2011 Topps Kimball Champions Brooks Robinson

This great looking card came to me from a jumbo case break held by a cardboard problem. The other highlights I will show in coming posts. I normally don't build insert sets. They really have to catch my attention visually, not break the bank to build and I prefer them to be large sets. The Kimball Champions insert set in this year Topps issue fits this criteria and I have been slowly building the set since series one was released.

The case break helped me get a jump start on the second installment inserted in series two packs. besides this Brooks Robinson card, I also received Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer and Frank Robinson. The series two checklist for this set is great. I really like the inclusion of retired players. My only critique is a few players are included in both series, these players are, Ty Cobb, Pee Wee Reese and Mel Ott. I'm not really sure why these players were repeated, I expected Micky Mantle to be repeated, but he isn't, yet. I would have liked to have seen other legends such as Cy young, or even Satchell Piage, or maybe some retired stars like George Brett or Robin Yount fill these slots. 

The Brooks Robinson mini combines a nice batting pose of the third baseman combined with a action shot of him diving for a line drive. This card is my favorite from the set thus far and I'm very curious to see who Topps will include in the Topps Update series. Since they used current players in the first series, and retired players in the second, the logical progression would be rookies in Update. While I wouldn't mind a few rookies in the last fifty cards of the set, I hope its not dominated with players I have never heard of. A focus on young players such as Jason Heyward, Buster Posey and Nefatali Feliz would be a nice compliment and book end to this set.

Card of the week: 1967 Topps #1"The Champs"

This card is easily the favorite in my collection. The last card show I attended was heavey in vintage cards and I picked up this copy in good condition for two bucks. This card was issued as card number one in the 1967 set, for a few years Topps gave the first card to the previous years World Series Winner. What sets this card apart is the simple design and great photo of the manager, Hank Bauer and the hall of famers, Frank and Brooks Robinson. Hank was in his third season coaching the Orioles when he led the team to the title. He would leave the O's after the 68' season to coach in Oakland (something I wasn't aware of is Hank won eight World Series titles, seven has a player for the Yankees and the one managing the Orioles).

Most Orioles fans look to the 1960's and 70's as the golden age in Orioles history, when the team competed for the pennant every year. Unfortunatley today, many of the younger fans have never seen a winning season in Baltimore, let alone a playoff appearence. So far in this young season the Orioles have continued their losing ways but I am hopeful they can turn it around and finish with a winning record.

Right now the best alternative is pull out my vintage Orioles cards from the 1960's and 70's and read about the past winning seasons and championships the Orioles won.

On a side note, I am going out of town for a week to visit family in Nashville and run the Country Music Half Marathon, so this will be my last post until I get back. Hopefully when I return I can get my hands on some Topps Gypsy Queen since this set is dominating the hobby headlines today with good and bad news.

Quick Trade Post

I proposed a trade with No ones going to read this blog. Jeremy has posted his 2011 Topps want list and I was able to send him a large stack of cards he needed. I have bought a fair share of Topps this year and since I'm not building the set I still have alot of 2011 Topps to trade if anyone is trying to finsish off the first series.

In return I recieved a bunch of new Orioles for my collection. I have scanned my favorite cards from the stack.

I haven't bought any Obak, so the Grich is my first card, but I do like it enough that I want to complete the Orioles team set. The A@G minis are the highlight here and I like the horizontal design on the Roberts card. Brian has only played in a few games this Spring, due to his re acurring back issues. Hopefully he gets better or can manage the problem before the start of the season, last years O's fans witnessed first hand how valuable he is to the team.

He also sent some Turkey Red inserts from the 2009 Topps set. How many times has Topps made Turkey Red cards as a stand alone set or insert set the last few years?

The Frank and Brooks Robinson "Bird Belters" reprint is from this years set while the Brooks Robinson is a card your mom threw out from last years release. I also recieved another Donruss Highlights card of Cal Ripken I didn't have. Thanks for the cards Jeremey.