‘08 Moments & Milestones review
8 03 2008“Devil in disguise? Maybe not.”
You know, when I heard about the concept of Topps Moments & Milestones I thought it was the worst idea in the history of baseball cards. Having busted a box last night, I can now say I don’t feel that way anymore—but barely.
Design: B-
Okay, I am setting myself up for an attack here but I think the cards look 10 times better than regular Topps. The only problem is the photography but I guess when you have to produce 500 different A-Rod cards, the pickings are slim. The autographs are on sticker but they work well with the design. I only have 1 ‘07 M & M but I can say without a doubt that this year’s design is not as cool as last year’s.
Price: B-
What would you say if I asked you to pay $110 for a box of baseball cards that will guarantee you two autographs, and 18 cards #’d to 33 or less? To me, having overpaid for last year’s SPx, Finest, and Allen & Ginter, I’d say “take my money, please!” I think it is well worth the price but if you can get this box anywhere for under $100 you are doing yourself a disservice by not picking one up.
Pulls: B+
I love the idea of not getting stuck with commons. I got ton of A-Rod, Howard, and Ichiro cards, as well as some nice prospects to go along with the stars. You may not get your favorite semistars, but if you really need those, bust a box of ‘08 Upper Deck for around $20-$25 less!
Overall: B-
Okay, not the best idea in the world unless you are into this stuff. I’d never have a reason to bust another box until 2009 but was it as bad as I thought? Absolutely not! I pulled a super hot autograph, my first non-printing plate 1 of 1, and some nice low-numbered cards of stars like Alex Rodriguez, Hunter Pence, and Albert Pujols. As happy as I was with my box, I would never recommend a product like this to a new collector or someone coming back into the hobby after a long break.
As someone coming back into the hobby after a long break, I would agree…don’t buy a box like this. Personally, I don’t like the design and think the set itself is very gimmicky.
I’m thinking very seriously about contacting someone at MLB and finding out what needs to be done to get a contract to produce cards. Looking at the designs from the past few years, and the submissions of readers’ original designs on your blog and others, I know we could do better than Topps and Upper Deck, and make it affordable for the kids to get back into the hobby as well.
How many cards are in the set? If you had gotten 2 middle reliever rookies as the autographs would you have felt the same way? Are the Autos serial numbered?
The good news about this issue is there are not a ton of common players. There a few marginal semi stars they could have done without too.
I don’t think the auto’s are #’d, which is somewhat ironic. If the two auto’s were crappy, I’d feel the same way. Two auto’s and low-numbered cards galore guarantees is worth $110 to me.
Everyone is different, though. To each his own. Now…..bring on Topps Finest!!!!!!