Just a few years ago the market was cluttered with too many baseball cards and too few differences between them. In 2007, things are simpler because there are less total brands and the card companies are getting better at giving each one its own identity.
Such is the case with 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones Baseball, a set that is all about taking snapshots of MLB's stars and some of their notable statistical feats. Every card is numbered to 150 or less, and collectors will find two autographed cards per box on average.
Boxes of Moments & Milestones Baseball hold 18 packs with six cards each.
Base Cards
The base set of Moments & Milestones borrows the concept from Topps' ongoing HR History inserts and takes it to its logical extreme. Though there are 169 different cards of MLB veterans (plus Mickey Mantle) listed on the checklist, each individual card number is actually a set in and of itself.
That's because each card commemorates a different statistical mark reached by the player on the card, and there's a number of different versions of the card equal to the stat total. For example, card 3 focuses on the 194 hits Albert Pujols tallied during his 2001 Rookie of the Year season, so there are 194 different versions of that card.
Card 11 celebrates Ichiro's eight assists from his ROY season, so there are only eight versions of that card. It sounds confusing, but the number is a prominent part of the card design, so there's no mistaking which version you have.
As Topps points out on its website, this concept allows for some different ways to collect cards from the set. Using the Ichiro card as an example, you could hunt for one card of each of the eight assists. And since each version of each card is numbered to 150, you could try for the same serial number of all eight assists or try to corner the market and put together all 150 copies of, say, the seventh assist.
It's definitely different, and Topps deserves credit for trying it. One wonders, though, if even the most dedicated Randy Johnson collector will try to obtain each of his 364 1999 strikeouts. Some of the milestones are also somewhat dubious - it's hard to see how Travis Hafner's 33 2005 home runs fit the bill.
Rookies and Parallels
The final 24 cards in the base set are a lot more straightforward, as they depict eight players receiving their MLB Rookie Cards on three cards each, and they're also numbered to 150. The big news is the inclusion of Red Sox sensation Daisuke "Dice-K" Matsuzaka, who bumped Glen Perkins from the checklist.
While the hobby usually picked just one card from past sets that tried something similar to designate as the "official" rookie card from that set, it's possible all three Matsuzaka cards will earn the RC mark in price guides. Even so, there are only 450 total and they're the first ones on the market, so they should be popular.
There are also two parallel versions of all the base cards and their variations. Black parallels fall one per pack and are numbered to 29, while red parallels are unique 1-of-1's.
My sample box contained no rookies and 17 black parallels. I also found a red 1-of-1 of strikeout number 48 of Roger Clemens' 256 strikeouts in 1987.
Autographed Cards
Once you get your mind around the unique base set, there's also two autographed cards per box to unwrap. Ten different rookies are the subjects of Rookie Autos, while 35 different MLB players - including David Wright, Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez lend their signatures to Milestone Autos cards that stay within the theme of the set and focus on a significant achievement.
The regular autos are not numbered, but they do have the same black and red parallels as the base cards. About.com's review box yielded a Michael Bourn Rookie Auto and a Jeremy Sowers Milestone Auto.
The Last Word
New ideas are always welcome in new baseball card products, but it remains to be seen if collectors will find the hook to Moments & Milestones Baseball to be a compelling one. The "set within a set" concept is interesting, but basing an entire brand around it seems like it might limit the audience to dedicated player collectors.
If that sounds like you - and your favorite player is on the checklist - 2007 Topps Moments & Milestones Baseball has something a little different for you to collect.
