2010 Topps Giveaway fun

I was one of the ranting and raving and "Way to screw up Topps" crowd yesterday. I'm over it. I was at the tail end of a 16 hour shift and I'm sick so I can't really be held accoutable for my actions can I? I probably shouldn't be allowed to blog in that condition anyway, but I apologize to Topps for ever doubting their intentions with the redemption. As for insinuating that big card companies have screwed over collectors repeatedly throughout the years? Well, I won't apologize for that one, but after seeing some of the good cards people have "redeemed" I must say I am a little surprised. Some nice autos have turned up along with some really nice cards. Even people with one redemption card are pulling some vintage. Of course it's not all great and not everyone is getting vintage cards.

Depite all the 1989 Topps cards on the original home page for the redemption, I didn't end up with a single 1989 Topps card. 1988...well, that's a different story. I won't gripe about shipping charges (yet).

I ended up with 13 of these:

Well, they weren't all the Gary Carter version.

I must say, once the site was accessible, I had fun registering the cards and wish I had a 1000 more to redeem. Here is what now resides in my "collection", in the order they were redeemed.

TMC-1 Roy Campanella turned into 2001 Brian Meadows, Royals.

Sick! MOJO! Ummm...not. That disclaimer on the front about "card to be unlocked in not necessarily the one pictured" was hammered home right from the start. This was a little anti-climactic, but not totally unexpected. I would have been shocked to get a nice vintage card on my first redemption, but I did see a few bloggers who redeemed one or two cards and got vintage right away.

TMC-2 Gary Carter turned into 1981 Alan Trammell, Tigers.

That's better, but not "blow me away" better. 1981 was my first year collecting so I'm sure I pulled this one before.

TMC-2 Gary Carter (#2) turned into 2005 Laynce Nix, Rangers.

Well, it's no Kinsler or Ryan or Will Clark, but it's my first (and only) Ranger. I'd gladly throw this one back for another shot at something vintage, but at least it's not a 1987 Dick Williams manager card.

TMC-3 Bob Gibson turned into 1985 Tim Raines, Expos.

More mid-'80s goodness. The "Rock", and I'm not talking about the Tooth Fairy one, was one one of those guys I didn't know much about early on....for goodness sakes he was all the way up in Montreal. Do you know how far it is from Dallas to Montreal? 1,759.62 miles, that's how far.

TMC-4 Ichiro turned into 1988 Kirk McCaskill, Angels.

Ok, now I'm starting to get concerned. I've done 5/13 cards and still nothing I would consider

vintage. At this point I'm hoping for anything...ANYTHING pre-1981.

TMC-4 Ichiro (#2) turned into 1970 Clayton Dalrymple, Orioles.

Alright, that's more like it! Sure, Clayton's no Hall of Famer, but he has two things going for him. One, he's a catcher. I like catchers and I've been looking to add some of these vintage catchers in the position. Two, 1970 is my birth year so I'm trying to add those to the collection as well. I'm very happy to have broken through into the vintage cards at this point. How about something from the '60s....maybe even the '50s. (Don't be greedy mister!)

TMC-5 Mickey Mantle turned into 1993 Willie Greene, Reds.

Ouch, slapped back to reality. Oh well, I'm over half-way through (7/13) with just one vintage card. I actually thought about saving the rest of the codes at this point.
For about 3 seconds.

TMC-5 Mickey Mantle (#2) turned into 1966 Dick Stuart, Mets.

I never heard of Dick Stuart, but vintage is vintage. I'm just happy to have broken through into the 1960's. Five cards to go and I'm 2/8 on vintage cards.

TMC-5 Mickey Mantle (#3) turned into 1972 Danny Thompson, Twins.

Alright, I'm on a roll now. Two vintage cards in a row. This a stretch, but Danny was playing with the Twins when I was born in Minnesota. Yay me! Still, I won't complain about getting any vintage card. Ever. Can we make it three vintage cards in a row?

TMC-7 Roger Maris turned into 1988 Dwayne Murphy, A's.

Maybe not. This is my second 1988 card. I think Dwayne is as stunned as I am that he is now in my virtual collection.

TMC-7 Roger Maris (#2) turned into 1969 Tony Oliva, Twins.

It keeps getting better! Bring on some sweet Twins vintage goodness. Now Danny won't have to be lonely. This has definitely been the pull of the lot so far. No offense to Dwayne or Brian. Only two more to go.

TMC-8 Thurman Munson turned into 1988 Jim Acker, Braves.

Oh, thank goodness, another 1988 card. I'm not complaining mind you...I'm just a little sad I only have one more card to redeem. One, lonely little card.

TMC-10 Carl Yastrezemski turned into AAACKKKK!!!! 1987 Dick Williams, Mariners manager.

Ok...be positive...be positive....I love the old-school M's logo.

I'm really pretty happy with what I "virtually" have now. That was a lot of fun, and I must admit, I'm tempted to buy some more packs to get more codes. I think I'll wait for Series 2.
I think Topps hit a homerun with this promotion. What a way to launch into the new year as the "exclusive" provider of "legal" cards with logos. Hopefully some of my fellow bloggers will be unlocking some big hit cards as we go forward.