Topps 2012 Series One Complete Set

This marks the 44th year of complete Topps sets for me, going back to 1969. I know there are those who have been hammering Topps over the 2012 set. Be it the design, the rally squirrel card, or the photography, Topps has been taking a beating from some bloggers.

But not from me. I'm hardly a Topps apologist, but when it comes to the flagship set, I'm going to buy it no matter what. I'm a baseball card collector. Like it or not, Topps makes THE baseball card set. And that set will always be in my collection.

As with all of my sets, this one goes into a 3" binder. Each binder has a label I've created. The past couple years the label has been based on the wax wrappers, and here is what I came up with for 2012:



The design of the cards is fine for me. It's not anything too splashy or distracting. Topps has left off the player's position, something they haven't done for a few years. I do prefer cards with a position listed. I mentioned my only complaint last week and I'll do it again: the names, printed in silver, are hard to read, especially the last name on the black band. I wish they would just do the names in white. I'll bet Opening Day will be printed that way.

There are several subsets including Record Breakers, Post Season Highlights, League Leaders, and Active Career League Leaders. It's been a while since they've had active career leaders.

Missing from this year are team cards and manager cards. Eliminating those two cards should have freed up more cards for players. But since only six Cubs got cards, I guess it didn't turn out that way for them.

Now, a few random thoughts on some of the cards....



....did the rookie cup experience some shrinkage? It seems smaller to me.



The 2012 Cup is on the left; Starlin Castro's 2011 cup card is on the right.

"I was in the pool!!"

"It shrinks?" "Like a frightened turtle!"



....Is Kyle Blanks "The Natural"?



Is Glenn Close in the stands?









Several cards showed players in throwback unis. I love the throwback concept, but am often disappointed in the execution. They need to match not only the design of the uniform, but also the tailoring. Old school players didn't wear baggy jerseys or pajama pants.



Unless he gets picked up by someone soon, this may be Derrek Lee's final appearance on a Topps card; and it's not even his own card. If it is, its appropriate that he's not facing the camera; it looks like he's going away.

Finally, I've got the complete series one checklist below. The list is arranged by teams, so you can see how many cards there are for your favorite team.

