2008-2009 T51 Murad

Man, I haven't posted a pack in a month. Let's break the slump with a product I've been wanting for a long time - T51 Murad. This is Topps' foray into Tobacco-style Retro cards like A&G or Mayo. This set copies the T51 Murad set, which inserted cards featuring a college and a sport that college plays on the card. This set is the first one to have a basketball subject appear on a trading card although there were many other sports featured as well including baseball. I'm a big fan of retro ripoff sets and my lousy stinking Hawks are in FOURTH PLACE in the East right now which is good enough to host a playoff series. Hawks? In the playoffs? MADNESS! Oh so delicious madness... I'm looking forward to picking more of this up once I've finally gotten over my Heritage crazies. Let's check out a hobby pack:

119 Rashard Lewis

Ok, first of all these cards are busy. Really really busy. I'm guessing about 30% of people who see these cards will despise them off the bat. They're just following the design of the originals though, and they do a great job of it. It's hard to see on this frist card, but Murad is circling the border in gold ink (ink, not foil) and there are more gold ink highlights on the pennant and logo in the background. Something that will really frustrate some people is that the player's name is not on the front of the card. Hey, that's just how the originals looked.

Here's the back. Typical A&G minimalist design. I dig how the lineart logos contrast with the typeface. It is a little hard to read though.

137 Maurice Cheeks

Mo! the only thing I love more than retro cards is retro players on retro cards. I haven't actually taken the time to figure out the checklist or the short prints yet (Topps' recent crazyness has been too distracting) but these horizontal cards might be a variation of some sort. If I'm incorrect, someone please let me know. The original cards were all horizontal and I think the design works a lot better that way.

178 Joe Alexander mini RC

This is a mini card of some rookie named Joe. I have no clue who this guy is, so let's hope he's no good so I don't look like an idiot. The mini cards are bigger than A&G minis, but smaller than Goudey minis. The card it's closest to in size is a 1951 Topps red or blue back card, if you've ever seen one of them.

Checklist 10 of 30

The decoy card in the pack is an action photo that doubles as a checklist. This one here has Jason Kidd and Steve Nash facing off on the front, and the boxloader and autograph checklists on the back. Thirty cards isn't too bad a size for this set.

194 George Hill RC

The gold ink really pops out on this card. These look really good in person and they really are very similar to the original tobacco cards (Think T205 gold borders for the ink). Obviously there is a big difference between modern printing and old-school lithography but I still say they did a good job.

148 Walt Frazier

The best card was saved for last. I wouldn't mind a card of Clyde in every pack I rip, thank you very much.

I wish there was more than 6 cards in a pack, but I'll survive. The stuff looks really good and one of these days I'm going to break down and buy a box. They're going for about $70 right now which isn't too bad. Once I get a few more packs I'll do a full review on my blog.