Completed insert set – 2003 Topps Red Backs

As promised – I finished up another insert set from 2003 – I got the Red backs done the same time I got the Blue Backs finished.  So back-to-back posts for these.  This is the third insert set I’ve completed from 2003.

Info about the set:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Set description:  Topps didn’t reprint old cards in the flagship set for 2003.  Instead, they piggy-backed off of the Heritage theme that had gotten skipped when they started with 1952 Topps (in 2001 Heritage).  Paying homage to the 1951 Red Back & Blue Back sets, Topps issued Blue Back cards in series 1 and Red Back cards in series 2.  The cards are standard size – unlike the 1951 Playing card size set.  They also deviated from the OG by only making 40 cards in each series (the originals had 52).

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:12 Topps series 2

Hall of Famers:  12.  Ichiro, Guerrero, Jeter, Piazza, Rolen, Randy Johnson, Chipper, Thome, Ivan Rodriguez, Bagwell, Larry Walker, Pedro, Maddux

Ken Griffey Jr. was swapped out of this series

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from the s2 HTA box I opened
• 2 cards from the National Sports Card Convention (2015)
• 1 card from another card show
• 10 cards from trades
• 7 cards from Sportlots
• 6 cards from Beckett’s Marketplace
• 11 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  Same as the last post!  Pretty cool set at the time, sucks they printed it on the same cardstock and not Heritage card stock.  Also sucks they made it a different card size than the original.  Also sucks they didn’t make the easy jump to make it a 52-card set.  And finally – sucks they didn’t number it!

I like this set a bit more – the photos are cropped to not be as close up.

Card that completed my set:  Albert Pujols

I got this one on COMC on Black Friday, which showed up at just at the end of last year.  The Captain for the Blue Backs, the Machine for the Red Backs – so I think I was holding out on a few of the more expensive ones.

Best card (my opinion):  Carlos Delgado

Love the Blue Jays cap from then and this is a pic that fits with this set.  As I said – I like the focus on these being a little further back from the Blue Backs set.

My Favorite Reds card:  Adam Dunn

He’s the only one in this series after they pulled Griffey and Austin Kearns.

***********

These cards have no number on the back – but there is an order that both Beckett and Baseballcardpedia follow.  For tracking purposes while I was trying to finish this set – I used that.

See my rant on not numbering these cards in the previous Blue Backs set post!  Here’s a scan of the set.

Any other tidbits:  In addition to Griffey & Kearns, Bernie Williams, Eric Chavez, Eric Hinske, Jimmy Rollins, Kas Ishii, Mark Prior and Richie Sexson were not in this series after being in the Blue Backs set.  They were replaced by Barry Zito, Brian Giles, Delgado, Garret Anderson, Magglio Ordonez, Manny Ramirez, Mark Prior, Miguel Tejada and Torii Hunter.

Here’s the breakout of “events” in this set – a lot more Balls and Strikes compared to the Blue Backs

• Ball – 12
• Strike – 8
• Single – 3
• Stolen Base – 3
• Foul Ball – 3
• Out – 2
• Fly Out – 2
• Bunt – 2
• Home Run – 1
• Triple – 1
• Double – 1
• Hit By Pitch – 1
• Bunt (sacrifice) – 1
• Balk – 1
• Foul Out – 0

Completed insert set – 2003 Topps Blue Backs

This is only my second completed insert set from 2003 – though there’s another one coming up next!

Info about the set:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Set description:  Topps didn’t reprint old cards in the flagship set for 2003.  Instead, they piggy-backed off of the Heritage theme that had gotten skipped when they started with 1952 Topps (in 2001 Heritage).  Paying homage to the 1951 Red Back & Blue Back sets, Topps issued Blue Back cards in series 1 and Red Back cards in series 2.  The cards are standard size – unlike the 1951 Playing card size set.  They also deviated from the OG by only making 40 cards in each series (the originals had 52).

