At the Break...

From midseason Cy Young to MVP picks, the All Star break is when everyone draws the line and makes their comparisons. This year "at the half" I have decided to compare all of this years first half baseball card releases. I am only going to feature sets that I have 09 Red Sox of so even though A&G looks kick @$$ I have none in hand so they will not be featured. Maybe someone will feel sorry for me and trade me their Red Sox doubles including minis. (Hint Hint) So without further ado...

Bowman - I'm not a fan of black-bordered cards so boo for Bowman this year.

Bowman Chrome Draft Picks – I hate Bowman draft picks. It is a whole set of guys that nobody has ever heard of. Yes someone in the set may turn out to be a star but I’ll leave the prospecting to someone else and just pickup the Red Sox. At least they have white borders and not the black ones like the regular set.

Goudey - Not as good as the last two years. I almost completed 07 and 08 team sets otherwise I wouldn't even bother to pursue it this year. I do like the minis though.

Heritage - 1960 was Topps all-time best looking set so this was a home run. If they just didn't have so many SPs.

Topps Base - When I first saw the design online I didn't like it but it turns out that this is the best base set Topps put out in years. I love the photography this year. Keep it up Topps!!

Topps Wal-Mart - Argg, more black borders. But I am strangely attracted to them. This is now my favorite black-bordered set of all time. It is the black backgrounds that make the border work. Although they show fingerprints like crazy.

Topps Target (Throwback) - I thought I was going to love these till I got them in hand. Big disappointment. Even though the backs have that throwback feel the glossy fronts kill the cards and the old logo does nothing for me. Plus to me the absolute worse gimmick that manufacturers make is the card back parallel.

Upper Deck Base - The worse effort put up by Upper Deck in years. I am a die-hard Topps guy but found myself actively pursuing Upper Deck Base the last few years. Not so this year. Look how lazy they got one of these is series one #45 and the other is series two #551. Couldn't the photographer have at least stood somewhere else to take the picture? Yea, I will still pick up some in trade but I'm not buying any.



Upper Deck First Edition - Same as above with some gold color on them. Ugg!!

Legendary Cuts - When I saw these online I knew they would be awesome in person. Once I got them in-hand I found out just how wrong I was. Plus with so many SP cards I'll never finish this team set.

Spectrum - To me it looks just like last years. Heck it even looks like a bright colored Starquest card and pink sucks.

Last but not least, the best set of the year so far (until I get my hands on some A&G)...

O-Pee-Chee - I have seen lots of people bash O-Pee-Chee but I love this set. Why? It has that old-school feel. Not ancient like Goudey/A&G old school, more like 70's/80's cards; and I love them. The no gloss, large set, and matching borders screams nostalgia. Upper Deck's lone good product of 09 so far. Hopefully Goodwins meets my expectations.