[Baseball Nut]

2011 Topps Baseball Update Series is the final piece of the master release of Topps Baseball Cards for this year. Update does just that, putting players in their traded team’s jerseys, providing a record of the All-Star game and covering Rookies who got mid season call ups. The design is identical to Series 1 and 2 with two significant additions, Cognac and Blue Hope Diamond cards, which bridge all 3 releases.


Like Series 1 and 2, Update Series falls under our classification of trading cards because of its reasonable price point and base/insert card foundation. While hits can be found even in single retail packs, those who’s primary purpose is pulling hits from this product will most likely be looking to increase their odds with purchases that are hobby exclusives, some with multiple box orders or even by the case. The hobby box, like the one we opened for this review, contains 36 packs with 10 cards per pack and each box yields one autograph or relic card.


Here is a look at some of the cards we found in our box.

Update cards - Cliff Lee, who was in his Rangers Uniform in Series 1 and Carlos Beltran who was traded from the Mets to the Giants mid-season.



Rookie Cards - Here is Blake Beavan in his Rookie Card noted with the RC MLB Symbol and his Rookie Debut card which lists his first appearance, July 3, 2011



Here is two more Rookie cards, Eric Hosmer and Paul Goldschmidt



All-Star Game cards - Scott Rolen from the game and Robinson Cano from the Home Run Derby



Season Moments - Derek Jeter joins the 3000 hit club


Base Card Parallels



Diamond Anniversary - Sam LeCure, Armando Calarraca, Aaron Harang
Daniel Moskos, Victor Martinez, Jose Morales
Ryan Adams, Javy Guerra, Prince Fielder


Cognac


Xavier Paul, Tom Wilhelmsen, Michael Pineda
Mark Kotsay, Drew Butera, Nathan Adcock
Yorvit Torrealea, Charlie Morton, Austin Jackson



Jeff Karstens, Ivan DeJesus, Johnny Damon
Michael Wuertz, LeTroy Hawkins, Chris Capuano
Joaquin Benoit, Rich Harden, Barry Enright



Zach Britton, Michael Martinez, Mark Melancon
Tyson Ross, Eric Sogard, Chris Getz
Chris Gimenez, Erik Bedard, Michael Crotta



Matt Downs, Nick Masset
Eric Chavez, Brandon Kintzler



Scott Baker, B.J. Upton, Kris Medlen
Matt Holliday, Matt Kemp, Casey McGehee
Ryan Spilborghs, Raul Ibanez, Curtis Granderson



Mike Minor, Livan Hernandez, Rajai Davis


Gold #/2011

Elliot Johnson, Brendan Ryan, Brad Hand
Tom Gorzelanny, Bill Hall, Alexi Ogando
Greg Dobbs, Takashi Saito, Mitchell Boggs


Lyle Overbay, Matt Downs, Aaron Heilman
Ryan Vogelsong, Kevin Jepsen


Blue Hope Diamond #/60

John Buck, Erik Bedard



Phil Rizzuto


Black Border #/60

Sean Burroughs


Diamond Giveaway Codes

Carl Crawford. Prince Fielder
Mickey Mantle, Jose Bautista
Adrian Gonzalez, Cal Ripken Jr.


Toppstown Codes

Michael Pineda, Jaime Garcia
Eric Hosmer, James Shields, Mandy Rodriguez


Diamond Duos

Albert Pujols & Lance Berkman, Zack Greinke & Shaun Marcum
Grady Sizemore & Shin-Soo Choo, Adrian Gonzalez & Jose Bautista


Topps 60

Nolan Ryan, Roberto Alomar, Sandy Koufax
Jimmy Foxx, Frank Thomas, Joe DiMaggio
Reggie Jackson, Fergie Jenkins, Cy Young


Kimball Champions

Matt Holliday, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson, Danny Duffy
Zach Britton, Paul Molitor, Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Miguel Cabrera


The Hit

Jose Reyes All-Star Workout Jersey


Overall Look

Like in series past, we love the design and the photography. Kimball Champions are still the best looking cards in the entire set, but the Cognac and Blue Hope Diamond cards are really nice too.

Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.

Since Series 1 and 2 covers most of the players, Update is a very specific checklist and serves that function well. Thinking in terms of new Rookies and All-Stars will give you what you can expect from this release.

Do the hits hold up?

No big changes here. The hits work for this release.

Will you want to collect them all?

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Topps Baseball Cards are THE cards to collect for the widest variety of collectors. If you have been collecting Series 1 and 2, Update is a must to finish a master set for the year.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Topps Baseball Update Series completes the 2011 Baseball Master Set, a series of cards that works well for both beginning and seasoned collectors. Your Baseball collection is incomplete without them.



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[YankeeCollector]

Great in-depth review. All that shine and inserts make the boxes fun to open even though there is only one hit. Most collectors are going to look past that though, as so many people are after the diamond parallels. The Derek Jeter and Phil Rizzuto are very nice. The Rizzuto was actually an SP in series one.