This doesn’t give me hope for next year
With Topps having an MLB exclusive, more previews of next year’s sets are coming out. Beckett posted some new images of 2010 National Chicle (link).
This is one of the photos on the site. I didn’t even know this with Babe Ruth until I clicked on the link to make the photo larger.
According to Beckett, the set is a nod to 1930s football cards and the ‘Batter Up’ series. There are several different artists cards, so there may not be continuity within the cards. Looking by the cards on Beckett’s site, there seem to be a few different artists.
I don’t like that there doesn’t seem to be a continuity.
(Side note: Anyone else miss Masterpieces?)
Now, having said that, there are attributes I do like to the set. It looks as though there are on-card autos. On-card autos is always a plus and I hope it’s not just the mark-ups that have the autos on the cards.
Having retired players and current players is also an interesting idea. Obviously, they aren’t the first set to do it. I am just making a note here. For people who collect retired players, it gives them something extra to collect.
What do you guys think of the new set and are there any 2010 sets that you are looking forward to?
Update: This isn’t Beckett bashing, so please none of that here. I’m just noting that the Beckett blog disagrees with out assesment of National Chicle so far (link).
Update: Voice of the Collector has their view on the set (link).
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Yuck — that is one ugly card.
one less blaster or pack to buy.
That looks like garbage.
I'm excited for 2010 Heritage but I am very skeptical of what the exclusive license will do to the hobby. This set looks like poo, but I do love art cards. I may become a fan
Ok now that I clicked the link I have a different take. Honestly, I can produce better art than half of what they show on the site. But the Mickey Mantle bat card is really nice looking
if in fact it was really his bat….
I'm going to wait to see what the cards really look like. Out of all of the Beckett preview images, I loved the Jackie Robinson one and I hated the Babe Ruth that you posted. Everything else fell in between. I'm hoping the ones I really didn't like were part of some insert set.
On the whole, I'm more excited about the National Chicle set than I am about the *yawn* 1961 Topps-inspired Heritage set.
The A on the hat is interesting. Obviously, the Babe was never an Atlanta Brave. Any good reason to depict him as one?
That Ruth card is absolutley awful! It looks like they took Chipper Jones and just replaced his head with Ruthe's! If they want to go retro, go with an 'oldschool' pic of him!
Baseball card lovers welcome to the world of us basketball collectors! Exclusive rights are a dumb idea and should not happen!
Ruth played for the Boston Braves in 1935 so there is a direct connection to the Atlanta Braves team, but why they chose to depict him with the Atlanta logo instead of the Boston logo I don't know.
The set is horrible though, this one should have died on the drawing board.
That is terrible.
I like the idea of a card of Ruth at the end of his career, but that guy on the card looks nothing like Ruth.
He looks far younger and 70 pounds lighter.
I'm pretty sure that guy on the card is actually my cousin Ryan from Hartford, Connecticut. He's an accountant who enjoys ping pong. He puts a lot of backspin on the ball. He has a dog named Bonkers.
topps is brillant! release another retro set and people will always buy it up!
I'm hoping people are getting to the point enough is enough with the retro $%^& and allen and ginter will be the only retro set topps releases each year.
as for ruth and boston braves, the legends insert from 2009 topps update/highlights is my favorite ruth braves card. An actual photo, albeit sad becuase you know Babe was washed up by then and he looked older and frailer compared to the youthful images on his yankees cards.
I could live without Allen & Ginter very easily. I have no interest in buying boxes or packs that have cards of ferris wheels, electrons, or inventors.
I did most of my collecting from 1986-1993 or so. Started up again in 2001, went crazy for a while, and stopped again until this past fall. So opening a Beckett, discovering this blog and others, it is kind of like waking up to a sunny day in winter or something. Apart from there being a trillion sets or so, there are some pretty innovative sets, too. Still being new to the idea of things like Allen and Ginter and the Nat'l Chicle they seem pretty awesome. I love quirky stuff, so I am looking forward to getting a pack or two of this set, just to see what it looks like.
At the same time, I am a photographer by trade, so I love the crisp action of a good Upper Deck set, so I am looking forward to regular old base set, too.