2001 Topps Archives Reserve

After making some bank on a few duplicate bobbleheads, I found myself with a surplus of online cash. Therefore, I felt justified buying a box of 2001 Topps Archives Reserve. This was a really unique product that I have encountered when making improvements to my Robin Yount collection. Basically this is a set of refractor reprints of the Topps rookie cards of 100 of the most famous players in baseball from 1952 to the present. There is a surplus of 1952 Topps reprints, these being the first Topps card of many of those players, being that Topps began producing cards well after many top players began their careers. To me, baseball card collecting should be fun, and this looked more fun to me than most of the sets out there now.

Oh, and take a good look at the wrapper. This will come into play later on.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
30 1967 Topps Sal Bando
This is an odd card because Sal's true 1967 rookie portrays another player, identified only as R. Schwartz on the card. Topps saw fit to hack the card in half to honor Sal's greatness and R.'s suckitude. After several All-Star years with KC/Oakland, Sal became a major part of the Brewers' growth into a pennant contender in the early '80s. He then proceeded to run the team into the ground as the team's '90s GM. My father was the principal of the school Bando's kids went to.

85 1960 Carl Yastrzemski
My first knowledge of Carl Yastrzemski came from a periodical called "Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People." My parents were real big on subscribing to magazines for us kids. In fact, I can probably list, in fairly accurate chronological order, the magazines that came to my house. Let's see, there was Turtle, Your Big Backyard, Children's Playmate, Electric Company (my subscription ended before it became Kid City, thank God!), Ranger Rick, and then finally a long run on SI for Kids. Believe it or not, most of these are still being published today!
Anyways, I digress. The Cobblestone magazine centered each month around a single topic. Some, I took a look at the cover and quietly slipped it into the specially designed Cobblestone magazine boxes. (You think I'm joking...) This one here, "The Voice of Walt Whitman" from May of 1986, for example. Others became a staple in my room's library. One of these was about the election process. My favorite, though, was "Baseball." The issue had instructions on how to throw different kinds of pitches, an article about players' equipment, and even an interview with Yaz. I distinctly remember one of the question he was asked was about if there was any truth to the rumor that a large portion of Fenway Park sod was in his house's yard. Carl thought back and believed this to be true, but he had since sold the house. Anybody else ever read that mag?

TT35F 1973 Joe Pepitone Team Topps Legends Certified Autograph Issue
Very nice card with a fancy signature. I'm not even mad that it's a Cub, even though those are the only autographs I pull anymore. Joe is cool with me. If current Cubs were like Joe Pepitone, they'd be 200% less susceptible to d-baggery.

Here it is, the pull of the century...Congratulations! You are due to receive an Autographed Baseball Card of... Willie Mays.

Let's take a look at the again, just to make sure that I pulled the best card in the set...

Yup, that says "Wille Mays."

Heyyyy...wait a second.
(Blink. Blink. Deep breath. Motorboat sound.)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I opened this, no lie, on July 31, 2008. Too bad. It looks like I was exactly five years too late.
I guess I don't need to tell anyone here how I feel about redemption cards.
Soooo..is anyone aware of any recourse I could take with Topps about this? Would it be worth putting in a phone call to Duryea? New York? Has anyone ever turned this into a positive situation? Let me know your thoughts.



Anticlimactically, here's #30 1952 Johnny Sain
Johnny was a 10-year veteran by the time he got his first Topps card. But hey, that's the way things shake out.


Man, that redemption still irks me almost two weeks later. I'll go deeper into this box on Thorzul Will Rule. It was a pretty great box of cards.