by Chris Harris
It was the cult baseball card hit of 2011. A product without needless parallels, worthless game used cards, dumb gimmicks, or an outrageous price tag. It was a true “retro” set, if not in design or structure, but in concept; a product that seems like it was ripped from a time machine set to 1985. Yes, it was intended for kids, but wound up being sold to an older generation of cynical Hobby burn-outs who just wanted something the trading card industry had abandoned long ago: A set that’s simple to collect and fun.
Only it wasn’t a baseball card set. The first baseball sticker set in fifteen years was a hit with the collecting underground so it was only natural that Topps would issue another for next year; and so the 2012 Topps Baseball Sticker Collection will be released in late March.
The 2012 Topps Baseball Sticker Collection will once again consist of 294 stickers. New for 2012 are the mascots of the 25 Major League teams that have one. Unfortunately, since each team will still only have nine stickers, the Mascot will replace a regular player, making the set overall less comprehensive. There will also be another 15 Team Logo stickers (with 2 logos per sticker) and a set of nine Season Highlights stickers. And yes, there will be a custom album in which to affix all the stickers.
For many collectors, a small set with plenty of player omissions will be trivial. The fact that Topps will once again be producing a simple, cheap, and (dare I say it) fun set should be enough.
The 2012 Topps Baseball Sticker Collection is scheduled for release the week of March 21. Each eight-sticker pack will retail for $0.99 per pack. In addition, a 32-page album with a sheet of six stickers will also be available for $1.99. Check out the slide show below.
Chris Harris blogs about the hobby at StaleGum.com
