Wrapping Up The 2022 Flagship Inserts

  I've got the inserts recap today.

There are just 24 Cubs inserts in the 2022 set (and I just count the regular cards, not any of the relics or autos).  That's down to exactly half of last year's 48.  Compare that to the good old days: 63 in 2019, 101 in 2018,  87 in 2017, and 81 in 2016.  

The 2022 Cubs inserts....

• Cubs were included in 12 of the 18 sets (they are missing in Flashiest Feet, Home Run Challenge, Legendary Home Field Advantage, Paragons of the Postseason, Significant Statistics, and Sweet Shades)
• 12 different players were shown
• 4 of the 12 players are with the Cubs right now (Happ, Stroman, Suzuki, and Wisdom)
• 4 of of the 12 are on different teams (Baez, Bryant, Contreras, and Rizzo)
• 4 of the 12 are retired (Banks, Dawson, Maddux, Sandberg)
• The most popular players was Seiya Suzuki, with six cards.  Ryne Sandberg was next with four.
• Only one of the inserts is horizontal!
• 23 are vertical

Wrapping Up The 2022 Flagship Base Cards

  I can wrap up the 2022 flagship set now that I have Update in hand.  I'll have the base set recap today, the inserts on tomorrow, and I'll put them all together on Thursday.

The Cubs netted a total of 32 base cards.  Its up by one over last year, but a much smaller number compared to the five or six year before that.  Of course the Cubs win total was also much a much smaller number compared the the glory days of the late 2010s.

Among the 32 cards, there are...

• 25 vertical layout
• only 7 with a horizontal layout... good for me because I prefer the verticals
• 1 team card
• 1 combo / checklist card
• 1 Rookie cards
• 0 League Leaders
• 30 different players, including 2 HOF photo variations
• 12 of the 28 modern players are on the Cubs 40 man roster today
• 16 no longer on the roster
• 3 players that never played an inning for the 2022 Cubs.
• 21 pictures taken at Wrigley Field
• 12 pictures on the road
• 5 pictures of the nasty City Connect uniforms

The 2022 Update Insert Set Without Seiya Suzuki

 The Update inserts are a Suzuki-fest, with him being included in five different sets. Today I've got a set that didn't include him.  In fact, it couldn't.

The Diamond Great Die Cut set is made up of only retired players. Ryno made the set, Suzuki did not.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 20,803 Cubs cards from 305 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1977 Topps #586 Steve Renko Renko spent all of 1977 in Chicago, though only 2/3 the season was with the Cubs.  He was traded to the White Sox on August 18.  It was a good deal for the Sox and he went 5-0 in eight starts down the stretch.

1980s: 1987 Sportflics #8 Ryne Sandberg I haven't found a decent way to scan these cards so that you can see each picture individually.  

1990s: 1993 Leaf #200 Derrick May  Leaf gives Derrick May some love by placing him in a hundreds slot, #200.  Then again, maybe not.  Card #100 went to Billy Ashley, #300 is Dennis Martinez, Jack McDowell is #400 and the #500 slot was given to J.T. Snow.  Those were not among the top five players in the league.

2000s: 2000 Team Issued Joe Girardi The team card set was given out to the first 10,000 fans on August 15.  The Cubs took on the Cardinals and lost 4-2.  Girardi didn't play that day.  

2010s: 2013 Team Issued #67 Ivan DeJesus DeJesus was given card #67 in the set because the 67th home game of the season saw the Cubs hosting the Phillies.  DeJesus played for both teams.

Sixties Saturday - 1965 Topps

 Our trip through the sixties has now reached the middle of the decade and we move on to 1965.  The Cubs were still a mess.  This would be the final season without a manager.  Topps did give a card to Bob Kennedy as the "Head Coach."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Frey Day

 The title says it all...

Turkey Red For Turkey Day

 My traditional Thanksgiving Day post.... 

The original Turkey Red set came out in 1911. Topps released their own versions in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2020. There are 70 Cubs cards in those eight sets. Take a look at them and then go back to your own turkey! 

Be Safe! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

2022 Topps Update Cubs Inserts - The Seiya Suzuki Show

 Several of the other Update insert sets included just one Cub, and it was the same Cub, Seiya Suzuki.  Topps went all in on him.  That was not good news because the prices of many of his cards are pretty high.  His cards are among the most expensive in most of these sets.

The Black Gold set has 25 cards, so I should be happy that one Cub was included, even if the one was Suzuki.

There are 30 cards in Generation Now,

Stars of MLB also has 30 cards.  

Home Field Advantage is the smallest of these inserts sets, with just ten cards in the set.  It was also a short print set, with about 3,400 copies of each card.  This was by far the most expensive to get.  Luckily I had an eBay gift card to use.

2022 Topps Update Cubs Inserts - All-Star Game

 For years Topps put cards of the members of the most recent All-Star teams into the update set.  Last year they changed things up a little by making the All-Stars an insert set.  That opened up several slots into the base set.  This year the All-Stars are again an insert set.  The two Cubs All-Stars were included.

Willson Contreras was voted the starting NL catcher.

Ian Happ was named a reserve.

In the game, Contreras played for the first five innings.  He was 0-2.  Happ came into the game in the top of the sixth and stayed in for the remainder of the contest.  He batted just once and walked.

2022 Topps Update Cubs Inserts - 1987

 I showed the Update cards last Friday, so let's spend the next few days looking at the Cubs inserts from the set.  I'll start with the 1987 cards.

There are a couple of inserts with the 1987 design.

Seiya Suzuki was in the basic set.

In addition to the basic set, there are also the Chrome versions available in hobby-shop exclusive Silver Packs.  Three Cubs are among the 75 on the checklist.

 

The picture on the Maddux card is from the early 1990s.  It's too bad that they didn't use a picture of him from 1987, since that was the year he debuted with the Cubs.

Here is the 1987 Traded card of a very young Greg Maddux.

Finally, notice that Seiya Suzuki is in both sets.  I hope you're not tired of him, because you'll be seeing a lot more of him in other Update inserts.