[rjcj2017]

For some reason the sharks were in the holiday spirit and left behind 3 fat packs of 2020 Topps Update at Target last night.

(Would have been great to maybe get some Contenders or Prizm Draft Basketball in time for next week's NBA Draft, but, you know, dooshes gotta doosh)

Anyway, I noticed something very odd about the Update cards ... the backs on some of the cards are oriented the opposite direction of other cards, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to which ones.

Meaning, if you're looking at the front of the card and flip the top right corner down toward you, the backs are "right side up" on some of them (like almost all cards nowadays) and "upside down" on others.

At first I thought it was maybe certain subsets, cards with horizontal fronts, etc. ... nope. And they're not variations, either, as all the codes on the bottom of the backs are the same.

Weird. Good luck, set builders!

Anyway, as for the break itself, I was just happy to find something new to open.

Not bad for three fat packs.

First, some solid inserts. I pulled the Captain, the Kid and a nice Rendon for my Angels PC:


 


The main highlights were Bart (big deal out here), Robert (is he even a thing anymore, LOL) and a Harper foil, albeit on his former team in flashback style ...





Other than that, you definitely notice the difference in checklists this year ... when Tino Martinez All-Star cards and Bartolo Colon Active Leaders cards are in your packs, you know the checklist is pretty thin.

Funny thing about the Colon card ... he's pictured on the Mets but it says "free agent" for his team. Last I saw he was playing slowpitch softball in his home country and is now in the Mexican League, so I'm gonna go ahead and call him retired from MLB:


 


Hats off to Topps for trying something new, I guess. I've done a lot worse for $16 and change, I'll take it!

[aprirr]

I found 3 blasters of Update at Walmart and noticed the same thing about the flipped backs. A quality control issue at Topps, I presume. Glad I am not putting the set together.

[cjgiannini]

Surprised to see a Joey Bart card. He's not in the regular set, right? His "proper" rookie card is going to be next year, presumably in series 1?

[rjcj2017]

Surprised to see a Joey Bart card. He's not in the regular set, right? His "proper" rookie card is going to be next year, presumably in series 1?

Yeah, it's from the Prospects insert set. There are 30 cards in the set so I was happy to pull it.

Not to mention, there are 50 cards in the 1985 insert set, so pulling the Robert out of 3 fatties was not easy either.

Those two cards basically made the break for me.

[magneto2]

Nice hit on the Robert RJ! Congrats on finding some retail!

[rjcj2017]

Nice hit on the Robert RJ!  Congrats on finding some retail!

Thanks man ... baseball has been relatively available for the most part.

Nowhere near the level pre-DBN, but it has been out there.

(Don't wait ... if you don't grab it when you see it, it's gone within the hour.)

I was pleasantly surprised to see the three fat packs.

Football has been almost non-existent since the stuff with the rookies in pro uniforms has rolled out (no Donruss other than single packs, absolutely no Mosaic or Absolute).

Basketball? LOL, not one new single pack since the end of February, and that's my favorite sport to collect by far.

Hockey? As much as your heart desires.

Soccer/Star Wars/Garbage Pail Kids/Wrestling/Pokemon? Always present, in abundance.