spot the difference!

with series 2 out, we are at the point in the year where i can post the annual "spot the difference" writeup comparing the topps factory team set to the flagship releases. i suppose there was a chance that i would have to wait for update again this year, but topps was not averse to getting a shohei ohtani card on to the mainstream series 2 checklist and so here we are.

first, i want to show you how the sets are packaged this year

same sort of hanger/blister packaging, but look at how large the plastic blister is! plenty of room to shake things up if you like!

they also stopped printing the checklist on the back, but i think it's been like that for at least a couple of years.

speaking of backs, the guaranteed difference between these cards and their flagship counterparts is the numbering on the back

and away we go, with flagship on the left and the team set on the right!

lad-1 freddie freeman

same. i don't consider the non-foil logo on the team set cards to be a difference. the team set cards also lack the foil that makes the neon look great on the flagship cards in hand, but they do scan more neon-y if you catch my drift.

lad-2 mookie betts

same

lad-3 shohei ohtani

same. when these sets were first released i saw these cards going for more than the price of the set itself.

lad-4 walker buehler

same

lad-5 tony gonsolin

same

lad-6 chris taylor

same [edit - night owl noticed the difference in positions on taylor's cards. this is a truly bizarre variation, as you would think topps would be set on positions from day one. in 2023, taylor played more games and innings in left field than anywhere else. next in both categories was shortstop, and third base followed. he also played a handful of games at second base]

lad-7 max muncy

same

lad-8 austin barnes

same. i thought that barnes was an interesting choice for the team set checklist, especially since that meant that will smith was not included. i am happy, however, that the dodgers have two catchers in flagship. they don't currently have a third catcher on their roster, but my early collecting days brought me to expect cards for three dodger catchers (steve yeager, johnny oates, and jerry grote each got cards in 1978 and 1979 topps).

lad-9 brusdar graterol

same

lad-10 bobby miller

so here the team set does not to with the "future stars" moniker which makes sense because the focus is on the team. not sure i consider this to be a real difference, but i suppose it is.

lad-11 emmet sheehan

same

lad-12 jonny deluca

same. i am sure we will see deluca in update as a ray.

lad-13 james outman

same

lad-14 clayton kershaw

ah! a true difference here with the team set kershaw changing it's orientation and using a photo from a completely different game! i wish the team set would have done something similar with the buehler card

lad-15 miguel vargas

here we have the same "future stars" difference as bobby miller's card

lad-16 michael busch

the team set gives us one last michael busch dodger card to enjoy. unlike deluca, topps left busch off the series 1 checklist, and 'shopped him into cubs gear for series 2. i appreciate that they used a different photo - i assume because it's easier to go from a dodger to a cub when you are wearing the away grays.

lad-17 gavin lux

same

so, really just one significant difference in terms of dodger cards (kershaw) plus what turned out to be a bonus dodger card (busch). not sure if two cards make the set worth it for the casual collector, but for a team collector like me, you bet it does - especially with kershaw involved.

i remembered that i put together a running list of these posts a couple of years ago, and have now updated the list below. 2016 and 2018 are partial set posts, and i realize now i don't even own the team sets from 2017 or 2019. there was no team set issued in 2021. otherwise, click and enjoy!

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2018

2020

2022

2023

i will probably seek out those last two sets and get a proper 2018 post at some point. stay tuned!

first look at 2024

my local walmart was fully stocked with 2024 topps series 1 when i stopped in on thursday afternoon. i have a hobby box on the way, but wanted to get a look at the cards now! i wasn't pete alonso excited

but i was looking forward to opening a few packs. i bought a fat pack, a value pack, and a blaster, and i opened the fat pack first.

first card - felix bautista

some serious attitude straight out of the gate! the card design is giving me strong 1986 topps vibes,and the neon actually works, thanks to the thin gold foil "tubing" inside. i like it.

first rookie - colton cowser

lots of oriole rookie cards lately!

