2017 Topps Gallery - Two Pack Challenge!

I was mildly surprised to see some new baseball cards at the WalMarts, during some post-work necessity shopping. They were cheap enough, so why not give them my 2 pack challenge?

I'm going into these prejudiced. I read Night Owl's review of his packs last week. Looking at the cards he scanned, I thought: "Yay!!! Another boring-ass 2017 Topps release!" 

While he was a little more kind to the product than I was, he wasn't impressed either.

A throwback to the mildly well regarded Topps Gallery sets of the early oughts, I'm really not sure the market needed another "painted art" set.

After Allen & Ginter, Gypsy Queen and even Heritage to some degree, is there anyone who thinks we need MORE cards with players looking like bad high school art class sketches?

Let's see what we got here...


Pack 1

Blake Snell - Rays
Tim Anderson - White Sox
Francisco Lindor - Indians - Expressionists
Joey Votto - Reds - Masterpiece
Ozzie Smith - Cardinals - Hall Of Fame
David Price - Red Sox
Josh Donaldson - Blue Jays
Jameson Taillon - Pirates
Jacob deGrom - Mets - Canvas Parallel
Dansby Swanson RC - Braves - Canvas Parallel
Mitch Haniger RC - Mariners
Kenta Maeda - Dodgers


Favorite Card - Mitch Haniger

Ignoring the really bad drawing of Haniger's mouth, I do like the throwback Mariners jersey a lot. It's not much, but that should kind of set the bar for what 2017 Topps gallery brings to the table...

I do like the basic layout. The Gallery logo next to the player name, with the wide borders... That works. The art... Just not a fan. Looks too amateur for my tastes. I know they are drawn from photographs, but some of them need some reworking...

Some are hilariously bad...


Least Favorite - Jameson Taillon

Yawn... Seems to be a big buncha real estate between Taillon's lower lip and the ball of his chin...


Inserty Notes...

Wow... I don't like any of these...

Moving on, hopefully pack 2 is better. Pack one was nearly offensively boring...

Pack 2

Aaron Judge RC - Yankees (because of course....)
Randall Grichuk - Cardinals
Paul Goldschmidt - Diamondbacks - Masterpiece
Yadier Molina - Cardinals - Heritage
Cal Ripken Jr. - Orioles - Hall Of Fame
Aledmys Diaz - Cardinals
Aaron Nola - Phillies
Yu Darvish - Dodgers
German Marquez RC - Rockies - Canvas Parallel
Jake Thompson RC - Phillies - Canvas Parallel
Joey Gallo - Rangers
Josh Bell RC - Pirates


Favorite Card - Cal Ripken Jr. - Hall Of Fame

My favorite card should be a base card, but I wasn't a fan of any of them. I also dissed the inserts from the first pack... So why is this my favorite? Because Cal Ripken.


Least Favorite - Joey Gallo

The longer I look at this card, the funnier it gets to me... Look at Gallo's head. Now look at his right shoulder. Now look at his left. Now explain to me how this C-level artwork made it to a Topps baseball card.


Rockiesest Card - German Marquez - Canvas Parallel

The Canvas Parallel idea is beyond lame, but the Marquez is one of the better card drawings in my two packs.


Other Notes - Too Many Damn Cardinals!

Seriously... 2 packs, 24 cards, 4 Cardinals...

Oh, the Molina's an insert... Oh, who cares....


Aaron Judge - Yankees

I'm sick of Aaron Judge, but damn is this card hilarious! 

The eyes... The nose... 


THOSE TEETH!!!


Yu Darvish - Dodgers

Funny to see him in a Dodgers uniform. Almost as funny as the bad drawing of his face... 

A hot rumor this offseason is the Minnesota Twins are amongst the bidders for Darvish. I want to see that happen. Not that I think Darvish will come to Minnesota and pitch like Nolan Ryan, leading the league in everything and bringing the 2018 World Series to Minnesota... But coming in as the high bidder for an actual top free agent pitcher is a feat the Twins have almost never accomplished....


Maybe the last time being this guy... 

And we all know how that turned out...

You know... I think I like 1991 O Pee Chee Premier a whole lot more than 2017 Gallery...


Sorry Paul...

******

Overall verdict:

Seeing this set, the players included, the bad artwork, the redundant theme, the uninspired inserts...

All of that brings one thing to mind...

I MISS UPPER DECK!!!


Sorry Blake...

Maybe someone likes these cards... 

I sure don't...

Comments

  1. night owlDecember 2, 2017 at 12:30 PM

    TEETH! ... I'm a poor judge of someone else's artwork because I always think "I can't even do that." But now that you point some of them out ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Captain HonkassDecember 2, 2017 at 5:20 PM

      My friend Trav put it best: "The teeth on that Aaron Judge card look like they were drawn by Mike Judge."

      Agreed on the can't do it myself arguement, but I guess I expect more from Topps, knowing some of the great "art" sets they've put out in the past...

      Delete

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