Topps Update - an observation

So Update is out. If you follow more than blogs, or even if you don't, you may have see chatter about this and that with the set - the photo variations, SPs, All Star cards, etc. I'd link to some of the stuff I read, but to be honest, the hell if I remember where I read any of it. But I have picked up a rack pack and one of those 72 count half blasters (?), so let's have a gander at some things I have scanned, discuss some other things, and do my best to be objective. And by "objective", I mean snarky. ONWARD!

First things first - I commented about Series 2 about the poor quality control in some cards. Well, something still ain't right. At least on the 100 cards I have, the fronts look fine. But tell me, what is the deal with the backs?

The only manipulation is cropping and putting those two scans together (mad Photoshop skillz!). Why is Topps using two different sized fonts? It's pretty obvious the size difference - I know I did not double dose on my medication. These are the backs of two sequential base cards. Com'on Topps - get it together.

Speaking of base, it's nice to see card UP1 is a White Sox. Even after the Sox won it all in 2005, the following year's Topps set took until card #13 to have a White Sox player depicted. The Cubs, celebrating their 98th year of nothing in '06, had a player in the set before the Sox.

The photo variation cards are not short prints, from what I have read. I did pull one, and interesting enough, both the base and variation cards came out of the same Target rack pack I purchased. The font is the same on the back of both cards, in case you were wondering.

Photo variation on the left. He holding a hat in his hands in the variation. Took me a while to realize he wasn't playing Call of Duty. How does one scream "F***ing noob camper!" in Japanese anyway?

I like that the minis have the Future Star logo on a few of the cards - that is a nice touch. And lastly, I pulled one of the Presidential Predictors redemption cards. It's the President for the state of Oklahoma. Yeah, I don't see that state going blue this election. The really strange thing is the back of the card. It gives the code, but no website to enter it. If you go to Topps, there isn't a single article I could find that talks about where to redeem the code. The regular redemption area of Topps.com does not accept it. Sigh.....