My First 2013 Topps Red Sox Cards!

I didn’t even need to buy any packs!

Jim from The Phillies Room was nice enough to send along a “Happy Pitchers and Catchers Reporting” package of Red Sox cards. It included my first cards of 2013. Thanks Jim! Let’s see some of what he sent along.

The three 2013 line the top. The Cut to the Chase card of Ted Williams is a gorgeous card. Sure, it’s probably a case of die-cut for the sake of being die-cut. But at least it has some relationship to the name of the set, and chasing is a common theme throughout the set. It’s not all that much of a stretch. It’s such a nice card, it wouldn’t matter either way. The Chasing History Williams is a bit more pedestrian. I think I’ve seen similar looks on cards a lot. It doesn’t jump out at me, design-wise. The gold Craig Breslow is a nice looking card. I enjoy the look of the Topps base set this year. Which is ironic because my first three cards of the year weren’t base cards.

Jim was also nice enough to include some of Panini’s Cooperstown cards. I like the idea for the set. For an unlicensed set, they do a good job. Even if the border has to sometimes chop off the top of the picture. I don’t have any cards from this set, so it was great to be able to add some to my collection. The Hooper card is especially nice since lower tier Hall of Famers like him don’t get as much love from the card companies. The Williams Induction subset was a nice idea too. If you have a set with no logos, it’s a great way to take pictures out of uniform and still have a reason to include them in the set. The last three cards are from last year’s Bowman Platinum set. I really like this set. I think the pictures are just big enough to compensate for all the extra flashiness in the design. I wonder how long Jim had to hold on to the package to make sure Napoli was going to be on the Red Sox.

While just the idea of the baseball season getting closer is a great thing, cards always make it even better.

Thanks Jim!