2011 Topps Phillies Set

2011 Topps Phillies #PHI6

Each year when I attend my first Phillies game of the season, there are certain items I'm sure to pick up:

- Game program, which is now technically an "Official Magazine"
- Media Guide, which comes free with our 17-game partial season ticket plan
- Phillies Photo Card set - this is the postcard size set featuring players, coaches, Charlie Manual, the Phanatic and the broadcasters
- Phillies Yearbook, which hasn't been available until May or so in recent years

In recent years, I've also started purchasing the Topps Phillies team set.  Every year, there are cards in this set that can't be found in the regular Topps set and this year is no exception.  There are 17 cards in the 2011 Topps Phillies set, broken down as follows:

Repeats from Topps Series 1 (7 cards) - Roy Halladay, Chase Utley, Roy Oswalt, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Brad Lidge and Placido Polanco

These cards match up with their Series 1 counterparts except for the number on the back and the cool little line of text on the back of the card listing a counterpart card from an earlier Topps set.

Repeats from Topps Opening Day (1 card) - Cliff Lee

Lee is featured as a Ranger in Series 1, but his Opening Day card features him as a Phillie.

Possible Previews from Topps Series 2 (7 cards) - Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Domonic Brown, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, Ben Francisco and Ryan Madson

These are cards for players not featured in Series 1, but I would imagine will find their way into Series 2.

Phillies Topps Potential Exclusives (2 cards) - Wilson Valdez and Citizens Bank Park

Nothing against Valdez, but given Topps' history of player selection in recent years, I don't see him making the cut for Series 2.  I hope I'm wrong.