REVIEW:2017 Topps Chrome Baseball

Topps Chrome has been one of my favorite releases since 1996. It's probably THE ONLY brand I have bought some of every single year, every single release for every sport it has come out for. There is so much draw-in for me and it usually has nothing to do with the autograph hits. Those are just bonuses. To me it's about the base rookie cards and the refractors. But, Topps Chrome means something different to all of us.

Let's see how my break of the RED HOT 2017 edition went.

Every box of 2017 Topps Chrome baseball comes with 24 packs of 4 cards in each. It's been that way for years. Hobby boxes come with 2 autographs per among a variety of inserts and parallels. Boxes because of this red hot rookie class are pushing to to $130 per box and some places much more.

The base cards are the best players of Series 1 and Series 2 including my new PC guy Aaron Judge. Despite his poor second half of the season, I still believe in him.

 

The base set is 200 cards and has the following key rookies, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Yoan Moncada, Dansby Swanson, Andrew Benintendi, Alex Bregman, Carson Fulmer, Hunter Renfroe, Jordan Montgomery, Trey Mancini, Ryon Healy, Jharel Cotton, Amir Garrett, Yulieski Gurriel, Josh Bell, David Dahl, Tyler Glasnow, and Manny Margot. 

I still don't have a Bellinger rookie currently.  

There are also base card variations to find in packs as well.

Topps Chrome provides plenty of refractors variety. These are the base versions.

Prism Refractors

Pink, you can barely tell these but the strip behind Renfroe gives it away and a cool looking negative refractor of De LEON.

And my best one of the box, a Blue Wave Refractor /75

 

Other parallels not found in my box include, Purple Refractor /299, Blue Refractor #/150, Green Refractor /99,Gold Refractor /50, Gold Wave Refractor /50, Orange Refractor /25, Red Refractor /5, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Now onto the inserts.

I had always wondered what an iconic older design would look like chromed, well, let me tell you, IT' LOOKS STINKIN AWESOME! These 1987 designs fall 1:6 packs and have versions of Green Refractor /99, Orange Refractor /25, Red Refractor /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Freshman Flash look super cool as well. These fall 1:12 packs and have the following parallels, Green Refractor /99, Orange Refractor /25, Red Refractor /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

This is probably my favorite insert design of 2017 Chrome, Future Stars. Looks really cool and falls 1:8 packs. The following parallels can be found as well, Green Refractor /99, Orange Refractor /25, Red Refractor /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Then and Now fall one per box or 1:24 and have the following parallels, Orange Refractor \/25, Red Refractor /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Now onto the hits. They were sad ones. My Topps breaks have been a bit tough this year.

At least the autographs are on-card:

 

OVERALL: Well, this box was a bit tough for the cost. I will say I had fun however as I always do with chrome. I think Chrome is one of those rare products where it's not just about the autograph hits. Sometimes the base card rookies and the parallels are the bigger hits. It's also a product in retail I would suggest over all others because of the value it provides there but for Hobby is a bit tougher. All products come with their risks but if you liked Topps Chrome before in the past, 2017 will not disappoint.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add cards to the MLB Pick Em promotion.  Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well.