2011 Topps Lineage Baseball

2011 Topps Lineage Baseball Hobby Box

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Product Highlights:
Every box contains (2) Autograph Cards with at least (1) On-Card Autograph, and (1) Relic Card!!

In the spirit of Topps 60th Anniversary, Topps honors its famous past eras with new Lineage Baseball. Distinguished with a 1952 On-Card Autograph list featuring the living greats of the game, a 1975 Mini Relic card set highlighted by 90 stellar players, and topped off with a retrospective of Topps most famed, quirky, and beloved insert cards of all-time, Lineage Baseball is poised to be a runaway best seller!

24 packs per box, 8 cards per pack






Here's what I pulled in our box of 2011 Topps Lineage Baseball:

Base Cards and Parallels;

Rookies, Veterans, and Legends are highlighted on base cards created with a nod to the tradition of Topps classic design tenets, but with a contemporary look. For these cards, there is the classic white border that is seen on many Topps issues. The player’s photo is pretty large, and takes up about 90% of the card. A lot of nice action photos are seen throughout the set. The “Topps Lineage” logo is seen in silver foil in the top right or left of the photo; depending on the picture that is used. Underneath the photo is a box with a gradient that is in the team’s main color (Giants is Orange, Cardinals is Red, etc). In this box is the player’s name in silver foil, to the right it lists their position within a pennant shape, and their team logo is to the left. Finally, there is a double-stroke line that surrounds the player’s photo. This line is in the player’s main team color.
We pulled 157/200 base cards (78.5%), and 2 of the 4 checklists.

The last 10 cards of the set create an “All Star Rookie” team subset. This includes 1 player for each position, along with 2 pitchers. There is a trophy design in the bottom right corner, and that lists their rookie year.

Another reason I will bring up the Giants is to show how they distinguished the various players from the various eras. Shown below are 4 base cards, and they show the San Francisco Giants’ logo now (Lincecum) and 3 different versions of the New York Giants’ logo thru the various years in the 30s-40s. The logo is seen at the bottom left.

There are many parallels of the base set. The versions we pulled are Diamond Anniversary, Platinum Diamond, 1975 Minis, Topps Cloth Stickers, and Topps Venezuelan.

The Diamond Anniversary cards have a rainbow foil background, and are adorned with the Topps 60th Anniversary logo.

Platinum Diamond cards are also adorned with the Topps 60th Anniversary logo, but they include a crystallized diamond, foil background.

The 1975 Minis have the same card backs as the base cards, but the fronts have transformed into the 1975 set. These are also a mini parallel, just like the mini sets they used to have in the 80s and 90s (possibly other decades, but I only recall mini sets from that timeline). On the front, the picture is exactly the same as the base card, but the rest has changed. For one, the “Topps Lineage” logo is no longer in silver foil. At the top is the player’s team name, while the bottom has his name. At the bottom right is a baseball with the player’s position written inside on the sweet spot. The border’s background is cut into 2 colors; one at the top and one at the bottom. It looks like they incorporate a color combination of 2 of these colors: Yellow, Blue, Brown, and Orange.
Because of the difference of the card front, and since these cards are mini; you could almost consider these inserts instead of parallels.

The Topps Cloth Stickers look just like the base cards, but they have a cloth feel to them, and they are flimsy (since they are stickers). The card numbers start with TCS for Topps Cloth Stickers (ie: Reggie Jackson is TCS18).

Topps Venezuelan look exactly the same on the front, but these cards are written in the Spanish language on the back (the scan I show is the card’s back only). Therefore, I did not realize that I had pulled these two inserts until I flipped all the base cards over to put them in order. The card numbers start with TV for Topps Venezuelan (ie: Albert Pujols is TV24).

The 22 parallels we pulled were:
• (6) Diamond Anniversary: George Sisler (27), Hanley Ramirez (35), Vladimir Guerrero (41), Wandy Rodriguez (157), Daniel Hudson (188), & Andruw Jones (198)
• (6) Platinum Diamond: Lance Berkman (47), Lou Gehrig (50), Gordon Beckham (58), Todd Helton (118), Nick Markakis (132), & Adrian Gonzalez (145)
• (6) 1975 Minis: Carlos Santana (70), Troy Tulowitzki (80), Carlos Gonzales (86), B.J. Upton (153), Daniel Hudson (188), & Cal Ripken Jr. (194)
• (2) Topps Cloth Stickers: Reggie Jackson (TCS18) & Troy Tulowitzki (TCS22)
• (2) Topps Venezuelan: Albert Pujols (TV24) & Ian Kinsler (TV25)

Inserts;

We pulled 3 non-memorabilia inserts from a few of the sets (or 4 inserts, if you consider the 1975 Minis as inserts instead of parallels), including Topps 3D, Topps Rookies, and Topps Stand Ups.

The Topps 3D are designed after the revered "test-issue" 1968 3D set, featuring 25 stars of today, utilizing life-like 3D technology. I do not recall this 1968 set, but they remind me of Sportflics cards from the 80s. You move the card from side-to-side, and it looks like the player is moving. These cards have the white border like the base set, but the corners are rounded. The picture takes up almost the entire card. At the top is the player’s name in yellow, and to the right is a circle (with a random color) that says the player’s position and team name. The bottom left has the “Topps Lineage” logo. The card backs are almost completely white, except for the copyright information; I guess it helps the 3D technology to be a single color back?

