2010 Topps National Chicle NC Back

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Year: 2010

Card Set: National Chicle

Card Number: 210

Card Type: Base parallel

Parallel Type: National Chicle Back

A one and done set for Topps, unless you count the 2009 football set, National Chicle was not so well received when it came out.  At least that's how I remember it.  The biggest complaint was the quality of the art for the cards.  Topps used a small stable of artists for the set and while art is subjective it's hard to have consistent quality when you ask artists to pump a ton of work out in a short amount of time.  However that being said Mike Kupka's painting of Robin is pretty sweet.  As is the case there are a bunch of back parallels to chase in the set.  The National Chicle back is the most common of the parallels and is pretty underwhelming.  

In 2010, Topps released 3 vintage sets with this one, Allen and Ginter and a second consecutive year of  Topps 206.  The next year Topps decided to scrape the National Chicle and 206 tribute sets and released the inaugural set of Gypsy Queen.  I'll be honest I actually really like this set and bought more boxes than I probably should have, but there are some nice relics and the autographs were on card.  And there are a couple really well done cards.  Topps current house artist Mayumi Seto, who also does all of the Topps Transcendence art cards, has some work in this set.

2018 Topps Archives

Year: 2018

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Archives

Card Type: Base

Card Number: 113

Want to know something crazy?  This is the first 2018 card featuring Robin Yount I've picked up this year. Sure I already featured his 2018 New Era card, but this card was the first to arrive and it came via a trade with Julie over at A Cracked Bat. 

This also happens to be Robin's first and only base card this year.  Most of the cards issued for Robin have been low numbered autograph, relic, and auto relics from the high end products so it's nice that there's a easy card to add to the collection and of course parallels to chase.  It should be noted that Topps has only released the retail part of Archives and delayed the hobby release till sometime this month, but Topps has yet to confirm a release date.  Robin also has an card in the Rookie Card History insert set with multiple parallels as well.  You can see his whole checklist here.  

Thanks again Julie.

2018 Topps Five Star - Robin Yount Checklist and Gallery

Robin has an autographed card in the Career Year Autographs set and one parallel.  I'll add images when I find them.

2018 Topps Five Star Career Year Autographs #CRA-RY #/45
2018 Topps Five Star Career Year Autographs Five Star #CRA-RY #/1

2018 Topps New Era 1983 35th Anniversary Insert

Year: 2018
Manufacturer: Topps
Set: New Era Promotional Set
Card Type: Insert
Insert Set: 1983 35th Anniversary 
Card Number: T83-6

I posted about this card in early August and since then have been trying to snag one at a good price ever since. I finally pulled the trigger last week and picked up this card for $8 shipped. A little more than I wanted to pay for it, but that was the best price I've seen since they started showing up on ebay.  For those that don't know this card is an insert to the New Era hat promotion.  The only way to get a pack of cards was to buy a New Era hat from a select MLB stadium store.  And the fact that these cards are inserts to the base set make them a little harder to find.  The main reason I pulled the trigger was I've only seen a handful of listings for these cards and I was worried they would eventually disappear.  Not knowing the print run and scarcity I figured I better jump on one. 

I was hoping Robin would show up in the flagship insert, but so far no luck, but Update is coming out in a couple weeks.  A few differences between this card and the flagship 83 Anniversary insert.  First is the numbering on the back of the card.  These cards have the T83-# designation were the flagship set only has 83-#.  Also the anniversary logo on the front of the card is not foil, it's printed as part of the card.  As a matter of fact there's not an ounce of foil anywhere on these.  It would have been nice if there was a small New Era logo somewhere on the card to denote the set.  Overall it's a great looking card with great colors and beautiful photos.  It really looks great in hand.  As far as oddball and promotional cards go I have no idea how rare these actually are or will become, but if you have a player in the set you collect I'd say pick one up sooner than later.

1996 Bolton Teague Celebrity Softball Challenge Charity Card

Year: 1996

Set: Bolton Teague Celebrity Charity Softball Challenge

Card Number: NNO

I consider myself a pretty savvy collector.  Especially when it comes to Robin Yount's cards.  But I am continually reminded that there is always more to learn. Recently friend of the blog Alex T. messaged me and asked if I knew about the Bolton-Teague softball cards released in the late 90's?  More importantly did I know that Robin Yount had a card in the sets?  My answer was no to both questions.  Alex was nice enough to send a link to the a blog post over at the Oddball Card Collector that featured the set.  The cards are from a charity softball game put on by Michael Bolton, yes that Michael Bolton, and former Green Bay Packer George Teague.   The charity softball games were held for 5 years and for three of those years card sets were produced.  I don't know if was ever made clear if these were sold or giveaway at the games or were a thank for a donation, but what is clear that Robin is in two of the sets.  The 1996 date might be a little misleading as supposedly these cards feature the 1996 team, but were available at the 1997 game.  And if I remember correctly Robin is featured in the 1995 set available at the 1996 game and the other set featured the 1997 team available at the last game held in 1998.   But that might not be correct either.  Robin's card below came out of a gold pack and his other card came packaged in a silver pack, I have an image Alex set of the card and pack at the bottom of the post.  What confuses things is the date on the packs is the same.  So could both sets been available at the same game?  What is obvious is the as the sets progressed they got more and more ornate.  As the 1995 set is pretty plain, the 1996 set features some foil on the player name.  And the 1997 are even more embellished.  Beckett does have the final 1997 set listed on their website, but not the other two.  

Alex was gracious enough to send me a copy of Robin's 1996 card.  Which I can thank him enough.  It also means there aren't as many Yountless year's as I thought.  Thanks again Alex and thanks for the info.  

The 1995? Silver pack set