Topps Living Set

[Monty]

Originally Posted by TUAlum96

And you know when we finally do get another Royals player, it's going to be someone like Ian Kennedy or Cheslor Cuthbert.

My money is on George Brett.

[robert67]

Cool.

[jdandns]

Off-season should have plenty of new signing and traded cards.
Looking forward to a Russell Martin Dodgers card, even as I dread the Puig Red.

[tonye82]

Wanted to share some thoughts as someone who has collected basically nothing but Topps Heritage since 2004, and was pretty bummed out about moving into the 70s designs. Born in early 80s, loved the 50s and 60s cards as a kid, never had them though. 1st childhood cards were 87 and 88 Topps. Just wanted to share random thoughts about Topps Living Set.

I want this set littered with modern players who currently play, I am not into retired cards. just feels like a worthless reprint - i know not everyone feels this way. i will be out of this in a heartbeat if this largely becomes retired players. the beauty of the '53 set is that it makes each player special regardless of stats, because of the artwork. it draws you in. I prefer to have just modern players, with very few retired players thrown in.

i don't necessarily mind the price, but I cant go higher. for me its almost like getting a '53 pack mailed to you each week with a few cards inside, so i understand that's part of the price, and part of the experience here is receiving it in that vintage packaging style. if the current packaging were to go away, i would be out. need package consistency over time. the price is high yes, but for me these are also the only baseball cards I will now be collecting. I immensely enjoy there is no Topps logo on the front. I know they also leave out the front logo in Archives but I am very big on packaging and presentation as part of the collecting experience and dont like Archives packaging style with 50s 60s stuff next to designs from the 90s.

have done my best to stick to just heritage, on purpose, since 2004. no archives, nothing else. very little flagship although i loved '06-'08 flagship, best modern designs so far i think. i was aware of Topps Living during '18 but wanted to put money into last year of 60s heritage. this set and the packaging style, the fact you get this little '53 style box with each order, whether custom order or bundle, is great.

was bummed out over 70s heritage starting, never really wanting the feel of the 50s and 60s buying to end. Topps Living should be a good replacement to go into the 2020s with the same feel. I understand that I can repurchase discontinued 50s 60s heritage over and over but I am big into having the 50s 60s designs out in stores/topps.com during the same time I am collecting it. that helps the experience for me. so I hope this continues at least thru the 2020s so I can forget about 70s heritage entirely.

do wonder about numbering scheme after card 999. something like 1K1 might fit better than 1000 on the back. I am on the fence about what numbering scheme I would prefer to look at after 999.

what also attracted me to this set is that I missed out on 1st 3 years of heritage, so never did get the 2002 issue. also recently realized that the living set packaging actually matches the original '53 packaging/colors much better than 2002 heritage did.

anyone out there also bummed the 60s stuff in heritage was ending and dreading the 70s stuff? yes, i do have some love for '70-'72, but still I prefer the 50s and 60s stuff and 70s designs elicit just a different feeling for me. not as good. I just got my first Topps Living order this week - once I had the packaging box and cards in hand I know I am hooked as long as they continue to to pump out current players and go very little on retired ones. i will be skipping every single retire player card. would prefer the original '53 size but once I had cards in hand that desire seemed to fade.

[Ferg1945]

I'm the complete opposite on retired. I LOVE everything about this set and I want every name in this set that I can get.

Joe DiMaggio
Willie Mays
George Brett
Robin Yount
Mike Schmidt
Rod Carew
Roger Clemens
Barry Bonds
Kirby Puckett


I even want fan favorites that weren't the biggest names but had a nice career. Not to lead a week....one of the commons.

Mark Grace
Paul Konerko
Torii Hunter
Prince Fielder

[tonye82]

I would appreciate Bonds in a Pirates jersey. I would buy that one. You got me with that. Clemens would be nice to see but I wouldn't buy. My bigger concern is the first comment in this thread on page 1, which seems to indicate/suggest that later on this set would "branch" off to all retired players. I don't think that's the plan here from what I read elsewhere and quotes direct from Topps reps on the intentions of this set.

[Ferg1945]

Originally Posted by tonye82

As a Pittsburgher, I would appreciate Bonds in a Pirates jersey. I would buy that one. You got me with that one. Clemens would be nice to see but I wouldn't buy.

I want old school pics....

Bonds - Pirates
Clemens - Red Sox


Grace - Cubs
Hunter - Twins

[Fsegaud]

I want Nolan Ryan in an Astros cap among others. I think the one and done option for retired players sucks. Just put in a 5 year wait for the next possible card of a retired player...I think that is fair.

We have a young Rickey Henderson...bring on an older Rickey with the Yankees down the line.