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:12 series 1

Hall of Famers:  13.  Jeter, Guerrero, Griffey Jr., Piazza, Chipper, Ivan Rodriguez, Bagwell, Thome, Pedro, Randy Johnson, Larry Walker, Maddux, Rolen

How I put the set together:

• 6 cards (3 each) from the s1 hobby and HTA boxes I opened
• 3 cards from the National Sports Card Convention (2 in 2013, 1 in 2015)
• 2 cards from trades
• 15 cards from Sportlots
• 8 cards from Beckett’s Marketplace
• 6 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  Pretty cool set at the time, sucks they printed it on the same cardstock and not Heritage card stock.  Also sucks they made it a different card size than the original.  Also sucks they didn’t make the easy jump to make it a 52-card set.  And finally – sucks they didn’t number it!

Card that completed my set:  Derek Jeter

I got this one on COMC on Black Friday, which showed up at just at the end of last year.  Their shipping times are coming back down!

Best card (my opinion):  Todd Helton

The flipped up sunglasses for Helton was the coolest photo in my opinion.

My Favorite Reds card:  Adam Dunn

This was a fun time to be a Reds fan.  Griffey was still there and we hoped for some prime production for him, Sean Casey was the mayor, and Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns were young up-and-comers!  Griffey and Kearns also had cards in this set.

***********

These cards have no number on the back – but there is an order that both Beckett and Baseballcardpedia follow.  For tracking purposes while I was trying to finish this set – I used theirs.

I will say – I hate when cards aren’t numbered.  It’s like Topps is saying “we don’t think of this as a set you should try to complete”.  And the original ones had card numbers on the front – so it doesn’t even go with the history of their company they’re trying to pay homage to!

Soap box rant over.  Here’s a scan of the set.

Any other tidbits:  Here’s the breakout of “events” in this set:

• Single – 5
• Out – 4
• Ball – 4
• Strike – 4
• Fly Out – 3
• Foul Ball – 3
• Stolen Base – 3
• Home Run – 3
• Double – 2
• Hit By Pitch – 2
• Foul Out – 2
• Bunt – 2
• Bunt (sacrifice) – 1
• Triple – 1
• Balk – 1

Completed insert set – 1998 Topps Milestone

1998 had some tough insert sets – and I’ve now knocked them all off their pedestal!

Info about the set:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Set description:  This was a retail-only set in 1998 Topps series 2.  This set focused on career milestones that these individual players were close to at the end of the 1997 season.  The front has an action photo and a larger posed photo over a blue foil cloud background.  The back discusses the milestones that player could reach in 1998.

Set composition:  10 cards, 1:36 odds (1998 Topps series 2 retail)

Hall of Famers:  6.  Eckersley, Griffey Jr., Gwynn, Maddux, Ripken, Thomas

The other 4 guys all had some level of steroid implications.

How I put the set together:

• 5 cards from COMC
• 3 cards from Beckett’s marketplace
• 1 card from Sportlots
• 1 card from eBay

Like the series 1 retail-only insert set from 1998 (Baby Boomers) – I didn’t get any from actual card packs, makes me sad 😦

Thoughts on the set:  This is a nice insert set, I like themes that these sets had around this time frame and it’s a very pretty design.  Reminds me of some mid-90s Upper Deck insert sets I also really liked.  This would have been fun to collect in 1998.

Card that completed my set:  #MS3 – Dennis Eckersley

I bought this from Beckett Marketplace on Black Friday.  I was looking for this card for what seemed like forever quite a while – the 2nd to last card I bought was in 2017.  In fact, at one point I thought I had this card and realized it was the Topps Chrome version (which are much more easy to find compared to the base Topps set).

Best card (my opinion):  #MS6 – Ken Griffey Jr.

Easy pick, this is the winner hands down!  Griffey with the backwards cap!

My Favorite Reds card:  There are none, though Griffey would be a Red!

***********

Here’s a scan of the set – front and back.

