weekend update

i wound up ordering a blaster of 2024 topps update from target and it showed up a few days later. it was a good one for a dodger fan, as this jackie robinson black gold card

was one of the inserts i found.

there was a mix of other insert and parallel types, including the standard gold

and rainbow foil

plus the 35th anniversary 1989 design

the blaster had just one of each of those, but each pack came with a stars of mlb card. here are six of them

one pack had a chrome parallel version

the highlight of update for me, however, has long been the veterans in new uniforms. that has become less and less of an update thing over the years, but i still like to see some of the true "updates". this nick ahmed card

shows him as a giant, which is how he began the 2024 season after spending his entire career through 2023 with the diamondbacks. by the time update was released, ahmed was two teams removed from the giants, having played for the dodgers and then the padres in 2024 after his stint with the nocals. that's not topps' fault, just something unique about ahmed (and amed rosario who finally got a rays card even though he also is two teams removed from them at this point).

one of the most unique base cards in the set is the josh gibson card

which is a checklist but acknowledges the shift in statistical records that occurred in mlb this year. is this the first negro leagues card in a topps flagship base set?

rookies have always been a part of update (or traded) sets, and there are plenty of them this year. part of that is because of the rookie debut cards that have been around for 10 years or so. here's jackson chourio

jackson holliday

and evan carter

on their rookie debut cards. the carter is pretty nice looking. i'd like to get to the rangers' new stadium sometime, but i still have a few others to get to first.

here's a true rookie card of clayton beeter

he's the guy that the dodgers gave up for joey gallo a couple of years ago. i was not too excited about that deal and i have been looking forward to seeing beeter in the big leagues. it's too small of a sample size (3 appearances) but so far beeter is continuing to strike guys out at a high rate.

i did not get a paul skenes rookie card, but i did get this combo card that he shares with former dodger yasmani grandal

pnc park is one of those other stadiums i need to get to. anyway, i was surprised to see that this was considered a "veteran" combo on the back

maybe teammate combos makes more sense for some of these cards? 

there were rookie combo cards in my packs, too, including these two somewhat symmetrical offerings

that had me a bit disappointed when i came across these two later on

i am guessing that the a's will have only "athletics" on their jerseys next year, or will they embrace their temporary home in sacramento fully?

back now to dodgers! in addition to the jackie insert up top, i found a ryan yarbrough card

it's great (i mean it) to have a card showing yarbrough as a dodger even though he finished 2024 as a blue jay. he joined the dodgers in 2023 but didn't get a card after that until now.

two more dodger cards were in my packs, and they are both inserts - tyler glasnow

and will smith

all-star game inserts to be exact. these cards are a bit sneaky because they use team logos rather than the all-star game logos that have been used in past years.

i chose not to buy a hobby box this year, but i did buy in to a 3-box team break, so i am sure i will have more dodgers to show another time.

bonus content!:

i can't let last night's game go unmentioned, so here is a card of "fab four" (as in grand slam) freddie freeman from 2024 topps heritage

it's a photo variation, and i know it's a photo variation because it says so on the back

thanks topps!

and thank you freddie freeman for another unforgettable world series game 1 moment!