Topps Marquee 2011 Baseball: 1 Pack Break

This is a fun product to break for it guarantees you a hit and offered at a reasonable price, despite it only taking a minute to open because there are only 5 cards including the lone hit. I haven't been collecting too much baseball over the past few years even though I do watch it and root for a few teams quite heavily. Recently I decided to pick up some baseball cards and I decided on Topps Marquee 2011.

Here's what I got:

Base: In all there were three base cards, each featuring a HOF player of great vintage. The players were Honus Wagner, Johnny Mize, and Whitey Ford, each a memorable name from baseball's illustrious past. It was very interesting popping these cards out as it would be more expected to see a player from the 60's to 90's be highlighted as is the case in hockey, but then again hockey does not share baseball's depth of time. As for the card's design, it is quite appealing with an image of the player that includes the background and an interesting story along with the player's career stats presented on the back. My only criticism is that the name 'Topps Marquee' should have been written over top a dark background as the silver etched lettering is not too visible on cards with light coloured photos.

Base Parallel (Copper): One base parallel was pulled from the pack, which features Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies. I'm not a fan of the Rockies, but the card still looks pretty nice. The design is exactly the same as the regular base except for the front foil is copper coloured and it is serial numbered out of 199.

Hit: The single hit from the pack was an autographed rookie card of Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners. I quite like the Mariners, so this was a decent card to pull even if it wasn't a case break card. The autograph is nice and large, written over a completely white background with a silhouette image of the player above; which is why I scanned this card with a dark piece of paper behind it. The card is also hard-signed which is very refreshing from the all too common sticker autos that Upper-Deck relies upon. The card is also serial numbered out of 570, which seems like a random number but I won't complain as it is all too often that signed cards are not numbered at all, much like what's found in Upper-Deck's Ultimate product.

Overall this is a really sharp product that delivers a nice hit for an affordable price. The base parallel are nothing special, but nonetheless adds a small measure of depth and excitement. The base themselves are clean in design with the players brought to the forefront; plus the choice of HOF players adds a further measure of interest.