I don’t go to KMart very often (I’m a Target man for the most part), but every once in a while I’ll go to sweep the store for cards. The last few times I went they had some, but it was really bare bones for selection. This time there was a lot available, but I was looking for a good buy and that’s how I ended up with two 2016 Topps Series 2 blasters. These had a little discount on them and I hadn’t gotten that much with regard to Series 2 last year.
Digging Through for Mets
One of the first things I do anytime I open packs is look for my favorite team. I’m sure that’s what any of us do who have a favorite team. I only got two base cards out of both boxes which was a bit disappointing. That said, Bartolo’s card from his “home run year” is a nice one.
I was a little luckier on the insert front with three cards. Thor and the Captain are always good to get. David Wright has his classic tongue out or tongue biting pose going on. Then there’s the Matz card. I’m not a fan of that insert but I still liked seeing that card.
Parallel-o-Grams
I don’t mind parallels, well, to be honest I like the look of them. I don’t mind the idea of parallel sets, but what I don’t like it that you don’t get enough of them. I’d almost rather have less of the uninteresting inserts and more parallels. I like the look of these, especially how the gold and red ones work out with that design and then the rainbow foil parts.
The other thing I like to see in these breaks is when I get a base card and the parallel and then to see them together. The best one of these is the Shawn Tolleson card in the rainbow foil. It’s hard to see from a picture though.
Future Stars and Finds
I really like the “Future Stars” labelled cards in this set. I know it’s similar to previous years but I think it works well with this design. The rookie cup/trophy was still around. It’s a shame how bad it looks though as the cards get better designed. That image just doesn’t fit right anymore. I want it to stay, but I don’t think it fits the same as it once did.
As for the finds, the Ortiz in his last year is a good one and that’s a great picture for that year. The Tolleson I liked with the parallel but I like these types of pictures. The red splash is pretty cool. As for the other two, I thought they were weird. First, I can’t believe how they get Barraclough’s name on the back of a jersey. And second, Luke Jackson looks like he’s wearing a wig.
How could you not like Tony Gwyn in an old Padres spring training get up? I don’t know what’s on Tony’s arm but it almost looks like some kind of crazy cast.
Through-the-Mail (TTM) Stock
2016 Topps is one of my favorite sets for sending as a TTM. I really like the white “glow” type of thing they did, especially toward the bottom of the card. That really lends itself to have that place for a good signature. You can’t guarantee someone will use that space, but I’ve really liked what I’ve seen come back.
I like the First Pitch insert. I think this is great for potentially sending out some non-baseball baseball, if you catch my drift.
The Cards that Kill Me
The opposite of finding my favorite team is finding those cards of either the guys that kill your team, or the moments that your team was on the bad side of.
Wilson Ramos has always seemed like a guy who gave the Mets fits. I have no data ready to present to that effect, it just always felt that way. 2016 I remember a couple homers in Nats Park that I had to watch.
The other two are the royals celebrating at Citi Field. I was at that game. What a crappy ending. Not that I would have been happier if we lost a little differently, but it sucked. I definitely saw the backgrounds and subject matter on these and groaned immediately.
Doubles, Doubles
When you open two blasters you are definitely getting some doubles. I ended up getting 47 total doubles. Three of them were duplicated inserts and the other 44 were duplicated base cards. This is great for TTMs, but it still is killer when you are opening all of them up at once.