Topps 2012 Series One Checklist

Angels	Bobby Abreu	188
Angels	Erick Aybar	78
Angels	Peter Bourjos	46
Angels	Alberto Callaspo	189
Angels	Tyler Chatwood	317
Angels	Scott Downs	123
Angels	Jeremy Moore	277
Angels	Joel Pineiro	267
Angels	Albert Pujols SP	331
Angels	Mark Trumbo	106
Angels	Mark Trumbo	281
Angels	Jered Weaver	250
Angels	Vernon Wells	13
A's	Brandon Allen	283
A's	Brett Anderson	104
A's	Trevor Cahill	2
A's	Andrew Carignan	202
A's	Brandon McCarthy	73
A's	Scott Sizemore	139
A's	Kurt Suzuki	309
A's	Michael Taylor	36
Astros	Jose Altuve	187
Astros	Jason Bourgeois	321
Astros	Carlos Corporan	266
Astros	Mark Melancon	153
Astros	Brett Myers	169
Astros	Bud Norris	246
Astros	Brett Wallace	43
Blue Jays	J.P. Arencibia	207
Blue Jays	Jose Bautista	100
Blue Jays	Brett Cecil	86
Blue Jays	Yunel Escobar	229
Blue Jays	Casey Kotchman	289
Blue Jays	Adam Lind	245
Blue Jays	Brandon Morrow	304
Blue Jays	Eric Thames	293
Braves	Freddie Freeman	215
Braves	Tommy Hanson	115
Braves	Jason Heyward	85
Braves	Tim Hudson	58
Braves	Chipper Jones	305
Braves	Craig Kimbrel	20
Braves	Craig Kimbrel	87
Braves	Craig Kimbrel	113
Braves	Mike Minor	227
Brewers	John Axford	294
Brewers	Yuniesky Betancourt	57
Brewers	Ryan Braun	1
Brewers	Carlos Gomez	146
Brewers	Zack Greinke	210
Brewers	Mark Kotsay	327
Brewers	George Kottaras	143
Brewers	Shaun Marcum	262
Brewers	Casey McGehee	136
Brewers	Nyjer Morgan	66
Brewers	Nyjer Morgan	272
Cardinals	Cardinals World Series	53
Cardinals	Cardinals Post Season	233
Cardinals	Chris Carpenter	264
Cardinals	Adron Chambers	90
Cardinals	Allen Craig	329
Cardinals	David Freese	273
Cardinals	David Freese	291
Cardinals	Jaime Garcia	3
Cardinals	Matt Holliday	320
Cardinals	Edwin Jackson	44
Cardinals	Jon Jay	258
Cardinals	Kyle Lohse	26
Cardinals	Yadier Molina	174
Cardinals	Albert Pujols	108
Cardinals	Skip Schumaker	93
Cubs	Marlon Byrd	144
Cubs	Starlin Castro	167
Cubs	Starlin Castro	270
Cubs	Matt Garza	114
Cubs	Reed Johnson	172
Cubs	Geovany Soto	56
Cubs	Randy Wells	278
Diamondbacks	Stephen Drew	248
Diamondbacks	David Hernandez	101
Diamondbacks	Ian Kennedy	76
Diamondbacks	Miguel Montero	288
Diamondbacks	Ryan Roberts	173
Diamondbacks	Joe Saunders	223
Dodgers	Chad Billingsley	152
Dodgers	Tim Federowicz	253
Dodgers	Dee Gordon	69
Dodgers	Dee Gordon	161
Dodgers	Javy Guerra	88
Dodgers	Tony Gwynn	284
Dodgers	Matt Kemp	330
Dodgers	Hong-Chih Kuo	11
Dodgers	Ted Lilly	122
Dodgers	James Loney	39
GIants	Brandon Belt	141
Giants	Madison Bumgarner	103
Giants	Matt Cain	155
Giants	Jeff Keppinger	298
Giants	Brett Pill	70
Giants	Pablo Sandoval	185
Giants	Nate Schierholtz	63
Giants	Eli Whiteside	127
Giants	Brian Wilson	260
Indians	Michael Brantley	182
Indians	Asdrubal Cabrera	130
Indians	Nick Hagadone	6
Indians	Ubaldo Jimenez	306
Indians	Jason Kipnis	216
Indians	Matt LaPorta	314
Indians	Justin Masterson	205
Indians	Grady Sizemore	96
Mariners	Dustin Ackley	315
Mariners	Blake Beavan	168
Mariners	Steve Delabar	263
Mariners	Franklin Gutierrez	286
Mariners	Alex Liddi	274
Mariners	Miguel Olivo	118
Mariners	Michael Pineda	225
Mariners	Brendan Ryan	197
Mariners	Jason Vargas	269
Marlins	Emilio Bonifacio	238
Marlins	John Buck	27
Marlins	Chris Coghlan	222
Marlins	Matt Dominguez	198
Marlins	Edward Mujica	178
Marlins	Ricky Nolasco	322
Marlins	Hanley Ramirez	60
Marlins	Jose Reyes SP	332
Marlins	Anibal Sanchez	157
Mets	Jason Bay	251
Mets	Ike Davis	24
Mets	R.A. Dickey	279
Mets	Lucas Duda	128
Mets	Jason Isringhausen	323
Mets	Jon Niese	49
Mets	Angel Pagan	191
Mets	Bobby Parnell	83
Mets	Mike Pelfrey	214
Mets	Chris Schwinden	325
Mets	Josh Thole	177
Mets	Justin Turner	163
Mets	David Wright	240
Nationals	Ian Desmond	131
Nationals	Tom Gorzelanny	204
Nationals	John Lannan	186
Nationals	Stephen Lombardozzi	134
Nationals	Tom Milone	40
Nationals	Michael Morse	165
Nationals	Brad Peacock	275
Nationals	Wilson Ramos	12
Nationals	Drew Storen	285
Nationals	Jayson Werth	295
Nationals	Jordan Zimmermann	75
Orioles	Josh Bell	121
Orioles	Chris Davis	151
Orioles	Kevin Gregg	326
Orioles	Jeremy Guthrie	4
Orioles	Kyle Hudson	218
Orioles	Adam Jones	125
Orioles	Brian Matusz	84
Orioles	Nolan Reimold	176
Orioles	Mark Reynolds	208
Orioles	Luke Scott	107
Orioles	Alfredo Simon	22
Padres	Kyle Blanks	261
