Completed set – 2002 Topps

This was one of those where I thought I’d finished the set – then went through it and was missing a card!  This was from the fall purchases I made – I finished up the 2002 Topps set.  I’ve now completed the base set for everything from 1980 through 2004, which is all the regular sets I’ve started.

I still need a few cards from 2004 Traded and a few more than that for 2002 Traded (those damn SP’s).

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Info about my set:

How I put the set together:

• 259 cards from the series 1 hobby box
• 284 cards from the series 2 hobby box
• 117 cards from trades
• 55 cards from Just Commons – which appears to now be defunct
• 1 card from Beckett Marketplace
• 1 card from Sportlots
• 1 card from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #352 – Cleveland Indians PB (purchased on COMC)

I got this card from COMC a few months ago.

Set composition:  718 cards (549 individual ML player cards, 40 Prospects, 11 Draft Picks, 30 Managers, 12 League Leaders, 5 Season Highlights, 8 Playoff Bound, 8 September 11 Tribute, 1 Bonds Tribute, 24 Award Winners, 30 Team Checklists)

*The 549 individual player cards include 10 All-Star Rookies

Joe Mauer’s Draft Pick card is out of place and not in the numbers for the rest of that subset – so he clearly bumped somebody!

Representation of ’01 MLB season:

Out of the 549 player cards, 8 players did not play in the 2000 season.

• Joe Nathan – was in the minors after shoulder surgery, which would ultimately cause his move to the bullpen
• Mo Vaughn – missed all of 2001 after getting elbow surgery; he hurt it in August 2000 but played through it until the end of that season
• Kris Benson, Seth Etherton – both had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2001
• Mike Sirotka – Missed all of 2001 with a shoulder injury
• Pablo Ozuna – Missed all of 2001 after wrist surgery
• So Taguchi & Kaz Ishii – they got in as late additions to Topps 2002 series 2 after signing from Japan

Nobody has two regular cards in the set – which was a thing in 2001 Topps.

That leaves 541 different players represented.  But, on top of that, there were 3 players in the Prospects set (Chris George, Juan Cruz, Mike Rivera) who did play in the regular season.  So now that leads to 545 players.  The 545 players represent 44.6% out of the 1,220 players who played in MLB in 2001.

Earliest active player from this set:  #305 – Joe Torre, #165 – Rickey Henderson (active players)

Like most of these sets – there are two answers to this.  Henderson is again the earliest active player, making his debut by playing both games of a doubleheader on June 24, 1979 (he stole a base in his first game).

There isn’t a former player tribute subset, so the Manager subset is where the other answer to this question lies.  Torre is one of many managers in this set that played in the 60’s – his MLB debut was actually at the end of the 1960 season.

And it was in a pretty interesting game, on Sunday September 25, 1960.  The Braves were in 3rd and had been eliminated from pennant contention a few games before, but were playing the NL-leading and eventual World Champion Pirates that Sunday.  The 2nd place Cardinals were still mathematically alive with 5 games to go, so everybody was still playing their best hand still.  Torre pinch hit for Milwaukee Braves starter Warren Spahn (!) in the bottom of the 8th, with the Braves losing 2-0.  He got a single off Harvey Haddix, then was removed for pinch runner Lee Maye, who ended up scoring.  The Braves would end up winning the game on a walk-off Eddie Mathews home run in the bottom of the 10th off Elroy Face.

Last active player from this set:  #160 – Albert Pujols

There are no currently active players in this set.  Like 2003 Topps – Pujols was the last player from this set to keep playing after his incredible retirement tour in 2022 with the Cardinals.  La Maquina played his final regular season game on October 4, 2002, notching a single to plate 2 runs in the third inning for this final play of the regular season.  The Cardinals lost both games of the Wild Card Series to the Phillies, the final game being October 8, 2022.  Pujols did go 2-4 in that game, pulled for a pinch runner in the 8th after his last single in the 2-0 loss that ended St. Louis season and his career.

