2020 Absolute

 

2020 brought the return of Absolute to the shelves, after fifteen years. This was brought out by Panini, which only has the players license. The previous set was introduced by Donruss.

The design is right in line with the previous Absolute sets. This feels like it could have been brought out in the early to mid-2000s. It's faithful to the feel of  the original sets, almost to a fault. The parallels are there. So are the short print cards. It's everything that was loved and hated about this release in one package.

If you throw in a few tiny elements from Leaf releases of the same time period, I think you found the inspiration for the 2020 set. What I really did not like about this year's Absolute was the distribution. $100 for twenty hobby cards. It breaks down to five bucks a card, which includes eight base cards, two parallels, four inserts, two memorabilia cards and four autographs. It sounds like a great deal on the surface, but most of those haven't held much resale value. Let's face it, that's what most people are looking for nowadays.

The set is broken down into a regular set of one hundred cards and a short print autograph set of sixty-six cards. A lot of these short print cards can be found for a steal on reselling sites.

Out of 166 total cards, the White Sox have five cards in the regular set and four cards in the short print set.

24 - Tim Anderson
50 - Jose Abreu
62 - Yasmani Grandal
79 - Yoan Moncada
84 - Eloy Jimenez
110 - Danny Mendick (auto) (/149)
113 - Luis Robert Jr. (auto) (/149)
145 - Dylan Cease (auto) (/149)
149 - Zack Collins (auto) (/149)

The main drawback with Panini product is the lack of MLB logos. Hopefully, someday that will be able to change. Until then, it will be their Achilles heel. No matter how nice their cards are, Panini will always lose a fraction of value because of that fact. These cards are nice looking and a bit nostalgic. In the short print cards, you can see why they went with the bigger autograph. It hides the majority of the player behind the cutout for the auto. The logo problem takes care of itself in most cases.

Overall, I like this set. It would have been much better with an MLB license.

2024 Topps Heritage High Numbers

 

This set came as a bit of a surprise. Released in March 2025, the 2024 Topps Heritage High Numbers set is a bit late to the game. It's a nice surprise, but this unfortunately pushes the boundaries of a set for a particular year. At the time of release, the next year was already roughly one-fourth of the way through.

With that unpleasantness out of the way, let's get into this release.

Since 2008, the Topps Heritage set has had a high numbers release later in the year.  It originally threw me for a loop. I had committed myself to collecting the entire 2008 set, not just the White Sox cards. I had come really close to completing the set and then a whole bunch of new cards were unleashed onto the public.

I still haven't completed either the regular of the high number set from 2008, but I'm inching closer every year. I still haven't found either of the name variations for 2008. I've pretty much given that pursuit up and have been concentrating on completing the set. This is just another in a long line of uncompleted sets from the overbearing glut of releases from 2008. My grandiose ideas of collecting that year really bit me in the butt.

In other words, the multiple releases have become the standard for the Heritage line. Not that I need another set to chase, but I think it's probably time to resurrect the Bowman Heritage line. Enough time has passed and after the fifties sets are completed, they can jump right into 1989.

This set borrows from the 1975 Topps flagship set. It's simple, bold and distinctive. The original set is one that really stood out when I was exploring older sets. I started my collecting journey in 1983 and was born one year after this sets design. This was also a really fun card to create in my Birth Years project. There were so many color combinations to choose from. It was never a boring endeavor.

The White Sox have six cards in this set.

554 - Andrew Vaughn
616 - Jonathan Cannon (multi-rookie)
622 - Zach DeLoach (multi-rookie)
627 - Garrett Crochet
647 - Nick Nastrini
694 - Gavin Sheets
716 - Jordan Leasure

Gavin Sheets has a throwback image gimmick in this set.

There are eight parallels to the set. White border, aqua border,  green border (blasters only), dark blue border (hobby only), black and white image, mini, black border (/50) (hobby only) and flip stock (/5) (hobby only). Important note: all borders are marked as "white border" above the number on the back of the card. Who knows why. It just makes it more frustrating to identify the different types of borders.

There are also chrome cards of each card numbered to 699. Along with refractor (/225), black refractor (/75) (hobby only), gold refractor (/5) (hobby only) and superfractor (/1).

A little late to the game, but welcome anyway. That's my general impression of this release. If you like the Heritage line, you know exactly what to expect here. Probably the most exciting for me is the mini cards. Those were always fascinating to me when I was a young collector, so it's a sense of nostalgia, which is what these type of releases are meant to conjure up.

A solid, yet not super exciting set. If you love the vintage feel with a few modern twists, you really can't go wrong with this one. If you're lucky enough to find an autograph in your pack, rest assured, it will be on card.

1963 Jello

 

Kids today will very rarely know the joy of finding a baseball card in an unexpected place. It still does happen from time to time, but the chances of this materializing is slim to none. Some of this has to do with our mint obsessed culture, where every card needs to be pristine and everything else is just garbage. Some of it is the switch to digital. Some of the blame is on kids growing up with different expectations than previous generations.

There are some things I will never experience again. Carnation breakfast bars (not those abominations that came out in the 90s and later), tuning in to MTV at anytime to watch a music video and finding baseball cards on food packaging. There have been a few food issues in the past decade or so, but they are mostly packaged in plastic and slipped into the packaging. We have to keep everything in gem mint condition, or at least the illusion of it.

