2012 Topps Series 2 pack and 2012 Olympic Blaster

[TheGinterGodfather]

Hey everyone. Had to get some Advil from Wally World, figured I'd get some cards. To make this post legit, I picked up a lone pack of 2012 Topps Series 2. Here's what I got:

2012 Topps Series 2:

All base. No Twins. Bad pack.

Olympic Blaster:

Pack 1:

Rau'Shee Warrn (Boxing)
Natalie Coughlin (Swimming)
Alicia Sacramone (Gymnastics)
Tyler Clary (Swimming)
Wallace Spearmon (Track & Field)
Garret Weber-Gale (Swimming)
Funmi Jimoh (Track & Field)
Sarah Groff Silver Medal Parallel (Triathlon)
Jordon Burroughs Bronze Medal Parallel (Wrestling)
2012 Olympic Venues - London 2012 Olympic Stadium

Pack 2:

David Boudia (Diving)
Katie O'Donnell (Field Hockey)
Merrill Moses (Water Polo)
Britney Reese (Track & Field)
Hunter Kemp (Triathlon)
Timothy Wang (Table Tennis)
Ariel Hsing (Table Tennis)
Sarah Groff (Triathlon)
Hope Solo Horizontal Card OLY-10 - Screwed up corner
Kelly O'Hara Bronze Medal Parallel (Soccer)

Pack 3:

Erica McLain (Track & Field)
Jessica Parratto (Diving)
Taylor Phinney (Cycling)
Seimone Augustus (Basketball)
Kellie Wells (Track & Field)
Trey Hardee (Decathlon)
Paige Railey (Sailing)
Steven Lopez (Taekwondo)
Erica McLain Silver Medal Parallel (Track & Field)
Candace Parker Bronze Medal Parallel (Track & Field)

Pack 4:

Kayla Harrison (Judo)
Diana Lopez (Taekwondo)
Chris Colwill (Diving)
Jason Lezak (Swimming)
Carrie Johnson (Canoe/Kayak) (Wait, Canoe/Kayak is an Olympic sport!?)
Tucker Dupree (Swimming)
Sarah Robles (Weightlifting)
Henry Cejudo Gold Medal Parallel (Wrestling)
Games of the Olympiad 1956 - Melbourne, Australia
Evelyn Stevens Bronze Medal Parallel (Cycling)

Pack 5:

Gwen Jorgensen (Triathlon)
Katie Hoff (Swimming)
Carli Lloyd (Soccer)
Anna Tunnicliffe (Sailing)
Maragauz Isaksen (Modern Pentathlon)
Nick Symmonds (Track & Field)
Kari LaRaine Miller (Volleyball)
Paige McPherson (Taekwondo)
Jessica Parratto Silver Medal Parallel (Diving)
Dana Vollmer Bronze Medal Parallel (Swimming)

Pack 6:

Ryan Lochte (Swimming)
Alex Meyer (Open Water Swimming)
Brenda Villa (Water Polo)
Nathan Adrian (Swimming)
Todd Rogers (Beach Volleyball)
Missy Franklin (Swimming)
Danell Leyva (Gymnastics)
Sanya Richards-Ross (Track & Field)
Jillian Carmrena-Williams Bronze Medal Parallel (Track & Field)
Jonathan Horton Gold Medal Parallel (Gymnastics)

Pack 7:

Candace Parker (Basketball)
Evelyn Stevens (Cycling)
Dana Vollmer (Swimming)
Zach Railey (Sailing)
Yvette Lewis (Track & Field)
Donny Robinson (BMX)
Jillian Camarena-Williams (Track & Field)
Terrence Jennings (Taekwondo)
Yvette Lewis Bronze Medal Parallel (Track & Field)
Taylor Phinney Silver Medal Parallel (Cycling)

Pack 8:

Matt Emmons (Shooting)
Kim Glass (Volleyball)
Brandon Roulhac (Track & Field)
Brittany Viola (Diving)
SUSAN FRANCIA (ROWING)
Jordan Burroughs (Wrestling)
Kelley O'Hara (Soccer)
Nastia Liukin Horizontal Card OLY-11 (Damaged Corner)
Zach Railey Bronze Medal Parallel (Sailing)
Aly Raisman Gold Medal Parallel (Gymnastics)

So there we go. No relics, patches, stamps, autos, or medals. Ah well.

I would say that this product did not live up to my expectations. I had heard great things, and I like some of the cards I pulled. I like the bronze/silver/gold parallels. They add a nice touch to the set. I will say that a more equal representation of all of the sports would have been much preferred. I don't care about Track & Field or Swimming. Yes, they get the popularity and airtime and big fat endorsements from Nike and all that stuff. But give me more Shooting, more Gymnastics, more martial-arts, and MORE ROWING.

I haven't checked the checklist, but I was astonished to pull a Susan Francia card. I thought Mary Whipple was the only female rower in the set.

Also, having BOTH of the horizontal cards (OLY-10 and OLY-11) be damaged on the same corner? Pisses me off. C'mon Topps, clearly this is a packing issue, and it's for base/insert cards! Not even relics or thicker cards! Pssshaw. I'll be spending the 45 cents for a stamp to send these in to get replacements.

Lastly. Almost all of these are for trade for Women's Rowing Cards.

Here's a quick story behind why I'm a HUGE fan of Women's Rowing. Anyone who has traded with me may remember that my last name is Kalmoe. It's not exactly a common name, my ancestors weren't exactly prolific and so I've only met a handful of other ones in my short time on this planet. However, a week ago the remainder of the Women's crew teams were announced, and rowing in the Women Quadruple Sculls (W4X) are: Adrienne Martelli, Megan Kalmoe, Kara Kohler and Natalie Dell.

You probably noticed that Megan Kalmoe has the same last name as me! Well, I'd love to say that she's a cousin. Or a second cousin. Or someone who's lineage we'd have to go look at some old archives in a dusty town hall somewhere in central Minnesota to figure out. But no, that is not the case. She picked on me until she went to college because she's my big sister.

She represented the USA in Beijing as a member of the W2X (Double Sculls) with her long time teammate Ellen Tomek. Ellen was narrowly beat out for the last spot on the W4X this year, which I was rather sad for but the coaches hopefully know what they're doing! In 2008 they finished 5th in the medal heat, being beat out by Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and China. This year, hopefully they'll grab the gold!

So there you have it! I'm planning on running a contest on this forum where participants will attempt to guess the closest to my sister's boat's time in their final heat, whether that be the prelims, semis, reps, or finals. Haven't figured out prizes yet, but keep an eye out for it!

Thanks for the long read, hopefully it was informative!

[endyalamo]

Congrats to your sister for making the Olympics!

[Phils747]

Nice break, that is incredible that your sister made the Olympic team. It's almost every elite athlete's dream to represent their country in the Olympics and it's unbelievable that your sister will be able to do that. I'll definitely watch her compete in London and I hope she can bring back a gold.

[Deckard7]

That is too cool about your sis! I'll be looking for her team, hope to see her on TV!

I also enjoy reading your card breaks, they're entertaining. Keep up the good work!

[spuds1961]

Awesome read,congrats to your sister for making the Olympic team,hopefully she can bring back a medal.

[bryanATX]

FINALLY a reason to like rowing! ;) are there known hooligans in this sport? If not, who's down??? But seriously that's awesome!!! USA....USA!!!!!

[TheGinterGodfather]

Thanks everyone! If you want, her blog is www.megankalmoe.com so you can check out her site there to see what times/races she'll be in incase I don't get around to posting them up here. It's also got her bio and stuff on there.

[vjw0307]

Congrats on the family success man! Very nice!