Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Bowman Platinum

2011 Bowman Platinum
It seems like 2010 Bowman Platinum just came out a little while back, probably because it did just come out back in December. Topps changed up their timing on this issue a little bit, and it is probably for the better in my opinion (I had actually complained about the timing of last year's Platinum set, so it seems only fair to give Topps some props for making a change). As far as content goes from this issue, I think Topps did a terrific job from a design standpoint and the Cubs player selection is exactly what I like to see as well.

Both of the main set issues (the 'established players' and the 'prospects') feature nice designs. And the X-Fractor parallels from the prospects set are especially good looking in my opinion. As far as the insert sets go, I like pretty much all of these as well. I especially like the triple auto cards, the design on these really works for me. As far as the players go, we get our first Chrome cards of Trey McNutt on the prospects side. Plus we get a card of a true 'whozit' in Max Ramirez in the Relic Auto set. Ramirez joined the Iowa Cubs this offseason and played in a total of 11 games for Iowa before he was released and moved on elsewhere. This is the type of cards that I love to look back on in 10 years and try to figure out who he was.

A breakdown of the Cubs in the set is below!

Base Set – 4 Versions – Base, Gold (1:5 packs), Emerald (1:10 packs), Ruby (1:20 packs)
#74 Starlin Castro
#81 Carlos Pena


Prospects Base Set – 9 Versions – Refractors (Base), Xfractors, Purple Refractors, Green Refractors (#/599), Blue Refractors (#/199), Gold Refractors (#/50), Red Refractors (#/25), Superfractors (1/1), Canary Diamond (1/1), plus 4 colors of printing plates
#BPP-61 Hayden Simpson
#BPP-92 Trey McNutt


Single Autos – 6 Versions – Refractors (Base), Green Refractors (#/399), Blue Refractors (#/99), Gold Refractors (#/50), Red Refractors (#/10), Superfractors (1/1), plus four colors of autographed printing plates
#HS Hayden Simpson


Single Relic Autos – 6 Versions – Refractors (Base with varied numbering), Green Refractors (#/199), Blue Refractors (#/99), Gold Refractors (#/25), Red Refractors (#/10), Superfractors (1/1)
#MR Max Ramirez (Base #/1166)
#SC Starlin Castro (Base #/666)


Dual Autos – 3 Versions – Refractors (Base #/89), Red Refractors (#/10), Superfractors (1/1)
No Cubs Included

Dual Relic Autos – 3 Versions – Refractors (Base #/89), Red Refractors (#/10), Superfractors (1/1)
#CB Starlin Castro & Marlon Byrd


Triple Autos – 3 Versions – Refractors (Base #/89), Red Refractors (#/10), Superfractors (1/1)
#SPG Geovany Soto, Carlos Pena, and Matt Garza


Hexagraph 6 Player Autos (#/10) – No Cubs Included
Hexagraph 6 Players Autos w/Patches (#/10) – No Cubs Included
USA Baseball Autograph Redemptions – No Cubs Included

Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter
The modern version of Allen & Ginter turns 6 years old this year, and I think you would have to say it is one of the bigger success stories of the collecting world in the 21st century. This product has really carved out a niche and is extremely popular. With that said however, the reason that the product is so popular, basically the focus on all of the offbeat non-sports related stuff, means that the product is typically fairly dull from a Cubs standpoint. And this year continues that tradition.

The base set is a good size, so you typically get a good sized team set (with the accompanying parallels), but that is usually about it. This year the base set features 11 Cubs, plus one extra Starlin Castro that only appears in the extended portion of the mini set. There's really no one notable aside from the regulars we have seen in other recent sets though. We do have a relative plethora of Cubs in the mini relics insert set, plus a couple of mini autos (including Starlin Castro!). But this remains a set that I grab the base cards from relatively quickly, and with little excitement, and then move on to other stuff. The breakdown from a Cubs standpoint is below.

Base Set – 10 Versions – Base, Code Cards, Glossy Factory Set (#/999), Mini, Mini A&G Back, Mini Black, Mini No Number (Stated Print Run 50), Mini Bazooka Back (#/25), Mini Silk (Partial Parallel Set #/10), Mini Wood (1/1), plus 4 colors of mini printing plates
#62 Alfonso Soriano - has silk parallel
#66 Starlin Castro - has silk parallel
#122 Ryan Dempster
#138 Matt Garza - has silk parallel
#143 Carlos Zambrano - has silk parallel
#156 Marlon Byrd
#166 Geovany Soto
#168 Carlos Marmol - has silk parallel
#207 Kosuke Fukudome
#212 Aramis Ramirez - has silk parallel
#261 Carlos Pena - has silk parallel


Extended Minis – Base Mini Only
#356 Starlin Castro


Glossy Factory Set Exclusive 10 Card Set - No Cubs Included

Baseball Highlights Cabinet Cards (Box Loaders) – Some 1/1 Jumbo Relics in the set
#5 Ryan Dempster w/Albert Pujols & Tony LaRussa


