for the first time since 1977, i do not plan to purchase any packs of topps flagship. the reasons related to design and checklist have been well documented by others, so i won't rehash that here. i don't even really care whether or not i complete the dodger team set to be honest. i have picked up a few singles from sportlots and ebay to feed some of my mini-collections, and will continue to do so as i see fit.
one dodger card that i purchased in this fashion is the dodger team card
cutouts were such a huge part of the 2020 season - i watched most dodger games, and seeing mary hart during every pitch was a very real thing - and i don't understand why topps seems to be going out of their way to avoid showing them on cards. there is the white sox team card and a juan soto short print that shows him holding a cutout, but those are the only other cards with cutouts i've seen. even the topps now cards from last year seemed to eschew cutouts and masks. i had thought that some of that was that the photographers were not in the camera wells, so the angles of photos were more field-focused rather than set with "fans" in the background, but now i am not so sure that it wasn't intentional for whatever reason.
the only other dodger cards i've added are those of steve garvey and clayton kershaw. i think the 1986 inserts look fine
kind of hard to screw them up.
i did see that shohei ohtani is featured on the 1978 topps design in one of the insert sets, but i am not seeking that card out since i've limited my master 1978 topps effort to players from that era. maybe archives will come through this year in a way that flagship just doesn't.
Hart was Miss South Dakota in 1970.
ReplyDeleteyes she was!
DeleteI believe, as I said in my post, MLB doesn't want reminders of empty stands in the baseball card set it is licensing. I could be wrong but it sure seems that way. MLB has shown heavy-handedness in other recent cases involving Topps cards.
ReplyDeletei don't doubt it. i did read about their blocking paul lukas from being included in last year's a&g for what i understood to be his critique of mlb.
DeleteGiven Topp's tendency to focus only on the player(s) on flagship, perhaps the blurred cutouts were too distracting to the overall image? Anyway, I agree, there should be more cutouts and masks this year.
ReplyDeletei've seen a few more masks. hopefully big league or opening day has some fun 2020-esque inserts.
DeleteAs much as I don't want to be reminded of how awful 2020 was, it's just not genuine to omit the cutouts. They were a part of the season, just like face coverings and hand sanitizer.
ReplyDeleteagreed. i am hoping that big league is a bit more free with the photos and cropping.
DeleteCool Nomar cameo. I don't have any plans to pick up any 2021 Topps flagship packs or boxes either. Not going to say it won't happen, but I don't plan on it.
ReplyDeletenever say never, that's for sure!
Delete