2017 Topps New Era - Cubs

In yesterday's post I talked a little about the 32-card set that Topps and New Era partnered to distribute in 2017. I knew about it from last year (when I posted a one-card "team set") but recently rediscovered the set while researching the undercover Dexter Fowler cards, and of course the mystery photoshopped Fowler card.

As I mentioned yesterday, each team was represented, while the Cubs and Red Sox got a second card. Let's get back to some Cubs cards, shall we?

The two Cubs cards came from different sources but as part of larger purchases. What can I say, I'm a sucker for maximizing shipping costs. Each one interested me for different reasons. Let's start with card #8, Kris Bryant.

When I first saw this card, I was a tad disappointed. Selfishly, I admit.

You see, most of the reigning World Series champions have been wearing some version of the gold accented jerseys for their home openers for last 10-12 years. And back when the Cubs wore the gold name and number jerseys last April, I thought those would be a fantastic SP photo variation opportunity for Topps. I actually started a blog post to remind me about them for when Series 1 came around in 2018. And if Topps didn't act on it, I was going to custom create my own, probably using their own template from their website when the 2018 version popped up. Maybe even do an April Fool's post claiming I pulled an SSSSSSSP variation.

And all that was ruined because Topps jumped the gun and used a 2017 photo on a 2017 card. Oh well. And actually, this card is probably lowkey enough I still probably could have pulled it off. Oh well, again! 

With that said, I mostly like the card. The crop is weird, but I like the angle of being able to see the gold on the back. Definitely makes this one for the World Series collection. And of course, the photo was probably chosen because you can clearly see the New Era logo on Bryant's cap.

Speaking of which, you also get a good view of the logo on the next card, #9 Kyle Schwarber.

This card seems very familiar, and not because it is essentially the same shot as the Fowler...

Oh, that's why. Seeing as I didn't pick up very many 2017 Cubs cards, I easily remembered one of the few that I did. The Topps Now card above is from the Road to Opening Day set. And as you can see from this version, there's a nice big AZ Spring Training patch on his sleeve. It has eerily disappeared on the New Era card, much like the #42 Dexter Fowler sported on yesterday's New Era card.

In addition to the 32-card flagship based design, Topps also dipped their toes even further into the 1987 pool and had another 18 cards in that template. Again, the Cubs pulled double duty, landing two more cards.

The Ryne Sandberg card used the same photo as the insert from the flagship set. The main difference is the 30th Anniversay logo is white instead of foil, similar to what is done with Opening Day. The New Era cards are much slicker/glossier.

The backs are the same except for the number. There is no mention of New Era on these at all.

Topps used a different photo for the Greg Maddux All-Star card. New Era is on the left, flagship insert on the right. But like the Sandberg, the backs are the same aside from the numbering.

Kyle Schwarber is allegedly one of the 11 players to have a relic card that is limited to 99 copies, but I have yet to see one.

We need more oddballs like these. As much as the pizza was "meh" I was disappointed that Topps didn't re-partner with Wal-Mart for the Marketside set again.

Speaking of Dexter Fowler...

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had picked up some Dexter Fowler cards despite them showing him as a Cardinal. Today's post will talk about one that I didn't buy but came across as I researched the others.

This card looks like a normal 2017 Topps base card but is actually the New Era variation. Last year's edition came in a pack of four cards that was free with the purchase of a New Era hat at local LIDS stores. There were only 9 cards in the base set.

This year, they upped the ante and made them free with the purchase of a New Era hat and one of the factory team sets and was only available in a stadium team store. They did double down and put eight cards in the pack, but also bumped the set up to 32 cards, one for each team and a second for the Cubs and Red Sox. Additionally, there was an 18-card set based on the 1987 design. Of course there was. Topps love them some 1987.

Two things made me think it was a photoshop at first glance. The first was the red of the Cardinals uniform. There seems to be a different tint for every appearance. Also, the sleeve by his elbow has a blue Jumpman logo. Did they miss it when photoshopping or is it just a holdover from his Cubbie Blue days and they left it?

