Buzz Break: 2019 Topps 582 Montgomery Club Set No. 4

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The box: 2019 Topps 582 Montgomery Club Set No. 4
Where to buy: Only part of membership

Base set completion: 
20 of 20 (100 percent)

Base cards (all in gallery below) – Mike Trout, Christian Yelich, Gleyber Torres, Kris Bryant, Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr., Shane Bieber, Cody Bellinger, Max Scherzer, Juan Soto, Albert Pujols, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, Eloy Jimenez, Chris Paddack, Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina

Autographs/Memorabilia – None

What's Buzz-worthy: This is the fourth third set of cards sent to members of 582 Montgomery Club and it arrives after a Bazooka-feeling previous set with ink, after a set of stickers last before that and the first set that had an autograph chase. It might be the most condition-sensitive set of the bunch with it being on skinny retro stock with a full-bleed color design that is an offshoot of the 1951 Topps Ringside set, which included notable boxers and a few wrestlers of that time. The reason I say that? A few of my cards had errant ink chunks or other surface spots where whatever it is on the card can't be rubbed off -- I used a soft cotton shirt material to see if I could gently rub away a black-ink chunk of something on my Shohei Ohtani ... and it took off the card's ink and not the blotch on the card. (That is why gloss is good at times ... and I'm generally more of a retro fan than a super-foiled glossy guy.) The stock also had a few cards with white blotches showing on the back -- including two on my Vlad -- which nixes any potential grading plans I had. The set's checklist is relatively stacked and the variety of color here helped the feel -- I actually like the borderless Ringside approach -- but this was ultimately a standard, hitless item in the membership package. This one is perhaps a better set than its predecessor but I had centering issues the whole way on that one, so this didn't help my overall impressions. There are cards I'd want to slab here of players I like -- but can't with issues like that last set and this one. Here's hoping the Club finishes strong as the first two sets were stronger in my mind than the last two despite these newer sets having some better design touches. I also say that having not landed any autos of note, just Max Muncy and Touki Toussaint. There's not much left for members to receive this year and I'd probably say that my feel for this overall project is more on a down spot in the season-long roller coaster than a peak. We'll see how this ride finishes up soon.

Product Grade: B
Box Grade: B
Fun Grade: C+ (blotches on ink or stock issues for a few cards ... see above)

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