Oddball and food issues used to be everywhere. Boxes of mac and cheese, cereal and gelatin mixes had cards that you could cut out. Convenience stores had their own cards, coins and other paraphernalia. Sometimes they were regional, so you couldn't collect the whole set, unless you traveled. Hmm. That almost sounds like a tactic the companies would use today.

Now, Post cereals had the exact same checklist for their 1963 set. The only difference is that the Post cards have a wider red line than the Jello counterparts. In fact, the album where you could collect your cut out cards encouraged you to complete your set by collecting from both brands.

 The Jello set has 200 cards, and the White Sox have eleven cards.

35 - Joe Cunningham
36 - Nellie Fox
37 - Luis Aparicio
38 - Al Smith
39 - Floyd Robinson
40 - Jim Landis
41 - Charlie Maxwell
42 - Sherman Lollar
43 - Early Wynn
44 - Juan Pizzaro
45 - Ray Herbert

 Especially if you don't care about condition too much, these cards can come relatively cheap. Mickey Mantle was never a White Sox player, so you won't find any extremely high priced cards for the Pale Hose in this set. Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio will probably be the highest priced on the secondary market. Even then, you can find decent copies for well under $10. 

I'll admit it. I miss cards on the boxes of Jello and other groceries. It was just another way to stay connected to the game and to the hobby. I don't anticipate ever returning to these glory days of food issues, but it would be cool if it did.

1985 Topps 3-D

It's baseball, COMIN' AT YA! in 3-D!!!!

As an eight year old during the summer of 1985, I would go to my local drug store (which has since turned into a liquor store) and I would scour the spinning rack of comic books and pick out a few. This was when the price of a regular comic book was just seventy-five cents. If it was an annual, it could have gone as high as $2.

After my excursion into the land of mostly Marvel and DC, I would head over to the candy aisles. Yes, I said aisles. There were three glorious aisles of candy and candy related items. I would pick out something guaranteed to put me on a sugar high, then it one of those aisles were sports cards. A pack of baseball cards were either thirty-five or forty cents for a regular pack and fifty or sixty cents for a cello pack. I don't recall the year that they went up to forty cents. It was somewhere in the mid-80s. I just remember that they were forty cents in 1987.

 But in 1985, I was collecting Topps, Fleer and Donruss. Of course, I was looking for White Sox players, but I had other interests too. The father/son cards were always a welcome find. The USA team cards were on my radar. Any Fleer in action or multi-player cards were treasured. Donruss All-Stars looked cool and futuristic (nowadays they look very dated). Cards of Eric Davis, Cal Ripken Jr., Tippy Matrinez, Roger Clemens, Tony Gwynn, Alfredo Griffin, Tim Raines, Rickey Henderson and a plethora of others would elicit excitement every time I unearthed one in a pack.

I also collected the Topps stickers, Topps rub ons, Topps Super. Basically any weird baseball related merchandise, I was a sucker for at that time. The weirdest set I remember buying was Topps 3-D.

I had absolutely no clue as to how to store these cards. They were rigid, bumpy and oversized. They were truly bizarre, but I enjoyed opening each pack. As a kid I was puzzled with this set. As an adult, I'm still puzzled by this set.

The White Sox have one card in this set.

30 - Tom Seaver

 I'm showing the front and back images for this card, so you might get the full effect of this misshapen cad. Not only did the White Sox have a card in this set, but it is a Hall of Fame player, who is best remembered on another team, but it happens to coincide with the year he won his 300th game. It's just a mess of circumstances that make this an even stranger release.

This is definitely a unique set that never made it past a trial release. It's a beautiful and clumsy set. The rose tinted glasses of nostalgia are especially on for this one. This card has more attachment to the memories that it conjures rather than the card itself. I guess that could be a true test of this set. It's awkward, but makes me think of wonderful days in my past. I suppose that's all you can ask out of a card.

Good job, Topps 3-D. You've made me think of G.I. Joe and Spider-Ham comics. Looking for the discontinued Summit cookie bar (it ceased production in 1984, but I had no idea) in the candy aisles. Riding my bike to the drug store and taking the secret way past two parks. For me, this could be one of the ultimate nostalgia cards.

2025 Topps Series One

 

Topps flagship is always anticipated (by me anyway). I feel that it marks the beginning of the new trading card sets for the new year. There always seem to be a few late straggler sets from the previous year that get released in January. This is my signal that the new year has begun.

This design reminds me of some of the Topps designs from the early to mid-2000s mixed in with a little bit of Donruss from the same time period. Is it an homage to that time period or a coincidence? Does it really matter? Not really.

The 2025 design is pretty sharp. Geometry in baseball seems to be the general theme on the card. Baseball diamonds, warning tracks nice photos, blueprint-like outlines of words and team emblems. Sorry Panini, the team emblems really do make the card. I wish that you had both licenses.

The white borders lend itself easily to many parallels, which there are many. My word. There are so many. For those who love to chase rainbows, you are in luck. There are sixty(?!) parallels of each card.

Ready?