Player with the most cards in the set:  Barry Bonds – 8 cards.  No surprise – Barry Bonds was the guy with the most cards after his record-breaking 73 home run season.  Bonds had 2 cards in the Season Highlights subset (1 for the HR record, another for hitting his 500th homer), 2 cards in the League Leaders subset, a card in the United We Stand subset (Astros vs Giants), the HR Tribute card with 73 variants, the Award Winner for notching the MVP, and of course his regular card.

Barry Bonds – #500, #332 / #336 (Season Highlights), #344 / #345 (League Leaders), #364 (United We Stand), #365 (Tribute), #717 (Award Winners)

Ichiro actually made this a close contest – he’s on 7 cards!

First Card and the Hundreds:  #1 – Pedro Martinez, #100 – Vladimir Guerrero, #200 – Randy Johnson, #300 – Lou Piniella MG, #400 – Curt Schilling, #500 – Barry Bonds, #600 – Mark McGwire, #700 – Eric Chaves AW

Highest book value:  #622 – Joe Mauer RC

For the non-SP cards – Mauer’s true RC from the Draft Pick subset is the most valuable in Beckett.

Most notable card: #365 – Barry Bonds HR

Just as Topps did in 1999 (McGwire & Sosa), Barry Bonds is featured on card in the set with 73 different versions focusing on each of his record-breaking homers from the 2001 season.  I’d say this is the most notable card for the controversy of having a bunch of SP variations and not a “regular” version of the card, and also for the fact he broke the biggest record in sports.

Even the most common earlier cards would technically be the most valuable per Beckett – ahead of the $10 of the Mauer card above.

Best card (my opinion): #595 – Tim Salmon

I love the sleeveless look from this era (see Reds post below) – and Salmon was always one of my favorite players going back to his Rookie of the Year season in 1993.  For whatever reason, this card just stands out to me.

Second best card (also my opinion): #165 – Rickey Henderson

This is a far inferior set from a photograph standpoint compared to the 2001 Topps set.  But there are some neat cards.  I always love Rickey Henderson cards.

But while a Wrigley Field at bat for the Man of Steal is great – this one is special for a different reason.  It’s one of 2 base Topps cards (3 if you count his 2002 Topps Traded card) where the player’s card back has exactly 3,000 hits.

The other being Roberto Clemente from 1973 Topps.  Henderson notched his 3,000th hit on the final game of the year, which also his teammate and fellow 3,000 hit member Tony Gwynn’s last game.  Gwynn and Henderson were actually not in the game at the same time; Henderson led the game off, got a double for hit #3k and was removed the next inning.  Gwynn came in for his last AB as a pinch hitter in the 9th.

Best subset card: #358 – Mike Piazza UNITED

This was a pretty easy pick.  The Bonds card is interesting, and as I said above – notable.  But Piazza and the connection with New York after the 9-11 terrorist attacks is a part of baseball lore from that era.  Topps didn’t do a Jeter / President Bush card for the Yankees game in this subset – that could have given the above card a run for its money.

Favorite action photo: #10 – Mike Hampton

Again – this set just doesn’t have the plethora of great action shots that 2001 Topps.  So I’m going with one that’s more interesting.  Hampton won the Silver Slugger this year, and 2 years later would accomplish the daily double as the first pitcher to win the Silver Slugger and the Gold Glove in the same year.  It’s happened 2 more times – and won’t happen again since the DH was implemented in the National League.

Favorite non-action photo: #193 – Sandy Alomar

There should be more cards like this, guys in the dugout.  Beats out some of the autograph signing cards and on-deck circle cards in this set.

My Favorite Reds card:  #451 – Todd Walker

The sleeveless uniforms were the best.  This one is such a cool swing – Walker is putting everything he has into it!  It beats out pretty cool Reds cards from Sean Casey and Dmitri Young.

Other Notable Cards:  There are a lot of “last Topps cards” in this set.  I really appreciate this Eric Davis card because it’s got his final stats on the back.  He was my favorite player growing up, and while I know in the back of my mind he finished his career in San Francisco – I forgot he was on the team the year Bonds set the HR record.  He pinch hit in the game where Bonds broke the record and hit the final #73 (but not the game where Bonds tied McGwire).

