2012 Update Rockies Team Set

I might be a little weird, but I am alright with that. As a team collector and fan of obscure players on Rockies cards the Topps Update set is the highlight of card collecting calender for me. I am the kind of collector that get more excited about Matt Belisle getting a base card than collecting stars like Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez or Todd Helton. My breakdown of the 2012 Update Rockies team set is as follows:

Zistle Trade #2

Another Zistle trade completed with a fellow blogger at LV's TTM autographs and Baseball Cards. In exchange for player collection needs I got to cross off some cards from the wantlist. First off some 2012 archives, I was not sold on this set even though I am a huge fan of the 1971 design. I think it losses something with the modern day players. Also some Rockies, comparing the Opening Day Pomeranz with the base card further instills my dislike of foil printed names on cards. A couple 2011 Gypsy Queens to cross off the list and a 1992 Pinnacle Damon Berryhill for the catchers collection.

COMC Haul

Destined to be lost in the swell of Ginter posts just showing off some cards from a recent COMC order. First some auto's, Current Oakland Athletic and member of the 2007 National League Champs Seth Smith, followed by prospect Tyler Anderson, probably the worst looking auto in my collection and left handed specialist Mike Munoz rounded out with bat cards of Andres Galarraga and Matt Holliday. I think this is the only "relic" card of Galarraga with the Rockies.

Mailday and Lazy Topps

 Another one card mail-day as I wait for my 2 boxes of 2012 Gypsy Queen to show up in the post. After checking out the Museum Collection checklist the only card I really wanted was the Pomeranz auto, I found one that shipped from Taiwan, I get nervous ordering from that far away, but the card came in 10 days and was packaged well. Nice high end card, really thick card stock, sharp auto. The thing I noticed with this is that Topps used the same picture for 3 out of the 5 Pomeranz cards they have produced. 4 out of 6 if you count Opening Day as its own release. Heritage got a different photo and there is a photo variation of the museum auto. They altered the GQ card to a road uni, but if you look at the crowd in the background, it's the same shot. Oddly enough it is also the same photo Cards from the Quarry used for a custom back in November.

Mailday: 2012 Topps Purple

Small mailday featuring my favorite of the 2012 Topps parallels, the Toys R Us Purple borders, these look amazingly good, being a Rockies fan what more could you ask for than purple borders. I haven't seen to many mentions of the new addition to the corporate border parallels joining the Target Red and Walmart Blue so I thought I would show them off. The 2012 Pomeranz rainbow is now closer to completion, along with two more for the Rockies catcher collection with Wilin Rosario and Jordan Pacheco. The one weird thing I noticed is that the card backs feature minor league stat totals even though all three appeared in games with the Rockies in 2011, strange. All three are "rookie cards" and I have high hopes for all three to contribute for the Rockies in 2012.

Custom Card: 2012 Topps Jamie Moyer

Another spring training themed custom, 49 year old Jamie Moyer in his new Rockies uniform. I feel the same about Moyer as I do about 2012 Topps, interesting and new, but not particularly excited about either one. I give Moyer very little chance of making the Rockies roster, but like base Topps, he's a novelty until something better comes along. This is not my best custom attempt, but I don't think I will ever use this design again and it's Friday so I kind of half assed this one.

Mailday: 2012 Topps Drew Pomeranz Printing Plate

Just a single card mail day but a few collecting firsts for me, my first 1 of 1 card, my first printing plate, my first 2012 and my first Drew Pomeranz card. One of my collecting goals for 2012 is to load up on Pomeranz cards, and hoping that the fact they are for my personal collection and not as an investment that I won't jinx his career in the process. This is a pretty good start to 2012 and building a Pomeranz PC, its a sharp looking card even though I always thought printing plates would be thicker for some reason.

Jhoulys Chacin 2012 Topps Preview

 After just seeing some early 2012 Topps Gold Rush on Padrographs I checked to see if there was a first look at a new Rockies card. Interestingly enough there was this Jhoulys Chacin card scanned. A really interesting picture and something different from the standard trading card photos, but like the 2012 base set, I am just not sure about it. As a Chacin collector this card is somewhat disappointing for two reasons, the first being my general dislike for horizontal cards, unless the photo really demands it (see 1971 Munson). The second reason being that Chacin is a very small part of the overall card, tucked into the corner, with the focal point being a blurry batter, although I do really like the Coors Field backdrop with the trees behind his arm. I was a big fan of 2011 Topps and the Diamond parallels, but 2012 just seems like a lazy retread, with gold instead of diamond. I will wait until I see more of the product to really dismiss it, but the longer I wait, the closer it gets to something more interesting coming out.