Those thoughts were just a split second though because as soon as I looked at the background, I pretty much knew it wasn't photoshopped. At least from Cubs to Cardinals.

I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable baseball fan but I wouldn't necessarily put my Yankees expertise up against anybody. However, even I instantly recognized the façade of Yankee Stadium up around Fowler's shoulders.

Combining that with the fact that the Yankees played in Wrigley Field this year means the Cubs haven't played in Yankee Stadium since 2014. And Fowler's Cubs tenure was 2015-2016.

Double checking my work, I headed over to the Getty Images website to find the source photo. Sure enough a search of "Fowler Yankees 2017" yielded 44 results, including this one from April 15, 2017:

Way to go! Good job! Pats on the back all the way around!

Wait a minute. Hold up. Did anybody catch that this is photoshopped?

Let me zoom in a bit on the area in question to help you out.

Someone, somewhere along the line made the conscious decision to hide the fact that this photo came from 2017's Jackie Robinson Day celebration, the day each year where every player dons #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

I know that Topps did SP photo variations using players wearing #42 in 2016 but have not heard anything about 2017.

Sorry to disappoint but I do not have any answers myself. Anybody with a good conspiracy theory?

How weird is that?

Undercover Cubs - 2017 Dexter Fowler

I've talked about a few cards in the past that had infiltrated my collection as "Cubs" cards, but in reality they weren't.

Most of them were like these:

 

Former Cubs players, wearing their Cubs uniforms, but clearly marked as having moved on to other teams.

I even have one of the more notorious error cards in Cubs circles of Keith Comstock in Mariners gear but representing the Cubs. The error? Comstock never played for the Cubs and a corrected version was eventually issued.

These cards were included in posts titled How'd That Get There? because at a quick glance you might question why they would be in a Cubs collection. But they count as Cubs to me.

In a case of "same, but different" I've added a couple of 2017 cards of Dexter Fowler, 2016 All-Star and World Champion.

Why? These are very clearly Cardinals cards, no?

Well....technically. Cardinals uniforms, Cardinals logos, Cardinals text.

But let's take a look at these cards through our X-Ray glasses.

While I could have easily speculated that any cards issued early in 2017 would be photoshopped editions, seeing this autographed version of the Fowler Gypsy Queen card sealed the deal.

Same, but different

The same source photo was used, one as a Cub, one a Cardinal.

I don't know the lead time on printing cards but I do know that 2017 Gypsy Queen was officially released on March 29, 2017. And Dexter Fowler signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a free agent on December 9, 2016. Since Gypsy Queen does on-card autographs, these would have needed to be printed way in advance to be given to Fowler to sign and return. So three months is enough time to do a little photoshopping for base cards but not enough for the autographed edition.

It makes me wonder if the Cubs base versions were printed and destroyed or never even made it to print.

These four cards will join this Scott Hairston card out of 2013 Topps Update in a new "Undercover Cubs" niche collection. I blogged about that one here.

I doubt this collection will grow very much and that's fine with me, though I do have one more to share.

I also have one more interestingly photoshopped Dexter Fowler card from 2017 but it doesn't involve the Cubs at all. Look for that one tomorrow!

IVY: 1997 Topps Stadium Club #1 Chipper Jones

I have almost 500 cards in the Ivy collection and need to whittle down some of the numbers where I have duplicates for the Frankenset. I want to make sure each card gets its due so I've decided that over the course of a month or so, I will sprinkle in individual posts. When I have exhausted what I have for each binder page, I'll post which ones made the cut. Once I have a full page, I'll add a tab up top where you can view each page. I have multiple representatives for many of the first 99 numbers (11 full pages) which should get me through all of 2017.

I have two cards for the #1 slot which means a decision will have to be made. I already talked about the Tom Glavine card when I posted the original Page 1 about a year and a half ago. That leaves its challenger, 1997 Topps Stadium Club #1 Chipper Jones.

