2017 Topps Snapshots

Topps seems to have judge on a leash he's signed for them so much, surprised that they didn't have that one ready to go in packs

bstanwood said:

Topps seems to have judge on a leash he's signed for them so much, surprised that they didn't have that one ready to go in packs

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I'm not surprised. I saw a post in the box breaks section a few months ago where the Judge auto was a redemption, signaling the end of actual inserted autos. Topps has put him in so many products that they seem to have ran out of physical autos/stickers so I'd have to think at this time of the collecting season, the only on-card auto out of packs are probably going to be found in the high end products while other products will be redemptions.

I decided to scratch and redeem. Token card for the PC won out as well as after looking at completed auction sales, it's the card with the highest value I've ever pulled out of a pack. If i get another judge, it'll be listed for sale but I'm not counting on pulling a second one.

I think the product is a bit flimsy, reminds me of UD Collectors Choice or Topps Total, but with some nicer inserts (autographs). I don't care for the sloppy hand numbering, but whatever...small detail.

I did however stumble upon a nice bonus for my collecting interests.

The back story: I have been a semi-fan of the Padres since Garvey jumped over in 1983. They became my team that year and I stuck with them pretty much until Garvey retired in 1987. I went back to favoring the Dodgers then, but always kept a small spot in my heart for the team moving forward. They picked up some decent veteran talent like Templeton, Nettles, Hoyt, Royster and such. In the latter part of the 80s, right up to and just after Garv retired, they had a lot of young potential talent coming up in their system and I was seeing them blossom and it was fun. The likes of O. Guillen, Kruk, R & S Alomar, Santiago, Gwynn, Baerga, etc. Some stayed with the club, others moved on. Then in the early 90s, they picked up some really good players, if only briefly, like Joe Carter, Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield. I enjoyed seeing those guys in the ugly Padre Brown. Ultimately, they continued red changing and I didn't keep the allegiance any longer, but as I said, I do like the team historically.

So, on to my item.

I spotted an autographed card of Carlos Baerga, who I have always liked, in an 80s Padre uniform. He never reached the big club as a prospect, but later came to the team briefly in the late 90s. However, this photo is obviously from his stint as a home grown prospect. This is the kind of fresh item that I truly enjoy in the trading card world, not like the countless other Cleveland or NY autos and inserts he has. I wish they did more of this type of thing. Of course I had to have one, so now I do.

mrmopar said:

I think the product is a bit flimsy, reminds me of UD Collectors Choice or Topps Total, but with some nicer inserts (autographs).
(...)
I spotted an autographed card of Carlos Baerga, who I have always liked, in an 80s Padre uniform.

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Topps Snapshots reminds me of the by-mail 1980's glossys that you could get from Topps on wrapper offers, FWIW.

anyway, good post. I love Archives Snapshots for the supposedly unique or rarer photos from the topps archives used on the cards. I should go over the cards I have or soon will acquire to complete the set and post the players who might be depicted on teams that don't come to mind readily for that player. If you told me Baerga was in the set, I'd have thought Indians was the team depicted, not Padres.