I have gone Crazy for Triple Play

I am a little late to the bandwagon on Panini's Triple Play set.  Many bloggers have professed love (well maybe closer to a sincere like) for this product but interestingly enough I don't think the rest of the hobby world has caught on.

The best card in the set

This was lucky for me and I was able to take advantage at my LCS.  Recently I went in to the shop and was talking to the owner and a box of Triple Play caught my eye.  I had picked up a couple packs at Target and was thinking of getting more and the $22 price tag was tempting.  I asked him how much he had bought and if it had been popular.  He told me that is really hadn't sold at all and he bought 4 boxes and he was certain he would be sitting on them forever.  Without even asking, he told me he would sell me a box for $15 and I didn't hesitate to jump on it.  A couple days later, after thoroughly enjoying the break I went back for one more and got it for $17.  $32 for 48 packs - not too bad of a haul.

I already shared what I feel is the best card of the set, I am quite certain there will be disagreement from at least some of the Dodger bloggers out there.  (Side note - Wilson has been spending time in the Giants dugout lately and I LOVE the celebration dance he and Pablo Sandoval do in the dugout after the Panda homers.  Panda has hit 4 HRs in the last 3 games so I have had the chance to see it quite a bit.)  I thought I would share the results of my breaks, somewhat of a product review and a status on where I am with the set - yes I have decided to go for the entire set.

The first 90 cards in the set are the base cards featuring a few players for each team.  There are a few different artists, my favorite is the one who puts the little pictures in the background like the Golden Gate Bridge in the Lincecum card.  I think that extra touch adds a lot to the design of the card.  I was able to get all 90 cards in my boxes.

 The next 144 cards show a player picture on the front and have puzzle pieces of the same picture on the back.  There are 9 pieces per player and 16 total players featured.  After my 2 boxes I am 39 cards short of this portion of the set.  I really want to finish up the Buster Posey puzzle and I will need a second for my Giants collection.  I am missing 2 for my set and only got 1 duplicate for the Giants collection. 

 The next portion of the set is called Focus and shows the eyes of selection of 30 players, one from each team.  I was able to get 20 of the 30 cards in this section.

 The next 8 cards are titled Baseball 101.  If you hadn't figured it out yet, this is a set geared towards kids and these card backs provide lessons about different aspects of the game. I nice addition to the set with some generic (no specific players) art work on the front.  I was able to secure all 8 of these cards.

 Next up are 12 Hall of Fame cards.  I really like the design of these cards. One of the best designs of a non-licensed card I have seen in quite some time.  I only got 5 of the 12 cards in my boxes.  I was able to pick up a McCovey in a trade but that went straight to the McCovey set.  I was very pleased that my favorite player was included but I can't say with any certainty why the players in the set were specifically chosen.

 The second to the last portion of the set is titled When I was a Kid.  There are 10 of these and I was able to get 4. Again, a very kid focused section of the set.

 The final 6 cards of the set are Real Feel cards.  They feature swatches of material imbedded into the card.  These aren't attributed to any player, team or called game used (to me this is actually refreshing, at least they aren't misrepresenting like some of the recent news we have heard) but I really like these cards  They are very thin, hardly thicker than a regular card, and feature a nice design.  I was able to pull two of these, interestingly enough both came out of the first box.  I was able to score a third in a trade you will see more on soon so I am half way to the "relic" portion of the set.

All totaled the set is 300 cards.  I am 65 cards short of the set and my want list is posted on the blog. If you have cracked some packs and want to make a trade let me know.  Who knows, maybe I will head back to the shop and see if he is willing to let the last box go cheap as well.

 There are also 3 insert sets and I figured what the heck, might as well go for those as well.

 These stickers were inserted 1 per pack and these 12 are the only ones out of the 30 card set that I got. Yes 12 different stickers in 48 packs (plus a few from Target as well).  This was the only disappointing part of the break.  I ended up with 7 Mauers, 7 Tulos, 7 Matusz, 7 Grand Slams, 7 Screaming Managers and 7 Baseballs with Big Eyes.  The saving grace is my kids love them, especially the non player ones.

 These inserts are Tattoos and I got all 5 versions in my boxes.  I have yet to use the duplicates on the kids yet but I am sure that will come soon.

The final insert set is the Eye Black insert.  Each "card" features 2 stickers that could be stuck under the eyes as Eye Black.  I was able to secure 4 of the 6.

I obviously am a fan of this set, cheap and fun.  The designs of most of the sets are nice in my opinion and I look forward to going after the entire set. Let me know if you can help out.