1997 Topps Finest Hobby Series 2

   Hello all. Today we go with a higher end product from the 90's from Topps that has been born, reborn, changed, and is still around today in a premium form.

1997 Topps Finest Hobby Series 2

#180, C45 Walt Weiss (Rockies)

#207, C28 Todd Worrell (Dodgers)

#207, C28 Todd Worrell (Dodgers)

#220, C29 Dan Wilson (Mariners)

   Each card has 2 numbers, the main number first and then the theme number next. A duplicate card is a bummer right off the bat.

#248, C17 Robin Ventura (White Sox)

#231, C36 Kevin Seitzer (Indians)

Refractor #241, A30 Terry Steinbach (Twins)

#196, A35 Orlando Merced (Blue Jays)

   The refractor is nice but it doesn't "refract" nearly as much as today's do but interestingly the back also has a slight refractor finish to it as well.

#271, A20 David Justice (Indians)

#235, A23 Eddie Murray (Angels)

#247, A24 Benito Santiago (Blue Jays)

#253, A14 Matt Williams (Indians)

#240, P27 Albert Belle (White Sox)

 The Acquisitions part of series 2 are players whe were traded during the season. All cards in this pack were commons (bronze).

Some backs.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards: 13

Teams Represented: 8
Rookie Cards: 0
Sub Sets: 0
Parallels: 1 (Steinbach refractor) 
Inserts: 0
Hits: 0
Keepers for Me 2 (Murray and Steinbach refractor) The rest are available as usual.

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 6 out of 10 Good in game pictures,  nice chrome like finish when protective film peeled, hard to read players names, bland design, no team logo.
Back Design: 5.5 out of 10 So-so design, good in game player picture, team logo, good player info but hard to read due to some backgrounds, only previous years and career stats.
Player Selection: 6.5 out of 10 Decent, 1 HOFer and a couple of stars of the day.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Fly Out to right field. A refractor and Eddie Murray makes contact but not enough keepers, a design that doesn't grab me, and a duplicate gets an out. I really find the protective films annoying and too hard to peel.

Thanks for Reading!