2013 Turkey Red

Something smells fishy. Topps Turkey Red could be viewed as a sticker dump, and a curious one at that. The distribution was weird and disjointed, being an online exclusive that had a slow roll out announcement, which caused many consumers to be left out in the cold for any hope of ordering an eleven card box directly from Topps. It's almost as if the product was released in the middle of a moonless night and received only by those who just happen to be taking a late night stroll, down the alley this product was dumped in, to cure their insomnia.

The only way this product was released was in an eleven card box, which contained ten base cards and a card with a sticker autograph. It is said that only five to six thousand boxes were available, which places this product at five to six hundred complete sets. This is all pure speculation though, as print run numbers were not released for the base set. The completed base set has one hundred cards.

The White Sox have four cards in the base set and no sticker autographs.

37 - Jake Peavy
57 - Paul Konerko
68 - Adam Dunn
82 - Chris Sale

The design front and back is reminiscent of the 2007 Turkey Red release, with very slight tweaks. The set has a desperate quality. Each card looks slightly out of place and out of time with the previous Turkey Red releases. The cards do not have the same feel to them as the other Turkey Red releases. I can't quite put my finger on what feels different, but whatever that difference, it feels forced and cheap. I would not expect that type of feeling from a product rolled out in this manner.

I am disappointed in 2013 Turkey Red. I had high hopes for this set, but wrong turns and a cheap feel have derailed this product, in my opinion. For once, I'm happy that the White Sox were not participants in the sticker dump portion of this release. I'm content enough to collect the base, quickly and quietly, and be done with this release.