Favourite Card of 2018

P-Town Tom held his annual contest where everyone could blog about their favorite card produced and released in 2018. I continued my annual tradition of waiting until the deadline for entry passed.

So 2018 was a year where I, once again, had to track down Luis Torrens cards in a mainstream Topps product. Surely this is the year where a Luis Torrens card earns the "best of 2018" honors right? Especially after I made a big deal last year about how the great photograph would've made his rookie card in 2017 my absolute favorite?

Well... um, no. It isn't.

I give Topps a lot of credit for creating that awesome Luis Torrens card with one of the memorable photographs ever used for cardboard. But unfortunately the truth is that it's brought down by the fact that there was already a card that used the same photo that had an even bigger impact on me.

Yeah, Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown beat Topps to the punch and used the photograph on one of his kick ass customs. This has largely overshadowed the Series 2 card. Gavin thought that the Topps card would make his custom feel less special, the reality is that the opposite of that happened. Never mind that Jose Ramirez is cut out on the custom, it's Luis Torrens on a Card Gen motif. Nothing against the Topps card, but yeah Gavin's card has the clear advantage.

In a vacuum where the DefGav card doesn't exist, the 2018 Series 2 Luis Torrens plate wins in a landslide. But we don't live in that vacuum and unfortunately Torrens' sophomore offering falls because of it. Let me reiterate that this is NOT a slight against Topps or the hard working people who pandered to me for that one card, but shit happened and it never managed to capture the zeitgeist.

So does that make the custom my favorite? That'd be the easy cop-out answer right?
I guess in a way it's my favorite baseball card made in 2018. Much like last year, consider the cards I'm showing to be in reverse order. The Torrens Series 2 plate at third place, the Gavin custom at second place, and the real winner at number 1.

What won it all this year?

I struggled with this one. How do I justify skipping over my favorite player's card for two years in a row? Was there even a card out there that could? Stranger things have happened right?

Yes. It just BARELY happened.

For the second straight year a hockey card swiped victory away from the easy answer.

That is the 2018-19 Upper Deck Mats Zuccarello base card. I love the card because it's peak ZUUC. Look at him being all emotional after likely making a goal. No it's not quite "Kevin Hayes making a young fan's year" like last year's entry, but it's still good in it's own right. Zuccarello's time with the New York Rangers is basically over. It's a shame but he doesn't really fit into their plans either in the short or long term. Dude's also done an interview where he's exhausted of being a trade chip and worrying if he has to leave the only NHL team and American city he's called home (he's Norwegian BTW). If this season is the last NYR sees of Zuuc, then that is one heck of a card for him to go out on. Energetic, passionate, determined, rejoicing. Just the way we'll all remember him.

So there you have it, my favorite card of 2018.

Before I end this post I should also probably explain why none of the Stranger Things cards made it into the top three. Well the unfortunate truth is that none of the cards I have stuck out to me. Even if I expanded it to cards I don't have, I know that Joe Keery (the actor who plays Steve) has an autograph but that appears to be a redemption. Natalia Dyer appears to have relic cards but I'm not really into those. Yeah no, I love Stranger Things and the card set was nice, but having a "favorite card" out of that bunch wasn't ever going to happen like PTT suggested it should. Would've been great if it had, but unfortunately it never did.

So there you have it, Zippy's favorite card of 2018. Yell it from the Heavens Zuuc. You've earned it.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).