I have been a predominantly focused collector over the last couple of years, with my collection lasered in on Adrian Peterson and the Vikings. So much so that I have barely touched any baseball over that time. I bought a few Joe Mauer cards here and there, yet nothing on the level of where I used to be. With the release of 2012 Museum Collection, I have bought more cards in the last two days than I have from Panini football all year, about 7 cards. With the influx of new Joe Mauer autographs, combined with what I believe to be a really cool looking set with nice new ideas, I am thoroughly impressed with how it turned out.

First off, this set is jam packed with hard signed content, something that will always draw me in. Although there are stickers too, the on card stuff looks awesome, and the stickers look pretty good too. I wish there was this type of structure in football more often, but we are seeing that Five Star will continue to be the only licensed on card set for the foreseeable future in the NFL.

The archival autographs are clean and nicely designed, without a lot of extemporaneous crap. The auto is bold and the player remains the focal point of the card. Topps could have easily jammed a swatch in there, but they kept the focus where it should be – on the player. I also am tremendously intrigued by the gold framed autographs that have been selling off the charts. The cards look like they could be bricks to build a golden house, and feel like it too from what people are saying. There are also silver versions too.

As for the stickers, I think Museum Collection is turning out to be a higher quality version of Triple Threads without stupid crap spelled out in a diecut swatch window. This makes me happy. I bought a few of the Mauer cards, and even though the studio shots are kind of a turn off, its different in baseball than in football. My favorites are the “Monumental Materials Autographs” which feature the jumbo patch and autograph, instead of the multiple swatches. Based on these cards and most of the ones in football, I can say one thing, and I hope everyone out there listens. RECTANGLE JUMBO SWATCHES ARE MUCH MORE VISUALLY APPEALING THAN SQUARES. On a horizontal card, they look much better than the 2×2 square that we are all so used to. Its really too bad these are stickers instead of on card, but still well designed and cool looking none-the-less.

With a great looking Tier One on the horizon, and a great looking Tribute set in the past, I think its obvious that Panini’s presence is something that Topps is not taking lying down. That is a very good thing for high end baseball collectors. Im eager to see what Topps has up their sleeve, as they are going to need to continue to prove they are worthy of the exclusive license.