Polar opposites

 

The latest edition of Beckett Vintage Collector is out and the December/January issue should be on newsstands by the end of the month if it's not there already.

Mine showed up early last week and it's notable for me because I have not one but two articles in the edition. That's right, you get two night owl writings for the price of one!

This came as a bit of a surprise to me, although I filed both articles at relatively the same time so I figured it was a possibility.

The first article, on page 59, highlights the all-too-brief 1979 Topps Comics issue. It's a short review of the set. This one-and-done item has fascinated me for a long time and I'm happy to have the complete set.

The second article starts on page 78 and closes out the magazine (You remember when SI would put its big feature at the end? That was so cool!). The article is about the 1952 Topps set and how it still resonates with collectors 70 years after it was issued. To demonstrate, I recount my relationship with one of the players depicted in the set, Frank Smith, and I determined how many players from the set are still living, and wrote a brief bio on each.

I am relieved to say that none of the 11 players passed in the period between when I wrote and filed the story and when it was published.

Those are my 14th and 15th articles for Beckett. Traditionally, I write a spin-off blog post on my articles to give you guys and gals something extra. But I don't have anything more to say on 1952 Topps or the '79 Comics.

One thing that occurred to me is that the subject of each article could not be more different, practically polar opposites. The '52 set is the most trumpeted set ever made, still revered by many (and an overplayed song to many others). The '79 Comics set is ignored by anyone who didn't grow up in the '70s, forgotten by scores and never-known by legions.

They're on opposite ends of the spectrum.

But when it comes to polar-opposite sets, there's nothing more revealing than what Topps has issued over the last 16 years.

The "high-end set" really came about in 2006 when Topps debuted Sterling and Triple Threads (it also made Co-Signers its own stand-alone set). Ever since that point, the collectors market has been divided into tiers and collectors branded "high-end" and "low-end." I'm really not crazy about that talk, it naturally creates divisions among collectors.

 

But there's no doubt about it: I gravitate toward "low-end" cards (what during all of my collecting in the '70s, '80s and '90s were just called "cards"). And I have little-to-no understanding of those who gravitate toward "high-end" cards.

 

In this polar-opposite frame of mind, I though it would be fun to go through most of the current Topps issues and put them in order from low-end to high-end. This is nothing scientific, just my own perceptions.

 

Come on, it'll be fun. We'll start at the South Pole in Antarctica and travel north through the Western Hemisphere.

 

Palmer Land, Antarctica

 

Opening Day

 

Brrr, it's cold down here opening packs of a set that shouldn't really exist. Opening Day is the most useless of the sets probably until we get to high-end land (although I'd argue that a few of the middle-tier sets should be gone). And what's more low-end than a set that basically repeats another set?

 

P.S.: I'm using 2021 card images because of the odd release schedule for 2022 products.

 

 

Falkland Islands

Big League

This is Exhibit A on "Why I Am a So-Called Low-End Collector." I really like Big League. I'm sad it hasn't shown up this year. This set reminds me of the sets Topps used to make 35-40 years ago. And, yes, I still think that's what cards "should be."

Santiago, Chile

 

Topps flagship

 

Topps has made its main brand into a lower-tier product both with all of the additions to the high-end of the scale and by abandoning the cardboard that protected the cards from seeming too slick and flimsy. Yet, it if I was limited to collecting just one set only, it would probably be Topps flagship.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Archives

I list Archives higher than Topps because at least Archives has a little thickness with most of the cards. But Archives is also a regurgitation of past designs so how high can it go? I think Archives is content to enjoy Rio Carnival.

Quito, Ecuador

 

Fire

We've reached the equator already! It's appropriate that the road is getting hotter for something called Fire. It's a wild product, not equipped for the cold, but still cheap enough to afford.

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

 

Gallery

 

 Still blazing, it's simply too hot to leaf through cards, which makes Topps Gallery appropriate because why is anyone buying this? Some of these 1990s reboots by Topps haven't panned out.

 

 

San Jose, Costa Rica

Heritage

If I was pressed to name my favorite current product, it would probably be Heritage or Stadium Club. I'm giving a slight edge to Heritage because those designs give me the warm fuzzies. We'll see if that's still the case if Heritage makes it into the late '80s.

 

San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic

Allen & Ginter

 

This is the stage of the spectrum that speaks to me. My wheelhouse sets. Maybe they're not as appealing as they once were, but the card stock says "collectible" to me. A&G also says "fun," which is what a card set should be.

