2011 Topps Diamond #153 - A.J. PierzynskiThe first Diamond variation of a White Sox card that I pulled out of a retail pack was A.J. It seems fitting that the player that gives others the most fits would be my first White Sox pull that features thousands of shiny distractions in the background.
The card blogging community has officially gone ape over these variations. Yes, I happen to be one of them. The scan may not do the card justice, but these look way cooler in person. It features the kind of light refracting display that will delight children and adults alike. Those adults under the influence of mind enhancing stimulants and depressants may get more mileage than the rest of us. I can really imagine someone in an altered state being fascinated for hours at a time. Me? I'm satisfied with ten seconds at a time. Unless someone tampered with the Arnold Palmer that I'm drinking, I highly doubt that I'll need more time to take it all in.
Right now, it's unclear just how many of these cards have been made. The print run hasn't been listed. It's my guess that these will be fairly common and will be easier to obtain than the gold parallels. I hope to eventually complete the master White Sox team set. I think that is a reasonable goal.
These parallels are certainly eye catching, but I'm glad that they are only a one year thing. Topps has a tendency to run things into the ground. Leave this one alone, Topps, and restrict it to the three series for this year only. Let's not ruin this special thing that we have going right now.
5 comments:
AJ tried to punch out this card for showing him up.
In two blasters I got 4-5 of these but only one gold.
I picked up two blasters, a rack pack and two hobby packs. I've received 7 of these cards, but only 3 gold cards.
AJ should wear #6.
Why you ask?
Because he's often involved in brawls. Like a Pier 6 brawl.
I disagree, these should permanently replace the ugly half-hearted gold parallels, or at least become a much rarer parallel. Whatever the case, it's nice enough to hang with some of the better innovations from the late-'90s, and thus too nice to be err... put on ice, after only one year.
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