2011 Topps Marquee

It was another rough year for the Mets, with Ike Davis being the only addition the core group of Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and sometimes Santana in the lineup for game-used insert sets in the first half of the year (Bay was in there too, but I’m trying to forget that he exists).  2011 Topps Marquee added Angel Pagan and Fernando Martinez to the mix with the former’s first-ever game-used cards and the latter’s first MLB game-used material, both with cards featuring sticker autographs (as well as on-card autographs in a separate insert set).  There were several other notable cards, including the first pieces from the 2010 pinstripe uniforms (Beltran), large multi-color jerseys from Nolan Ryan (sadly, not Mets jerseys, though he is shown as a Met on the card) and Eddie Murray (Orioles), Mets logo patches from Johan Santana (though he is shown in a Twins uniform for some reason), and more mundane material from Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Tom Seaver (Roberto Alomar and Rickey Henderson were in there too, but I have nothing interesting to say about them).  Finish it off with a variety of autograph, jersey, and Padres patch cards featuring ex-Met Heath Bell, and you have a set with plenty to offer any Mets collector.

To be honest, I never thought we would get a product like this in the current baseball card environment.  It took ten years after the end of the original Topps monopoly to start seeing innovation in the industry and another ten to usher in the modern era of game-used memorabilia.  When things peaked in 2005, it was Donruss and Upper Deck leading the way on the game-used front, though most of that involved retired players.  With the loss of Donruss and limits placed on retired player cards starting in 2006 and then the subsequent loss of Upper Deck, the odds were decidedly against ever seeing another set with a diverse group of game-used insert sets.

2011 Topps Marquee defied all expectations with a set featuring a wide assortment of game-used and autographs from both current and retired players; it was like Donruss Prime Patches and SP Legendary Cuts had a baby that was adopted by Topps and raised as its own.  Like many 2005 Playoff/Donruss sets, cards featured different numbers and types of game-used materials, with some also including autographs.  While the number of parallel versions was kept to a reasonable number (no more than three, unusual for a Topps product), the type(s) of material followed the Topps model and varied from card to card, with bats, jerseys, and patches used (mostly) interchangeably regardless of insert set or parallel level.

Contents

All current Mets listed below are current as of the 2011 season; transactions during and after the season are not considered due to it being too depressing (Is there anyone left?).  All autographed David Wright cards are numbered to 10 or less, so good luck getting any of them.  Former Mets Gary Carter and George Foster are listed on checklists but I haven’t seen any evidence that any of their cards exist; they are listed as questionable below.

Monumental Markings Autographs

Silver: Numbering Varies
Gold: Numbered to 5
Current Mets: Ike Davis, Fernando Martinez, Angel Pagan, David Wright
Former Mets: George Foster?, Heath Bell

On-card autographs looked like an endangered species in 2006, but Topps recommitted to them through various sets like Bowman Chrome and Topps Heritage.  While all of the autographs on game-used cards in this product are of the sticker variety (with multiple different styles of stickers at that), the Monumental Markings autographs are all signed directly on very thick card stock.

Monumental Markings Dual Autographs
Numbered to 15
Current Mets: David Wright/Ike Davis

If there’s an autograph set, there’s a good chance that there’s a dual autograph set.  The Wright/Davis card is the only notable one here.

Museum Collection Autographs

Numbered to 10
Current Mets: Ike Davis, Jon Niese, Angel Pagan
Former Mets: Roberto Alomar, George Foster?, Eddie Murray, Tom Seaver

As one-per-case chase cards (and many of them exchange cards at that), these were some of the toughest pulls in Marquee.  These are metal-framed cards signed in silver ink on a metallic gold background and are highly sought after (for good reason).  Scans do not do these cards justice.  Jon Niese appears here and in no other insert set.

Titanic Threads Jumbo Relics

Silver: Numbered to 99
Red: Numbered to 50
Gold: Numbered to 10
Current Mets: Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, David Wright
Former Mets: Roberto Alomar, Heath Bell, Rickey Henderson, Eddie Murray, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver

Jumbo relics have been hard to come by lately, with most of them released in very limited quantities (or large quantities of cards all numbered 1/1).  The Titanic Threads insert sets pack the largest possible pieces of jersey or bat into a card, with some pinstriped pieces including three full stripes.  With 159 total for each player, these were fairly easy to obtain at reasonable prices.  Notable pieces here include Carlos Beltran’s 2010 pinstripe jersey and David Wright with a different color jersey at each level (white at silver, gray at red, and black at gold).

