2016 Topps Throwback Thursday Sets 2 & 3

I've fallen behind on my posting again. There's plenty of stuff in the queue from my trip recap to a few oddball pickups to Wroad to Wrigley updates. And seeing as I was going to try to follow Topps' Throwback Thursday cards every week, I'm way behind on those. They are finishing up Week 7 and I've only shown Week 1.

Whoops. Well let's fix that with two weeks worth in one post. The numbering continues from Week 1 so Week 2 has cards 7-12. The 1958 design was chosen in honor of Roger Maris' rookie card and therefore also showcases six of MLB's power-hitting outfielders.

I thought Week 1's print run of 1,665 was pretty low in comparison to the Topps Now cards, but Week 2 saw a significant drop down to only 730 sets sold.

#7 Yoenis Cespedes

#8 Giancarlo Stanton

#9 Bryce Harper

Yes, this card marks Bryce Harper's second entry into a 2-week old, 12-card set.

#10 Carlos Beltran

#11 Nomar Mazara

Another cash grab for Topps, this power-hitting outfielder has 12 career home runs. Probably only 8-9 when the card was developed.

#12 Jose Bautista

As with Week 1, all of the backs are the same aside from player identification, including the spelling error of the name this week's set pays tribute to. Nice.

Aside from the obvious cash grab, the only other major complaint I've seen is that we already have Archives and Heritage for Topps to rehash old sets. That changed with the Week 3 card design which also went way back to 1958. This time however, the set was modeled after the 1958 Topps TV Westerns set. I know/knew absolutely nothing about this set so using the trusty Google machine, I found the Cardboard Connection set breakdown. How refreshing it is for Topps to reuse something that hasn't been done to death!

Topps went with a Flamethrower theme and Week 3's set features all pitchers.

#13 Nolan Ryan

#14 Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw gets his 2nd card in the thus far 18-card set. He also appeared on Card #3.

#15 Noah Syndergaard

#16 Jake Arrieta

#17 Stephen Strasburg

#18 Madison Bumgarner

Interesting player selection. Nolan Ryan? Check. That's probably my first thought when asked to come up with a flamethrower. The rest? Well, they arguably make up the top 5 starting pitchers in the Majors right now, certainly the National League. At the time the set came out a few weeks ago anyway. Arrieta has slumped a little. Kershaw is hurt. Strasburg was on the DL for a bit. Otherwise, a very All-Star worthy group of pitchers.

But flamethrowers? I don't know about that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aside from Syndergaard, aren't these guys all low to mid 90's guys? Not that that is anything to sniff at but where's Aroldis Chapman? What about Mauricio Cabrera (the guy who dominates the fastest pitch chart when the Chapman Filter is in effect)?

I like the design, like the theme, but the player selection puts a little damper on it for me.

Next week, I'll have weeks 4 & 5 in an attempt to catch up even further. And with two repeats already (Harper and Kershaw), I'll also start a chart of players and teams represented.

I've got extras of everybody here except for the Nomar Mazara card so let me know if anything grabs your attention.