Jaret Wright, 2007 Topps Heritage #460

Tonight I'm going to talk more about 2010 Topps. So you may be wondering why I chose a card from the 2007 Heritage set, which borrows its design from 1958. I'll get to that in a moment.

Last night I planned to rip open just four packs of my hobby box, but none of those packs produced either of the two things that I was primarily looking for: an Oriole or a Million Card Giveaway code. So I tore into a fifth pack, and that did the trick. I nabbed Adam Jones (running the bases with tongue protruding Jordan-style) and a code card with Mickey Mantle on the front.

Before I tell you which card I unlocked with my code (oh, I'm all about suspense tonight), let me run down a few things I like and dislike about this year's flagship set. I've already voiced my approval for the base card design and photography, which is the most important thing. None of the inserts I've seen do much for me, though the "Cards Your Mom Threw Out" series has its good points. There's something lazy about reprints of past cards, but the first one I pulled was Robin Yount's 1975 Topps rookie card. I'm planning to complete the 1975 set, and given the dollar value of the Yount card, I'll be needing this reprint to stand in as a placeholder for some time. So that's decent, and if you were to collect the whole "Yo Momma" insert set (as other bloggers have dubbed it) you'd have a great visual representation of the history of Topps cards from the early 1950s to the present day. On the other hand, reprints of cards from the past ten years? Pointless. Whose mom threw out their prized 2003 Kevin Youkilis card, and would this hypothetical person be torturing themselves over the loss of such a fine piece of cardboard? Meanwhile, many of the reprints (primarily the recent ones) are poor in quality. The pictures look blurred and pixelated. Someone goofed. I also strongly dislike the hideous new Rookie Cup design, but night owl has tackled that issue better than I could have.

Okay, now that you've endured my griping, let's get to the fun stuff. I logged into toppscards.com last night and checked the sidebar with its list of ten recent unlocked cards. Unlike the first week, when there was a flood of 1980s cards, or last weekend, when 1970s cards were being spit out willy-nilly, last night's list featured a hodgepodge of decades. Great, I finally got around to buying this stuff, and they actually decided to randomize the distribution of giveaways. So I typed in my code, took a deep breath, clicked the "unlock" button, and the following card loaded...

George Crowe, 1958 Topps #12. So awesome. The team-colored specs. The commie-fearing "Redlegs" nickname. The mascot with pillbox cap, handlebar mustache, and demented grin. The forgotten player who hit 31 home runs in 1957 as an injury fill-in for Ted Kluszewski. Oh, and did I mention that this card is 52 years old? I could unlock 1987 Topps cards with the rest of my codes, and I'd still be happy. (Okay, maybe that's overstating it.)

Hmm, I didn't mention anything about Jaret Wright, did I? Some other time, perhaps.