By 1997, I had moved on from the collecting baseball cards so this card was new to me. The idea of Chipper Jones as a shortstop was completely foreign to me. Did I know this? If I did, it was long since forgotten. If this was a one-off appearance at the position, maybe it'll be easier to track down the game?

From the photo used on the card, I'm looking for a play in 1996 where Chipper Jones was the shortstop in the middle of a double play or fielder's choice, and the advancing runner was either African American or possibly Hispanic. Unfortunately, we don't get part of the jersey number or last name.

Let's see what I can find out.

First thing is to head over to Chipper Jones' Baseball Reference Page.

Scrolling down to Fielding Statistics, I can see he only played 49 games at shortstop in his career. Cool maybe this won't be so hard!

Then I went into the Fielding Gamelog for 1996 and see 7 of those 49 games at shortstop came against the Cubs, four of which were at Wrigley. Looks like they had a 4-game series, including a doubleheader.

In game 1 on August 30, the Braves turned two double plays and did not induce any fielder's choices.

In the bottom of the first, Mark Grace grounded out to the second baseman, Mark Lemke, who fed it to Chipper and forced out Ozzie Timmons at second. That fits all of my criteria. This will be either really easy or I'll have to make a tough call.

For the other double play in this game, in the bottom of the fifth, Ozzie Timmons was at bat with Brian McRae at first. This time however, it was hit to Chipper who started the double play and I'm fairly certain that Chipper is receiving the toss in this photo. Cubs would win this game 3-2

In game 2, the only double play of the game was hit into by the Braves and there were no fielder's choices either. Cubs lost 6-5.

Cruising right along here!

The next day, August 31, 1996 was a 12-0 blowout by the Cubs. A lot of runs probably meant a lot of baserunners, which could also mean a lot of double play opportunities.

Surprisingly, the Cubs successfully dodged any double plays but the Braves did induce two Fielder's Choice forceouts.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ryne Sandberg grounded to Chipper with the bases loaded for a force out at second so not this play. The other opportunity came an inning later in another bases loaded situation. This time however, the force out was at home.

Just one more game to go!

To take the series, the Cubs outlasted the Braves 2-1 with a 12th inning walk off single by Sandberg. Actually, the infield single would have just loaded the bases. It was a throwing error by the second baseman that allowed Luis Gonzalez to score. But I digress. What about the card???

The Braves turned two double plays in the game. Both appear to be 4-6-3 double plays, however the runners attempting to advance to second base were Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace, both Caucasian players. There were no other force outs at second.

It's a little anticlimactic when I find what I'm looking for right off the bat but also exciting when I can say with a 99.9% certainty I found the play on a photo that's older than the easily trackable Getty source photos.

This a pretty good card, but it's not a guarantee to make the Frankenset. As I mentioned, the competition and incumbent of the #1 spot is Hall of Fame teammate, Tom Glavine. I'll have to look and see if I have any other cards from either set represented or if either player could possibly be slotted in at a later card number.

Although, to make things tougher on Glavine, the backside of this one has a pretty sweet gum bubble.

While Chipper is certainly a lock as a first ballot Hall of Famer, it is a good thing he didn't have to make a large part of his living in Wrigley Field. The Friendly Confines were not too kind and makes him look rather pedestrian.

2017 Topps Holiday Box Part 2

The other day I started opening a 2017 Topps Holiday Box and today I have the second half of the box. I separately purchased a Cubs team set and have no intention of completing the full 200 card set so everything is available.

Pack 6:
Travis Shaw, Brewers

Ichiro, Marlins

Julio Urias, Dodgers

Yonder Alonso, A's

Derek Fisher, Astros

Sonny Gray, A's

Corey Kluber, Indians

Freddie Freeman, Braves

Nomar Mazara, Rangers

Manny Margot, Padres RC

Pack 7:

Trey Mancini, Orioles RC
Hunter Pence, Giants

Ian Happ, Cubs RC
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals

Mike Trout, Angels Snowflake Parallel
Brian Dozier, Twins
JD Martinez, Tigers
Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox
Carlos Rodon, White Sox
Lucas Giolito, White Sox

