i am so disappointed in 2012 topps archives

how disappointed am i?  i am so disappointed that i will write a post about the blaster i opened the other day.  and i will listen to the smiths while i am doing it.  truly disappointed.  truly, truly, truly.

i mentioned that i stopped by the lcs the other day, but was unable to find any archives.  the next day (that would be wednesday), i stopped at a target and found a couple of blasters.  i grabbed one and started to open the cards in the parking lot.  it had been a long time since i had done that, but i had high hopes.  i was really hoping that archives would be at least as cool as the old fan favorites or archives releases from the 2000's, just with current players thrown in for fun.  it would be a mix between heritage and fan favorites, and i was willing to overlook the selection of 1954, 1971, 1980, and 1984 as the designs to be used - not the four that i would have chosen, but i have no say in the matter.  i was pretty sure going in that this would be the first set i would complete since 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee (i still need some cards, actually).  i was wrong.

by the end of the third pack, i was certain that i would not be collecting this set.  still, i'll go pack by pack and let you know what i found.

here's pack 1.

evan longoria (1980)

yes, the first card out of the chute told me all i needed to know.  in fact, i think i was making the same face as longo while i was opening the packs.  i had read on a couple of blogs that morning about the card stock being thin, but i didn't expect this.  it is akin to those send away team checklists from the late 1970s.  and, i won't even get into the cartoon on the back which mentions longoria's walk off homer to put the rays in the 2011 playoffs, but shows a cartoon of a catcher applying a tag at home plate.
shane victorino (1984)
robinson cano (1954)
andrew mccutcheon (1971)
chili davis (1990)

i scanned the back of the chili davis card to give an idea of how much these cards do not look or feel like the cards from the years they represent.  i'm also not sure why chili is featured with a 1990 design.  why?  and why is there no 'archives' stamp on the fronts of these cards?
jaime garcia (1954)
nyjer morgan (1971)
david ortiz (1980)

pack 2:

george brett (1980)

ok. this is what i was expecting.  even though that's a 1990's era george brett photo.  but, wait - where's the all-star banner?
carlos santana (1984)
nelson cruz (1954)
josh beckett (1971)
jose bautista (1967 sticker insert)

i am not the biggest fan of stickers, but i like these - a nod back to the 1967 insert set, which is fairly obscure.  nicely done.
josh hamilton (1984)
cal ripken jr (1954)
anibal sanchez (1971)

pack 3:

cliff lee (1980)
david price (1984)
corey hart (1954)
adam wainwright (1971)
yogi berra (1952)

because it wouldn't be a topps archives release without a yankee on a 1952 card.  hey - there's the archives logo!  why is it only on this card?  i don't know about y'all, but when i open packs, i put cards in numerical order (but move dodgers to the top of the pile).  i have done this since i was 10 years old.  it comes from being a set collector when i first started collecting, and it makes things easier to stay organized.  well, about this time i noticed that the first cards in the set are the 1954 designs, then the 1971s, followed by the 1980s and the 1984s.  that 1990 chili davis is all by itself at number 236, so i figure that maybe the cards after 200 are other years' designs.  i flip yogi over expecting to see number 205 or something like that.  nope - it's card 191 in the set and fits in between the 1984 designs of josh hamilton and brad peacock.  yeah, that'll look good in a binder.  i am so not completing this set.
howie kendrick (1980)
brad peacock (1984)
drew pomeranz (1954)

i slogged on and finished opening the blaster anyway.  here's pack 4:

jp arencibia (1980)
starlin castro (1984)
jose valverde (1954)
clay buchholz (1971)
miguel cabrera (1968 topps 3d insert)

this card is actually pretty cool, but i am not going to be swayed.  i only want the dodgers from this set.
johan santana (1971)
ra dickey (1980)
brandon morrow (1984)

pack 5:

ivan nova (1980)
nolan ryan (1984)
melky cabrera (1954)
ed kranepool (1970)

i am a fan of 1970 topps, so this was nice to see.  and, it's number 235 in the set which makes some sense.  too little, too late, though.
matt moore (1954)
shane victorino (1984 shiny garbage parallel insert)

ugh. i don't recall topps doing this back in 1984.  how about a tattoo insert or something that is at least recognizable from the era.
jordan zimmerman (1971)
torii hunter (1980)

pack 6:

miguel montero (1971)
giancarlo stanton (1980)
mark reynolds (1984)
mat latos (1954)

that is a lot of red.
justin verlander (1977 cloth sticker insert)

hey - i like these.  maybe i'll collect just the 1977 cloth stickers.  but then again, no.
stephen strasburg (1984)

just to show a non-shiny 1984 card
brandon beachy (1954)
drew storen (1971)

pack 7:

ryan zimmerman (1971)
tim lincecum (1980)
lucas duda (1984)
pablo sandoval (1954)
willie mccovey (1969)

that's three giants in this pack, and still no dodgers to be seen.  this mccovey has the archives logo, and the number on the back is 440.  i think i have this figured out, thanks to the 'reprint' text at the bottom of the mccovey back.  the 1952 berra and this mccovey are just reprints inserted into packs.
heath bell
asdrubal cabrera
bj upton
some advertisement card for a topps pennant app.  looks like some box score archive thingy.  i'll stick to baseball reference.

finally, pack 8:

brian mccann (1971)
jose bautista (1980)

this might be my favorite card from the blaster.  it looks like it could have been in the 1980 set.
aramis ramirez (1984)
matt garza (1954)
derek jeter (1977 cloth sticker insert)

two cloth stickers in the blaster was nice, but i would have been happy to see a different insert instead of jeter.
elvis andrus (1980)
ervin santana (1971)

that's what the 1971s look like
adam lind (1984)

no dodgers whatsoever.  bummer.  that means that all of these cards are available.  i'd like to trade them for dodgers from the set, but that's not completely necessary.

hopefully topps tries harder next time.