Any other tidbits:  Here’s the milestone predicted for the 1998 season for each player:

• Barry Bonds – MLB’s first 400 HR, 400 SB player (reached in 1998)
• Roger Clemens – 3,000 strikeouts (reached in 1998)
• Dennis Eckersley – 1,070 Games pitched – all-time leader (he passed Hoyt Wilhelm with the final appearance of his 1998 season and career – but Jesse Orosco passed him the next  season)
• Juan Gonzalez – 300 HR (reached in 1998)
• Ken Griffey Jr. – 300 HR (reached in 1998)
• Tony Gwynn – 9th batting title to pass Honus Wagner for NL mark (never reached) and 3,000 hits (reached but not in 1998)
• Greg Maddux – 200 wins and 2,000 strikeouts (both reached in 1998)
• Mark McGwire – 400 HR and 1,000 RBI (both reached in 1998)
• Cal Ripken Jr. – 400 HR and 1,000 XBH (both reached but not in 1998)
• Frrank Thomas – tie Joe DiMaggio for 2nd with 8 straight 100 RBI to start their career (full seasons

Rickey Henderson got to 2,000 runs in 1998 and was just the 6th person to reach that mark – he should have made this set!  Especially since the Thomas one was kind of a reach.

Completed insert set – 2012 Allen & Ginter mini Musical Masters

Merry Christmas!  I had a bit of a post backlog, but I’m through that now and don’t have as much time – but do hope I can get a couple more in before the new year.  Here’s a quick completed insert set from some Black Friday purchases I made.  I didn’t go too crazy compared to the Summer/Fall purchases I made earlier this year.  But I do have a pretty big completion milestone after this one.

I collected Ginter in 2011 and 2012 (only) – so I’m trying to finish up some of the insert sets from those 2 years.  I knocked off the one remaining card from my recent Beckett purchases that I did on Black Friday.  A couple sets from that – and then a few coming from COMC that will be early next year I think!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Info about the set:

Set description:  “16 musically minded cards featuring famous composers from throughout history.”  These are vertically oriented minis with the maestros (which by the way should have been the name of this set) depicted on the front and a write-up on their career exploits on the back.

Set composition: 16 cards, 1:5 odds (2012 Allen & Ginter’s)

I only got one of these in my box – I think it’s that the insert minis are 1:5 in total

Hall of Famers: Not a sports set.

Card that completed my set: #MM-14 Igor Stravinsky

I got this card from Beckett Marketplace as a Black Friday purchase.

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from the Ginter hobby box I bought
• 1 card from a Ginter case break I did back in 2012
• 1 card from a card show
• 1 card from a trade
• 5 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 6 cards from COMC
• 1 cards from Sportlots

Thoughts on the set:  This is one of the many sets that makes Ginter unique, and it’s kind of neat to go through.  A good selection by Topps here.

I wish they had thrown in like 4 more modern composers to make this 20 cards to fill out that mini page.  John Williams and Howard Shore would be so easy – cut up a few of their blazers, get them to sign some framed minis and you have a perfect add to the Ginter product!

Best card (my opinion): #MM-2, MM-3 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Van Beethoven

I’m not a classical music aficionado – but it would be hard to pick above these two or between these two in my understanding.

Here’s the scan of the full set.

Any other tidbits:  I always like to do some cross-referencing for sets like this with Goodwin Champions from Upper Deck.  Will just check my top 2 cards here.  Beethoven is in the 2014 Goodwin base set, while Mozart is in the Goudey insert set from the 2016 Goodwin product.

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).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 – 2012 Topps Archives Classic Combinations

This is the last of the 2012 Archives insert sets for me to complete.  This one was based on a 1958 subset – I finished it last month (or this month if you factor in when I got around to cataloguing this stuff).

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Info about the set:

Set description:  10 Classic Combos honoring the 1958 subset – which was arguably the first subset in baseball card history – and the dual player cards in that set. Topps put a twist on that by matching a current player up with a star from today on the same team.

