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Monday, April 11, 2011

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!

4 comments:

  1. Oh, right, the Steinbach is a keeper. :P

    Yeah, those dang refractors don't jump out at you, and I never could tell them from the base without tilting them in the light for several minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Mike,

    I need that Weiss if it can find its way into my box. I'm sure those Pedros you had your eye on can make their way to you as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Two of the same cards in the same pack is just wrong. Leave it to Topps to stick it to you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I too hate the protective film. The cards shine so much better once the film is removed...which is no easy task!

    ReplyDelete

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