In case you missed Part One, I displayed the 2012 Topps Retired Number and Historical Stitches manu-patches that I purchased on eBay last week. Part Two is all about the patches I actually pulled myself, from the five blasters of Series 1 and Series 2 that I bought online. Of the five, there's only one that I want to keep. And that's just because Hank Aaron is badass:

Hank's Brewers years are largely forgotten, and for good reason. It was like Willie Mays returning to New York for the Mets, or Babe Ruth playing for the Boston Braves. Going back to the town where you started your big league career sounds good in theory, but it rarely works out. Right, Junior?

Still, the Hammer played for the Brewers for effectively a season and a half, and they still retired his number. Respect.

Now for the ones that I am looking to move. The list of Retired Number cards I'm collecting is at the bottom of these lovely pictures. I am entertaining all offers. Yankees, Twins and Blue Jays fans especially, I'm looking at you:





Now, here are the ones I want to collect, and the ones I already have:

Reds
Sparky Anderson
Joe Morgan GOT!
Johnny Bench

Orioles
Frank Robinson GOT!
Brooks Robinson GOT!
Jim Palmer GOT!
Cal Ripken Jr.

White Sox
Frank Thomas
Carlton Fisk

Athletics
Reggie Jackson GOT!
Rickey Henderson
Catfish Hunter

Indians
Lou Boudreau
Bob Feller

Pirates
Roberto Clemente
Willie Stargell

Number 8s
Yogi Berra GOT!
Gary Carter

(I must say, I'm a bit annoyed, because the only other retired #8 in baseball is Carl Yastrzemski, and Topps didn't do a patch for him, just one of the Historical Stitches. Y U H8 ME TOPPS?!?)

Historical Stitches (sigh)
Sandy Koufax
Ichiro Suzuki
Ken Griffey Jr.

Yes, I need these three Historical Stitches cards for my PCs. My preference, of course is for retired number cards, but if  you have one of these cards and want to trade it for the Mattingly or Molitor, I'm up for it.

This is a special two-part post. Part one is the fun part - I found an eBay seller, based in Australia, who sells singles of patch cards, relics and such. He had a absolute ton of stuff up last week, including some of the manu-patches from the 2012 Topps blasters. I bought out all the stuff from that series that he had, and I wanted. They arrived today.

First up, the Historical Stitches. I got two - Luis Aparicio and the patron saint of RGB Cards, Frank Robinson:

The thing I love about the Robinson card is that it portrays him as a Red. Frank Robinson's Cincinnati career is often forgotten, but he was absolutely amazing at Crosley Field. You know that he was MVP in 1961, right? The whole "only person to be MVP of the American League and National League" thing? Yeah, it doesn't happen without the Reds. Believe it or not, Robby played more games in a Reds uniform than any other. He was with the team for ten seasons!

However, now that I have these two cards in my position, it confirms what I thought all along; the Historical Stitches set is stupid. It's manu-patches at their worst, because there's no real historical context or events that they're based on. "Featuring stitching designed to replicate his vintage jersey"? What does that even mean?

However, as bad as Topps whiffed on the Historical Stitches, the retired number patches are just that many kinds of awesome. I've always been fascinated with uniform numbers - which ones people choose, how they select them, what new number a person gets when he changes teams and can't get his old number, and yes, which numbers are retired. That's why this set is so awesome. But what do you expect from someone with this book in his personal library?

I got three - a Reds patch, an Orioles patch, and an Athletics patch. And there's that man Robinson again:




I've decided to collect all the Reds, Orioles, Athletics and White Sox patches, along with Sandy Koufax (duh) and all the number 8 cards. Yes, this means I am actively seeking a Yankees patch card, but I'm cool with it because it's Yogi Berra and he's awesome.

By the way, I already bought the Koufax, but the seller doesn't ship to Australia so it's at my parents' house. Along with what seems like half my collection.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting the manu-patch cards I actually pulled from my blasters. With one exception, I am looking to flip these cards for ones I actually want. Yankees collectors will definitely want to check back tomorrow.

In case you missed it, here's the first half of the first 2012 Topps cards I've opened this year. So far, my response has been tepid. Perhaps it's because I've been building it up in my mind for more than two months, to almost obscene levels of anticipation. Or maybe it's because Topps put out an average set this year.

Here are my thoughts on packs 6 through 10, plus the unavailing of the manupatch card.

