Sunday Edition

2017 Archives and Series II Base set

I wasn't going to buy any Archives this year.  Not because I don't like the set, but I was just going to be disciplined and more focused with my budget.  That, and I figured I would spend way too much loading up on the Tim Wallach signature inserts in this set (which I have).  I managed to stay on point for a couple of weeks, but in retrospect, that appears to be due to the fact that the only Target in my area didn't have any.  Because the first time I saw it in the card aisle, I bought all of it.  Two blasters and five jumbo packs (I think that's what you call them).  So much for self discipline. 

Over the last few years Archives has passed Heritage for title of my favorite goofy set.  I view them both as more or less throw away novelty sets, but they're fun to open.  Far too many inserts for my liking, but I guess that's what the kids like these days.  And I don't say "throw away" as an insult, I'm not throwing mine away, I just don't think these sets will have much of a shelf life.  I have a hard time envisioning a scenario in which thirty years down the road anyone will be going to shows and searching online hunting down a need list from any of these sets.  They're essentially cardboard fidget spinners.  All the rage for awhile, fun to mess around with, and quickly forgotten when the next new fad arrives.  So, I enjoy these for what they are, and will soon stuff them away in the oblivion of my white boxes rather than shelf them in three ring binders as part of the display library.  I cringe at the thought of people "Investing" in Topps Now and Bowman Whatever Shiny Happy Meal Toy is currently all the rage.  I've seen that movie before.  

I did okay with my inserts.  I pulled two autograph cards of two guys I liked as a kid.  The Dave Stieb was especially cool to pull.  In lot of ways, I view him as the Blue Jay equivalent of Tim Wallach.  A great player (though not a Hall of Famer) who was the face of a Canadian Franchise for over decade, but never got his due because in the 1980's Canadian Teams may have well as played their games on the moon.  I remember Kevin Seitzer being a hot rookie prospect when being a hot rookie prospect was about the most glamorous title one could have bestowed on them.  My time line may be a little off, put I associate him with a lot of other guys who had hot starts before fading away well short of the Hall of Fame potential they flashed, guys like Cory Snyder, Wally Joyner, Pete Incaviglia, and Mike Greenwell.  I was somewhat surprised to see Seitzer ended up with over 1,500 career hits, a very respectable total.

The rest of the inserts don't really move the needle for me.  Some colored individually numbered cards are pretty shrug worthy, the Bazooka Retro Originals (had that mislabeled orignally) are kind of cool, especially the backs, but are nothing I'm ever going to do anything with.  I can't stand the tall skinny cards.  They're a pain in the ass to store, not fitting in pages, and not even going in the white boxes like a normal card.  The Jeter cards make me cringe.  How about a Jorge Posada or Scott Brosius retrospective?  I think Jeter's role on the Yankee dynasty at the turn of the century has been pretty well covered by Topps.  I like the 1960 Rookie Star cards, they're very well done, but should have been included as part of the 1960 cards in the base set.  Seems like a transparent and lame effort to shoe horn another Aaron Judge into the set (he'll have more cards than Jeter by the end of the year).  Finally the coins are cool, but not something I know what to do with.  Also, it would have been nice not to get doubles.

So, long story short, if you like any of these inserts, let me know.  I'm looking for a good number of 2017 base set needs, listed below.

The regular cards are why I really enjoy opening Archives.  The 1982 remakes were extremely well done.  I feel like the photography stayed very true to the photos in the original set (ditto for the '91 and '60 to a lesser extent).  That Ozzie Smith may be my favorite Ozzie card I've ever seen.  I thought Topps did a very nice job with player selection again this year.  I'd prefer they include fewer Hall of Famer's and a few more of the Cecil Cooper's, Rocky Calavito's, Bert Campaneris's and Hubie Brook's of the world, but all in all, I thought the player selection was very good once again.

I bought three blasters of Series II.  Which set me back $10 more than just buying the factory set would have.  Given my disinterest in inserts, why do I do this to myself?  It's because I'm addicted to opening packs.  So between my Series I & II spending, I probably could have bought three sets.  As it is, I have a huge list of needs.

I'll say this for the inserts.  I love those 1987 All-Star cards.  I have from time to time completed insert sets.  I actually have a binder of them.  Granted 1992 Fleer Pro-Visions was the last time I did this, but it has been done.  I loved the Fleer inserts from the 80's, the Headliners, Future Hall of Famers, Pro-Visions.  I may make a run at these '87 All-Stars if there aren't too many of them (should probably check).  I thought that Judge may off-set some of the budget damage I did to myself, but I guess that's the Judge insert nobody wants to pay for.  The Cub in the lower right is numbered to /50, but I'm not sure what I'd call it, Silver?  Most of the inserts I pulled were just dumb.  Who is collecting these Memorable Moments cards?  Just give me another base card, they seem to be precious few in these basters, as I still need a ton of them (though I have no shortage of duplicates, thanks Topps).  Speaking of which, here is my updated 2017 Need List:

2017 Needs

2017 Topps Ser. I: 13, 53, 87, 318

2017 Topps Ser. II: 353, 354, 355, 357, 358, 360, 368, 369, 370, 374, 378, 380, 381, 387, 389, 391, 396, 397, 399, 404, 407, 413, 415, 417, 419, 425, 426, 428, 430, 431, 433, 438, 443, 444, 447, 449, 451, 452, 455, 460, 466, 467, 469, 470, 479, 480, 482, 483, 484, 487, 491, 492, 502, 503, 504, 513, 515, 522, 524, 528, 535, 537, 539, 540, 541, 542, 544, 557, 562, 564, 568, 570, 572, 573, 576, 579, 590, 592, 596, 598, 602, 608, 611, 621, 626, 628, 629, 631, 635, 636, 638, 640, 641, 642, 646, 656, 658, 660, 661, 662, 666, 667, 669, 672, 674, 675, 680, 681, 685, 695, 700