A few of the best photos – sorry on the double up on Hampton! I’m re-using an old scan for this one.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps All-World

Another set completed from COMC – this was a 2002 Topps flagship insert set that I really like.  And it’s actually the last insert set but – I haven’t finished the main set (as of this post) or the Traded set (which will take forever).

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Info about the set:

Set description:  All-World was was a new (and ultimately one-time) insert set that was in 2002 Topps Series 2.  Here was my comment 8.5 years ago when I was posting about the 2002 Topps product:

“The only insert set specific to series 2 was the All-World Team.  Someday when I complete this set, I’ll figure out what the point is for it.  Since Todd Helton from Knoxville, Tennessee is in the set – it can’t be an international theme.”

Well, here I am and it’s almost 2024.  Apologies to my mid-2015 self, but I never figured this out.  It definitely has an international tilt – but there’s plenty of U.S. born players.  But not anywhere close enough to where they are setting up a Ryder Cup type matchup.  There’s every position, only because Albert Pujols played third base that one year.  So I don’t know.  Like I said, there’s an international tilt and the wording on the back sort of gets into where the player is from.

Set composition:  25 cards, 1:12 (2002 Topps series 2)

Hall of Famers:  9. Pedro Martine, Larry Walker, Mariano Rivera, Vladimir Guerrero, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza, Derek Jeter, Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my series 2 Hobby box
• 2 cards from card shows (1 from the 2015 NSCC)
• 2 cards from a trade
• 9 cards from Sportlots
• 3 cards from Beckett
• 6 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  It may be challenging to tell from my comments above – but I actually like this card set.  Quite a bit.  If Topps had just set the terms a bit better – I’d love it.  The set does have, in my opinion, a cool design.  It’s super thick, and the write-ups on the back are fun.

Card that completed my set: #AW2 – Barry Bonds, AW18 – Roger Clemens

Got both of these from COMC recently.  Usually pick a last card in that situation, but since these guys are always gonna be linked – I’ll keep it that way in this post.

Best card (my opinion): #AW22 – Hideo Nomo, AW25 – Chan Ho Park

But either way, it’s a sort-of International themed set and if you can get Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo into an insert set in 2002 – I’m good.  Both players were big impacted to my card hobby appreciation as a teenager – particularly Park – so I’m all in on this part and these 2 cards.  I also really like the Bonds picture above.  If I had to pick one – I’d go with Chan Ho Park.

Best Reds card (my opinion): #AW12 – Ken Griffey Jr.

As was the case sometimes around this timeframe – the only one.

Here’s the whole set.

Any other tidbits:  By where they were born, which is on the back of the card, here’s the breakdown.

• 11 – U.S.A.
• 5 – Dominican Republic
• 3 – Japan
• 2 – Puerto Rico
• 1 – Canada
• 1 – Venezuela
• 1 – Panama
• 1 – S. Korea

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps Own the Game

Somehow I went 2 weeks without a post, have been trying to stack them timely to avoid that – but life has been busy and I got in a hole again!  This is another 2002 insert set – completed at the end of last year.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  Own the Game was an insert set that came back from 2000 after skipping a year.  It was basically a league leaders set – the first 18 cards are hitters who led in categories like homers, RBI, stolen bases.  The last 18 cards are pitchers.  These are the only super-shiny foil insert cards, that actually scan a little bit better than they

Set composition:  30 cards, 1:10 (2002 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  6. Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome, Greg Maddux, Mariano Rivera, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my series 1 Hobby box
• 1 card from the 2015 NSCC
• 3 cards from COMC
• 23 cards Sportlots

Thoughts on the set:  These shiny hologram background sets that Topps was doing back in the early 2000’s look better when scanned then when you see them in person.  This one is OK; I will say, it’s a trip down memory lane seeing some of these league leaders from the 2001 season.

Card that completed my set: #OG26 – Mariano Rivera

I got this card from Sportlots at the end of last year.

Best card (my opinion): #OG13 – Luis Gonzalez

This Luis Gonzalez card definitely jumped out when I looked through the scans.  I’m big on the photo working with the design, and this one does – it shows his full uniform, the name plate overlays the bottom part of his photo but not in a way that detracts from it.

