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(More customer reviews)When you first realize that Series 1 of the 2006 Topps Baseball Card set has 329 cards in it, numbered 1-330, you probably think you know which card is not included. That is because in the wake of Mickey Mantle's death several years ago Topps decided to honor the Mick by retiring card #7. Today we say that the modern era of baseball cards begins with the 1952 Topps set, for which Mantle's card is the biggie, not just because it is his Topps rookie card but also because it was a high number, which jumps the value up as well. However, there is a card #7 in the 2006 Topps set, and it is of Mickey Mantle. What is kind of cool about the card is that it is just like all of the other cards in the set and there is nothing that distinguishes the fact the Mick is no longer active except for his career stats ending in 1968 (he stole six bases in his final season on those ruined legs).
The card that is missing is #297, Alex Gordon, who turned out not to meet the new gold standard for having a rookie card. There are some cut out versions of the card floating around out there is you want to have a really complete Series 1 collection (as opposed to have four incomplete collections for about the same price). An intact version sold for $7,000 because clearly it is the rarest card around this year. Topps had to do the cut outs because under Major League Baseball Players Association rules the former University of Nebraska star, who was the second pick in last year's draft, did not sign a contract until September. After years of having baseball cards of players who never spend a day in the Major Leagues, the MLPA changed the rules so that rookie cards can now only be put out for players who make the 25-man opening-day roster or played in at least one major league game the year before. Topps anticipated Gordon would make the Royals' 25-man roster, but the third baseman was assigned to Wichita instead.
That solves the mystery of the missing card for Series 1. Personally, I think this rule change is great, because I now have complete Topps sets for 1956-57, 1961, 1964-66, and 1968 to date (with less than a dozen cards each to go to finish my 1953, 1958, and 1967 sets), and I lay out my sets so that you see how the teams finished each year. So I like to see who was playing with each team each year. Granted, that is difficult today because this set already has Johnny Damon with the Yankees (#185), but Coco Crisp (#12) is still an Indian and not Damon's replacement with the Red Sox. Tom Gordon (#163) appears as a Phillie in the photo and on the back, but his card still says Yankee and Matt Morris (#238) is seen as a Cardinal on the front of his card with the Giants. The main thing is that when you get to the rookies in Series 1 (cards 296-325) you will actually find players who are in the major leagues right now, including the prohibitive favorite for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, Francisco Liriano (#309) of the Twins. This beats going back a couple of years and looking at all of the rookie cards and finding only a handful have made it to the show this many years down the road.
The Topps set remains THE set for me each year because it is the one with history behind it, so if you feel the same way it is a must have for your collection. The base cards in the set run from #1 (Alex Rodriguez) to #242 (Felix Hernandez), with big names Manny Ramirez (#50), Barry Bonds (#100), Pedro Martinez (#150), Roger Clemens (#151), Ivan Rodriguez (#175), Albert Puljos (#200), and Ichiro (#225) in between. Cards #243-59 are the American and National League Gold Glove Award winners, a set that is missing the A.L. Catcher, who was not I-Rod but Jason Veritek, who does not have a Topps card again this year. We then have the award winners in the two leagues for the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player, and Rookie of the Year awards (#260-65), followed by the Team Cards/Managers (#266-95). What they are doing here is interesting, because they have the teams arranged alphabetically from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Washington Nationals, and what you have hear is the manager card or the team card for each, but never both (e.g., you get Mets manager Willie Randolph and the New York Yankees team card). In Series 2, you will find the appropriate counterparts. As mentioned above you have the Rookies (#296-325), and then Team Stars (#326-30), which pairs up stars from the Yankees, Orioles, Braves, Red Sox, and Cubs.
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