Set composition:  10 cards, 1:32 (retail only)

Hall of Famers: 11 – George Brett, Al Kaline, Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Ryne Sandberg, Whitey Ford, Mike Schmidt, Roy Halladay, Johnny Bench, Carl Yastrzemski

Doc Halladay with the nod as the only current player to be inducted, though that will go up.

How I put the set together:

• 1 card in a trade (Cardboard Catastrophes)
• 2 cards from the NSCC
• 3 cards from Sportlots
• 1 card from eBay
• 2 card from COMC
• 1 card from Beckett Marketplace

Thoughts on the set:  I like revisiting the design of older subsets, and staying mostly true to the original.  There are some other “Combos” subsets Topps has done as inserts.  2000 and 2001 Topps did an insert that was it’s own design.  The Heritage product usually mimics it’s tribute set – so for example, the same year as this, 2012 Heritage, has a subset that looks like the combos subset from 1963 Topps.

I kind of like what Topps did in 2000 and 2001 the best.  But this is cool, nonetheless.

Card that completed my set: #58-YE Yastrzemski & Ellsbury

I picked up this card from Beckett Marketplace last month.

Best card (my opinion):  #68-VB Votto & Bench

I think this is the best combination across teams.  You have 2 guys who are very singularly associated with their team who won an MVP there.  The others tend to be guys who were good players and either you have a pitcher with a hitter (Mays & Lincecum or Schmidt & Doc) that doesn’t really seem connected, or guys who didn’t quite pan out to the extent the old-time Hall of Famer did (Hosmer or Castro).

Kaline & Cabrera and Koufax / Kershaw were definitely the other ones I’d consider, with Ford and Sabathia pretty cool, too.

My Favorite Reds card: #68-VB Votto & Bench

Duh.

Here’s a scan of the whole set:

 

Any other tidbits:  Here’s a pretty fun post I did comparing old and new for these 2 retail subsets from 2012 Topps Archives:

Completed insert set – 2012 Allen & Ginter mini Man’s Best Friend

I collected Ginter in 2011 and 2012 (only) – so I’m trying to finish up some of the insert sets from those 2 years.  I knocked off the one remaining card from my recent Beckett purchases.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Info about the set:

Set description:  “20 cards celebrating some of the most popular breeds of man’s most popular companion.”  These are horizontally oriented mini cards with the doggie depicted on the front and a write-up on the breed on the back.

Set composition: 20 cards, 1:5 odds (2012 Allen & Ginter’s)

I only got one of these in my box – I think it’s that the insert minis are 1:5 in total

Hall of Famers: Not a sports set.

Card that completed my set: #MBF-8 Labrador Retriever

I got this card from Beckett Marketplace last month.

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from the Ginter hobby box I bought
• 1 card from a retail pack
• 1 card from a Ginter case break I did back in 2012
• 2 cards from a card show
• 5 cards from Sportlots
• 3 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 7 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  This is one of the many sets that makes Ginter unique, though it isn’t the most interesting one since there are a lot of sets that have various dogs on it. I do like that there’s some reading on the backs – sometimes Topps just puts a checklist.

Best card (my opinion): #MBF-6 Dachshund

Pretty easy choice – I’m a dachshund owner!  He’s a lot older these days than this picture from ~12 years ago.

Here’s the scan of the full set.

Any other tidbits:  There’s been a lot of sets about dogs, I learned looking into this that Upper Deck did a “Canine Collection” set.  Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Completed insert set – 2011 Allen & Ginter N43

I finished up a few Ginter inserts in the first of the Beckett Marketplace packages I bought in September and the first one was the box topper variety.

Most of the insert sets in Ginter are not of the standard size.  Most of them are minis.  And then there are cabinet cards or N43 cards that are only obtainable as box toppers.  I finished off the Cabinet set already, and now I’ve finished off the N43 cards as well.

Info about the set:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Set description: “15 cards styled after the original N43 card, which was 3 1/4″ and 2 7/8″ in size!”