Havana, Cuba

Gypsy Queen

The less-fun counterpoint to Allen & Ginter. A classy, traditional design on solid card stock but just ballplayers, please. I've never been crazy about GQ designs, some of them are my least favorite designs ever made. The 2021 design is pretty lousy.

Monterrey, Mexico

Gold Label

I barely understood the first version of Gold Label from the 1990s and so I can't be bothered with this version. Each card has three different looks with the same boring pattern? No thanks, but it's got a classy, upscale vibe, even if the current version seems not as fancy.

Tampa, Florida

Stadium Club

Stadium Club for 2022 is scheduled to release this Friday -- Black Friday. Wonderful. I won't be able to afford to buy any of it until maybe January. That's too bad, because it's one of my favorite products every year since it re-emerged in 2014.

Tijuana, Mexico

Chrome

This used to be the highest-end product Topps made and for years it was enough. Some thought it was even too much. I like snazzy products as long as they're not too snazzy and Chrome is just my speed, although it's not as fun as it used to be.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Finest

And before Chrome, Finest was Topps' high-end product! I've gushed over Finest before. If they get the design right -- and that's always a big if -- Finest can be one of my favorite sets of the year. That's not saying I'm going to see any of it, because it's always hobby-only.

Lexington, Kentucky

Rip

Yes, "Rip," as in "Topps Rip". I had never heard of this product until I started this blog post. This is a 99-card set in which every card is a rip card. Dare to tear (Hmm, I've heard that somewhere before) and you will unearth a mini, some of the autograph variety and various other assorted things. Not something that I want to do with my cards. As appealing to me as betting on horses.

Sacramento, California

Tribute

OK, this is where it gets muddled for me. We've officially reached high-end territory and I have a difficult time determining one set from another. I tried to go with the sell sheets to review the various product. Tribute seems like the "lesser" of the fancy boys group, mostly because I usually end up with some Tribute base cards.

 

 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Museum Collection

Same deal with Museum Collection on base cards finding there way toward me. The card stock is also usually thankfully thinner than other high-end cards. But you know we're getting into the high-rent district because there are things like "quad-relics" in this product. Also, the cards make me feel like I walked into a Lord & Taylor, which is something I should never do (Lord & Taylors apparently only exist now online).

Kingston, Ontario

Inception

Inception confuses me because it's extremely colorful, which is not a trait of high-end cards at all, but the cards are also stupid-thick, which is definitely a high-end characteristic. I probably should've ranked this lower as base cards find their way to me, but from what I can tell there are only 7 cards per box?

Seattle, Washington

Triple Threads

The original high-end product. I remember when Triple Threads was practically the only set where you could marvel over "what the heck is that?" The weird alphabet spellings with relic pieces and all manner of combos of autographs and swatches. It's still popular I guess, although some of the cards are the most unappealing things I've ever seen.

 

Regina, Calgary

 

Tier One

 

Tier One began in 2011 and I can't recall whether it was the premier high-end set in the land at the time. The 2021 sell sheet sure reads like it's exclusive, each pack has a couple of autographs. I apologize if I'm not ranking these fancy-pants sets properly, like I said, they all blend together.

 

Also, this is a good time to say that none of the card images in this post are from my collection.

 

 

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Sterling

The other "original" high-end set along with Triple Threads. Sterling has always seemed cooler to me because of things like stuffing a bat knob into a card. Really that's the only appeal of this set. If Topps really wants to impress me, it will make a set of nothing but bat-knob cards.

Arctic Village, Alaska (pop. 152)

Five Star

Is it starting to get so cold you lose your breath? Yeah, I feel it, too. We're now among the sets that don't even include base cards, just a bunch of hits. That kind of product would wear on me after awhile and I see how collectors get jaded when every card is an autograph.

Alert, Nunavut, Canada

Transcendent

We've reached the North Pole. Well, we're 500 miles-or-so from the North Pole, since the North Pole is just a point in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Kind of weird since this is where Santa and his elves are making toys. But such an elusive place is probably appropriate for Transcendent, a product so above-brow that I have a difficult time spelling it.

Here is your sell sheet for 2021 Transcendent:

I don't think in all the years I've opened cards and collected cards I have ever described it as being "elegant" or having a "mystique."

But we are about a 12-hour plane trip from the sets that are most familiar to me, the Topps flagship, the Heritage and Stadium Club.

I'd be perfectly satisfied if all there was to buy was flagship, Heritage, Stadium Club and Big League and A&G. But ever since 2006, probably ever since relics and autographs first started appearing in card sets, collectors have wanted more.

Now we have collectors who are polar opposites with their collections. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that we speak a different language.