’s squatting.  Those were the only 2 cards that I thought had pictures that were pretty cool.

Favorite action photo: #190 – Bert Blyleven, #76 – Roberto Alomar

Cool shots of the the guys who were newly inducted Hall-of-Famers when this came out.  It was good to see these guys start getting some love 4 years ago.

Favorite non-action photo: #158 – Monte Irvin (see above)

The background in this photo is awesome.  It’s just an all-around awesome card in general.

My Favorite Reds card: #33 – Tony Perez

Like the Ichiro above, this also beats out the Bench ASR card for my selection.  I just like this shot of a younger “Big Dawg”.

My “Master” Set Info:

564 cards – 200 “base”, 20 “jumbo”, 200 “parallel”, 144 “insert”

• Parallel set:  ’75 mini
• Jumbo Box Topper:  ’64 Giants
• Insert sets:  Rookies, Cloth Stickers, Venezuelan, ’64 Stand Ups, ’68 3D, Glossy Rookies

How I put the additional sets together:  2 hobby boxes, a few retail packs, 2 group breaks (I went a little crazy back in 2011 with this stuff), trades, card shows, and online – various sources, just like I did with the full base set.  I covered each insert set in earlier posts.  The ’75 mini parallel was the last set I completed.

General Insert Set Info:

The Lineage set is all about the insert sets.  The base set was, frankly, pretty crappy.  But the inserts were (mostly), pretty great tributes to old oddball sets from the Topps archives.

Best insert card: ’68 3D – Troy Tulowitzki

The 3D set based on the test set from 1968 is the best insert set Topps did in this product, and the Tulo was my favorite.  It’s an action shot with a good background, which lends well to the 3-D effect.

Best Autograph or Relic card: ’75 Mini Relics #75R-RJ – Reggie Jackson

I think my favorite set outside of the 3D inserts was the 1975 mini.  And the Reggie Jackson card is pretty unique – Reggie is featured with the Yankees in the Lineage base and ’75 mini set, but with Oakland here.  I like this card much better.  In fact, I liked it enough to buy this card!

Best Reds insert card: ’68 3D – Joey Votto

Like I said, the 3-D set is king here, and Votto was the reigning MVP at this point.