They are as follows:

Rainbow Foil
Diamante Foil
Holo Foil
Topps Pattern Foil
Silver Crackle Foil
Pink Holo Foil
Sandglitter
Confetti
Pink Diamante Foil
Aqua Holo Foil
Aqua Rainbow Foil
Tinsel
Gold (/2025)
Purple Rainbow (/250)
Purple Holo Foil (/250)
Blue Rainbow (/150)
Blue Holo Foil (/150)
Green Rainbow (/99)
Green Holo Foil (/99)
Vintage Stock (/99)
Independence Day (/76)
Gold Rainbow (/50)
Gold Holo Foil (/50)
Gold Diamante Foil (/50)
Canvas (/50)
Orange Rainbow (/25)
Orange Holo Foil (/25)
Orange Diamante (/25)
Wood (/25)
Memorial Day Camouflage (/25)
Black Rainbow (/10)
Black Holo Foil (/10)
Black Diamante (/5)
Clear (/10)
Red Rainbow (/5)
Red Holo Foil (/5)
Red Diamante (/5)
FoilFractor (/1)
Platinum Holo Foil (/1)
First Card (/1)
Printing Plate Black (/1)
Printing Plate Cyan (/1)
Printing Plate Magenta (/1)
Printing Plate Yellow (/1)
Spring Training
Spring Training Green Foil (/99)
Spring Training Gold Foil (/50)
Spring Training Orange Foil (/25)
Spring Training Red Foil (5)
Spring Training Black Foil (/1)
Holiday
Holiday Flowers (/50)
Holiday Eggs
Holiday Rabbit
Holiday Umbrella (/10)
Holiday Watering Can (/5)
Holiday Birds (/1)
Golden Mirror Image Variation
True Photo Variation
Team Color Border Variation

There is also a Tokyo Series Murakami Variation. Luis Robert Jr., Brooks Baldwin and Drew Thorpe have cards in this limited parallel, numbered to ten.

The White Sox have no player number variations and no big head variations.

The White Sox have nine cards in series one.

95 - Gavin Sheets
121 - Andrew Vaughn
189 - Robert Luis Jr.
190 - Michael Vargas
249 - Brooks Baldwin
257 - Korey Lee
280 - Ky Bush
320 - Drew Thorpe
344 - Andrew Benintendi 

Yet another very good design for Topps flagship. They can usually be counted on for a solid look. There are very few years that would be considered a classic design anymore, but a consistent output of very good to great can usually be expected. 2025 is no different.

I usually enjoy chasing the parallels, but sixty (and in three cases, sixty-one) is a little like Lone Star demanding ludicrous speed It's a great way to get there. You might see some pretty colors along the way, maybe even plaid some years. In the end, it's a bit ludicrous.

2022 Topps Spotlight 70 II

 

Cards are getting interesting lately. I appreciate all the different ways that cards are being created. Artists and celebrities create or dictate what a set should look like and who should be in it and suddenly it's for sale on a website. 

It could be the most beautiful piece of artwork in the galaxy or a huge steaming pile of crap sent through the mail for a fee. It's all in the eye of the beholder. I would never intentionally try to yuck someone else's yum, but some of these cards are catered to my tastes, while most of them are not. Some look like a lot of thought and effort was put into the design and each brushstroke was a dazzling liquid diamond pouring out onto a mystical canvas until Leonardo Da Vinci wept salty tears of happiness at the pure ethereal joy birthed into the world. Others look like a second grader drew a spite portrait of the MLB player that crushed their hamster. In other words, it can be a bit of a mixed bag.

This offering by Andy Friedman, at first glance looks a bit off. It wasn't until I saw that the chosen medium was ink and watercolor, that I started to really look at the cards. I have painted some great portraits in my time as an artist, but watercolor is one of the most difficult to work with. Throw in ink to the mix and there will be some massive color bleeds in the journey to the final product.

The combination is not without its charms, but it will clearly not be everyone's favorite.

The White Sox have three cards in this release. Two cards in the regular set and one in a rookie insert subset.

29 - Harold Baines

33 - Jerry Manuel

R-8 - Gavin Sheets

Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Georgia O'Keeffe, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and June Leaf each have distinct styles and some have widely ranging techniques. Some people love them. Some people loathe them. It's all a matter of taste.

I think it's absolutely wonderful that a variety of modern artists are getting their chance to explore and imprint their creative minds onto cardboard. Mixing baseball and artwork is a long standing tradition that goes back to the hobby's roots as advertisements for department stores and tobacco. It's a practice that fell out of fashion with the rise of the camera and occasionally has a resurgence.

I think that the most impressive feat in these types of cards are the risks that the artists are willing to take. It also takes great commitment on Topps part to keep these ventures going. All the efforts may not please all the consumers out there, but I don't think it was ever meant to.

2019 Topps X Gary Vee Direct360

I have seen a lot of cards morph into the on demand online exclusive model in the past few years. I have an indifference to them. I like the fact that things that might not sell well in shops can be sold online. I like the fact that there are exciting avenues that can be explored using this method. I like the fact that moments can be emblazoned on cardboard in a speedy way that makes it seem especially relevant.

