2012 Topps Baseball Series 2 Box Break Recap And Review

[Baseball Nut]

2012 Topps Baseball Series 2 picks up where Series 1 left off. Photo selection seems to have improved and the addition of A Cut Above diecut cards make Series 2 a nice set of cards to collect. If you collected Series 1, picking up this new release is a must.


For the purposes of review, we classify Series 2 as trading cards. You can find Series 2 in a wide variety of configurations in both retail and hobby. We opened a box hobby box which contained 36 – 10 card packs with a promise of 1 autograph or 1 relic card per box.


Here are some of the cards we pulled.

Base Set

Cliff Lee, front and back



Carl Crawford, Mike Trout



Clayton Kershaw, CC Sabathia, Albert Pujols


Joe Mauer, Alex Rodriguez, Evan Longoria


Brett Lawrie, Ichiro, David Ortiz


Yu Darvish, Robinson Cano, Andrew McCutchen


Joey Votto, Felix Hernandez, Johan Santana


Base Accomplishments/Checklists

Derek Jeter, Dan Uggla


Gold Parallels

Ervin Santana, Alex Gordon, Martin Prado



Juan Rivera, Jimmy Rollins,Bryan Petersen


Chris Narveson, Clint Barmes, Clayton Richard


Career Day Inserts

Willie Mays



Ken Griffey Jr., Roberto Clemente


Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt


'87 Minis

Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio


Stan Musial, Mark Teixeira, Prince Fielder


Alex Gordon, Brian Wilson, Nelson Cruz


Mound Dominance Inserts

Warren Spahn, Bob Gibson


Dennis Eckersley, John Smoltz


A Cut Above Diecut Inserts

Miguel Cabrera, Johnny Bench


Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander


Tim Lincecum, Prince Fielder, Hanley Ramirez


Golden Moments Inserts

Gary Carter




Ryne Sandberg, Rickey Henderson



Eric Hosmer, Dave Winfield


Ian Kinsler, Adrian Gonzalez


Ryan Zimmerman, Giancarlo Stanton


Gold Futures Inserts

Carlos Santana, Desmond Jennings, Domonic Brown


Drew Pomeranz, Brad Peacock, Jacob Turner


Gold Standard Inserts

Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio


Hank Aaron, Alex Rodriguez


Stan Musial, Chipper Jones


Topps Golden Giveaway Code Cards

Johnny Bench, Derek Jeter


Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum


Carlos Gonzalez, Felix Hernandez


The Hit

Jordan Zimmerman Game Used Memorabilia Golden Moments

Overall Look

This year is a mixed bag for me. Some cards I like, some I don't. Base design is decent. Photo selection Series 2 is much better than it was for Series 1. Standout inserts for me are the Golden Futures and Career Day. I’m on the fence about the Mound Dominance inserts but I do like the idea behind them. The gold parallels still look muddy to me, as do the Golden Silks. A Cut Above diecuts are really nice.

Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.

Topps has gone a long way this year to secure some of the best legends of the game with the inclusion of Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio and Willie Mays added to the line up established last year of Sandy Koufax and Hank Aaron. The legends included in the inserts are fantastic. The base set is as complete as you could expect.

Do the hits hold up?

There are some super autographs to be pulled. The World Series Pins and Team Rings cards are impressive, even more so than the Golden Moments relics and that seems to be the general consensus. Add to that the bonus incentives of the Wrapper Redemption Program and 14K Gold Cards, Series 2 is packed with hits, but you'll have to buy hobby boxes to get the best of them.

Will you want to collect them all?

Not sure about a master set this year, but a complete base set is a must.

Rating

4 out of 5

2011 Topps Baseball Series 2 continues to work well for both beginning and seasoned collectors. Your Baseball collection is incomplete without them.



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