Back in Black

I like minis.  Maybe not as much as this guy, but I like 'em.  I even like mini parallels when I get them.  I really like the A&G black bordered minis.  At least I did when you could tell they had black borders.  

Let's take a brief trip down memory lane to see how much the black bordered minis have changed. 

Is there any doubt about this 2008 Josh Hamilton being a black bordered mini?  I don't think so.

The same can be said for this 2009 Jarrod Saltalamacchia mini.  The border has a little flair to it, but it's still easily identifiable as a black bordered mini.

The border design gets a little more action in 2010, but you KNOW it's a black bordered mini.  No doubt about it.  

2011 saw a fairly radical design change for A&G.  The black border could almost be called the "black and white" bordered mini.

That brings us to 2012.  While the team collector in me must have as many variations as I can find, the black bordered minis give the impression that Topps was either trying to save money on ink, or the machine that rolls out the cards was broken.  It's barely a black bordered mini.  As a matter of fact, it's a little confusing to see these mixed in with some of the gold bordered minis that come in the rack packs.

See what I mean?  The gold Griffey definitely doesn't have a black border, but it's not that different either.

Just to emphasize the point, here is the Nelson Cruz black bordered mini.  The point is that the black bordered minis have changed quite a bit over the years.  Change is good, but I'd like to see next year's black bordered minis go back to their roots.

The 2012 Derek Holland and Nelson Cruz minis above were part of a package I received this week from Night Owl.  If anyone knows minis, it's Night Owl.  He's a well-rounded collector though, so he sends other cool stuff that's full sized.

Cool stuff like this 1996 UD Collector's Choice Jeff Frye.  It didn't scan well, but this is the Silver Signature version.

Gold stuff like this 2012 Bowman Nelson Cruz gold parallel.

And the coolest stuff of all?  Well, a mini you ninny.  You can't tell from the scan, but this is the 1975 mini version of Jim Merritt.   I don't care that I don't know who Jim Merritt is, I care that it's a mmmmmmmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!

Thanks Greg, I appreciate it, as always.