What I don't like is overpriced garbage that should have been left on the drawing board. I don't like having to research such loose connections that I feel that Al Capone should have a set because he attended White Sox games.

This bring us to my pick for the worst set of the year, so far. Who is Gary Vaynerchuk? And why was he allowed to put together a card set?

Gary in an entrepreneur who got his start in the family's wine business. He was also a wine critic, who started a social media empire. Apparently, he also collects cards.

I'm all for people designing their own cards. I do that very thing on my blog. I like some of the cards in this set, but there are just some that are so over the top ridiculous that it makes me question my life. The two subsets that are the worst offenders are the "Card Collectors" and the Wine Pairings" subsets. The "Card Collectors" set is like a bastard child of the 1990 Topps design paired with early Donruss. It does not look good. The "Wine Pairings" just offends my sensibilities as a collector. There is a generic cartoonish wine bottle with a wine recommendation based upon the player. I'm not enough of a wine connoisseur to know if these are joke titles to tie in with the player or these are actually the poorest named wines ever. A quick google search confirms that these are indeed real wines.

I'll have to admit that the comparison of wines and athletes together is unique, but the whole concept seems to be stretched thin. It would be different if the design didn't look like it belonged in a cheap early 80s soda tie-in. The top prizes of purchasing these sets include a chance to win a 5 minute video phone call with Gary Vee, dinner with Gary Vee and joining Gary Vee in a NYC baseball suite. Sorry, Gary, you are just not my cup of tea. The extent of my wine interest is a repeat viewing of Sideways. I don't enjoy speaking with famous people to begin with, let alone famous people who I have no clue are famous.

The White Sox have three cards in this set, in addition to three autographs. Let's break it down.

Bowman by Gary Vee
11 - Luis Alexander Basabe

Card Hunting
2 - Frank Thomas

Wine Pairings
4 - Eloy Jimenez

Autographs
Eloy Jimenez
Frank Thomas
Luis Alexander Basabe

I really wanted to like this set. Gary seems like an OK guy, but I am struggling to see why he was honored with this personal set. I'll still collect the White Sox cards in the set, but I'll hate myself in the morning.

2019 Topps Total Wave Two

I've already waxed poetic about the things wrong with the comeback of Topps Total in the review of Wave One. The price point and distribution is all wrong for the type of card Topps Total is supposed to be. For good or for bad, we are now stuck with this well intentioned monstrosity.

Wave two is similar to wave one. There are another one hundred cards in the set. It is only available in ten card packs for ten dollars on the Topps website. If you miss the window, you are thrown to the wolves of the secondary market.

The print run for wave two is 753, which is considerably lower than wave one. There are the numbered parallels and the random autographs too. All to create the illusion that you might be able to get value out of your purchase. That is truly in the eye of the beholder. I don't put much stock into this release, but I'm sure there are those who do.

The White Sox have four cards in wave two.

132 - Yolmer Sanchez
140 - Daniel Palka
142 - Caleb Frare
164 - Yonder Alonso

To say the player selection in wave two is underwhelming would be an understatement. I like Yolmer, but he is not going to set the collecting world on fire. He is a great clubhouse presence, but he is a placeholder player, unless he really elevates his game another few levels. I like Daniel Palka, but he needs to figure out how to adjust quicker or he's going to be the ultimate AAAA player. I like Caleb Frare, but it's a bit too early to say how he's going to ultimately fit in the bullpen. He could surprise us all and be elite one day. Yonder's time with the White Sox resulted in a .178 batting average. That is 72 points below his lowest batting average with any team he has been with. His previous low was .250 with the Cleveland Indians in 2018. Alonso is currently hitting .317 with the Rockies through twenty-five games. Let that sink in. It can't all be explained by playing in Colorado.

The only way this wave gets more depressing is if they added Odrisamer Despaigne, Ervin Santana and A.J. Reed. Don't get me wrong. I like all the players that have been on the White Sox (except for Nick Swisher). There are just some players that are more exciting than others. These four players probably sounded a lot more promising in the planning stages. That happens. We'll see if things get more exciting in wave three.

2019 Allen & Ginter

It's that time of year again. Allen & Ginter time!!

It's one of the releases that I always get excited about. Everything from the feel of the cards to the look of the cards to the strange and interesting subject matter sprinkled in with the baseball players. It all adds up to be one of the best sets of the year, every year.

This year I decided to go in cold turkey. I actively avoided checklists, so I could be surprised when I opened my first packs. Boy, was I ever surprised with the results. Two of my absolute favorite White Sox players are in the set this year. Along with some of my favorite rookies and another Hall of Fame favorite, this team set shapes up to be one of my favorite of the year.

I will be a little unorthodox with my checklist this year. You'll know exactly where. You can choose to include the card if you want. If not, I completely understand.

The White Sox have ten cards in the set this year, including and optional card and two short prints.

118 - Frank Thomas

This Hall of Fame player is always welcome. I WILL believe the hype!

119 - Michael Kopech

I was so excited for Kopech day. I will be the same level of excited upon his return.

120 - Yoan Moncada

I am impressed with how big a leap Yoan has made this year.

121 - Jose Abreu

I'm hoping Abreu gets to stick around. I like him.

