2009 Topps Legends of the Game Gold Parallel

Year: 2009

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Topps Baseball

Card Number: LG-RY

Card Type: Insert Parallel

Insert Set: Legends of the Game

Parallel: Gold

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 28/99

Might as well keep with the Gold theme this week.  The Legends of the Game insert ran through all three series of Topps Baseball in 2009.  Robin's card appeared in Series 2.  We can tell this by the labeling on the back.  Series 1 cards were labeled with numbers like LG1...LG13 etc.  Series 2 featured the lettering with the players initials like Robin's here LG-RY, and the Update series went back to numbering but the prefix included a U for Update, like LGU1.

There were three levels of the base insert, plus relics and autographs.  Robin does have an extremely rare autograph with this insert set.  And by rare, I mean of 1 of 1.  Robin isn't included in the relic set, but does have the base and two parallels, gold and platinum. 

The green border of the base insert is replaced with a golden border and is numbered to just 99.  The serial numbering is a little camouflaged just under Robin's name.  It would probably have been better placed off to the side then right under the name on the shield.  

It's also refreshing to see an image that hasn't been used a hundred times.

2011 Topps Tribute Gold Parallel

Card Manufactuer: Topps

Year: 2011

Card Set: Topps Tribute

Card Number: 26

Card Type: Base Parallel

Parallel Set: Gold

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 24/50

This card was feature on the blog many years ago after I picked it up.  And I can remember exactly where I got it, which can't be said for every card in the collection.  I was at one of rare, and now nonexistent, card shows here in Anchorage and I was thumbing though a miscellaneous box of cards and this popped out at me.  It's rare for me to find cards of Robin's at these shows and even rarer to find ones I don't already have and are this hard to find.  I asked the seller how much he wanted for it and he wasn't sure what it was worth, so I threw $5 out there and he quickly accepted.  Made me wonder if I could have gotten it for less, but I was more than happy to put a Honest Abe down for the card.  At the time these were going for about twice that on eBay and being a very low numbered parallel hard to find to begin with.  After figuring in what I would have paid in shipping alone my offer and purchase price was more than fair for me.

It's a great looking card, shiny, gold. I was going to make an outdated Austin Powers: Goldmember joke, but I won't.  I also like the image is a one not over used.  Probably not the best image, but at least it's different.  

2012 Topps Golden Giveaway Golden Moments Online Exclusive Gold Parallel Die Cut

Year: 2012

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Golden Giveaway Golden Moments Die Cut

Card Number: GMDC-42

Card Type: Parallel

Parallel: Gold

Card Attributes: Die-cut, serial numbered

Serial Number: 50/99

2012 marked the third year of Topps' online giveaways and code redemptions.  I don't remember a whole lot about the promotion, because I ended up selling all of my code cards because I live in Alaska and the contest was void in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and just about everywhere else that wasn't the 48 contiguous United States.  However I do remember that you had the possibility of winning real cards.  It's a little confusing because that same year Topps also produced a Golden Moments insert card that ran through all three series. 

 There were three levels of cards, the base card, the gold version, featured here and numbered to 99, and a 24k Gold infused card numbered to 1.

A cool card when it came out and still a great card to look at.  Like usual the scan doesn't capture how shiny this card it.  The surface is also protected with a peel off film, you can kind of see it starting to peel away on the corners. The back is the same as the base card and the serial numbering is holofoil. 

2002 Topps 206 Piedmont Black Back Mini Blue Jersey

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Year: 2002

Card Set: Topps 206

Card Number: 289

Card Type: Mini Parallel Variation

Parallel Type: Mini Piedmont Black back

Variation: Blue Jersey

I really like the 2002 Topps 206 set.  I opened quite a bit of it back in 2002.  My card collecting has had some  hills and valleys in terms of what I collected and opened in my life and 2002 marked a definite resurgence in my collecting.  Spurred by Robin being featured in a lot of the sets with some great cards and it's also the year I started using eBay.  The 206 set marked the start of Topps' vintage brands that were not just reprints or reuses of their old brands.  And while this set isn't the first modern set to insert tobacco sized mini's, that honor goes to the 1999 Pacific Private Stock set, it does mark the starting point where they become a lot more common.  It also is the start of the manufactured short print in the base set.

Topps 206 was issued in three series for a total of 526 base cards.  Robin's two cards are found in the second series.  Not all, but some players had multiple variations to mimic the variations found in the original T-206 set.  Robin has two variations, one featuring him in a blue jersey and the other in pinstripes with a bat on his shoulder. He also has all the mini parallels that goes with that.  Each series had their own backs. Series 2 featured Polar Bear, Piedmont red and black backs, and the rarest Carolina Brights.

This product was a blast to open with the possibility of original T206 cards, I pulled one of those, some great autographs, I pulled a Joe Mauer rookie auto, and some great relics featuring players from the modern era and the T206 era.  

2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Best Seat in the House Seat Relic with Paul Molitor and Rollie Fingers

Card Manufactuer: Topps

Year: 2003

Card Set: All-Time Fan Favorites

Card Number: BS4

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Best Seat in the House Relics

Card Attributes: County Stadium Seat Relic

This year Major League Baseball ran a Franchise Four promotion that asked fans who are the four players that define your franchise.  The results won't be revealed till the All-Star Game, but while scanning cards I came across this gem in my collection and it pretty much summed up who my Franchise Three would be.  It's a toss up for the fourth spot, but without a doubt my one, two, three.  Yount, Molly, and Rollie in that order.  I love these odd relics.  Seat relics aren't new, but it beats the old bat or jersey relic.

2005 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros Red parallel

Card Manufacturer: Playoff/Donruss

Year: 2005

Card Number: PP-19

Card Set: Playoff Prestige

Card Type: Insert Parallel

Insert Set: Prestigious Pros

Parallel: Red Foil

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 639/700

If you're a player collector and are lucky, or maybe unlucky, enough to have had a player featured in some the products from the mid-nineties there are endless parallels and variations to chase.  Take Robin's 2005 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros insert.  There are at least 10 color parallels, not to mention the relic parallels and autographs.  I keep finding new stuff out about these sets all the time. 

According to my spreadsheet this is the only Prestigious Pros I own currently, so I have lots to chase.

2010 Topps Update Turkey Red Insert

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Year: 2010

Card Set: Update Series Baseball

Card Number: TR145

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Turkey Red

This year is the first year Topps hasn't included some mini, retro, or vintage insert in it's flagship set. But back in 2010 the insert was Turkey Red and it ran through Series 1 and 2 and Update.  Of course Topps also released a Turkey Red insert in 2009 and 3 full sets of Turkey Red from 2005 to 2007 and offered  smaller sets exclusively online in 2013 and 2014.  

The 2009 and 2010 sets are some of my favorites and an insert set I actively sought to complete.  I finished off the 2010 set pretty quickly and I still need 11 more cards to complete the 2009 set.  And while I fell in love with these insert sets I made no move to aquire any of the other stand alone products other than cards for my Brewers team sets.

Robin's card was found in Topps Update, as 50 cards were released in each series.

It's a great looking card even if the photo used has graced lots of other cards.