Best Reds card (my opinion): there are none.  The Reds had gotten to be pretty mediocre by this timeframe.

Here’s the whole set.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps Hobby Masters

Back to back on the Hobby Masters – this was the 2002 version.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  I’m not sure if it was the same as 1997, where Topps reached out to hobby dealers to pick 20 players who had the most hobby impact.  But these are cards printed on very thick card stock with a grid background.  The word Hobby Masters is printed in block capital letters on the left-hand side.  Player name is in much smaller Italics type next to that.  Player pic is on the right.  There’s a write-up on the back – next to another photo – describing how this player has had a hobby impact.

The set was (weirdly) not a hobby exclusive, and was available in retail, hobby and HTA packs.

Set composition:  20 cards, 1:25 odds (2002 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  9 – Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Vlad Guerrero, Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Pedro Martinez, Jeff Bagwell

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from my series 1 hobby box
• 4 cards from card shows
• 2 cards from Sportlots
• 4 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 9 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #HM9 – Albert Pujols

I got this card from COMC last Black Friday (with the shipment coming in late December).  I had 15 of the 20 cards through 2016, then finished it very slowly after that.

Thoughts on the set:  Seems weird it isn’t hobby only?  Not a bad design, like the thicker card stock.  It does have the feel of a premium insert.

Best card (my opinion): #HM18 – Pedro Martinez

I like the fit of this photo with the design of the card.  And it’s Pedro at the height of his powers.

My Favorite Reds card: #HM11 – Ken Griffey Jr.

As the saying goes – it beat out all of the competition.  Of which there were no others.

Here’s the scan of the full card set:

Any other tidbits:  Whenever I get to the last of these – I’ll want to put together a list of who made the most of these sets.  But so far – guys that are in all 3 I’ve completed (’97, ’02, ’04) are:

• Randy Johnson
• Mike Piazza
• Chipper Jones
• Barry Bonds
• Derek Jeter
• Sammy Sosa

2002 Topps parallels – Vlad Guerrero (and Chone Figgins) – a big step, but still some hunting left

Yes it’s been a long time since I posted – but I got the following card on COMC after a long time waiting!

This doesn’t finish my rainbow, but the rest of the cards are very easy finds compared to a #/50 card from a guy who’s about to  go to the Hall of Fame!  So below is the updated post.

2002 Topps

Card I selected:  #100 – Vladimir Guerrero

I went back and forth a bit on who to pick here – basically determined by the Kanebo Silver card I could find.  I found a Sammy Sosa quite a while ago and bought it.  But I don’t love Sosa’s card and he’s far from my favorite player, too.  I bought the Kanebo packs mentioned in my last post, and pulled one silver card – of Vlad the Impaler.  I love this card, and Vlad has always been a cool player.  I’d much rather have him in this parallel set!

I have one more card to go to finish off the 2002 parallels.  Chrome introduced the rarer Black Refractors in 2002, and I just haven’t found one yet.  Not surprising that I have had trouble tracking down a card numbered to 50 from 14 years ago…

# of cards (including the Topps card):  11

The parallel sets in 2002 include:

• Gold
• Home Team Advantage
• Limited
• Kanebo
• Kanebo Silver
• Opening Day
• Chrome
• Chrome Gold Refractors
• Chrome Black Refractors
• Chrome Refractors (Traded only)

Scans:

2002 Topps #100

2002 Topps Gold #100

Topps Gold was back for its second straight year with a shiny foil border.  Numbering Topps Gold to the current year – #/2002 – is a trend Topps has kept to this day.  In 2002 it was only a partial parallel, though of most of the set.  There were 58 cards that didn’t have gold parallels – basically any of the full bleed subsets and the Barry Bonds 73 HR card.  The gold border was a little weirder in 2002 – as the base cards themselves had a gold/orange border.

2002 Topps Home Team Advantage #100

Cards from hobby factory sets got a stamp to special “Home Team Advantage” logo to designate them.

2002 Topps Limited #100

Limited Edition factory sets were back, coming in a wood box and a stated production run of 1,950 (though the cards themselves weren’t numbered).  These cards are stamped with the words “Limited Edition” in the bottom right.