first horizontal card - corbin carroll

the design works really well with teams that have black accents in their uniforms, like the diamondbacks. carroll's card is pretty well color coordinated with the green sign in the background matching the green in the team logo, however, 

first fully color coordinated card - brandon nimmo

brandon nimmo's card is off the charts when it comes to color coordination

first dodger - chris taylor

topps making sure to not forget taylor this year

first checklist - shohei ohtani and mookie betts

these guys are teammates now, and i see that topps has "snuck in" ohtani super short print dodger cards into the set. smells like 2012 topps update all over again and a dozen years later josh beckett is the only dodger ssp that i've been able to afford.

first card that really caught my eye - joe jacques

the black tops to the cards make a lot of images look like night shots, but i think this one really is from a rainy boston night.

first insert - atlanta braves gold parallel

first player that will show up again in update - manuel margot

assuming he sticks with the dodgers long enough

best jose altuve impression - mauricio dubon

pretty sure we've seen this image on a dozen altuve cards

first league leader card - american league wins

on which kyle gibson gets the shaft

gibson had the same number of wins as gerrit cole but doesn't make the front of the card. i love league leader cards that cram a bunch of players on there like the 1978 topps wins leader card or the 1982 topps home run leader card. i guess topps doesn't want to mess with the basic three-player design.

example of why 2024 is a good year to be a pirates team collector - jared triolo

when the base card is the best color match

scarce rookie cup/rookie card combo - andrew abbott

sure i would rather have abbott's teammate elly de la cruz' card even though it doesn't have the cup

for the record, the future stars cards are pretty slick with the multi-color neon up top - grayson rodriguez

so many orioles!

only dodger insert - freddie freeman stars of mlb

best example of bad color coordination - fernando tatis jr

i would be ok if topps were to ignore the padres' city connect uniforms altogether. they used the regular home unis on his 1989 insert

but we get the city connect again on his stars of mlb insert

although it works way better there.

here's the back of tatis' base card

topps continues to go with jersey numbering tributes as opposed to the hero numbers of the past. compare the back of his card and the back of walker buehler's

i guess there wasn't much to say about buehler so the line spacing is quite different. i do appreciate topps noting that buehler didn't play in 2023 due to injury while tatis just didn't play in 2022. would be great if they noted "suspended", but at least it's not ignored like a-rod's lost 2014 season was in 2015.

here's the front of buehler's card

and the three other dodger base cards i found in my various purchases

deluca is no longer a dodger, but at least i have a card to remember him by

the value pack had a couple of yellow parallels

which i thought were walgreens things.

the blaster had two rainbow foil cards - both rays

arozarena striking a pose makes for a great card. sort of like jose bautista's 2016 flagship card featuring the playoff bat flip.

in total, i found 13 stars of the mlb cards, including a quad of rookies

there's my first henry davis card

i found two stars of mlb chrome parallels

as well. 

there were three more 1989 inserts

but the checklist doesn't include steve carlton as a twin so i'm not too interested in these things.

i received one card from the 1989 design-inspired celebration of the kid insert set

and there were three other inserts that showed up only once

the semien card had me confused at first. was he second team all topps team? no, he's the second baseman on the all topps team, but the position text overruns the right border. i saw ohtani's card from the set and he is the "desgina" on the team.

finally, there are the nonsense parallels. i got three "holiday" parallels

which are seeded 1:2 packs in blasters. with seven packs per blaster i guess 3 is still within range. however, i also got an "eggs" parallel

which is a 1:21 pack card. can't wait for the series 2 arbor day parallels.

so, that's my first look at 2024 topps. i like the design, and while i didn't see any guardians sporting the memorial patch they only wore a couple of times in 2023, am holding out hope. same goes for the brooks robinson patch the orioles wore during their truncated postseason. i know there are a couple of other cards for some of my mini-collections in series 1, and i hope to find them in a couple of days when my hobby box arrives.