Keeping Steady

Quickly into the second third of the 2019 Topps Update set and happily, we continue along our merry way with about 5 duplicates per card, but remaining at about 2/3 completion.

I don't mind the All-Star Game involvement on the Update sets, but I'd still rather have the team logo on the cards. Maybe a smaller ASG logo like an "RC" logo, but the team logo would be nice.

Galvis did not last long in a Jays uniform as he was only here for part of a season before being off and out of town. He was in Toronto after a season in San Diego, and then was off to Cincinnati.

The ASG cards definitely help with adding star power to the 300 card set - no wonder 1/3 or so is about rookies, a third maybe for ASG and other such cards, and then 1/3 big movers and shakers. I still feel 300 is a bit bloated for an update set, but it is what it is.

Definitely still liking the backs, the colour coding with teams, the full stats or solid write ups.

Stroman in his career to date is a .500 pitcher, though I remember the hopes in Toronto at least, were that he would be an ace, and there were flashes of it, but it didn't last.

Not I can at least commemorate this All-Star appearance when he was a Jay with a few copies of the card, and the ugly uniform - definitely not one of my faves.

Updating...

On to the next set to take a lookie at from the BASEball lot, and we go back to 2019 for this one. No rhyme or reason as to why this set next, though I do have the rest of the cards at least set sorted, so I may work through them in some kind of order....though likely not, I appreciate variety.

Today though, the first 1/3 of the 2019 Topps Update set...

We start with the first 100 cards in this 300 card set, and we have here one copy of each for about 67 or so cards from the first part. Now, there are plenty of dupes with about 5 on average, so again, like 2021 flagship - me sure do have me a lotsa traders to work with!

I do like the 2019 design much better than the one used in 2021, though I think there were plenty more cards with the horizontal set up, which isn't a fave of mine.

Looking at the cards though, I can't believe this is already five years ago - it feels like 2016-17 should be five years ago.

As far as the set goes, similar to 2021 flagship Topps, it seems most/all of the rookie cards are what have been pulled out. a few sneak by, but with an update set, that will be what accounts for the 1/3 or so that we don't have here thus far. I can live with it I guess, but definitely looks like someone who was rookie picking before the lot made it's way to me.

The back design with full stats are solid. Write ups, easy to read. I don't need any of the base Jays, but happy to get a half dozen here or Richard, though no surprise I didn't get any Vladdy ones given it was labelled "RC".

I will probably list sets as I tabulate them, based on percentage completion as we go since that's really my driver on this lot, getting a good start on a number of new sets. How many? No idea - we shall see, but two so far!

They Won't All Be This Involved

 I don't think I will break up any of the other sets nearly as much as I have here, but most of the reason is because there was just so much to input for trade, it made the process slow, and I wanted to enjoy looking over the base cards before they go into a box to try and get completed, but likely not pulled oput the same way again.

So looking all in....

We have about 110 cards missing in the base set, and most are rookie cards which really are nothing too special, so it should be manageable to work on. Solid on the Jays cards, and plenty on the dupes. Not too bad on damaged cards, but the damage was actually the printing on the front being heavily smudged, so not really an issue of how the cards were stored instead, an issue of the quality control I think.

A great first start....now, what set will be next....

Almost 75%

 Sweet - I may not have needed 5,000 extra dupes from the set, but at least I am going to be over 75% done on the 2021 Topps flagship base set.

Not a lot to say about the cards themselves, other than the team cards continue to impress me through this set, but the milestone is awesome. I won't mention the classic Kimbrel pitching pose - love it. I don't mind necessarily adding 5,000 cards to my traders, but I am definitely going to have to work to move a bunch of them. I just need to find some people who want a good 50% or so of the set as a start and I can move...maybe half of them.

Teamwork

 Two more days of posts to go to finish the base set after today, but today, we get some solid team cards with great photo work.

The staged team photo was a staple years ago, but one problem with that - especially for someone of lesser visual acuity like myself, you probably could have suited up any bunch of guys and passed them off as being the team. Taking the photo shots like they do in 2021 Topps, you only get a handful of guys, but you get more of a shared moment, and a better view of the few - so making it count by being the faces of the team, makes for a great card. Boston and Toronto cards above are a solid example.

As we close in on 2/3 of the set collected, you also see great standout cards like Zimmerman here.

Speaking of team cards and shared moments - boom another couple examples right there as well.

What is your preference when it comes to team cards - make sure to include everyone possible with a full team photo, or capture a moment shared by a handful of stars from the team?

Over Half

 Now being into series two of 2021 Topps flagship set, will be able to move much quicker to get through the cards, so should just be a few days to see how far along I am on the quick set build from the BASEball lot. As of today, the set is over half way complete.

The more I see of the set, the more I can say - the diagonal design and fonts for the names on both the front and back, are definitely not my favourite and something I would change if I could have my input on this one. I will say the photography does seem better than usual for the flagship set. Still not as good as Stadium Club, but a better year and part is the solid team related shots for the checklist cards.

Other than the names, the backs are solid in design, and full stats will almost always be enough to make the backs a thumbs up for me.

I just scanned all of the set keepers today, only a couple additional Jays cards otherwise instead of 10+ each, and the dupes don't need the attention, except if you need some, then please, check out what I have on TCDB.

I am also curious at the end of this, how many cards we get from the 5000 count box. Yes, it was a bit overflowed - a few hundred cards, but we shall see.

A Quick Two Trade Wrap Up

 A couple trades for share today, and first up with FreakVOE - someone I have done solid trades with before.

A solid little pack of Leafs which include, not one, not two, but three Leaf one card team insert sets. The Centre of Attraction is a nice colourful Upper Deck insert, as is the Matt Murray from the Timmies recent set. Add in the older Owen Nolan, and that's the three. 

The second trade up for share is from fellow Canadian TCDB member nordiques24. The trade was for a couple cards and a SUper Star sticker back was thrown in for fun...

As it worked out, the wrong Nylander was sent but I needed this one as well so all good there, and the Tony Fernandez was a nice surprise. Always like the trades with fellow Canadians with O Pee Chee content!

A Bunch of BoBo!

 Onwards with 2021 Topps and we get to one of my favourite Jays these days....Bo Bichette.

We are through the first series with this post and are only about 40 cards short for now, so not too bad, and there have been some solid photos and great stars, mostly rookie cards missing from the lot - not a total surprise.

Here is one Bichette for the base set, and a few more copies you can see below. Bo has been a great player for the team and continues to shine and along with Vladdy, make a great combo for the team. Bo definitely had a down year in 2024, but expect he will bounce back in 2025.

Definitely not as many copies as there have been for other cards in the first series with a handful of each Jay versus 10-25 of each, but I guess I can't have them all be in excess amounts I guess. Too bad on Bichette, but all good - I can try to always change some of the other base cards into more copies if I really wanted.

Mask Up

 Todays run through 2021 Topps flagship hits one of the Jays I was a bit sad to see go - Teoscar Hernandez.

He had six solid years in Toronto and did well throughout. His best year was 2021 where he was over 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and an average just shy of .300 - a great season to be sure. He probably isn't too upset about leaving since 2024 saw him with the Dodgers who seemed to have a decent enough season last year, you know, winning the World Series and all.

Never mind a good "floating ball" card - definitely can be a little collection there as there have been many - more than floating helmets or bats, I am sure.

Tomorrow I should get to the end of the 330 card first series (second is also 330 cards). As shown, not too bad and definitely on pace for being over 500 cards done on the base set, though I won't have 10+ dupes of each card in series two. From the looks of it, may be more in the range of 3-5, but I can live with that!