N43 Cabinet Cards (Box Loaders) – 4 Versions – Base, Relics, Autos, Relics Autos
No Cubs Included

State Map Relics (Box Loaders) – No Cubs Included

Baseball Highlights Sketches
#3 Starlin Castro


Hometown Heroes – No Cubs Included

Mini Relics
#AS Alfonso Soriano Bat & Jersey
#BD Blake DeWitt Jersey
#KF Kosuke Fukudome Jersey
#RD Ryan Dempster Jersey
#SC Starlin Castro Bat & Jersey
#TC Tyler Colvin Jersey
#ARM Aramis Ramirez Jersey
#GSO Geovany Soto Jersey
#JSA Jeff Samardzija Jersey
#MBY Marlon Byrd Bat


Mini Autos – 2 Versions – Base (Blue Ink), and Red Ink (#/10)
#RW Randy Wells
#SC Starlin Castro


Rip Cards (Varied Numbering)
#89 Matt Garza (#/99)
#95 Starlin Castro (#/99)


Dual Prime Relic Book Cards (All 1/1) – No Cubs Included
Cut Autos (All Presidents, All 1/1) – No Cubs Included
DNA Relics (All 1/1) – No Cubs Included
Employee Autos – No Cubs Included

Full Size Ascent of Man – No Cubs Included
Full Size Floating Fortresses – No Cubs Included
Full Size Minds That Made the Future – No Cubs Included
Mini Animals in Peril – No Cubs Included
Mini Fabulous Face Flocculence – No Cubs Included
Mini Flora of the World – No Cubs Included
Mini Fortunes for the Taking – No Cubs Included
Mini Portraits of Penultimacy – No Cubs Included
Mini Step Right Up – Some Relic Parallels – No Cubs Included
Mini Uninvited Guests – No Cubs Included
Mini World’s Most Mysterious Figures – No Cubs Included
Mini Terrorabilia Relics (#/10) – No Cubs Included

Cubs Breakdown - 2011 eTopps

2011 eTopps
eTopps is back again this year with their unique go to market approach of online sales and holding of cards at a remote location. I personally like the eTopps cards because of their typically solid design and the cards themselves are of a pretty high quality. I usually buy any Cubs offerings when they come out and the I do take delivery of them at the end of the year each year.

This year's offerings look a lot like last year's offerings. A base set, a minor league set, and a T-206 Tribute set. The T-206 cards have been particularly solid the last couple of years, hopefully there will be a Cub in that set by the end of the year.

eTopps Base Set
#15 Darwin Barney (Print Run 699)


eTopps Minor League - No Cubs Included
eTopps T-206 Tribute - No Cubs Included

Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions

2011 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions
This is Upper Deck's second multi-sport issue of the year that contains some baseball content. This one is a much better effort overall than their World of Sport issue from February in my opinion, featuring cards which are attractive for the most part and an excellent selection of non-traditional sports figures. The one negative in my view, and this is a big pet peeve of mine, is that the parallel structure for the base set is goofy. Some of the cards don't have the mini parallels, while certain other cards are only available in minis and don't have full sized versions. I don't mind a partial parallel set, just have it make some sense (like only rookies) and definitely make everything available in at least one type of card.

Ryne Sandberg and Cap Anson represent the Cubs, and obviously the cards don't feature them in uniform since Upper Deck doesn't have an MLB license. Greg Maddux is also in the set, but given there is no clear affiliation on the cards and he spent the bulk of his career with the Braves, I don't classify these as Cubs cards. There is also an Albert Spalding card in the set that I am listing below as a Cub. Spalding's cards are among the toughest to classify for me since he had so many different accomplishments in his life. But his time as president of the Cubs obviously was a big one, so I typically include most of his modern cards as Cubs cards.

Base Set - 10 Versions - Base, SP Variations, Mini, Mini Black, Mini Foil, Mini Black Foil (#/9), Mini Gold Presidential Foil (1/1), Memorabilia, Dual Memorabilia, Autos, 4 colors of Mini Printing Plates
#46 Ryne Sandberg (Has an auto parallel, no memorabilia parallels, has an SP variation with lightning in the background)
#119 Cap Anson (no Auto or memorabilia parallels, no SP variation)
#209 Albert Spalding (no parallels, no SP variation)


Mini Base Set Extension - 5 Versions - Base Mini, Mini Black, Mini Foil, Mini Black Foil (#/9), Mini Gold Presidential Foil (1/1), 4 colors of Mini Printing Plates
No Cubs Included in the Mini Set Extension

Animal Kingdom Patches - No Cubs Included
Entomology - No Cubs Included
Figures of Sport - No Cubs Included
Goodwin Citizens - No Cubs Included
Museum Collection Relics - No Cubs Included
Presidential Masterpieces - No Cubs Included
Sport Royalty Autographs - No Cubs Included
Thoroughbred Hair Cuts - No Cubs Included
World Traveler - No Cubs Included