2005 Topps Updates and Highlights
What I pulled--
Inserts and Parallels:
Gold Parallel (#ed to 2005) - Hee Seop Choi Home Run Derby, Tony Clark, Livan Hernandez, Thomas Oldham, Roy Oswalt
Postseason Highlights, Placido Polanco, Michael Restovich, Huston Street Sporting News, Claudio Vargas
Barry Bonds Home Run History - 375, 395, 413, 496, 528, 535, 560, 594, 648
Washington Nationals Inaugural Lineup - Vinny Castilla, Nick Johnson, Terrmel Sledge
Relic Cards:
All-Star Stitches - Mariano Rivera blue All-Star workout jersey
Midsummer Covers - Dontrelle Willis All-Star baseball (#120/150)
Review:
This is one of the easiest reviews I am ever going to right.....Refer back to my reviews of Topps Series 1
and Series 2 and you will find the same opening (with one minor alteration this time around)....Hey, it's the
update to the Topps base set. It isn't about relics or inserts or any bells or whistles. It's about the cards,
plain and simple. And this set is a winner.
How can you not love this box? Traded players and others not included in Series 1 or 2. Lots and lots and
lots of rookie cards and other prospects. And, on top of that all, 2005 in review cards - Postseason
Highlights and League Leader cards are here, as opposed to Topps waiting until the 2006 sets. How can
anyone possibly complain about any of that? Some of the subsets feature the Futures Game and Home
Run Derby, and the flags that accompany the players on the card front are a very nice touch.
The Barry Bonds Home Run History cards are back, featuring homers 331-660 this time around
and, as they were last time, these cards are awesome. The only other insert aside from the usual
gold parallel are the Washington Nationals Inaugural Lineup, celebrating the Opening Day lineup
for the relocated Expos, and they are beautifully designed.
One thing the box offers that Topps basic sets usually doesn't is a better than usual chance to pull
a relic or autograph, since their basic set boxes usually feature higher odds than two per box. The
focus of most of the relic sets are the 2005 All-Star Game, and I was lucky enough to pull one numbered to
150 (seeded 1 in 524 packs, no less), which is a real nice special bonus.
I did find one quirk, however, on my first run through the pictures (which, as always, are sharp and
top-notch). The pictures on the Roy Oswalt Postseason Highlights for Game 2 and Game 6 of the NLCS
are the same. Of course, if that is all I can find to complain about, Topps has done its usual top of the line
job.
If you would rather have a full set instead of breaking a couple boxes to get one, this set is being offered
like the old Update sets of yore, in its own box. Topps has specifically gone out of their way to differentiate
this set from Series 1 and 2, which is a good thing - Update sets should always be a separate entity. And
this entity is as good as it gets.......................
A