2002 Topps Kanebo #6

2002 Topps Kanebo Silver #6

Now I’m getting to some hard to find cards.  This Japanese parallel of the 2002 Topps set was actually issued in 2003.  The regular Kanebo cards are pretty tough to find themselves, but at any given point they pop up on eBay.  Topps issued the cards in Japan in conjunction with Kanebo, a Japanese manufacturer of gum and plenty of other products.  There are 55 cards in the set.  The front of the card is basically the same, just without the gold foil on the name and the Topps logo.  The backs are completely in Japanese, have different numbering since they’re a partial parallel, and have a Kanebo logo in the bottom right hand corner.

There’s actually a black parallel that’s even harder to find and I’m just not including it here.  I’d love to add the Vlad to my parallel collection, but I’ve only seen 1 or 2 ever for sale and it would be pure luck if the particular player showed up.

2002 Topps Opening Day #29

COMING SOMEDAY TO A BLOG NEAR YOU

Opening Day was back for the 5th time.  Again, it’s a 165 card set that could only be found in retail outlets.  The border is brown instead of the orange/gold of the flagship set, and there is a foil Opening Day logo at the bottom.  The photos are the same as the base Topps set.  Naturally, the back has a different number.

2002 Topps Chrome #100

Topps Chrome was here for its 7th year as a nearly, but not quite, full parallel.  Released in 2 series just like Topps, Chrome reproduced the first 695 cards of the regular Topps set using the chromium technology.  The other differences on the front are the Topps Chrome logo and the fact that the border is silver.  The back of the card is the same as the regular set except for the Topps Chrome logo and slightly different copyright wording.  The numbering is the same.  It’s kind of weird that the back is gold but the front is silver.

2002 Topps Chrome Gold Refractors #100

Refractors were back, and they weren’t retrofractors this time.  But the regular season version of 2002 Topps Chrome didn’t have regular refractors – only gold refractors.  That makes an interesting twist to my collection here.  The back points out that it’s a refractor.

2002 Topps Chrome Black Refractors #100

Black Refractors made their first appearance in 2002.  They were very rare, which is why I haven’t been able to snag one yet.

2002 Topps Chrome Traded Refractors #T196

Vlad doesn’t have a card in the 2002 Topps Traded set, so I’m just using the card of Chone Figgins that I pulled.  They would be teammates soon after these cards came out.

The “Rainbow”:

COMING SOMEDAY TO A BLOG NEAR YOU

Any sets I didn’t get:  I didn’t include the black Kanebo cards above.  I’ve never seen that card for anyone but Magglio Ordoñez and So Taguchi, so while I think the card of Guerrero probably does exist, it’s unlikely I’ll ever find it.

Other cards I would have liked to do:  As I mentioned, I originally was going to go with Sosa because I found a silver Kanebo card of his.  Other than that, Vlad seems like one of the best cards in the set.  There are 55 guys in the Kanebo set, and most – but not all – are in Opening Day – so the population here is probably around 45 guys you could get all of the flagship Topps cards.  Raul Mondesi, Johnny Damon and Cliff Floyd are the 3 players who have all of the cards above – including a Topps Traded card.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps Ring Masters

Don’t worry, regardless of the political landscape, the world hasn’t ended!  I completed an insert set!  Grant it, it was over a year ago, but I can still post about it now!  Yes, it looks like Trump is the Ring Master in the election, but the guys below are the Ring Masters from the 2002 insert set.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  This insert set honors players with championship rings to their credit.  The cards have a blue background and a bit of starburst with a larger version of the same photo.  It’s hard to describe but it you look at it you’ll see what I’m saying.  The cards are super thick!  The back has a write-up with even more blue.

Set composition:  10 cards, 1:25 (2002 Topps series 2)

Hall of Famers:  1. Just Greg Maddux.  Others forthcoming.

