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Thursday, February 5, 2015

2002 Topps 206 Mini Blue Jersey Polar Bear back

Card Manufacturer: Topps
Card Set: Topps 206
Year: 2002
Card Number: 289
Card Variation: Blue Jersey
Card Type: Tobacco Size Mini parallel
Card Back Variation: Polar Bear



I vividly remember when Topps 206 came out.  I opened a ton of this stuff. Left me rephrase that I opened a ton of Series 2 of this stuff.  Mainly because Robin had not one, but two base cards, or rather a base card and two variations.  Plus the mini's and the back variations.  I pulled some great card from this set.  I pulled an original T206 buyback, some bat cards featuring vintage players from the original set, and a Joe Mauer rookie autograph, among others. It also came out right about the time I really started getting back into card collecting and my discovery of eBay.

It was also the birth of using vintage designs for a products that paved the way for Allen and Ginter, Goodwin Champions, Champ's, Turkey Red, Topps 205, Mayo, and two more sets of 206.

And while this isn't first time tobacco sized mini's had been inserted in a current product, that belongs to Pacific Private Stock, it is the start of the trend. This set does start the overall return of the tobacco size insert, but wouldn't be used again till 2006 with the inaugural Allen and Ginter set.

Each of the three series featured different mini back parallels.  Robin's card was featured in Series 2 and has the Polar Bear, Piedmont, red and black, and Carolina Bright's backs.

The Polar Bear backs are the most common and can be considered the base backs, then rarity goes, Piedmont Black, Piedmont Red, and Carolina Bright's being the rarest.

I love that the variations for Robin's cards in the set pretty much bookend his career with this blue jersey, classic 70's Brewers, representing the start of this career and the Pinstripe variation representing the end.  







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