Gary Carter (2,000 @ $12.50)

Carter was named to 11 all-star teams over his 18-plus season career. He finished his career with a .262 batting avg., 324 home runs and 1,225 RBI. He is one of the most recent inductees to the Hall of Fame and has a pretty decent fan base. I myself would not have considered him for the Classics set since I feel that there are better choices. In my honest opinion, a guy with a .262 lifetime avg. does not belong in the Hall of Fame. Gary spent 11 of his 18 seasons with the Expos so I don't think he will get many "team fan sales". eTopps has made a bad attempt at getting this card to sell out by lowering the offering to 2,000 cards. I think they are in for a rude awakening as I foresee this one having 900 cards issued. Just like all the other Classics it is not worth the $12.50 price tag.

Walter Johnson (3,000 @ $12.50)

Well, eTopps dug into their MLB history book with this IPO. Johnson was born in 1887 and died in 1946 so you're about to get a major history lesson if you have not heard of him. He pitched for 21 years with the Washington Senators, compiling 416 wins and 279 losses, which gave him a lifetime winning percentage of .599. He is the all-time leader with 110 shutouts. His lifetime 2.17 ERA is unreal, not to mention his 1913 season when he went 56 consecutive scoreless innings. Until Nolan Ryan surpassed him, he was the all-time strikeout leader with 3,509. All in all he was a great pitcher for a very long time. A lot of the guys who don't know baseball history are in the dark about this legend and it's a shame; without guys like Johnson in baseball who is to say what would have happened to the game. I almost feel bad this card is going to be offered, simply for the fact that the number of cards issued will not be a fitting tribute to this great American pitcher. If you are a true baseball fan buy this card. If you are looking for money look elsewhere.

Another short print emerged with the release of Luis Aparicio and I ordered mine -- did you? By now, most eToppers have come to the realization that the 2003 Classic baseball set is going to be print run-driven like its football counterpart. I was really hoping that this set wouldn't go this way but it has. Had eTopps never priced the '02 set at $12.50, which is an absolutely ridiculous price for these cards, maybe things would have been different. With eTopps this week changing the number of cards offered (to 2,000 and 3,000 for Carter and Johnson respectively), I wouldn't look for any increased print runs. It's just a psychological ploy to sell more cards. People will not see 2,000 Carter cards and scramble to get them. Look at the SP and how it only sold 778 cards. I hope eTopps learns from their pricing folly and keeps prices realistic for future sets (i.e. Nascar).