Saturday, June 11, 2022

2022 Topps x Spotlight 70 Series 2

This is 2022 Topps x Spotlight 70 Series 2. 



Each box (1 pack/box) has "chase cards" (including numbered inserts) and roughly every 5 boxes/packs has an autograph. 

This product was available exclusively from the Topps website and appears to be now sold out.

Each card is a print of an ink/watercolor depiction of a card by artist Andy Friedman.

Here's 1 pack (I bought 5):


Firstly we have a depiction of Hideki Matsui's 2009 Topps Attax card.

Next we have an Ichiro insert.


 


These are depictions of Tim McCarver's 1976 base card and a 2007 Topps insert of Chien-Ming Wang.


Here we have a depiction of Carlos Zambrano's 2000 Topps Rookie Card, and Melvin Mora's Topps T-206 card from 2006. What's going on with Melvin's neck?


Tim Wakefield is my main PC player so it was cool to find this print of his 2006 Topps card. In a nice touch, the card is numbered 49, Wakefield's jersey number (and a traditional jersey number worn by knuckleball pitchers). This image accurately channels the scout's confidence in knuckleball pitchers.

Speaking of knuckleball pitchers, here we have two very similar but slightly different depictions of Phil Niekro's 1985 "Record Breaker" insert. The card pictured on the right is a numbered parallel:

I'm going to assume this set is a little bit polarizing for people. I find it somewhat charming. At the same time, it has a certain avant-garde nature that you probably either love or hate. I wouldn't necessarily want one of these images tattooed on me. As far as the cards in this particular pack, I got a lot of players I like. The art is definitely unique, in a word.

On a side note, I did find an autograph in one of the other 4 packs I bought, which you can see here.



7 comments:

Nachos Grande said...

Nice O'Neil auto but this set is definitely not for me.

GTT said...

Hall of Shame, IMO.

Kicky Sam said...

It's a weird one.

GCA said...

If Topps didn't reprint every damn thing over and over, this would be more palatable as an artistic idea. But the only thing I can think of is that they can't come up with anything original, and now instead of reprinting the exact image, here's drawings of them. Not to disrespect the artist, but .... guuhhh.

Fuji said...

I like art cards, so I can appreciate the product. Depending on the price, I might have grabbed a few in hopes of pulling an autograph. Congratulations on pulling one. Kind of a bummer it's a sticker. Then again... this product would be released much later if it offered on-card signatures.

Anonymous said...

Trash.

Kicky Sam said...

Replying to Fuji:
I agree...I would venture to guess that when the stickers that ended up on these cards were signed, this product was barely a thought for Topps. I'm sure they have more autos than they need around for exactly this purpose.
An on-card auto would certainly be nice, but at the price point of these boxes probably unrealistic.