2012 Topps Opening Day Baseball Cards

Product Review

2012 Topps Opening Day Product Review

Reviewed by Jon Brock

Good: Very affordable product for collectors of all ages. Insert sets boast cool designs. Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes and other free agents are pictured in their new uniforms. Mascot cards and 3D Opening Day Stars inserts are lots of fun.

Bad: At about $1 per pack, you know what you are getting with 2012 Topps Opening Day. Autographs are very hard to pull. Cards have a similar design to base 2012 Topps Baseball.

The Bottom Line: This is a special set of cards. It's an old school box, not in design but in purpose. 2012 Topps Opening Day exists for set builders and basic insert collectors. It is meant for parents to collect with their children and help teach them about the wonderful game of baseball. Boxes will set you back about $30, which won't burn a hole in your wallet. It's tough to complain about the value of the product given the reasonable price.

Card Design: 4.5/5.0

The player's name, team logo, and Topps Opening Day logo are on the front of each base card. The back of the card is old-school, featuring a full stat line and, if space permits, an interesting fact or two about the player. There are Blue Border parallels that have a small silver stamp noting April 5, 2012 and numbering to 2012.

Insert sets mix fun designs and lots of information. In particular, Fantasy Squad cards have nice action shots on the front and fantasy stats on the back. The idea is to collect the set, and then mix and match to create the ultimate fantasy baseball team. My favorite insert set in 2012 Topps Opening Day is the 25-card Elite Skills set. Every card features a superstar player as well as a skill needed to become an elite player. I love that this set is trying to give a little bit of skill information to the kids who are buying these cards. The players in the 3D Opening Day Stars inserts really pop.

Checklist: 4.0/5.0

The 220-card base set has the best in Major League Baseball. Major offseason signings like Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, C.J. Wilson, and Aramis Ramirez are in their new uniforms. Several attainable insert sets featuring big-time superstars balance out the strong checklist.

Value: 4.0/5.0

With boxes available for under $30, any parent who wants to introduce their children to the hobby should look no further than 2012 Topps Opening Day. You can't find new sports cards for less than a dollar per pack very often anymore. While you're not likely to pull a full base set from a single box, you should come close. Going after the last few cards can be even more fun. It's nice to see a set that isn't focused on autographs and game-used cards. 2012 Topps Opening Day gets back to the roots of card collecting. Someone looking for a monetary return on their investment will want to look elsewhere. But the fun had sorting through these cards more than makes up for it.

The Fun Factor: 4.5/5.0

While the fun of collecting a set is really the centerpiece of Opening Day, the inserts offer some little gems at a rate of at least one per pack. Counting parallels, you will get almost 50 inserts out of the 36 packs. And one final suggestion: if you do plan on collecting this set with your kids, I highly recommend NOT breaking a box all at once. While the box is a fantastic value, you know you'll get most of a set. Consider pack busting in small bursts. It makes the surprise of what's inside each pack that much cooler and you'll have hours of fun putting the set together. Even better, buy a box and tuck it away. Pull out a pack or two every few days to reward your child for a job well done. That way you can really draw out the joy of collecting.