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from Sportlots
• 7 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  There’s some weird stuff going on – there are some omissions I don’t understand.  Like why is nobody from the recently crowned Diamondbacks on here.  I’d have included Johnson, Schilling, and then some Yankees with a boatload of rings over Mike Mussina who didn’t have any.  Selfishly – I’d have liked to see Barry Larkin in here.  Or Rickey Henderson.  That said – the thick cards are very nice.

Out of my 25 – they only included 8 – I think most of mine would are much better than what they did include.  I’d also have gone chronologically with the set.  Still, a very cool set either way you look at it.

Card that completed my set: #RM10 – Paul O’Neill

I got this card from COMC last July.  And by last July I mean 2015.  When Donald Trump wasn’t even a thought as a political candidate!  I don’t know?

Best card (my opinion): #RM1 – Derek Jeter

Paul O’Neill both had 5 rings when this set was released.  Jeter had 4 but would end up with 5.  I also think this is the best photo.  So he wins.

Best Reds card (my opinion): there are none.  O’Neill won 1 of his 5 rings with the Reds!

Here’s the whole set.

Any other tidbits:  I’m not sure why Mike Mussina is in this bucket.  He never won a World Series.  Aside from him, the other 9 guys won a combined 20 rings.  It was 19 at the time of this set – Jeter won with the 2009 Yankees and every other title was before 2001.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps ’52 Reprints

Starting in 1996, Topps decided they were going to do a reprint set every year.  From ’96 through 2000, they did reprints of a specific player.  In 2001 they did a “through the years” reprint set.  In 2002, they focused on 50 years earlier – ’52 reprints of guys who were in the 1952 World Series.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  This set reprints certain Dodgers and Yankees, from the 1952 set – because they matched up in the World Series that year.  There is a special gold foil World Series logo stamped in the top right corner on the front of the card.  Unlike the previous flagship reprint sets, these cards have a gold foil border.  The set was inserted across both series.

Set composition:  19 cards, 1:25 (2002 Topps)

Hall of Famers:  6

Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Johnny Mize, Phil Rizzuto, Jackie Robinson, Yogi Berra

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my series 1 and 2 hobby boxes
• 10 cards from Beckett’s Marketplace
• 3 cards from Sportlots
• 3 cards from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #52R-10 – Jackie Robinson

This was one of 3 cards I got from COMC in the Black Friday sale last year – purchased in November, showed up in December.

Thoughts on the set:  In contrast to the 2001 reprint set, which was just “let’s throw a bunch of reprints together”, I’d rather have reprint sets like this. It has a theme that makes sense.  It’s 50 years after the 1952 World Series, that was an iconic card set, let’s do cards of the guys who played in that series.  I like the gold border to distinguish it, too.

Best card (my opinion):  #52R-4 – Andy Pafko

He’s card #1 in the ’52 Topps set, so his card has a later number here.  I was between this and the Duke Snider card, which I really like.  I think I went with this just because it was so notable as card #1.

Here’s a scan of the whole set.

Any other tidbits:  Pafko has a black back – every other card has a red back.  In the original set, the first 80 cards were printed in both colors.

There are 8 Dodgers and 11 Yankees in the set.  There aren’t Chrome versions inserted in the regular Topps Flagship sets.  However, you can find Chrome and refractor versions in the Topps Chrome product.

Ralph Houk is in this set.  He won 2 World Series with the Yankees as skipper Casey Stengel’s replacement in 1961, but he had less than 200 at bats in his major league career.  It’s kind of amazing he had a card in the 1952 set – he had 9 at bats in 1952, and 1 AB in the World Series.

Completed insert set – 2002 Topps East Meets West

I have a card of Jalen Rose and Glen Rice from a set called “East Meets West”.  This is not that set – but it goes by the same name.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  East Meets West was an interesting set that was inserted into series 1 of 2002 Topps.  It was a reaction to the increasing number of Japanese players signing to MLB contracts – following the lead of Hideo Nomo and Ichiro.  And Masanori Murakami from a far earlier day.  The set is based on Masanori Murakami’s dual player Topps rookie card from 1965.  Murakami stays put on the right side of the card while other Japanese-born ballplayers like Nomo are on to the left side.