139 - Harold Baines

OMG!!! Total and welcome surprise!!!!

161 - Sister Mary Jo Soieck

This is the optional card. I'm including it because she did the first pitch with the White Sox and it's a great South Side story.

264 - Yonder Alonso

I was hopeful for Yonder when the Sox signed him. I wish him the best in Colorado.

272 - Carlton Fisk

Some Fisk MOJO!!! Both of my childhood idols in one team set? YES, PLEASE!

366 - Daniel Palka

What are you gonna do when Palkamania runs wild over you??? I hope he regains some momentum.

398 - Eloy Jimenez

Adventurous in the outfield, but he's learning and getting better. I'm glad he's getting MLB experience.

This is probably my favorite Allen & Ginter White Sox lineup so far!! Very solid effort.

2019 Topps Total Wave 1

Topps Total made a comeback in 2019 as an online exclusive. Many remember Topps Total as a behemoth set that came out for a few years in the mid-2000s. It was a no-frills release with a lot of players. For a few fringe bench players, this would be their only card during their playing career.

Topps has resurrected Topps Total as an online exclusive on demand limited window print. There must be another catch too, right? Yes. It is only sold in packs of ten cards for $10. Each wave is one hundred cards. There are three parallels of each card, numbered to ten, five and one. Plus, there are scattered autographs that might pop up, but not of every player.

Response to purchasing directly from Topps has been lukewarm, at best. This only means that the value will be potentially more with a limited print run. That being said, with no upgrades to the basic set from the mid-2000s, I'm not sure collectors will pay top dollar for this set.

The White Sox have three cards in wave one.

58 - James McCann
75 - Alex Colome
86 - Adam Engel

I liked the idea of Topps Total in the mid-2000s. The reappearance of the brand sparked joy in my heart, but like most decent sets, when they are relaunched, the company tinkers with the integrity just enough to where it looks the same, but it feels quite different. Ten cards for $10 is pretty steep for this re-imagined brand. I understand that you have a chance at an autograph or a card that is numbered to ten or lower. You know what? You have that same chance with most packs today and those can be had for $3 or lower. When you factor in the lower print run, you can probably, at best, tack on another dollar or two to the price of a pack.

The idea is sound, but like most other card sets that are rebranded, the execution leaves something to be desired. The print run for wave one is 5,837. That isn't as limited as most numbered parallels. Time will tell if these hold their value, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

2019 Topps Series Two

Here we go again! It's the middle of June and that means Topps Series Two comes out. I have mostly positive things to say about Topps splitting their flagship into series again. It's not the way I grew up, but it helps give a nice boost in the middle of the season. Just when you're feeling fed up at finding those last few cards in packs (unless you purchase or trade singles), BAM... new cards, same design.

Here's the thing... I'm not sick of the design... yet. It's usually between the release of series two and the All-Star break that I'm finally fed up with seeing the design. It's hasn't happened... yet. It most certainly will. It always does. Not even winning a hobby box has lessened my appeal for the design.

Perhaps, it's because I'm not investing my usual amount of time into the hobby because of family and work obligations. It could be that I'm still in the middle of organizing my collection, so my attention is focused on many different sets. Maybe it's a solid design that doesn't overstay its welcome.

The White Sox have ten cards in the set.

377 - Yoan Moncada
403 - Ivan Nova
409 - Nate Jones
527 - Guaranteed Rate Field
577 - Nicky Delmonico
599 - Daniel Palka
613 - Welington Castillo
636 - Jace Fry
664 - Lucas Giolito
670 - Eloy Jimenez

There are no known variations for the White Sox. It's kind of a relief. I'm still trying to collect series one variations. There is a nice Carlton Fisk variation, but he's with the Red Sox.

Excitement bookends the checklist here. Yoan Moncada starts off the series two White Sox cards, while Lucas Giolito and Eloy Jimenez close it out. In between is filled with solid, but not electric players. One way or another, there have been hiccups in their careers. Nate Jones keeps getting injured. Nicky Delmonico and Daniel Palka both got off to great starts and then didn't adjust quickly enough when the league adjusted to them. Ivan Nova needs more consistency, but he accomplishes the role he's asked to do most times. Jace Fry is still young. And a baseball park rounds out the middle of the pack.

This should be a quick and easy base set to collect. Sometimes it's good to have an easy set.

2019 Panini Prizm

You pretty much know by now what you're getting with Panini Prizm. You're getting another chromium product with shiny colored parallels. It's nothing spectacular anymore. It chips easily, but still, there's something alluring about chromium sets. Even if the design remind you a little of some Topps Finest designs. I guess there's only so many combinations of design before things start to look similar. I mean, eventually. Right? Maybe.

For those who like the chromium products, this will offer few surprises. The most eye catching aspect of this release is the over twenty parallels available. Isn't this one of the factors of how Donruss lost their license? I think it was. This is definitely a situation where team logos would help make this set a little more appealing.

The three hundred card set has few White Sox players in it. Half of the White Sox cards are in tier one.

The White Sox have six cards in the set.

