2009 Online Added Value - Part 1 - ToppsTown

I'm a sucker for online added value gimmicks. Last year when Topps announced ToppsTown I actually got a bit excited, though I didn't like the prospect of actually having to CHASE code cards. Be that as it may, as I posted back in August I completed my 2008 Baseball card virtual set in just 2 months time. No, I didn't get anything special for doing it, just the satisfaction of being a shrewd trader and enjoying the game.

This year ToppsTown is adding a bunch of new stuff to the system. Sure there are a TON more mini-games, though honestly they're all pretty much the same. Fun for about five minutes and then boredome sets in. I do like the "Extreme Batting Practice" and will play that consistently, but most of the other games have been done better at other places. When Football and Basketball were added to the mix they also added a Fantasy sports portion, which I think is kind of cool, because I'm into Fantasy Sports. Thing is though, you can only use players that you've virtually collected, which is great. I hope they add a Baseball version when the season starts. I'm not doing too badly in Basketball this season, I have Kobe Bryant as a starter, so don't cry for me!

I didn't do Football, because I no longer collect Football, and I couldn't get any fellow collectors to pass some codes my way...sniffles. The stupid thing about ToppsTown is that you cannot trade Baseball for Football, or Football for Basketball...you get the picture. Sucks. I've got a TON of doubles in Baseball, and now that 2008 is over, they're worthless.

Which brings us to 2009 Baseball. One code in every pack, guaranteed. Yeay! Actual players on the cards! Yeay! 22 Codes in, and I'm only 80 cards away from a full set. I have approximately 30 doubles at the moment, and you get 8 cards per code, so with trading, I'm only a few codes away from finishing. The cards are a much better design this season, and they included 8 HOFers in the set. I've already got them all, so I favorited them and here they are in one spot:



Let's take a closer look at Nolie there, you've got his regular front:




Then here's his "Attax" stats, which is for a game similar to Top Trumps that is coming soon. You may have seen the advertising card in some packs, you get a FREE ToppsTown code on that baby (it's TPSCDE7).






Finally his in-game statistics which are used for the mini-games. Obviously Nolie would be good in any of the pitching games.



There is another link to each card, during the season you can get "live stats" for current players, which is cool, but unnecessary.

There's also another feature coming soon, the ability to use the code cards in some sort of 3D
game, but I'm not sure what that is going to look like actually.

BTW - I'm Mr. Duke Baseball on ToppsTown, feel free to add me as a friend!


I'll do UpperDeck U with my next blog entry, hopefully some time before the weekend.

I know i'm not anywhere NEAR as regular as other bloggers, that's kind of what I like about Blogging, I can do it whenever and wherever I feel.