The Topps Rookies cards showcase twenty 2011 rookies; displayed on cards featuring the standard 1980's Rookies insert design. There is the white border, which is seen throughout the Lineage set. The player’s photo once again takes up the majority of the card, and the “Topps Lineage” logo is at the top left of the photo. Underneath the photo box is another box (in yellow) with the player’s name written in red. These two objects have a black stroke line around them; the player box also has a red stroke line, and both boxes are within a blue stroke line. This groups them all together nicely. At the very top of the card is a yellow oval with “2011” in it. Directly underneath is a banner that has an American Flag feel to it, and includes the work “Rookies” in the middle on the banner. The card backs have a design that looks like a patriotic shield that you might see on a dollar bill (like the shield with the eagle).

Topps Stand Ups are colorful die-cut cards, patterned from the 1964 set, that are designed to be displayed when folded. You can see what I mean when I pull the Brooks Robinson in the youtube video; I fold the card to show how it stands. This set includes current players as well as reprinted cards featuring players from the original set. The player takes up most of the card. The background is only yellow (top) and green (bottom), and where they separate is the fold-line for the stand up. The player’s top is cut so that his entire body is standing (easier shown in video than I can describe here). Over the player is his facsimile autograph. The “Topps Lineage” logo is at the top left of the green background. At the bottom is a yellow box with the player’s name, team, and position. This box has 2 black stroke lines surrounding it. The card backs are almost completely white, except for the copyright information; just like the 3D cards.

The 8 inserts we pulled were:
• (2) Topps 3D: Shin-Soo Choo & Chase Utley
• (4) Topps Rookies: Tsuyoshi Nishioka (14), Hank Conger (16), Domonic Brown (17), & J.P. Arencibia (18)
• (2) Topps Stand Ups: Brooks Robinson & Ryan Zimmerman

Box Topper;

Every box has a large sealed pack, which includes a Topps Giants box topper card. This set features 20 of today's stars, and mimic the original 1964 Topps Giants design and postcard size. This set has many similarities of the cards found throughout the set. There is a huge picture with a white border, just like the base cards and 3D cards. In addition, there is a baseball with information on it, like the 1975 Minis. This baseball has the player’s name on the sweet spot; their position above the seams at the top, and the player’s team under the seams at the bottom. The card back is in black & white, has an image of the player, has a “headline” across the top, and the text is “justified” almost like a newspaper article.

The box topper we pulled was:
• (1) Topps Giants: Joe Mauer (TG4)

Game Used Memorabilia;

The game used card set mimics the 1975 Minis insert. It is the exact same design, but at the bottom left part of the player’s picture box, there is a window with the jersey swatch. The swatch is not the largest, but still decent-sized (3/4”), which you might not expect since the card is mini. I know I’ve seen other mini cards, as well as regular-sized cards, with smaller swatches than this card. The actual swatch we pulled has a pin-stripe, which is nice. The only disappointing part is on the back it states “The relic contained in this card is not from any specific game, event or season.” I like to know that the “game used memorabilia” is actually “game used,” which this sadfully might not be.

The relic card we pulled was:
• (1) 1975 Mini Relic: Kosuke Fukudome (75R-KF)

Autographs;

There are 2 autograph per box, and at least 1 in on-card. In our box, the autographs we pulled were:
• (1) Lineage 1952 Autograph: Fernando Rodney (52A-FR)
• (1) Lineage Autograph Reprint: Fausto Carmona (RA-FC)

The 1952 Autographs feature the player on the 1952 design (think Mickey Mantle rookie). Where the facsimile autograph was located on the 1952 cards; this is where the sticker auto is located, so this white box is larger than the original 1952 design. There is basically only 1 other addition from the original design, in that “Topps” is in the top left corner. I am assuming the card back looks just like the 1952 backs as well, but includes the autograph COA and all.

The Autograph Reprints look like previous year’s autographed cards. The Carmona autograph we pulled represents his 2008 Topps card 375, and even includes his stats only up to that year, making it look like it is from 2008. This is an on-card autograph!





Final Thoughts on 2011 Topps Lineage Baseball;

For positives:
First off, 33 inserts in 24 packs (plus a box topper)! Awesome!

I am glad there is at least 1 on-card autograph, for I am not a fan of the autographed stickers. I wish they would completely get rid of the stickers, but I have to admit, they did incorporate it nicely into the card design.

This is a fun set for collectors who seek older cards, especially people who collected 1952 and 1975 Topps. The can “add on” to those sets if they want to.

This is also a great set for people who collect cards of veterans, rookies, as well as retired stars. I like how they incorporated the various logos that represent those retired stars.


For negatives:
I wish there was a difference in the front of the Venezuelan cards, since I didn’t even realize I had pulled those two inserts until after-the-fact. If I didn’t put these cards in order, I would have never have known that I pulled the inserts.

Also, I wish that they only used actual "game used" jerseys in the "games used memorabilia" set. I don't like how this could be from an event.

Here's how I would rate this product;

• Value = 4
• Innovation = 4
• Fun and Experience = 4
• Rebuy Value = 4

I rate this product a " B " for Topps!

I would like to thank Topps and Trader Retreat for giving me the chance to review this new product.

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