I’ve mentioned Reggie Jackson before...young A’s player, peak Yankees player, older Angels player...a player that meant something to each team...his facial features changed over time with each of these teams...all these cards would be fantastic. You telling me we can only have one of these?!?!?

That 5 year wait would enable Pujols to get a Cards card in time for the Hall of Fame induction (travesty if he never got a Cards card...only possibility at this time is if he signs a one day contract with STL before retiring?).

Less crappy rookies and Sogards...throw in Grace/Hunter/Konerko/etc...this would have been a great week to introduce a player like that...lost opportunity.

[dherm360]

came home for this weeks package and got my first dinged card in awhile--The Boyd was rough in the bottom right corner

[joejoemay]

In case you were concerned with the site down...

Joe,

"It will be back up this afternoon before the clock expires. We pushed the end of timer forward a couple of hours because we knew that there would be people wanting to order."
--Jeeves

[BH34]

Originally Posted by Ferg1945

I'm the complete opposite on retired. I LOVE everything about this set and I want every name in this set that I can get.

Joe DiMaggio
Willie Mays
George Brett
Robin Yount
Mike Schmidt
Rod Carew
Roger Clemens
Barry Bonds
Kirby Puckett


I even want fan favorites that weren't the biggest names but had a nice career. Not to lead a week....one of the commons.

Mark Grace
Paul Konerko
Torii Hunter
Prince Fielder

I want to see this too.
We've yet to see a retired "scrub" or really any other retired player that, if they were still active, wouldn't have been the 'headliner' in the weekly set.
C'mon topps, give us someone like Kevin Elster or Benny Agbayani!!

[TUAlum96]

Originally Posted by BH34

C'mon topps, give us someone like Kevin Elster or Benny Agbayani!!

I just want a week with Dan Quisenberry, Oscar Gamble, and ‘70s era Carl Yastrzemski (when he had big sideburns).

[BH34]

Originally Posted by TUAlum96

I just want a week with Dan Quisenberry, Oscar Gamble, and ‘70s era Carl Yastrzemski (when he had big sideburns).

I would love to see Ms. Seto's rendition of this:

[TUAlum96]

Originally Posted by BH34

I would love to see Ms. Seto's rendition of this:

Exactly what I had in mind!

[tonye82]

i'm starting to think i'm the only one who doesn't want retired players in this set. if its not a player currently playing in MLB, i don't view that as a baseball card. i view it as a piece of cardboard with someones picture on it that used to play baseball.

[BH34]

Originally Posted by tonye82

i'm starting to think i'm the only one who doesn't want retired players in this set. if its not a player currently playing in MLB, i don't view that as a baseball card. i view it as a piece of cardboard with someones picture on it that used to play baseball.

you're probably not the only one that doesn't want retired players in TLS.
you are, however, probably the only person who thinks that a non current player disqualifies it from being a baseball card. that one is a little out there.

[Rhys Phillies]

Website is down. Anyone experiencing this?

[smanzari]

Originally Posted by Rhys Phillies

Website is down. Anyone experiencing this?

JoeJoe posted this a little while ago

Originally Posted by joejoemay

In case you were concerned with the site down...

Joe,

"It will be back up this afternoon before the clock expires. We pushed the end of timer forward a couple of hours because we knew that there would be people wanting to order."
--Jeeves

[tonye82]

Originally Posted by BH34

you're probably not the only one that doesn't want retired players in TLS.
you are, however, probably the only person who thinks that a non current player disqualifies it from being a baseball card. that one is a little out there.

what i mean to say is that as an example, i consider a "barry bonds baseball card" to be that which was issued between 1986 and 2007, his time as a mlb player. any card issued thereafter i view as more of a commemorative reprint type of thing.

[Gamecock]

Originally Posted by joejoemay

In case you were concerned with the site down...

Joe,

"It will be back up this afternoon before the clock expires. We pushed the end of timer forward a couple of hours because we knew that there would be people wanting to order."
--Jeeves

I hope they add a few hours cause i still haven't order my two sets for this week. fingers crossed....

[TwinsJake]

I wouldn't worry about it. The longer it takes to get the site live, the longer they'll extend it. Wouldn't shock me if they just end it tomorrow instead.

[DaBaddestHic]

Lol, Topps needs a lesson in not doing maintenance during peak traffic times. I've done some stupid things that resulted in my company's sites being down during the day, but never for this long!

[cj828282]

Topps site now requires a username and password.

[okumeister]

The website now asks for user name and password.
I thought it might be asking for my Topps account user name and password, but apparently not (I guess it is more of a administrator thing).

[cj828282]

Looks like it is back up but slow.