I did some research and found the following counts and types by year. These are the base card parallels contained in the 2 Topps Flagship releases and the Update set.
2009 - 61 Total
59 SPs of retired legends, 1 SP of Barak Obama, 1 SP of current player (CC Sabathia) in alternate jersey
2010 - 75 Total
55 SPs of retired legends, 1 SP of current player (Curtis Granderson), 7 SPs of teams of the past, 5 SPs with rookie cup logo variations, 4 SPs with Abe Lincoln in the background, and 3 SPs with Pies in the Face
2011 - 76 Total
74 SPs of retired legends, 2 SPs of new Red Sox in new uniforms (Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez)
2012 - 81 Total
12 SPs with teammates, 9 SPs in suit/dress shirts, 9 SPs with players in dugouts, 8 SPs with new teams, 6 SPs of retired legends, 4 SPs of players with mascots, 3 SPs each with Gatorade, with Pies in the Face and with throwback/alt jerseys; 2 SPs each of players celebrating, featuring squirrels, rookie cup variations and with fans; and 1 SP each Bryce Harper 661 Rookie, flag in background, with a trophy, wearing glasses, with gumballs, back of jersey, beastmode shirt, with glove, at press conference, with no hitter ball, on trolley, throwing left-handed, with All-Star game jersey, with George Brett, with sign and bowing.
2013 - 100 Total
25 SPs with great catches, 17 SPs with Sunglasses, 15 SPs of retired legends, 10 SPs in different colored jerseys, 9 SPs signing autos, 7 SPs with group photos, 2 SPs of teammates, 2 SPs with players from other teams, and 1 SP each of with award, blue cap, giving speech, pitcher batting, giving a high 5, a horizontal card, in the dugout, running, coming out of the pen, arms up, big glove, sliding and Prince George of Cambridge
2014 - 327 Total
151 Sparkle SPs, 110 SPs with SABRmetrics on back, 23 SPs with Future Stars, 13 SPs with different jerseys, 12 SPs celebrating, 4 SPs in the dugout, 3 SPs with players fielding, 2 SPs each of players looking up, with glove and goggles, 1 SP each of Gatorade, Snoopy, hands on hips, in front of fans, press conference, post season sweatshirt, making a fist, throwing, with teammates with a bat, tossing a bat, with water, throwing underhand and on deck
I am a big fan of the Retired Legend SPs. Back in 2009 I did contemplate whether or not they should be part of my Topps set run and quickly decided against it. I am glad because what started as 61-76 SP parallels of mostly retired stars for the first three years has ballooned to 327 different SP parallels. (I believe there were the sparkle parallels before 2014 but couldn't track down a checklist, if you can direct me to one I would happily update the numbers.) Seems like Topps took a solid idea and blew it up under control.
I have several of the Retired Legends in my player and Giants collections and love hunting those down. I have been picking up the other types of Giants when I can find them at a reasonable price. Here are 3 recent pick ups:
As I was putting this post together, I realized why I like the 2014 Stadium Club release so much, it is a 200 card base set of cards that would fit into one of these SP releases.
So, what are your thoughts on these Topps base parallel SPs?
One trick to determining whether or not a card is an SP is to look at the code that's on the bottom of the back of the card. Right at the bottom where all the legal information is, you'll find a code number in the form of CODE#CMP..... if the numbers are different from the codes on the base cards, they're most likely SP's. And this is also how you tell apart photo variations in Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome.
ReplyDeleteI sort of like SPs but so far none have particularly caught my interest. I guess I like the saber metric backs since I'm a bit of a stat head and retired legends SPs (when done right) offer some really cool cards (2011 especially). The pie in the face ones from 2010 drive me nuts because a lot of the Yankees SPs go for way too much.
I like some of the themed image variations, like the sunglasses ones or the press conference variations in the 2013 Opening Day set (still looking for the R.A. Dickey card from that one). I could do without the sparkle variations or the sabermetric stat backs. I really like the squirrel card, especially because Skip Schumaker didn't like it at all.
ReplyDeleteI like the photo variation SPs, even if I don't have a prayer of owning most of them. The legends SPs from past years were cool as well. It's the sparkle/sabermetric/all the other pointless ones that aggravate me a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe Legends SPs were always my favorites. The Sabermetric ones bother me because the fronts are identical. Guarantee you I have at least one of those that I'm not aware of.
ReplyDeleteI like things like the Legends short prints and celebration or theme short prints but I personally feel that any more than 50 or so is just too many. When you are looking at 300+ SP/SSP/SSSSSP than it is just going overboard. It doesn't help that there are also 5-10 rainbow parallels of each card too.
ReplyDeleteAs an old-school collector I don't have the patience or the time to keep track of all the SPs Topps is throwing at us. If I stumble upon one or someone sends me one, it's cool and a feather in my collecting cap, but I'll be damned if I devote effort trying to track these down. It's difficult enough to collect a base set or a team set. If you like this SP sort of thing, go nuts, but it's not why I'm collecting and, good gosh, how do you find the time?
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on the quality of the photo. Most of the legend variations are pretty great, and I like photo variations if the variation is different and interesting enough (the big problem with Topps football variations). I like the Sabr variations better in theory than in practice, and sparkles are stupid and can go jump in a lake.
ReplyDeleteI like some of the variations, but when I do pull one they almost never stay in my collection because they're worth more to other people than they are to me. I always try to look at the code on the back to make sure I'm not missing something... and there's always last year where I skipped packs, bought the factory set and didn't have to worry about parallels.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't get the appeal of the Sparkle variations.... it's like if Topps photoshopped the color of the shoelaces on certain players, why one Earth should we care?
I'm with the majority on liking the photo variations even if sometimes I don't notice them right away.
ReplyDeleteIf there weren't so many parallels to each card in the base set, I'd be okay with photo variations. Like everything reasonably inventive that attracts collector interest, however, the number of variations is overdone. Anything more than about 50 to 75 is too many in my book, and even that may be too many.
ReplyDeleteThis post should be brought up when MLB and Topps try to claim the exclusive licenses somehow simplified the hobby for collectors.
ReplyDeleteI don't collect the SPs unless the images are different. I could care less about sparkle or sabremetrics, but if Cutch is wearing cool sunglasses well then....sign me up. As for the legends I have a few that I've picked up cheap but don't go seeking them.
ReplyDeleteSome of them are nice to run across, like that famous Rally Squirrel card. I just wish they were easier to identify. Different Topps logo, a colored card number, something.
ReplyDeleteThe theme ones are nice, because they are somewhat original ideas. The legends are OK, but redundant, since most of those players show up in half the inserts too. The stat backs are for stat people, which is fine, but I'm not one. The twinks are too subtle and should be discontinued.
ReplyDeleteWith each year, I might pull one of the variations, but have never thought it would be plausible to try to get more than a couple, due to the scarcity and expense. Luckily there haven't been many that hit my player collections.
They're interesting, but I'm not motivated to go after them. I just stick 'em with my set and move on to the next year.