Topps Sparkle Bounty Cards 2011 Baseball Series 2

Topps Sparkle Bounty Cards

The new 2011 Topps Double Sparkle Bounty cards are already sparking controversy and I have not even seen one pulled yet.  I checked the eBay listings and nothing, nada, zip, zilch.  I am guessing these cards are REALLY rare.

Personally, if these cards have the regular backs and not some “contest” back, then I think they are fine.  I enjoy the gimmick parallels that Topps puts out each year.  (I realize I am probably in the minority on this front though.)

The concept is thus: Topps inserts three different Double Sparkle Bounty Cards in 2011 Topps Series 2 Baseball.  The first person to get all three and send Topps an email wins an autographed bat.  The contest part of this does seem dumb to me.  If these cards are so rare, how will the average collector have any shot at getting all three?  This seems only likely for the massive multi-case breakers out there.  So why announce the contest to the little people at all?  In essence, Topps is saying:

Dear loyal Baseball Card Collector,

Guess what a great autographed bat you will never get?  This is only for the guys buying multiple cases and breaking them the minute the product releases.  You have absolutely no chance whatsoever.

For those of you interested in searching in vain…

Topps Double Sparkle Bounty Card Checklist

• #340 Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
• #510 Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves
• #590 Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

What do I get for second place?  Well, Topps is giving everyone who finds at least one of these cards but does not win the bat a pin.  Yay…?

Baseball Card Collector responses:

On Beckett’s Topps Double Sparkle Bounty Card post, there seems to be a consensus that these cards are another really bad idea by Topps.

On BlowoutCards’ Topps Double Sparkle forum post, very few people like them either.  However, a few people like the idea that these cards will be easier to spot than the typical Topps Sparkle Cards.

Update:  I have seen a few double sparkle cards pulled so far and they look NOTHING like the picture that Topps shows on their facebook page (shown above).  They are still easier to notice than the regular sparkle cards, but not by much!

I have added all three card images to this page, but shame on you Topps for (once again) misleading collectors.

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