Titanic Threads Jumbo Autographed Relics

Numbered to 10
Current Mets: Ike Davis, Fernando Martinez, Angel Pagan, David Wright
Former Mets: Roberto Alomar, Heath Bell, Gary Carter?, George Foster?, Eddie Murray, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver

The autographed version of the Titanic Threads insert set featured a different mix of players from the basic version, with only David Wright carrying over for the Mets.  Fernando Martinez’s card features a piece of bat instead of jersey (he has no MLB-used jersey cards currently available).  With a print run of only ten, the Davis and Wright cards can be tough to get.  Pagan and Martinez on the other hand go pretty cheap, if you can find them.

Titanic Threads Jumbo Patches
Numbered to 5
Former Mets: Roberto Alomar, Gary Carter?

There’s not much going on in the patch version of Titanic Threads.

Acclaimed Impressions Dual Autographed Relics

Silver: Numbering Varies
Gold: Numbered to 5
Patch: Numbered to 1
Current Mets: Ike Davis, Fernando Martinez, Angel Pagan, David Wright
Former Mets: Heath Bell, Gary Carter?, Rickey Henderson

Notice a pattern here?  It seems that Topps can only get autographs of four Mets players in quantity, so that’s what we get here.  The mix of material here varies from player to player, from two pieces of bat for Martinez to a bat and a jersey for Pagan to a patch and a jersey for Davis; this is Ike Davis’s first Mets patch card.  The silver Wright and all gold versions are nearly impossible to find.

Acclaimed Impressions Triple Autographed Relics

Silver: Numbering Varies
Gold: Numbered to 5
Patch: Numbered to 1
Former Mets: Heath Bell, Tom Seaver

Not much here…

Gametime Mementos Quad Relics

Silver: Numbered to 199
Red: Numbered to 125 (May not be available for all cards)
Gold: Numbered to 25
Current Mets: Carlos Beltran, Angel Pagan, Johan Santana
Former Mets: Heath Bell, Gary Carter?, Rickey Henderson

This is the insert set with the most variety from card to card, including a mix of bats, jerseys (some with piping), and patches for many players with no clear pattern between the three parallel versions.  And for some reason Johan Santana is shown in a Twins uniform.  Of the three Mets, only Beltran has a red parallel version that I’ve been able to find.  Also worth noting is Heath Bell’s first Padres patch in the gold version (as well as the Acclaimed Impressions insert sets in this product).

Gametime Mementos Quad Patch Relics
Numbered to 5
Former Mets: Roberto Alomar, Rickey Henderson

I’m not even sure how these differ from the regular versions.

Gametime Mementos Quad Patch Legends Relics
Silver: Numbered to 25
Gold: Numbered to 5
No current or former Mets

Same with these.

Gametime Mementos Quad Relic Autographs
Numbered to 10
No current or former Mets

These add an autographed section in a book-style card, but there’s nobody we care about in the set.

Runner-Up: 2011 Topps Heritage

With the 11th set in the Topps Heritage line, Topps pays tribute to its wood-grained 1962 set.  Aside from being one of the better-looking sets in the ’60s (and the inspiration for the 1987 set design), this set marks the first time that the word “Mets” appeared on a baseball card.  The celebration of the team’s creation was a running theme in several of the insert sets, most notably the Real One Autographs, which featured the first-ever autograph cards of Ed Bouchee, Neil Chrisley, John DeMerit, and Frank Thomas (three of whom actually played for the 1962 Mets).  Frank Thomas (no, not that one), the biggest star of the 1962 team, filled the role of the obligatory 1962 Met in the various insert sets, while David Wright represented the current team.

Ed Kranepool, Sid Fernandez, and Darryl Strawberry also put in an appearance in the ’62 Mint insert set, which featured real 1962 coins that had nothing to do with the depicted players.  It’s not game-used dirt, but it’s, um, different.  Yeah.

For the rest of the set, you basically needed a spreadsheet to keep track of all of the different card variations in this set.  Mine has 156 total Mets cards, including original 1962 cards, 1/1 blank back cards (sold directly by Topps on eBay), and different material variants in the Clubhouse Collection insert set.  Printing plates?  Really?  I give up.

The field thins out rapidly from there.  Aside from what was mentioned in my year in review, the only other notable product with Mets game-used cards is Topps Lineage.  Lineage pays tribute to the 1975 mini set (one of the more interesting Topps experiments in the ’70s) with a mini ’75 relic insert set featuring jerseys from five Mets (with bat variants for Davis and Reyes).  Lineage also included a box topper jersey card of David Wright (tiny jersey on a big card) and large jersey and patch cards of Johan Santana (big jersey/patch on a regular-sized card).

If this is what we got in 2011, I’m worried about 2012.  With Reyes, Beltran, and Pagan elsewhere and no newcomers with much of a hobby presence, what is there to make cards of?  Hey Topps, how about some hobby love for R.A. Dickey?  They guy’s climbing a mountain for charity, the least you can do is give him some jersey cards.