46 - Michael Kopech
56 - Yoan Moncada
90 - Jose Abreu
155 - Carlos Rodon
166 - Tim Anderson
299 - Frank Thomas

This is not a bad set, but there is nothing other than the mind-blowing amount of parallels that set it apart. When you have to rely on parallels to make your product stand out, it's not a great product. It's an average one, which reeks of blandness. Sure, it's cool and shiny, but that does not equate awesomeness.

2018 Panini Chronicles

I appreciate card companies experimenting with different ideas. A little tweak on an old idea can become exciting or it can become a painful little chore that sucks the joy out of collecting. It's a very fine line.

I wasn't paying much attention to a lot of releases last year. Money was tight and my focus was on other areas of my life. I first saw this release, as I was browsing through a Wal-Mart in the trading card section. I immediately wrote the set off as the stupidest set in awhile. Then I didn't think much about it after.

I have recently been trying to complete a lot of pesky and large (and mostly unnecessary) 2008 sets. I've been trying to do that as cheaply as possible and get the most bang for the buck. A lot of time has been spent on eBay and Sportlots recently, when I've not had access to my PC and collection to continue the organizing process. I came across a teal parallel version of the Nicky Delmonico card for under a dollar with free shipping, so I put in my low opening bid and ended up winning it as the only bidder. It took a long time, but it finally arrived this week from Canada.

I have to say, my initial reaction to this set was way off. It is not a perfect set by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, a pretty good set. At only sixty cards and five parallels and four printing plates, it's not that daunting of a task to reasonably complete a base set.

There is a catch. There are inserts galore! Too many to properly list here. There are insert sets that have a bigger checklist than the base cards. There are players that appear in the insert sets that don't appear in the base set. There's even a continuation of an earlier release (Donruss Optic) not related to anything else here. It's enough to give me a headache. Maybe it's a tumor. It's not a tumor! Not at all! It's just a headache.

The White Sox have two cards in the base set.

28 - Nicky Delmonico
39 - Jose Abreu

This is a nice set that highlights sixty "accomplishments". Nicky's accomplishment was walking twice and scoring a run without the benefit of a hit in a season opener. An accomplishment achieved by only two other White Sox players this century, Ray Durham in 2002 and Juan Uribe in 2006. So, yeah, it's a list of accomplishments that announcers trot out to fill time. It's interesting, but slightly off the mark and sometimes a stretch.

I really appreciate Panini trying. I do enjoy this set, but I feel this is more of a kitchen sink release. There's some Panini sets, some Donruss sets and even some Score sets (?!) thrown into the mix. It's a convoluted mess when viewed as a whole, but broken down into individual sets, it's a nice effort.

1952 Topps

I can't believe that I've been blogging for over eleven years and I have never reviewed the 1952 Topps set. Let's get this out of the way first. This is one of the handful of truly iconic sets. Even people that have never collected baseball cards in their life, know the design, mostly because of the Mickey Mantle rookie card, which isn't technically his rookie card, but is. None of that really matters now though.

The whole set has late 40s/early 50s MLB logos. It has a facsimile autograph underneath a typewritten name inside a star lines marquee, similar to Broadway. The photos are colorized versions of the players. The coloring has a luminous sheen, making the subjects look more like wax figures, but still lifelike. This does make for a few interesting pictures. Some shots look unusual like Lou Kretlow's pitching stance. Other players just look like ventriloquist puppets, like Al Zarilla and Eddie Robinson.

It's definitely a unique combination of elements that comes together in an iconic way. Between the stories and the Topps revisionist history of all things starting in 1952, this set has become legendary. It wasn't the first post-WWII major release, but it is perhaps the best remembered.

The White Sox have twenty-one cards in the set.

32 - Eddie Robinson
42 - Lou Kretlow
50 - Marv Rickert
62 - Chuck Stobbs
70 - Al Zarilla
95 - Ken Holcombe
98 - Bill Pierce
117 - Sherman Lollar
133 - Al Widmar
159 - Saul Rogovin
169 - Howie Judson
195 - Orestes Minoso
211 - Ray Coleman
251 - Chico Carrasquel
254 - Joe Dobson
279 - Ed Stewart
283 - Phil Masi
303 - Harry Dorish
304 - Sam Dente
305 - Paul Richards
308 - Luis Aloma

Besides the T206 cards, the 1952 Topps are probably the most well known cards, even to non-collectors. Depending on who you are collecting from the set, things can get very pricey, very quickly. It's not uncommon to pay over $20 for a common player in a low grade. The set is that popular and of course the lore of unsold cases plunging into the Atlantic only adds to the mystique and high pricing.

Tread carefully and have fun, but I do not envy the Yankees fans having to look for the Mantle card. The White Sox fare only slightly better with the Minnie Minoso card. The Minoso card can be found for a song compared to the Mantle card. It is a Herculean task, but not impossible.

2017 Triple Threads

When most people think about Topps Triple Threads, they think of all the relics and autographs. Those are nice, but there's a base set with parallels that usually gets tossed aside and forgotten. Well, the parallels usually get a little more love because of the scarcity, but this release is all about the hits in most collectors' eyes.

What a lot of people don't realize is that there is a beautiful one hundred card base set just hiding in plain sight. Sure, the design is a little gaudy, but that's exactly what gives the cards their personality. It's almost expected by the level of price point that the cards will be a bit deco, a bit gaudy and a little royal looking. There is little love for the base set here, but Topps takes care with the base anyway.

