I have been way more active among the card collecting community over the past two weeks than I have in about two years. On Twitter, someone tweeted that I must hate Topps Company because of their gimmicks. Wrong, Chris Harris of Stale Gum hates Topps because of their gimmicks. I hate Topps because they have gone six full years without producing a Jose Canseco baseball card.
The truth is, I love all card companies. What I love most, however, are licensed companies that can produce baseball cards without tricky photography to conceal logos or airbrushing. Unfortunately, for the moment that rules out companies like Tristar, Leaf, Panini, and Upper Deck. I may be vain but I need my baseball cards to come with logos and only one company can do that now.
In my opinion, Topps produces the best quality cards right now (not counting Tier One). From all these awesome new parallels accompanying the Refractor to game-used relics and certified autographs … Topps is king and will likely remain so for a long time. For example, take a look at the 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Jose Canseco below.
For me, this card works well on many levels. For starters it features the ’87 Topps design along with a photo of Jose Canseco from that same era (’85-’87). That alone makes this card perfect for me but then you add Chrome and Refractor technology, along with a low serial number and now we are in business. Why in the world would I hate on a company that can create such a great card?
It’s been a long time since Jose’s book and hate him or love it everyone he named turned out to be a lying douchebag cheater. It’s time to get over it, MLB. Jose Canseco, despite being a complete embarrassment, still has a huge following among collectors and nothing would be greater for us than to see his name next to that iconic Topps logo.
Only time will tell but I have a good feeling about 2012.
