REVIEW:2018 Topps Series 2 Baseball

Every year, Topps puts out a three part-movie mini series called flagship. First we are treated with Series 1 in January. And yes, I say treated. It kicks off the baseball season.

June rolls around and we are ready for the sequel with Series 2 which is where we will dive into today.

By July/August, we are expecting the grand finale which is Update. The most popular of the three I think especially when it comes to rookies.

Since we are still in the month of June thankfully, I don't want to have to deal with fall/winter quite yet, we are about ready to view the sequel which is Series 2.

 

Every box of 2018 Topps Series 2 baseball comes with 36 packs per box with 10 cards per pack. This is for hobby. Each box also comes with one autograph or one relic card. Boxes run about $55.

 

Series 2 picks up where Series One ended and provides the waterslide fun once again as well. There are some great photos in Series Two just like in one as well and this design still doesn't bother me.

Series 2 provides you with 350 cards to chase. Made up of veterans,

 

Subsets,

 

And rookie cards. Boy its too bad about this guy being injured. That hurts the market for 2018 some. Luckily , there are plenty of other decent rookies to chase. I wasn't ever on the Otahni train, I was on the Gleyber one. I made the right choice.

 

 

With every Topps release it seems, especially in flagship, there are those darn sp photo variations. And once again you will have to flip the card around and look at the code to determine if you have one. Base end in 359.

 

Variations like this Rickey,

 

 

 End in 412

 

 

Other variations are SSP Variations that end in 414 and Late RC SP end in 249.

 

Overall there are an astonishing 102 variations to chase. They fall 1:30 packs.  

I think these are way over done. I like the variations, but maybe do 10 and make them tough to find. But, 102. Crazy.

Next we take a glance at the parallels. Yup. There are lots of those as well. Once again, I am not too fond of how the golds were represented this year. Very hard to spot sometimes unless you really are staring. I would have made a gold foil or gold the name or something a bit more obvious. Golds fall 1:10 packs and are numbered to 2018.

 

Rainbow Foil I like a lot in the product. One of my favorite parallels even though they are not numbered. These fall 1:10 packs as well.

 

And one of my all time favorite insert now is the Independence Day parallel. I have never seen one before. Too bad I didn't hit a better player. These cool looking bad boys fall 1:250 packs and are numbered to 76.

 Other parallels not found in my box but could be in yours includes, 

• Vintage Stock /99 
• Black /67 
• Mother's Day Pink /50
• Father's Day Powder Blue /50
• Memorial Day Camo /25
• Negative
• Platinum 1/1
• Printing Plates 1/1

Now onto the inserts.

Most inserts have the following parallels, Blue, Black /299, Gold #50, Red /10, and Platinum 1/1.

 

Instant Impact falls 1:8 packs and has those standout players of today, tomorrow and yesterday. Hmmm. A Yankee fan finding a Red Sox heavy box. How wrong.

 

Longball Legends fall 1:8 packs. Interesting to see a pitcher on here.

 

1983 Topps inserts. There are 99 cards that fall 1:4 packs covering vets, rookies and legends. Love the throwback inserts.

 

I gotta admit, I am a bit tired of the Topps Salute series. But here is another 99 cards that fall 1:4 packs.

 

I did pull a black parallel of the Salute /299. This falls 1:223.

 

And my final insert find was the Homerun Challenge card that falls one per box or 1:36 packs.

And now onto the one hit in the box.  It's always a relic for me. Not once I have a hit an autograph. I assume most boxes are this way unless you buy jumbo. At least this time I got a decent player,

 

 

Other hits I could have found but didn't include,

• 1983 Topps Baseball Autographs
• Instant Impact Relics
• Instant Impact Autographs
• Instant Impact Autograph Relics
• Legends in the Making Autographs
• Longball Legends Relics
• Longball Legends Autographs
• Longball Legends Autograph Relics
• Major League Material Relics
• Major League Material Autograph Relics
• MLB All-Star Game Logo Manufactured Patch Relics
• MLB All-Star Game Logo Manufactured Patch Autograph
• MLB Independence Day U.S. Flag Manufactured Patch Relic
• MLB Independence Day U.S. Flag Manufactured Patch Autograph
• Own the Name Relics
• Topps Reverence Autograph Patch
• Topps Salute Autographs
• Topps Team MVP Medallion Relics
• Topps Team MVP Medallion Relics Autographs
• Sketch Card 

OVERALL: Topps Series 2 was exactly what I thought it would be. A sequel to Series 1. For me, I prefer breaking retail when it comes to Series 1, 2 and Update. I just don't ever hit anything from hobby and a relic hit is tough to swallow at almost $60 per box. Even though a box does provide you almost 400 cards.

No matter my opinion, the flagship products have a following and always has and always will. Especially for the set chasers. I am a follower myself just at a less risky pace. I am already looking forward to Update after this.

Please take a minute out to thank Topps for providing the box to review. Some of the cards you see above will be included in the Fantasy Baseball contest! Follow Topps on all social media sites and check out their website HERE for cards and more!