Set composition:  8 cards, 1:24 (2002 Topps series 1)

Hall of Famers:  None in Cooperstown.  But Kaz Sasaki and Hideo Nomo have both been inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my series 1 hobby box
• 3 cards from Sportlots
• 2 from Beckett

Thoughts on the set:  Today, the idea of retro designs has become a little more played out than it used to be, and it would have been better if it came on some sort of anniversary of Murakami’s card.  Like in 2005 – 40 years after the card.  Or 2004 – 40 years after his debut.  Also, I’m not sure why Ichiro wasn’t included.

But it’s still a cool set.  At the time, the Japanese influx was very much a new thing in baseball.  And while there’s no Ichiro, there’s the original guy in this wave – Hideo Nomo.

Card that completed my set: #EW-HI – Hideki Irabu / Masanori Murakami

I got this in a Beckett Marketplace purchase last September.

Best card (my opinion): #EW-HN – Hideo Nomo / Masanori Murakami

Can’t beat 2 originals.  Murakami was the first Japanese player to perform in MLB, but the 2nd player didn’t come for another 30 years.  It was Nomo who paved the way for Nippon League players to come to the states.  It’s not a perfect analogy, but Murakami is kind of like Moses Fleetwood Walker, whereas Nomo is akin to Jackie Robinson.

All that said, this is clearly the best card in the set.

My favorite Reds card:  There are none.  The Reds signed Aroldis Chapman a few years back, but have generally been pretty quiet as far as signing foreign-born players.

Here’s a scan of the full set.

Any other tidbits:  The current players replace Dick Estelle on the left side of the card.  Estelle was a fellow Giants rookie with Murakami in 1964.  Like Murakami, he also only lasted into 1965.  For his career, he went 1-2 with a 3.23 ERA.

2002 Topps parallels – Vlad Guerrero (and Chone Figgins) – some hunting left to do

2002 Topps

Card I selected:  #100 – Vladimir Guerrero

I went back and forth a bit on who to pick here – basically determined by the Kanebo Silver card I could find.  I found a Sammy Sosa quite a while ago and bought it.  But I don’t love Sosa’s card and he’s far from my favorite player, too.  I bought the Kanebo packs mentioned in my last post, and pulled one silver card – of Vlad the Impaler.  I love this card, and Vlad has always been a cool player.  I’d much rather have him in this parallel set!

I have one more card to go to finish off the 2002 parallels.  Chrome introduced the rarer Black Refractors in 2002, and I just haven’t found one yet.  Not surprising that I have had trouble tracking down a card numbered to 50 from 14 years ago…

# of cards (including the Topps card):  11

The parallel sets in 2002 include:

• Gold
• Home Team Advantage
• Limited
• Kanebo
• Kanebo Silver
• Opening Day
• Chrome
• Chrome Gold Refractors
• Chrome Black Refractors
• Chrome Refractors (Traded only)

Scans:

2002 Topps #100

2002 Topps Gold #100

Topps Gold was back for its second straight year with a shiny foil border.  Numbering Topps Gold to the current year – #/2002 – is a trend Topps has kept to this day.  In 2002 it was only a partial parallel, though of most of the set.  There were 58 cards that didn’t have gold parallels – basically any of the full bleed subsets and the Barry Bonds 73 HR card.  The gold border was a little weirder in 2002 – as the base cards themselves had a gold/orange border.

2002 Topps Home Team Advantage #100

Cards from hobby factory sets got a stamp to special “Home Team Advantage” logo to designate them.

2002 Topps Limited #100

Limited Edition factory sets were back, coming in a wood box and a stated production run of 1,950 (though the cards themselves weren’t numbered).  These cards are stamped with the words “Limited Edition” in the bottom right.

2002 Topps Kanebo #6

2002 Topps Kanebo Silver #6

Now I’m getting to some hard to find cards.  This Japanese parallel of the 2002 Topps set was actually issued in 2003.  The regular Kanebo cards are pretty tough to find themselves, but at any given point they pop up on eBay.  Topps issued the cards in Japan in conjunction with Kanebo, a Japanese manufacturer of gum and plenty of other products.  There are 55 cards in the set.  The front of the card is basically the same, just without the gold foil on the name and the Topps logo.  The backs are completely in Japanese, have different numbering since they’re a partial parallel, and have a Kanebo logo in the bottom right hand corner.

