Orioles Card "O" the Day

An intersection of two of my passions: baseball cards and the Baltimore Orioles. Updated daily?

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Oriole Bird, 2012 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M2

Here's a nifty surprise that arrived in the mail yesterday from our old friend Bob, a.k.a. Commishbob. It seems that Bob spotted one of my Coveted Cluster needs in his travels and grabbed it for me. It also seems that I need to update my list, since you eagle-eyed readers and fellow collectors have been helping me check off cards faster than I can seek out new needs. Perhaps some other day. In the meantime, thanks, Bob! I've never seen the point of Topps' Opening Day set, but if it continues to provide an excuse for the Bird to wriggle his way onto cardboard, more power to it. I love this photo especially, what with the beloved O's mascot peering in for the sign from his catcher whilst gripping the ball. I wonder if he'd be willing to take Tommy Hunter's next turn in the rotation.

5 comments:

Commishbob said...

Glad to help, Kevin.

I have a question I'm too lazy to investigate for myself....

Are the regular issue Topps and the Opening Day Topps the same except for the OD logo? Same checklist with different photos? What gives? Inquiring minds, etc etc

PeteLevin said...

Looks like they photoshopped the cartoon bird onto his hat. THe mascot still wears the "O's" hat. I'm a nerd.

Bo said...

The Orioles won the AL East in the second inning last night. Mark my words.

Kevin said...

Bob - The Opening Day design is indeed the same as the flagship issue of Topps, save for the logo. In past years, they've done different colored borders (bright red for 2008 OD instead of white, white for 2007 OD instead of black, etc.), and sometimes they forgo the foil stamping for Opening Day as well. They don't have all of the glitzy inserts that the regular Topps set does, but do have a few OD-exclusive inserts, like these mascot cards, or Superstar Celebrations (I posted an Adam Jones card from that set a few weeks back). They're cheaper than regular Topps, and are targeted to kids. Of course, ALL cards used to be targeted to kids, but that's another rant. Anyway, this year's checklist is 220 cards - looks like a copy of the Series 1 checklist minus subset cards (league leaders and such).

Pete - That's absolutely a Photoshop. BTW, I still point out your claymation Bird animation to people any time he pops up on the screen when I'm at the game!

Bo - Did they give it back in the third inning on Wednesday?

Commishbob said...

Thanks, Kevin These must be in the same vein as the Total set and the Bazooka from a few years back. Those seemed to have the same target market (I guess).

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Enjoy the National. I made one back in the day and it was awesome.