Saturday, February 4, 2017

REVIEW:2017 Topps Baseball Series 1 (1/1 PULL!)


The first product to kick off the new season of baseball cards arrived earlier this week packed with things new and old. Sometimes literally.

How did my first baseball card break of 2017 go? Well, you will have to read on.

For some reason, my phone decided not to take a picture of the box and instead a picture of the pack uploaded. So you get the point anyways. It features World Series champion Kris Bryant who graces the cover. Boxes come packed with cards. 
 
Each hobby box of 2017 Topps Series 1 baseball comes with 36 packs of 10 cards. There is either one autograph or one memorabilia card per box. Hobby boxes have been running around $60 each.
 
The checklist is 350 total cards deep showcasing superstars, young players and the hottest rookies in the game such as Yoan Moncada, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Andrew Benintendi, David Dahl, Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin, Orlando Arcia, Alex Reyes, and Tyler Glasnow. 

The base set design is a little offbeat compared to past years. I have seen a lot of mixed feelings on it. To me, I wasn't sure til I saw it first hand. I like it honestly as it reminds me of graphics you would see on MLB Network or ESPN. Of course I have been one in the past that has complained about the borders year in and year out, I like the fact Topps is taking it to the future and giving it a different look.

The base set features base cards (Ortiz) and many subsets with nicknames (Thor and Dark Knight)

 
League Leaders, Topps All Rookie, Rookie cards

 
And of course World Series recaps and

 
Team Cards which feature some amazing photography.

 
Speaking of photography, here are a few other cards I enjoyed. This Naquin may be my favorite of the entire group.


I guess while we are on the base card topic, as always, there are photo variations to find. This year is drastically improved however as they are extremely tough to pull and are rare. There are no Sp versions and only SSP versions to chase. I feel there isn't a huge overflow of them like in past releases and some of these this time are demanding big bucks because they are so tough to pull.

And to continue on with the base card talk, as always, there are parallels. But, not too many per box. At least in mine. That may help give these a tad bit more value as in past releases it seemed like a one per two pack find. Golds are tough to spot as you gotta look at the bottom corner to see them and are still numbered to 2017. 
 
I think the Rainbow Foils look pretty stunning especially with this design. They are not numbered however and fall at 1:10.

 
I was also fortunate enough to find a hobby/jumbo exclusive Negative parallel. No odds given and it's not numbered.
 
 
 Other parallels you can find are, 
  • Vintage Stock are numbered to 99.
  • Black are numbered to 66
  • MOTHER'S DAY HOT Pink are numbered to 50.
  • FATHER'S DAY POWDER BLUE are numbered to 50.
  • MEMORIAL DAY CAMO are numbered to 25.
  • Clear are numbered to 10
  • Platinum are numbered 1/1.
  • Printing Plates are numbered 1/1. 
Now onto the inserts. I found these to be a bit refreshing this year. I liked that fact you didn't find half a pack of them. On average, I saw 1-2 per pack. Much improved and makes them much more fun to find and chase.
 
Topps Salute commemorate early season events with special photography and highlighting customized MLB uniforms. There are many varieties to find. Look for themed cards celebrating Rookies, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, Vintage uniforms and the greatest Legends of MLB. These fall at an easy rate of 1:4 packs



 
I wasn't impressed with these however after a second look. At first, I thought they were throwbacks. You look at the backs....

 
They are just ad fill-ins. Bleh.

Bowman Then & Now captures each player's original Bowman card with their current success on the field and is the closest I will get to their autographed rookies haha. These are inserted 1:8 packs

 
First Pitch returns again as my favorite insert again taking pop culture icons that threw out a ceremonial first pitch during the 2016 MLB season. These are inserted 1:8 packs

 
Love this John Goodman one. Really want the Jon Lovitz, Vicotria Justice and William Shatner ones to.

 
Five Tool gives you that Topps Fire feel as it was designed by the artist who does Topps Fire. These showcase players with 5-tools and are inserted 1:8 packs

 
MLB Network inserts. New to the insert lineup as well. Kinda cool and I like the design. These fall one-per-box.


1987 Topps Baseball makes it return to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of this iconic design with an insert set! These have stars of today, future and past and have the feel of the original. They also are each foil stamped with the 30th anniversary stamp. Wished I had pulled the Griffey. These fall 1:4 packs so you will find plenty of them. They also have red and platinum parallels.

 
Buyback cards fall 1 in every 6 packs and all but the most valuable cards will be stamped with a new foil "Rediscover" logo so they can be easily found. There will be multiple levels of rarity in the foil logos. I found two silvers in mine and 4 bronze. Not what levels there are or how tough they are.

 
I was actually fortunate to find this in my box as well. Not sure how tough the non-Rediscover foil pulls are as opposed the the ones with foil.

I also pulled an Ultimate Card Giveaway card that I assume are one-per-box for a chance at a free Topps Now card. You can also win Free Topps Bunt '17 cards. Did I win (which would be my very first Topps Now card)...well... I will highlight if I won or not and show off what the Ultimate Card Giveaway card looks like tomorrow.

There are plenty of hits to find in Series 1. My typical find is usually a plain color swatch in flagship and update and that's what I expected. It's just what my going rate with baseball and football when they had the license.

But, three packs in and to my surprise....

In The Name Relics 1/1 Letter Patch from an All-Star Game Workout Jersey. Pretty slick looking card.
 
Other hits including relic cards, manufactured relic cards, autographs, autograph patch cards not found in my box are....

Topps Reverence Autograph Patch Cards, Major League Material Autograph Relic Cards, World Series Champion Autograph Relic Cards,Postseason Performance Autograph Relic Cards, Topps Salute Autograph Cards, World Series Champion Autograph Cards, Postseason Performance Autograph Cards, 1987 Topps Baseball Autograph Cards, Major League Material Cards, World Series Champion Relic Cards, Postseason Performance Relic Cards, In The Name Relics, Cut Signatures, MLB All-Star Team Medallion Cards and MLB Spring Training Logo Patch Cards.

As you can see, plenty of fun to find.

OVERALL, I was pretty happy with the break. Even if I had gotten that single color jersey card again I felt pretty good about the break and this years product. I hope Topps builds off from it for 2018.

Most of the product was pretty solid in terms of design and themes. There were a couple of less-impressive things especially those advertising cards but more positives in my opinion than negatives. Especially with lesser photo variations, lesser inserts, and less parallels to find per box. I think this years product will be worth a tad more down the road for those seeking key cards for their collections.

It will be interesting to hear your guys thoughts on the product especially the base card design. Leave them below!

Also look for a future giveaway with some of the cards you see above. I am working on how to run that giveaway along with future giveaways. Stay tuned and make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to host nice giveaways with. Follow them on all social media sites and visit their site, HERE, as well.

No comments:

Post a Comment