2006 Topps MLB Baseball Factory set

My 9 year old nephew is very into sports and loves baseball. I wanted to get him a collectible card or some item that was related to his birth year. I found this set of 2006 cards and decided to splurge a bit for it. I don't live near him and his family but his mom said this gift provoked the "wow factor", he really loves it.

Both of these products were in great outstanding condition service was outstanding to great company to deal with thank you

Just what I needed

This collection was everything my grandson wanted. He has spent hours going through this set. Loved it! I will purchase again from this vendor.

On time as advertised. Perfect!

First I would like to say that when I purchased this item it was advertised as the "Hobby" addition. When I received it I didn't think it was the hobby set so I called amazon, the operator said she did not know about this product and provided me with the phone number to who sold it to me. I called that number 3 times and left a message each time to please call me and I have yet to receive a phone call back.. When I gave this item to my husband for Christmas he confirmed my thought that it was not the "Hobby" addition. I was not only upset that I did not get what I was looking for but that no one had returned my call.

When you first realize the 2006 Topps Baseball Card set has 659 cards in it, numbered 1-660, you are probably thinking you know which card is the missing card. That is because in the wake of Mickey Mantle's death several years ago Topps decided to honor the Mick by retiring card #7. Today we say that the modern era of baseball cards begins with the 1952 Topps set, for which Mantle's card is the biggie, not just because it is his Topps rookie card but also because it was a high number from the 1952 set, which jumps the value way up as well. However, there actually is a card #7 in the 2006 Topps set, and it is of Mickey Mantle. What is kind of cool about the card is that it is just like all of the other cards in the set and there is nothing that distinguishes the fact the Mick is no longer active except for his career stats ending in 1968 (he stole six bases in his final season on those ruined legs).The card that is missing is #297, Alex Gordon, who turned out not to meet the new gold standard for having a rookie card. There are some cut out versions of the card floating around out there is you want to have a really complete Series 1 collection (as opposed to have four incomplete collections for about the same price). An intact version sold for $7,000 because clearly it is the rarest card around this year. Topps had to do the cut outs because under Major League Baseball Players Association rules the former University of Nebraska star, who was the second pick in last year's draft, did not sign a contract until September. After years of having baseball cards of players who never spend a day in the Major Leagues, the MLPA changed the rules so that rookie cards can now only be put out for players who make the 25-man opening-day roster or played in at least one major league game the year before. Topps anticipated Gordon would make the Royals' 25-man roster, but the third baseman was assigned to Wichita instead. Then again, when you get the complete factory set you get the 659 cards plus five exclusive bonus rookie cards, so now you are up to 664 and the deficit is more than made up.That solves the mystery of the missing card for the 2006 Topps set. Personally, I think this rule change is great, because I like to see who was playing with each team each year. Granted, that is difficult today because this set already has Johnny Damon with the Yankees (#185), but Coco Crisp (#12) is still an Indian and not Damon's replacement with the Red Sox. Tom Gordon (#163) appears as a Phillie in the photo and on the back, but his card still says Yankee and Matt Morris (#238) is seen as a Cardinal on the front of his card with the Giants. The main thing is that when you get to the rookies, cards 296-325 in Series 1 and #616-45 in Series 2 (with Jason Papelbon, #355, one of two exceptions), you will actually find players who are in the major leagues right now, including the prohibitive favorite for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, Francisco Liriano (#309) of the Twins. This beats going back a couple of years and looking at all of the rookie cards and finding only a handful have made it to the show this many years down the road.The Topps set remains THE set for me each year because it is the one with history behind it, so if you feel the same way it is a must have for your collection. Cards #243-59 are the American and National League Gold Glove Award winners, a set that is missing the A.L. Catcher, who was not I-Rod but Jason Veritek, who does not have a Topps card again this year. We then have the award winners in the two leagues for the Cy Young, Most Valuable Player, and Rookie of the Year awards (#260-65), followed by the Team Cards/Managers (#266-95, 586-615). What they are doing here is interesting, because they have the teams arranged alphabetically from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Washington Nationals, and what you have hear is the manager card or the team card for each, but never both (e.g., you get Mets manager Willie Randolph and the New York Yankees team card). In Series 2, you will find the appropriate counterparts. There are Team Stars in both series.It is interesting to me that with both Series 1 and Series 2 when you look at the three checklist cards for each the cards for the series end on the front of the second checklist card. The rest of the checklists are devoted to the insert cards available. For Series 2 they list seven Trading Places Autographs and Trading Places Autographed Relics each, 27 Trading Places Relics, 20 Trading Places cards, 40 Signers of the Constitution, 31 Signers of the Constitution Cut Signatures (includes Franklin, Hamilton, Madison and Washington), 30 Hit Parade cards, 15 Topps Stars, 100 Mantle Home Run History cards ("MHR2-MHR101), 100 Mantle Home Run relics, 18 Walmart Cards, 15 Opening Day relics, and 15 Opening Day Inserts. For me the Trading Places and Hit Parade cards are of interest, because they are sort of basic and reflect what actually happened in the 2006 season, but the rest surely takes us into the realm of glorious excess. No wonder I am a "buy the complete series" rather than "tear open a hundred packs" sort of person, because I really do not want to be in the position of hoping for an autograph of Roger Sherman rather than Billy Wagner (or visa versa). Topps is the one baseball card set I get each year because of the history of the company and not because of the extras.

My son has just started liking baseball cards. This is enough to keep him busy for awhile. He is still sorting them from Christmas.