The one hundred cards run the gamut of stars (both currently ascended and retired) and a tiny smattering of hot rookies. While there are a few cards of players who have played for the White Sox, only one player is pictured and listed as being on the White Sox.

80 - Frank Thomas

A lot of the focus is on the relics and autographs, but if you look past that, there is a really nice base set here. Most of the base set can be picked up for a song on the secondary market. If you are into big hits, try buying the packs themselves. There are some nice guarantees and you might get really lucky with the hits.

If you are just looking for the base cards and parallels, a seven card pack that breaks the bank is a little hard to swallow. Stick to the secondary market where you can usually find most base cards for a couple dollars each. Most higher numbered parallels can be had for a few dollars more.

2018 Donruss Optic

Donruss Optic is one of my favorite releases each year. I don't get many packs, mainly because the pack prices are steep even for retail, but I do get a few packs each year.

It's almost like a baseball card on steroids, in a good way, not a shaming of our national pastime way. The chromium-stock makes all the difference. I shouldn't be swayed by this. Topps Chrome doesn't give me the same satisfaction, even though it's a very similar card type. Maybe it's just the fact that it's Donruss and not Topps or the fact that the word chrome doesn't factor into the name. I can't quite place my finger on it.

In fact the only reason this release isn't a top priority for me is the parallels. All seventeen parallels. I'm sick of so many parallels. It makes getting a complete set through packs almost impossible, even though the base set is only 175 cards.

Well, technically the base set is 186 cards. Panini pulls some Topps-level shenanigans. Card #176 is available as a variation. Cards 177 - 186 are only available as inserts in 2018 Panini Chronicles. It really reminds me of what Topps did with their 2008 Update and Highlights set featuring Topps Heritage High Numbers. I was not happy with that marketing decision by Topps, but I understood the reasoning behind it.

The White Sox have five cards in the set and no variations. There are still the seventeen additional parallels.

2 - Yoan Moncada DK
53 - Thyago Vieira RR
59 - Nicky Delmonico RR
80 - Jose Abreu
81 - Frank Thomas

For only five cards, the White Sox have a nice variety in there. A Diamond King, two Rated Rookies, a veteran and a retired Hall of Famer. Not too shabby. It makes up for the trip through parallel hell.

Donruss Optic is not a perfect release, but it has a lot going for it. A manageable sized set, a good mix of players and chromium technology. It's brought down by the seventeen parallels and being split over multiple releases to complete the base set. There's a lot that went right though and that's what counts. Now only if Panini can get fully licensed, this might be an unstoppable powerhouse.

1949 Leaf Premiums

We have here a vintage oddball card release. It didn't come out in the usual way, so there are not an abundance of copies floating around. It's larger than the typical card releases of that time, so there was less chance of kids getting their hands on them. They didn't feature current players, so most kids of that time wanted little to do with them.

These cards measure 5 5/8 inches by 7 1/4 inches. They are quite large even by today's standards. They came at the bottom of boxes of Leaf gum cards. Most kids didn't know about them considering these cards were underneath twenty-four packs of gum and cards at a nickel a pack. Kids probably were even less likely to read the advertisement on the back of their Leaf cards. One would have to turn in ten wrappers to get the premium cards. Some kids were probably tenacious about it, most kids probably couldn't be bothered.

These cards are sepia colored and feature a facsimile autograph and a short biography on the front. The backs are blank.

The checklist was only ten cards, but had eight different players.

The White Sox had one card in the premium set.

Ed Walsh

The other unnumbered players were, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Mickey Cochrane, Lou Gehrig, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, John McGraw and three different Babe Ruth variations. The cards are rare today, but they can be found if you're really looking to own them. The toughest to obtain are the Babe Ruth variations (especially a blue background without text) and the Lou Gehrig.

These definitely flew under the radar in 1949. It's really cool to to see such an odd set released at a time where baseball cards were just starting to gain traction again after World War II. I probably appreciate the players checklist now more than most kids back then did. I have an appreciation and admiration for the game in all eras. I have since I was a kid. Most kids are just looking for the current superstars of the game.

2019 Topps Opening Day

It's pretty standard fare that after the hullabaloo of Series One and Heritage, the lesser priced Opening Day sneaks by like a thief in the night. The no frills, kid friendly release is always a bit of a letdown. A solid release that is mostly a repeat of the flagship release, just pared down.

The exciting part of this set is the few players that aren't in series one, but will be in series two. This will theoretically whet the appetite for series two. While this tactic does accomplish that goal, it also has an unfortunate side effect. It sets in design fatigue. By the time series two rolls around in June, I'm sick of the design. I tend to not pick up as many packs. When the update series finally drops, I don't want to see that design anymore, so I pick up even less packs. It's a vicious cycle that happens every year without fail.

Still, there is a place for Opening Day in the cycle. I tend to look at it more as an unannounced parallel with some different inserts, at a kid friendly price point. That makes it a tad bit more exciting of a release, but I'm usually underwhelmed at the set. Not because it isn't a good set, but because it feels like a rehash. I would feel better if Topps used all the elements in Opening Day but used new pictures. It would feel fresher that way.

