2018 Topps is Here

That's right! Even though it hardly ever happens so quickly for me, I made my way to my local Target yesterday and found one of these sitting on the shelf.

New Cards! Sure, pitchers and catchers might be two weeks away from reporting, but I have cards from the 2018 season right in my grubby little hands!

Let's tear into the blaster, shall we?

The very first card from the very first pack from the very first blaster is...

Umm. Yeah. Ok...moving right along.

I should actually mention the design. I like it. Actually, I like it a lot. It has what I need: name, team, position. The graphics don't detract from the pictures. There's nothing particularly unnecessary about it. Yeah, the little particles on the right of the graphic give it a highly "modern" look, but that doesn't bother me. Actually reminds me a bit of what 1991 Stadium Club would look like with updated graphics. That's a good thing.

Thankfully the first pack also yielded the first Red Sox card! Craig Kimbrel brings the intensity in a nicely cropped shot. 

How about some highlights from the rest of the packs?

I can rest easy now knowing that Aaron Judge made his way into series one. It was a real upset. This set design, by the way, is just hot garbage. What in the name of Tris Speaker is going on with all the cut out boxes? Why, Topps, why?

A great card of Red Sox ace Chris Sale pondering his future. Or, just waiting for the next batter to just get in the damn box already.

A look at the 1983 inserts with another Kimbrel card. Last year it was the 25th anniversary look back at the 1987 set. This year it's the 30th anniversary of the 1983 set. I'm reminded of Disney home movies. Their animated classics come out on a new platform, like DVD, and then go back into the vault. When they release them, they always seem to do it on a special anniversary. The 60th Anniversary edition of this movie, or the tenth anniversary edition of that movie. The lucky thing for them is that with all the quality movies they have, every year one of them will be having a special anniversary to celebrate. Topps has the same advantage. There are several designs to celebrate. They just need to decide which anniversary set to pick.

That rounds up the Red Sox cards from the packs. Three in a blaster is pretty nice. But, here's my problem with the blaster. Three Red Sox cards but...

FIVE cards of Derek Friggin Jeter. So, not only will I need to deal with AAron Judge being forced down my throat at every turn, but Topps added an insert set of a guy who's been retired for several years? What is this torture? Might mean I can't buy any more packs of Topps Flagship this year.

I did get one more Red Sox card. Thankfully the manufactured patch card was this...

While I'm not a big fan of the manu-patch thing as a genre, it's a nice looking card of a future Red Sox superstar. 

So, there you go. The first packs of 2018 have been ripped. Can't wait to see what comes next.

Hopefully fewer Jeters.