2015 Update Cubs...The Inserts

I'll finish up with the Update Cubs today as I get to the inserts.   There are eight different insert sets, some new to update, others a continuation from series one and two.  Five of the sets saw no Cubs - Highlights of the Year, Rookie Sensations, Tape Measure Blasts, Whatever Works, and First Home Run.

Below are the three sets that includes a Cub.

Rarities - Billy Williams, which I've already showed in an earlier post.

 

All Star Access - Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo.  Maybe the set should be called Man Hug.

 

Pride and Perseverance - Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo.  Both are cancer survivors, Lester with lymphoma in 2006 and Rizzo, also lymphoma, in 2008.

2015 Update Cubs...The Extra Base Cards

The base update set has several subsets and Cubs players were in most of them.

 

Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo were in the Home Run Derby.  The red jerseys look pretty silly on top of blue pinstripes.

The same two got All Star Game cards.  Bryant's card shows him during the game.  Rizzo had two at-bats as the starting DH.  I wonder why Topps didn't use a photo from either AB?

Three Cubs are in the Rookie debut subset.  The pictures on the cards are from the player's actual debut date, so kudos to Topps for that.

2015 Update Cubs...The Basic Base Cards

Wow!

Between the base cards, sparkles, variations, and inserts, I've got 24 new Cubs cards from Update.

Today I'm just going to show the basic base cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five of the nine players were on the Cubs Opening Day roster, Fowler, Herrera, Montero, Ross, and Strop.  Harren, Hunter, and Richard came to the team via trades, and Russell came up from AAA.

2015 Billy Williams Ironic Rarities

Topps was good enough to include Billy Williams in an Update insert set called Rarities. Billy's rarity was hitting for a natural cycle, which he did on July 17, 1966.  In game 2 of a doubleheader in St. Louis, he singled in the first inning, doubled in the third, picked up a triple in the fifth, and went yard in the seventh.  This article from the next day's Tribune plays up the feat.

And the irony?

It's not what Billy did.

It's what Topps did.

Remember, the card is in a set called Rarities

 

The picture on the card is not a rarity.

Topps Complete Set Prices 1969 - 2015

Here is my monthly look at Topps complete set prices for all the years in which I own a set, 1969 - 2015.  The prices are from Ebay sold listings taken on November 1.  The prices do not include shipping.

• Sets from 1972 were the big winners, with the average price back over $1000.
• 1970 recovered after a bad October.
• You needed less than five bucks to buy a junk wax era 1991 set
• If you waited to buy your 2015 set, you patience was rewarded as the price is now starting to drop.
• One of each set will cost you $6, 181.59, and that is an increase of $352.01 over last month.

YEAR	Nov. 1	Oct. 1	Sept. 1	12 Mo. Avg.
1969	$1,076.22	$1,234.31	$1,160.32	$1,032.93
1970	$965.49	$640.62	$929.61	$949.76
1971	$716.29	$872.10	$1,261.27	$797.10
1972	$1,164.49	$948.70	$704.40	$1,015.79
1973	$426.80	$321.06	$327.59	$385.09
1974	$244.72	$196.40	$241.67	$229.08
1975	$282.75	$267.87	$269.47	$287.43
1976	$164.75	$153.08	$139.61	$160.65
1977	$119.72	$107.55	$97.44	$135.07
1978	$75.68	$106.79	$79.71	$94.56
1979	$85.68	$73.46	$92.14	$80.11
1980	$63.40	$83.30	$49.69	$63.68
1981	$17.80	$34.61	$27.71	$29.34
1982	$30.29	$34.08	$34.04	$34.50
1983	$28.65	$32.18	$32.28	$32.82
1984	$12.15	$20.20	$18.14	$20.54
1985	$24.40	$20.82	$27.91	$24.21
1986	$10.82	$30.49	$7.70	$15.55
1987	$6.36	$12.98	$12.14	$8.96
1988	$9.59	$9.67	$11.88	$8.33
1989	$7.24	$4.00	$8.95	$6.97
1990	$6.40	$8.35	$13.40	$9.37
1991	$4.71	$7.70	$6.67	$9.12
1992	$9.90	$8.14	$8.97	$10.57
1993	$20.69	$26.27	$25.19	$23.22
1994	$15.59	$18.89	$13.79	$20.46
1995	$19.59	$28.19	$32.99	$29.34
1996	$14.90	$31.30	$17.30	$19.96
1997	$39.18	$40.09	$44.60	$39.78
1998	$34.38	$30.99	$33.09	$33.30
1999	$23.79	$13.40	$23.38	$25.21
2000	$14.69	$18.48	$18.49	$19.18
2001	$52.99	$39.12	$41.92	$40.89
2002	$29.69	$29.50	$26.41	$27.88
2003	$39.27	$28.90	$38.05	$34.90
2004	$24.71	$22.15	$16.75	$25.84
2005	$37.28	$27.10	$29.59	$25.73
2006	$23.68	$26.89	$21.94	$26.62
2007	$23.70	$18.44	$15.90	$18.35
2008	$27.09	$30.73	$26.00	$28.65
2009	$44.19	$30.15	$45.17	$38.15
2010	$21.98	$24.86	$25.23	$20.74
2011	$31.27	$25.99	$35.98	$25.57
2012	$29.21	$22.89	$30.97	$23.66
2013	$21.32	$27.80	$27.52	$30.39
2014	$38.16	$39.00	$41.61	$43.13
2015	$37.82	$44.61	$40.60	$42.13

2015 Update Photo Variations

The sparkles are gimmick #1.  Photo variations are the second.  I was able to escape the scam in series one and two.  No so with Update.  The Cubs have two.

My base cards from Brentandbecca are still on their way, but the two variations have arrived.

Dexter Fowler got both a sparkle and a photo variation.

Addison Russell has the other variation.  Russell seems like a good guy and the variation has him signing autographs.  A quick search of Getty Images gave me the date of the picture, April 27.  That expains the his long sleeves and the bundled- up fans.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 13,847 Cubs cards from 105 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1971 Fleer World Series #5 1907  With the World Series in progress, the RNG gives us a card from one of the two Cubs championship seasons.

1980s: 1980 Topps #594 Dick Tidrow  Dirt was Bruce Sutter's setup man in 1980.  He made a team-record 84 appearances and was 6-5 with a 2.79 ERA.  

1990s: 1995 Leaf #151 Randy Myers  The lefty was the ace of the bullpen for the 1995 Cubs.  He had a league-leading 38 saves, the second time in three years that he led the NL.  For reasons I never understood, the Cubs didn't bother to try to re-sign him after the season. Instead he went to the Orioles, who got him for $1.5 million less than what the Cubs paid him in '95.

2000s: 2004 SP Authentics #18 Sammy Sosa  Oh the irony of Shammy in a set called Authentics.

2010s: 2013 Topps Stickers #189 Carlos Marmol  Marmol is excited because he walked just one batter in this appearance.  It was a rare event.  He walked at least one hitter in more than half of his games with the Cubs that season.  The team finally gave up on him and shipped him to the Dodgers in July.