Pack 8:

Yoan Moncada, White Sox RC
Yadier Molina, Cardinals
Charlie Blackmon, Rockies
Corey Dickerson, Rays
Justin Verlander, Tigers
George Springer, Astros
Aroldis Chapman, Yankees
Michael Conforto, Mets
Noah Syndergaard, Mets

Cody Bellinger, Dodgers RC

Pack 9:

Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays
Lance McCullers, Astros
Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
Brandon Phillips, Braves
Dinelson Lamet, Padres RC

Danny Duffy, Royals Snowflake Parallel
Yasiel Puig, Dodgers
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
Felix Hernandez, Mariners
Jose Abreu, White Sox

Pack 10:

Cameron Maybin, Angels
Gerrit Cole, Pirates
Eric Hosmer, Royals

Luis Severino, Yankees, Jersey Relic
Carlos Martinez, Cardinals
Jesse Winker, Reds, RC
Jay Bruce, Mets
Jeff Hoffman, Rockies

My second impression on the box was meh. Despite that, I'll stick with a 3 on the buyer's remorse scale. The saving grace here is that the box was $5 instead of $20. I got what I was supposed to based on averages, 5 snowflake parallels (including one of them a Trout) and the one guaranteed autograph/relic. I pulled the Judge and Bellinger rookies. Five Cubs cards came out of the box of the possible eleven in the team set.

As much as I love ripping packs, I'll probably stick to singles/team sets I want for the forseeable future. Maybe a box of Opening Day since its cheap.

Ivy Collection/Frankenset Preview (Redux)

Nearly a year and a half ago, I debuted the first binder page of my Ivy Frankenset.

That's what the old first page looked like if you didn't want to click the link. Four non-Cubs and five Cubs fillers.

I thought I had the first couple of pages "done" but things have dramatically changed in that time. Not only are all of the Cubs gone from this page, I won't have a single Cubs card on the first 11 pages. That covers card numbers 1-99. On top of that, I have "backups" at a lot of the numbers.

I think I did this is reverse. Most Frankensets I've seen were whittled down from larger collections whereas I started a Frankenset and have turned it into a collection! A big shout out to Zistle and their search engine for the assist. I haven't been able to search other databases the way I can that one.

I'm a numbers guy so how about some stats on the collection for my math fans out there? I'll save Frankenset stats for those posts, therefore these numbers refer to the Ivy collection as a whole. This niche contains zero Cubs cards, although a number of Cubs make cameos. Also, my horizontal Ivy cards are under a different niche (Por Que No Los Dos) and thus not counted here.

This is by no means a comprehensive count of Ivy cards, though I guess that's the ultimate goal.

My collection has grown to 486 cards as of this writing. Of those, 201 are cards #1-99. So that's quite a few duplicate numbers. The most I have of any one number is 7 and that's a tie between cards numbered 88 & 89. Those'll be a real battle to make the Frankenset binder! The highest number I have is 699, but I really haven't focused on cards above number 99 just yet.

The Astros, Expos and Cardinals far outpace the rest of the league, making up almost 35% of the collection among them. I'm hoping for a little more parity in the Frankenset so lower number teams (especially American League) will probably take precedence.

The Marlins are listed twice (Miami and Florida), but the Angels just once. Maybe if I ever find some, I'll differentiate between Anaheim and Los Angeles. I believe California Angels are impossible?

Aside from the Cubs, the Washington Nationals are the only National League team not represented, despite the Expos being a team leader. Twelve years worth of cards now and not even one on my radar.

Pitchers dominate the position category with nearly half of the cards. I used whatever the card said, though for the sake of simplicity, I combined multiple positions cards (if one said 2B/SS and another said SS/2B, they are counted the same). NPL stands for no position listed, which I found interesting. Nothing was noted on the front or back of these cards. I was pleasantly surprised to have 2 DH's, though both are actually fielding on the card, as opposed to say, running the bases.