The White Sox have nine cards in the set. Seven base cards and two inserts.

37 - Jose Abreu
57 - Carlos Rodon
63 - Avisail Garcia
66 - Matt Davidson
89 - Yoan Moncada
99 - Daniel Palka
131 - Michael Kopech
TTC-SP - Scoreboard Pinwheels
YOF-16 - Frank Thomas

This could be a chance to update a few team changes for players, but Topps opts for carbon copying the existing card, slapping the Opening Day logo on it and calling it a day. Garcia and Davidson have been on different teams for awhile. If Topps can make last minute changes to Heritage to update player destinations, then it's possible for Opening Day to have more current information available. Even if they went the O-Pee-Chee route and added a line of text saying that the player was traded or signed with a new team and changed the team logo to reflect that new team, it would be something cool.

I would have more respect for Opening Day as a card line, if Topps treated it with more respect. I appreciate the little flairs like mascots and ballpark food. It makes the set worthwhile to get these little moments that bring you closer to the aspects of being there without the benefit of sweat stained "relics" or tablecloth pieces. I enjoy learning about features of different parks and rituals of different teams. I just appreciate more care into the final product.

2019 Donruss

If I was hard pressed to define what old Donruss designs inspired 2019 Donruss base set, I would begrudgingly say some mish-mash of 1991 and 1997. But that wouldn't be exactly true. This appears to be the first year of Panini's resurrection of Donruss, where the base design isn't a direct inspiration of something in the backlog of original designs.

That isn't to say that past Donruss designs don't appear in the set. They certainly do. But the bulk of the base cards shy away from past Donruss designs. They remind me more of Pinnacle inspired designs. I like the direction that Panini is taking Donruss. It could be more exciting, but it says a lot that Panini has looked into creating a new design that is not immediately influenced by the past.

The Diamond Kings and the retro cards both borrow from the 1985 Donruss design. 1985 Donruss is a nice looking set that gets lost in the minds of most collectors. The breakout of the 1984 design made the 1985 set less memorable. It's nice to see it being utilized here.

In the base set, the White Sox have seven cards, including a Diamond King, a Rated Rookie, a retro design and a variation.

9 - Yoan Moncada DK
46 - Michael Kopech RR
64 - Jose Abreu
113 - Yoan Moncada
142 - Carlos Rodon
213 - Daniel Palka 1985 Retro
213 - Daniel Palka 1985 Retro (variation)

Panini is starting to go into territory that originally got Donruss' license pulled. The parallel. There are fourteen parallels and four different colored printing plates. So there are up to eighteen additional ways to collect the majority of the base set.

Full set 300 card (complete set and variation cards) parallels include Independence Day, Career Stat Line, Season Stat Line, 150th Anniversary, Holo Back, Father's Day Ribbon, 42 Tribute, Mother's Day Ribbon, Artist Proof, Press Proof, Black Printing Plate, Black Printing Plate, Magenta Printing Plate, and Yellow Printing Plate.

220 (complete set minus Diamond Kings) card parallels include Orange Holo, Pink Holo, Purple Holo, and Red Holo.

That is infuriating to a completest, when there are so many more sets coming that scream for your time and money. I get parallels and I actually enjoy them, but some releases border on the ridiculous. This is one of those sets. Topps also had eighteen different parallels, including printing plates, on their Series One release, so maybe this is just becoming the norm. It's still ridiculous.

Topps, with all their licenses intact should know better. Panini, while trying to get fully licensed, should show why they need to be fully licensed. Infinite parallels will probably not help matters. Stick to the base set and maybe a parallel or two that you think is cool. There is so much else coming out this year that will be trying to pry your wallet open. Collect wisely.

1961 Golden Press

This set originally came inside a booklet and the cards are of the "punch out" variety. With Topps cornering most of the market with exclusive player contracts during this time, most sets featured Hall of Fame or retired players. This set features thirty-three cards of the greatest players from the first half of the twentieth century.

What separates this release from Topps and Fleer are the photograph choices and the colorization. Featuring "in action" poses, it brings to life many top tier players of the past in a way that was rarely depicted on cardboard before on a consistent basis.

The coloring is off just enough to give the cards an ethereal look to the past. It still gives vibrancy to these players. The little details still show up in the cards. In Eddie Collins' card, the historic arched windows of Comiskey Park are clearly there in the background. They cannot be mistaken for another park, which gives the card more poignancy since old Comiskey was demolished after the 1990 season.

Even though most places list Eddie Collins as being on the Athletics, that is clearly a White Sox uniform on him and he's on the field at Comiskey Park in Chicago. So he is the only White Sox card in this set. There are other subjects who played for the White Sox, but no one else is pictured in a White Sox uniform.

28 - Eddie Collins

This is a unique set for the time. It could almost be a precursor to the SP Legendary Cuts sets that Upper Deck put out in the 2000s. The design has a very similar feel. Although the card itself feels nothing like those sets due to the perforations that held the cards in the booklet.

This is a great short set consisting of thirty-three cards that can be picked up fairly inexpensively. Don't expect to find these in pristine condition because of how they were sold originally.