2009 Topps Series 1 Retro Blaster Break Part 2

Here's the continuation of the blaster break from before.

Pack 7
115-Kevin Youkilis
45-Aubrey Huff
266-Todd Wellemeyer
286-Odalis Perez
TTT18-Miguel Cabrera ToppsTown (again)
309-Humberto Sanchez RC
23-Gerald Laird
287-Greg Maddux-last Topps base card?




Pack 8
251-Greg Smith
168-Mark DeRosa
TTT22-Tim Lincecum ToppsTown Gold
Gold 248-Scott Lewis RC 1539/2009
61-Berkman and Lee Bash-stros..very punny
88-Fredi Gonzalez
225-Aaron Cook
222-Mark Sweeney

Pack 9
195-Tim Lincecum
312-Ryan Sweeney
322-John Buck
325-Dustin McGowan
TTT1-Alex Rodriguez ToppsTown
TR43-Torii Hunter Turkey Red
85-Justin Verlander
25-Jon Lester


Pack 10
282-Chris Lambert RC
240-Ryan Braun
133-Brandon Jones
258-Casey Kotchman
TTT22-Tim Lincecum
TR25-Alex Rodriguez Turkey Red
148-Ty Wigginton
200-Chase Utley


Commemorative Patch Card
1989 All Star Game Nolan Ryan

Surprisingly, it makes sense. 1989 was a key year for Ryan with 300 strikeouts in his first year in Texas. He also used to be an Angel...a California Angel.

Thoughts on the retro-style Topps:
I'm sure this has been mentioned previously, but it doesn't differentiate itself enough from the normal base set enough. If they gave the fronts a more Topps Heritage-like finish and removed the foil a la Upper Deck First Edition, the set would have made a nice meant-to-be stealth alternative to the now-defunct Topps Opening Day. Also, an additional touch which really would have fully retro-cized the parallel set would be to use older type logos for the teams. I don't remember if they use this in Heritage or not.

In short, it's still a parallel, albeit a parallel distributed in box form and actually attainable....for Series 1 only. I bought this to be able to see and feel the difference first hand, and I prefer the original base set because it's not pretending to be something it's not.

And now with the news reported here, here, and here that Topps will not be distributing full blasters of this set for series 2, it makes the whole concept and endeavor pointless and utterly unsatisfying.

I am a completist at heart and there is no fair option to complete this. I have not bought much Topps series 2 yet, so I can attempt the wayward path, but the design and distribution of the cards discourages my efforts.

Suffice to say, I won't be collecting this set more than this one blaster, as fun as it was to open. Of course, I will welcome any Phillies into my collection, however they may appear.