Thoughts on Pack 6: I got a Brandon McCarthy, resplendent in gold uni top and white pants - Charlie Finley would be proud. I'm sure you know this already, but let me be the 865th person to name him as my top fantasy baseball sleeper...I finally found my insert set! I loved the 1987 Topps set (unlike almost everyone else), so I think the '87 minis are 97 kinds of awesome. I will happily take any and all 87 mini inserts you don't want...Seeing John Axford gives me an idea for an A&E show. They already have Storage Wars and Parking Wars and Shipping Wars, so why not Moustache Wars? First up, Axford versus Jason Giambi's 2004 porn 'stache.


Thoughts on Pack 7: You're looking at the only highlight. And really, "Joe with the Big Blow"? Couldn't have we come up with something better...I liked the Diamond Duos and Legendary Lineage subsets in the past, but Timeless Talents looks like something out of 2008 Upper Deck. I think I'll give it a miss...HAI TOPPZ! Y NO REDZ BASE CARDZ???!??!@!


Thoughts on Pack 8: Zack Greinke, as bland and inoffensive as the pose on his baseball card...There really isn't any better picture to capture the essence of Captain Tatt. It's too bad he'll probably slink back into oblivion regress to the mean this season...I love the look of sheer terror on Matt Kemp's face. I don't think it has anything to do with that fly ball, though. He probably just got a look at this season's Dodger roster.


Thoughts on Pack 9: What a bastard...How many Phillies can I get in an eight-card pack? Apparently three (Bastardo, Howard and Polanco)...My second '87 mini; I can definitely see myself collecting this set, but does UltraPro make pages that these cards will fit into?...Only one more pack until we find out what the patch card is.


Thoughts on Pack 10: My second gold parallel, and I got the base card, too...Oh the irony; Mark Trumbo and the guy the Angels are shipping out of town to make room for him...I'm not sure if card No. 59 is the Rangers team card or a post-season highlights card, since it's the only one of either that I pulled in the box (did that make sense?)...STILL no Reds base cards - I'm very disappointed.


Thoughts on the Manupatch: I'm very disappointed. Not only was it a "Historical Stitches" card instead, but it was a damn Yankee! Sorry, Dodgers fans, but Mattingly is still a Yankee, and always will be. The best part of this card is that it gives us a contestant for the second episode of Moustache Wars. Besides, as awesome as the retired number patches are, the concept of the historical stitches is that amount of lame. A card "featuring stitched designed to replicate his vintage jersey"? WTF?

That patch is most definitely up for trade. I'm sure you can figure out what to offer (hint: a retired number manu-patch)

Thoughts on the set: Overall, the set design is okay. It's not bad, but it's nowhere near as good as 2011 (or even 2010). That's okay, we can't hit a home run every time up, and neither can Topps. I love the whole idea of the retired number patches, and will try to get my hands on some more blasters, because they're fun to open and I need to collect two sets this year.

I'm going to start opening jumbo packs now, and save the final blaster for last.

I'm sure you all have gotten the 2012 base set out of your system, since it's two months since you all busted your boxes. You've moved on to Heritage or Tribute or whatever great new thing is next on the release calendar, but stuck behind everyone as I am, 2012 Series 1 is still news to me. Heck, I'm still opening packs of 2011 Update Series.

I got my jumbo box of Series 1 today, along with two blasters. (How did they come so quickly? Well, I might have cheated and ordered them the day after I found out that I had gotten an interview for my new job, rather than when I found out I got the job itself. Still, it's a nice way to celebrate my success.)

Obviously, I didn't know much, if anything, about 2012 Topps due to my self-imposed exile from blog reading. I don't even know what the base card looks like. But one thing I was really curious about is what the theme of the blaster manu-patches would be. Two years ago, it was World Series patches. Last year, it was retro team logos. I definitely enjoyed last year's more - due to the fact that they're team-specific. The one blaster patch I pulled from 2010 was Tony Perez and the '76 World Series, so I can't complain. But what would Topps do this time around?

ZOMGRETIREDNUMBERPATCHES!!!!@W!!!1!!!!

This, my friends, is awesome. And looking at the checklist, which is helpfully printed on the side of each blaster, there are a lot of solid options, including site namesake Frank Robinson and awesomest pitcher ever Sandy Koufax. I should have skipped the jumbo box and just ordered 8 blasters. But the shipping would have been a nightmare.

Unfortunately, I can't open any cards today because I have to get up at stupid o'clock to go pump some gas (the new job doesn't start until late April). Maybe when I get home. Thankfully, the filling station is in the same shopping center as a Big W (think Australian Wal-Mart, but not evil) so I can purchase a new binder. If only they sold baseball cards, too... ;)