Sort of larger cards, with a a mini version of the Ginter design (most of the cards are different photos from the player’s regular card – a couple are though) over a flower and field background.  There were autograph and relic versions for most (but not all) of the players as well.

Set composition:  15 cards, box topper (2011 Allen & Ginter’s)

Hall of Famers:  1.  So far just Roy Halladay.

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from my first hobby box
• 1 card from Sportlots
• 7 card from COMC
• 6 cards from Beckett Marketplace

Card that completed my set:  #N43-MT – Mark Teixeira

 

I got this card from Beckett Marketplace in September.  This and other posts will be come out of those purchases.

I was actually down to just this card for 7 full years before I finally pulled the trigger!

Thoughts on the set:  I like it, don’t love it.  The background is kind of good impression of what a ballfield in the early professional era – though this isn’t the best Ginter design I’ve seen.

Best card (my opinion):  #N43-JV – Joey Votto

Best Reds card (my opinion):  #N43-JV – Joey Votto

The early phase of Votto’s greatness.  He was coming off his MVP season when this came out.  Feels like the right card given the news that he won’t be back with the Reds next year.

I do also like the Pujols card where he’s coming up for a throw.  There’s also an Aroldis Chapman card from the Reds perspective.

Here’s a scan of the full set:

Other tidbits:  It’s challenging to store these cards.  I have the 3-card page binders and just trust that the cards won’t move over the middle to the other side!

Completed insert set – 2001 Topps Traded Who Would Have Thought

So I still have a bunch of completed set posts to do – but I’m actually caught up and doing posts from purchases that were recently incoming.  I got my kids some Pokémon cards and myself some insert wantlist items through some Beckett Marketplace and  COMC purchases this Summer/Fall.

This one was the first one I got to from Beckett.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Info about the set:

Set description:  20-card set showing players who were traded or signed free agent contracts throughout their career, ending up in unexpected places.  The design has the Eagles green from the 2001 set, with 2 pictures of the depicted player.  The left picture has a picture from the player’s initial team, the right shows him with the later team.

Set composition:  20 cards, 1:8 odds (2001 Topps Traded & Rookies)

Hall of Famers:  16.  Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Andre Dawson, Lou Brock, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Winfield, Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Paul Molitor, Gary Carter, Wade Boggs, Willie Mays

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from my 2001 Traded box
• 10 cards from Sportlots
• 6 cards from COMC
• 1 card from Beckett Marketplace

Card that completed my set:  #WWHT-17 – Paul Molitor

I got the Molitor card from Beckett Marketplace about a month ago in a spending spree!

I like this card – I don’t always understand some of the selections for this set, but not this card.  Molitor to Toronto was a significant signing in the annals of the free agency era of MLB.  The Blue Jays were the defending champions, and while Molitor was 35+ when he signed – he was still a great player.  He had one of the greatest seasons of his career, was Toronto’s 2nd best player that year, got runner-up in the MVP vote and notched the World Series MVP.

Thoughts on the set:  I think this insert set is a great idea, but it looks so much like the base set that you’d think it was a subset.  I’d have done something where the two pictures of each player was a version of their card the year before he got traded and the year after.  Just an idea on my part – but in general these are still cool cards.  Sometimes it’s just a trade or free agent signing that happened, not necessarily some crazy revelation (like was it that weird that Nolan Ryan went to the Angels?)

So to me the coolest cards are the ones like…

Best card (my opinion):  #WWHT-19 – Wade Boggs

This card fits the bill more than any others with the name of this card set.  Boggs was such a standout with Boston, and it’s one thing to see him move on from the Red Sox.  But moving to the Yankees and helping them get back to being World Champions was salt in the wounds for Beantown.

2nd place is Dwight Gooden to the Yankees.  In fact, if they had included Darryl Strawberry – I may have picked those 2 cards as a joint effort over the Boggs card!

