So weird to see Jon Lester in a Cubs uniform. The Cubs did not resign Lester after the 2020 season. The World Series champion ended up signing with the Nationals.
Cubs fans were sad to see him go. Lester no longer in Cubs pinstripes. But then two months into the 2021 season, I pull a Jon Lester in the classic Cubs uniform. It’s a great photo. The focus of Jon, the white and blue of the card design match nicely with the uniform.
But Jon in a Cubs uniform?
This is a digital card from this year’s #ToppsBunt. If this were a print card, that would be normal to see a player in the uniform from the prior year. After all, the stats on the print cards only go up to the prior season.
But with digital cards, it just feels like it should be more current.
- Topps Bunt 2021 launched on March 25, 2021.
- Lester signed with the Nats on January 27, 2021.
You’d think two months would be enough time for Topps to make sure Lester appears in a Nats uniform for his 2021 card. This is a 5x All-star. A 3x World Champion. Not some no-name player.
Why is Jon Lester in Cubs uniform on a digital card?
This digital card is actually a reproduction of his real card in the real Topps 2021 physical set. Lester doesn’t have a card in the digital set yet.
Ok, to explain.
Topps Bunt is an app where you can collect digital baseball cards. The base design of this DIGITAL set has a different design from the regular Topps PRINTED card set.
Here’s the design of the digital set for 2021:
In addition to these digital cards, the Topps Bunt app also includes variant cards that look just like the printed cards. That’s the card at the top of this post. It’s pretty cool. Feels a little bit like collecting the real card. They even include a replica of the same card back.
I love seeing the stats, and especially the little write-up on the player. (Lester’s doesn’t have a write-up, because veteran player’s stats take up too much space).
We are still waiting for Jon Lester to have a regular Topps Bunt base card. That’ll probably come out with the Series 2 version. In the meantime, Yu Darvish already made it into digital Series 1 wearing a Padres uniform.
Details about both cards featured in this post:
Jon Lester Topps Bunt (replica of print edition)
- ID: 146880
- Global Count: 7518 (as of 5/21/2021)
- Collection Score: 1.5
- Set: Physical Series 21
- Group & Variant: Series 1 – Base | Uncommon
- Search term: #physicalseries21
Yu Darvish Topps Bunt (digital base)
- ID: 145851
- Global Count: N/A
- Collection Score: 0.01
- Set: 2021 Base
- Group & Variant: Series 1 – Tier 1 | Uncommon
- Search term: #series1-21
If you are curious what Yu’s 2021 print card looks like, that has not been released yet! LOL. So confusing.
Yu Darvish is in the Topps Bunt 2021 base, but not in Topps 2021 print
Jon Lester is in the Topps 2021 print, but not in the Topps Bunt 2021 base.