The only year from 1981 to 2017 not represented is 1986, but honestly, I haven't been looking hard at all by year. There are some cards that predate 1981 I know of but nothing I've picked up yet. Based on this small sample size, ask me when the junk wax era was and when competition started to die down, haha.

Unfortunately, I can't post a screenshot of the next statistic because it would be too big. I have formulas in my spreadsheet to account for different brands and sets. For example, 2016 Opening Day and 2017 Opening Day are the same brand, but different sets. Colored border parallels would be different sets and brands. Furthermore, a flagship base series is considered a different brand and set from its Update/Traded Series, but Series 1 and Series 2 would be the same since they are sequentially numbered.

In the collection, I have 93 different brands represented and 208 sets. The top 3 brands are Upper Deck (58), Fleer (56) & Score (45), all their flagship base cards. I thought about doing manufacturer as well but I didn't want to go too far down the rabbit hole. Some companies are confusing as to who owned them.

There is a three way tie for 1st among most from a single set, although I'm not entirely sure I have captured every one from these sets.

One of these sets is not like the others...

Certain players have a knack for being photographed at Wrigley in front of the Ivy as well. I have 10 (!) different Dwight Goodens and 9 different Orel Hershisers leading the way.

So with all of these duplicates, I have some tough decisions to make for the Frankenset. On my new and improved Page 1, I have 14 eligible cards for just the 9 slots. Stay tuned to see who made the cut!

And if you have any other suggestions on what to track, let me know!

2017 Topps Holiday Box

Yesterday I mentioned that I had picked up a box of 2017 Topps Holiday on a whim while also out to get milk. I'm trying to get back in the groove of posting so just a quick post today with the results from the first five packs.

Pack 1:

Khris Davis, A's

Jacob deGrom, Mets

Giancalo Stanton, Marlins

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

Joe Mauer, Twins

Adam Jones, Orioles

Trevor Story, Rockies

Kris Bryant, Cubs

Anthony Rizzo, Cubs

Jose Berrios, Twins

Pack 2:

Tyler Austin, Yankees RC

Kole Calhoun, Angels

Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

Kevin Gausman, Orioles

Jose Altuve, Astros Snowflake Parallel

Brandon Crawford, Giants

Adrian Beltre, Rangers

Byron Buxton, Twins

Adam Duvall, Reds

Hanley Ramirez, Red Sox

Pack 3:

Johnny Cueto, Giants

Carson Fulmer, White Sox RC

Seung-Hwan Oh, Cardinals

Francisco Lindor, Indians

Michael Pineda, Yankees Snowflake Parallel

Eric Skoglund, Royals RC

Ryan Braun, Brewers

Evan Longoria, Rays

Jose DeLeon, Rays

Yulieski Gurriel, Astros RC

Pack 4:

Alex Wood, Dodgers

Ian Kinsler, Tigers

Jose Bautista, Blue Jays

Alex Bregman, Astros RC

Trea Turner, Nationals

Edwin Encarnacion, Indians

Addison Russell, Cubs

Luke Weaver, Cardinals RC

Jake Thornton, Phillies RC

Jordan Montgomery, Yankees RC

Pack 5:

Ender Inciarte, Braves

Wil Myers, Padres

Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks

Jameson Taillon, Pirates

Aaron Judge, Yankees RC

Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals

Jason Heyward, Cubs

Craig Kimbrel, Braves

Rougned Odoro, Rangers

Matt Carpenter, Cardinals

My first impression is that this is not a bad start to the box. Four Cubs, a Judge RC and two of the snowflake parallels that fall every other pack. But on the other hand, I picked up a Cubs team set already so I don't really need any of these.

I think the Snowflake Parallels (what they are called on the pack) are what they are calling Metallic elsewhere? To me, it just looks like a bit of glitter in the corners. Neat, but meh. And that's my first Aaron Judge card. Also neat, but meh.

So far, I'm running about a 3 on the buyer's remorse scale. Probably closer to a 6-7 if I had paid the full $20. There's still a bit of optimism for the second half of the box.

Part two will be later this week.