My Favorite Reds card:  #WWHT-6 – Frank Robinson

It’s either this or Seaver, and I did have to think about this one.  This trade has to tug at frustrations for any Reds fan – Robinson won the triple crown, MVP and led the Orioles to the World Series title in his first season in Baltimore.  But it’s part of my favorite franchise’s history, and if Robinson had stayed with the Reds – it’s hard to imagine the Big Red Machine of the 1970’s happening.  Whereas Seaver was traded to the Reds in a way that ended up signaling the end of the Big Red Machine.  So I like this card better.

Here’s a scan of the full set:

Other tidbits:  I’d break this down into a few categories or types for this set:

Switched teams early in their career before they became stars:

• Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, Lou Brock, Willie Randolph

Switched teams in the middle of their career

• Steve Carlton, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Keith Hernandez, Dave Winfield, Rod Carew

Redefined his career

• Dennis Eckersley

Switched teams for a productive later saga of their career

• Tom Seaver, Andre Dawson, Dwight Gooden, Carlton Fisk, Paul Molitor, Gary Carter, Wade Boggs

Finished their career in a place we’d have maybe rather not seen

• Dale Murphy, Willie Mays

I think Topps may have only been allowed to (or they decided only to) use retired players from this set.  No players who played in 2001 were actually in the set – Gooden was the latest, playing in 2000.  Current players from the time that they could have used at the time:

• Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Randy Johnson, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, Greg Maddux, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez

Other older school retired players that could have been used

• Yogi Berra, Eddie Mathews, Duke Snider, Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, Joe Morgan, Babe Ruth

Completed insert set – 1999 Topps Record Numbers

After completing the Nolan Ryan Finest set from 1999, I started doing my Master Set post – and realized I’d never done a completed set post for 1999 Topps Record Numbers.  Not too surprising; this isn’t the most exciting set.

Well, here it is!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Info about the set:

Set description:  This set showcased a record reached by 10 different players in 1998.  For example, Mark McGwire hit 70 homers, Sammy Sosa hit 20 homers in a month, Griffey became the youngest player to reach 350 homers, Cal Ripken ended his consecutive games streak at a record 2,632 games.  These cards have a striking similarity to the 1995 Topps design, but have a fireworks design in the background.

Set composition: 10 cards, 1:8 odds (1999 Topps series 2)

Hall of Famers:  3.  Mike Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr.

How I put the set together:

• 5 cards from my series 2 hobby box
• 1 card from a card show
• 3 cards from Sportlots
• 1 card from a trade

Thoughts on the set:  This set has a lot in common with the Record Breakers subsets from some of the 1970’s and 1980’s Topps sets.  Those tended to have some sort of newspaper headline-ish info on the front.  These cards don’t really celebrate the accomplishment, they list the top 10 of the record that was set.  I like the list, but a little blurb on the accomplishment would be cool.  And the set feels superfluous.

Card that completed my set: #RN7 – Kerry Wood

I think.  But am not sure.  I think this was the last card, which I got via trade from a reader back in 2013.

Best card (my opinion): #RN9 – Cal Ripken

 

I want to say Wood for this one – I think back then Wood getting 20 strikeouts was such a cool thing.  The sky was the limit!  I thought about Ripken – but this was for the streak coming to an end (and thus setting the final mark) – not for the 1995 season when he broke the record.

My Favorite Reds card:  There are none.

Any other tidbits:  Here’s a list of the records:

• 1 – McGwire – HR in a season
• 2 – Piazza – Batting Average by a catcher in a season
• 3 – Schilling – Strikeouts by a NL RHP in a season
• 4 – Griffey – Youngest to reach 350 career HR
• 5 – Sosa – HR in a calendar month
• 6 – Garciaparra – Hitting streak by an AL rookie
• 7 – Wood – Strikeouts in a game, rookie
• 8 – Clemens – Strikeouts in a game
• 9 – Ripken – Consecutive games played
• 10 – McGwire – HR in 3 consecutive seasons