I got a couple fat packs of ’09 Topps Chrome at Walmart, cuz that’s what was available. Seven cards and I guess two inserts or refractors per pack.
Pack 1
175 Bobby Parnell Mets RC- I am so sick of pulling Niese & Parnell rookies this year… I guess Max Scherzer found his anti-collection successors.
68 Jay Bruce- Jay Bruce got a Rookie Cup? Really? I didn’t think last year’s class was that weak.
129 Jeremy Bonderman Blue Refractor #ed /199- Blue refractors are nice, and less… odd, than bronze. For a flagship at least.
164 Ryan Zimmerman X-Fractor- Who needs an arbitrarily limited regular refractor of random color when you can have this? The X-Fractors this year are officially SICK~!! Gone is the s***ty over-the-top “static bling” of recent years, replaced by this much more subtle look… THAT MOVES~!! This is the closest thing I’ve seen to an Atomic Refractor in years. More of this plz.
90 Johan Santana
168 JD Drew
185 Everth Cabrera Padres RC
Checklist 3 of 3
Pack 2
97 Dustin Pedroia
147 Garrett Anderson
W8 Kenji Johjima World Baseball Classic- Have I mentioned how awesome I think the World Baseball Classic is? I loooooooove it. Keeper!
21 Brad Hawpe Refractor
19 Rich Harden- Keeper.
110 Jonathan Papelbon
121Francisco Rodriguez
Even if 2009 Topps Chrome’s design was total arse, it’d still be somewhat worthwhile entirely on the strength of it’s easily obtainable X-Fractors. Fortunately, it looks good and has good photography from what I’ve seen too, so it’s a big winner all-around. This probably won’t be the last of this I pick up, it’s right up there with Upper Deck X.
Also, to make up for lack of Chrome pictures (not that a scan could ever hope to convey the epicness of this years almost Atomic Refractor-quality X-Fractors), here’s a couple quickie sketches I did with a sharpie while sitting around downtown earlier this month:
Not too bad for 40-50 minutes combined when I’ve never done straight ink before I guess.
Until Our Next…
Life and Baseball Cards 