There’s actually a black parallel that’s even harder to find and I’m just not including it here.  I’d love to add the Vlad to my parallel collection, but I’ve only seen 1 or 2 ever for sale and it would be pure luck if the particular player showed up.

2002 Topps Opening Day #29

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Opening Day was back for the 5th time.  Again, it’s a 165 card set that could only be found in retail outlets.  The border is brown instead of the orange/gold of the flagship set, and there is a foil Opening Day logo at the bottom.  The photos are the same as the base Topps set.  Naturally, the back has a different number.

2002 Topps Chrome #100

Topps Chrome was here for its 7th year as a nearly, but not quite, full parallel.  Released in 2 series just like Topps, Chrome reproduced the first 695 cards of the regular Topps set using the chromium technology.  The other differences on the front are the Topps Chrome logo and the fact that the border is silver.  The back of the card is the same as the regular set except for the Topps Chrome logo and slightly different copyright wording.  The numbering is the same.  It’s kind of weird that the back is gold but the front is silver.

2002 Topps Chrome Gold Refractors #100

Refractors were back, and they weren’t retrofractors this time.  But the regular season version of 2002 Topps Chrome didn’t have regular refractors – only gold refractors.  That makes an interesting twist to my collection here.  The back points out that it’s a refractor.

2002 Topps Chrome Black Refractors #100

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Black Refractors made their first appearance in 2002.  They were very rare, which is why I haven’t been able to snag one yet.

2002 Topps Chrome Traded Refractors #T196

Vlad doesn’t have a card in the 2002 Topps Traded set, so I’m just using the card of Chone Figgins that I pulled.  They would be teammates soon after these cards came out.

The “Rainbow”:

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Any sets I didn’t get:  I didn’t include the black Kanebo cards above.  I’ve never seen that card for anyone but Magglio Ordoñez and So Taguchi, so while I think the card of Guerrero probably does exist, it’s unlikely I’ll ever find it.

Other cards I would have liked to do:  As I mentioned, I originally was going to go with Sosa because I found a silver Kanebo card of his.  Other than that, Vlad seems like one of the best cards in the set.  There are 55 guys in the Kanebo set, and most – but not all – are in Opening Day – so the population here is probably around 45 guys you could get all of the flagship Topps cards.  Raul Mondesi, Johnny Damon and Cliff Floyd are the 3 players who have all of the cards above – including a Topps Traded card.

2002 Topps Kanebo packs

This Japanese parallel of the 2002 Topps set has always intrigued me since I read about it.  But these cards are hard to find.  They were issued in 2003 based on the copyright, and that’s how Beckett lists them.  But they’re parallels to the 2002 Topps set, so I consider this issue to be 2002 cards.  Topps issued the cards in Japan in conjunction with Kanebo, a Japanese company that I believe is a gum manufacturer there.  Kanebo also makes cards on their own of players from the Nippon Japanese league.  In this set, there are 55 cards, most of them done in the same design and photo as 2002 Topps.  The backs are completely in Japanese.

There is also a parallel to the 2003 set that Beckett lists as series 2.  I’d just consider that 2003 Kanebo, though they seem to be quite a bit harder to find.  There are 110 of the 2003 cards.

You will see a few singles of these cards on eBay or COMC every now and then, and I’ve picked up a few here and there to see what they look like.  But in February, I found some packs of the 2002 version on eBay and pulled the trigger.  They were 11 bucks each, so not cheap considering you only get 3 cards per pack.

The silver cards have odds I got one silver card – Vladimir Guerrero in one of my favorite photos from the 2002 Topps set.  I’ve read that these come 1 every 10 packs, so a pretty good pull if that’s the case.  There are also black parallels that I’ve almost never seen, they must be even tougher.

For each year in my Lifetime Topps project, I try to put together as many parallels of one card as possible.  I’ll be going for Vlad for 2002.  I do really like the photo here, so it’s a good one to go for.

Here are the 9 cards I got in the packs.