Padres	Logan Forsythe	94
Padres	Luke Gregerson	221
Padres	Jesus Guzman	14
Padres	Orlando Hudson	147
Padres	Nick Hundley	312
Padres	Mat Latos	256
Padres	Cory Luebke	23
Padres	Will Venable	132
Phillies	Antonio Bastardo	287
Phillies	Domonic Brown	98
Phillies	Justin DeFratus	243
Phillies	Roy Halladay	150
Phillies	Cole Hamels	190
Phillies	Ryan Howard	280
Phillies	Michael Martinez	64
Phillies	Hunter Pence	120
Phillies	Placido Polanco	28
Phillies	Carlos Ruiz	117
Phillies	Michael Stutes	259
Phillies	Vance Worley	307
Pirates	Pedro Alvarez	138
Pirates	Kevin Correia	74
Pirates	Chase d'Arnaud	102
Pirates	Jared Hughes	175
Pirates	Jeff Karstens	71
Pirates	James McDonald	241
Pirates	Michael McKenry	99
Pirates	Jose Tabata	236
Pirates	Neil Walker	25
Rangers	Mike Adams	8
Rangers	Adrian Beltre	310
Rangers	Josh Hamilton	300
Rangers	Derek Holland	34
Rangers	Colby Lewis	18
Rangers	Mitch Moreland	299
Rangers	Mike Napoli	37
Rangers	Alexi Ogando	301
Rangers	Rangers	59
Rangers	Rangers	217
Rangers	Koji Uehara	171
Rangers	Michael Young	55
Rays	Wade Davis	48
Rays	John Jaso	271
Rays	Desmond Jennings	5
Rays	Desmond Jennings	16
Rays	Matt Joyce	196
Rays	Matt Moore	129
Rays	Jeff Niemann	203
Rays	David Price	80
Rays	Kelly Shoppach	193
Rays	Ben Zobrist	195
Red Sox	Daniel Bard	61
Red Sox	Erik Bedard	318
Red Sox	Clay Buchholz	247
Red Sox	Jacoby Ellsbury	170
Red Sox	Adrian Gonzalez	50
Red Sox	John Lackey	328
Red Sox	Jon Lester	10
Red Sox	Josh Reddick	158
Red Sox	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	137
Red Sox	Kevin Youkilis	160
Reds	Yonder Alonso	19
Reds	Jay Bruce	220
Reds	Miguel Cairo	268
Reds	Aroldis Chapman	265
Reds	Johnny Cueto	135
Reds	Ryan Hanigan	226
Reds	Mike Leake	308
Reds	Devin Mesoraco	41
Reds	Scott Rolen	255
Reds	Dontrelle Willis	89
Reds	Travis Wood	142
Rockies	Rex Brothers	72
Rockies	Jhoulys Chacin	45
Rockies	Dexter Fowler	231
Rockies	Jason Hammel	68
Rockies	Chris Iannetta	21
Rockies	Juan Nicasio	112
Rockies	Jordan Pacheco	219
Rockies	Drew Pomeranz	42
Rockies	Wilin Rosario	184
Rockies	Seth Smith	257
Rockies	Troy Tulowitzki	140
Rockies	Ty Wigginton	154
Rockies	Eric Young	242
Royals	Billy Butler	145
Royals	Melky Cabrera	15
Royals	Aaron Crow	67
Royals	Danny Duffy	194
Royals	Alcides Escobar	51
Royals	Chris Getz	148
Royals	Kelvin Herrera	211
Royals	Luke Hochevar	47
Royals	Eric Hosmer	35
Royals	Felipe Paulino	38
Royals	Brayan Pena	296
Tigers	Alex Avila	213
Tigers	Brennan Boesch	166
Tigers	Miguel Cabrera	200
Tigers	Doug Fister	201
Tigers	Jhonny Peralta	54
Tigers	Rick Porcello	82
Tigers	Ryan Raburn	282
Tigers	Max Scherzer	162
Tigers	Tigers Post Season	32
Tigers	Delmon Young	65
Twins	Scott Baker	276
Twins	Joe Benson	235
Twins	Nick Blackburn	316
Twins	Liam Hendriks	81
Twins	Justin Morneau	230
Twins	Chris Parmelee	95
Twins	Carl Pavano	164
Twins	Trevor Plouffe	249
Twins	Ben Revere	62
Twins	Ben Revere	292
Twins	Kevin Slowey	111
Twins	Denard Span	179
Twins	Jim Thome	97
Twins	Danny Valencia	303
White Sox	John Danks	311
White Sox	Adam Dunn	199
White Sox	Philip Humber	254
White Sox	Paul Konerko	105
White Sox	Brent Lillibridge	228
White Sox	Brent Morel	31
White Sox	A.J. Pierzynski	116
White Sox	Addison Reed	183
White Sox	Alex Rios	17
White Sox	Chris Sale	149
White Sox	Sergio Santos	244
Yankees	Dellin Betances	252
Yankees	A.J. Burnett	209
Yankees	Curtis Granderson	290
Yankees	Phil Hughes	313
Yankees	Derek Jeter	30
Yankees	Mickey Mantle	7
Yankees	Russell Martin	237
Yankees	Jesus Montero	9
Yankees	Ivan Nova	133
Yankees	Eduardo Nunez	126
Yankees	Mariano Rivera	109
Yankees	Mariano Rivera	180
Yankees	David Robertson	206
Yankees	Austin Romine	79
Yankees	Mark Teixeira	110
Yankees	Mark Teixeira	234
	Active Leaders AL Batting	119
	Active Leaders AL ERA	232
	Active Leaders AL Home Runs	91
	Active Leaders AL RBI	324
	Active Leaders AL Wins	212
	Active Leaders NL Batting	124
	Active Leaders NL ERA	92
	Active Leaders NL Home Runs	192
	Active Leaders NL RBI	159
	Active Leaders NL Wins	29
	League Leaders AL Batting	239
	League Leaders AL ERA	52
	League Leaders AL Home Runs	302
	League Leaders AL RBI	33
	League Leaders AL Wins	319
	League Leaders NL Batting	181
	League Leaders NL ERA	297
	League Leaders NL Home Runs	77
	League Leaders NL RBI	224
	League Leaders NL Wins	156