Monday, December 08, 2008

2004 Topps Opening Day

I honestly have no idea where I got this pack. I am pretty sure it was in a repack box of some sort, but for some reason I hung onto it instead of sorting it into my collection. There's not much here. Opening Day cards really only work in theory (it would be nice if the cards had different photos from the base design) and also only if the design variation looks decent. I think this year's red look is okay and the white look from 2007 wasn't terrible (though, don't get me started on the mascots.) This, however, was not a good idea. Even the pack wrapper is hideous. Theres one reason I chose to post the pack, which you'll find out below.

Let's see if I pulled a "Hot Young MLB Star" like Jerome Williams:

23 - Steve Finley (The miniature outline of the player in the lower left corner is incredibly silly. This came from the regular 2004 design, of course.)
78 - Angel Berroa (A Rookie Cup guy.)
9 - Kevin Millar (I guess you'd have to like Boston to appreciate this guy.)

60 - Greg Maddux (Here's a guy we can all appreciate. This is a great photo of Maddux in a throwback Braves uniform. I'm not a Braves fan by any stretch of the imagination, but it's hard not to like this card, although I'm sure the regular set uses the same photo and looks better.)

On the back, we learn that Maddux threw a shutout in 12 consecutive seasons. Will anyone ever do that again? That's amazingly consistent work. Maddux is set to announce his retirement on Monday, in case any of you slept through the entire weekend, Friday inclusive.

12 - Jay Payton
63 - Alex Gonzalez (Yeah, there were two more cards left in this pack, but none worth talking about.)

4 comments:

NickL said...

wow i think that "little copycat guy in the corner" thing is way cool.

DanGarion said...

I've been checking this site and the 88, and 78 sites out for awhile and most of the things you guys don't like are the great things about these cards. These cards in particular have a lot of character due to the mini picture outline in the bottom corner. That's blue foil right? They look great. Much better then the base set (and I think Opening Day cards are usually pretty stupid).

madding said...

My problem isn't really with the blue foil, it's the silver-grey borders. They used the same blue foil in the 2006 Opening Day set and I didn't think it all that bad, but they did nothing with the border colors that year.

zman40 said...

The one I don't like about the Maddux throwback uni is the pants. They look like the exact same pants the Braves wear for every home game.