After a treacherous 2017 football season in which my Giants were the laughing stock of the NFL, I had to witness a Super Bowl with two of my most hated teams and see the eventual winner come from my teams division, it was more than time for baseball season.
And nothing kicks off baseball season more than seeing the first baseball card release. This to me is the start of baseball season.
I can picture it now, the smell of fresh cut grass, the sound of a ball hitting a catchers mitt and the crack of the bat smashing a ball out of the stadium. Oh boy. Summer and baseball right around the....hold on. Then I look out my window and see the new fresh 12 inches of snow and try to brush it off.
At least for now, I have Series 1 to reflect on.
The base set which is 350 cards deep, has modernized their design just like the last few years. I saw so many complaints about this years design and the boycotting of the product. Now let's be honest, you're gonna buy some at some point and realize the design is actually pretty darn cool. I thought the design when it was first released was okay, but seeing it in person it grew on me fast and I have actually seen those who said they were boycotting it actually enjoying it after seeing the design in person.
You can call it ride the wave, I think that's a good way to put it, but I think it looks like a graphic off from MLB Network. The one thing these type of designs without borders leads to, it lets us see some amazing photography.
Here are some of my favorites along with the subsets within the product.
Brett is diving right on in!
Wall Crashes!
Matt Kemp gives his base card a thumbs up!
World Series, Future Stars, and Nicknames
League Leaders. Sadly this was my only Judge base of the three offered in the product.
And team cards. These all have amazing photography.
The rookies are in here too. Who will be this years Aaron Judge? It's important to snag these guys early.
And just like with past Topps releases, there is lots of photo variations. This years comes pounding with over 100 of them. I do think that's a bit much. I would much rather prefer six really tough SSP's instead.
Luckily tho, these are easy to spot thanks to the codes again on the back of the cards. Base cards end in 87.
Sp's like this Billy Hamilton I found,
end in 43
There are also SSP's that end in 44.
Now here is probably the only part of the product I didn't care much about, the parallels especially the Gold ones I found. The problem without borders is figuring out how to do these parallels they provide. Honestly, this wouldn't be the way I would do them. Very hard to spot unless you really are looking. I think you either gold it up like 1995 Fleer Ultra Gold Medallions or you simply go back to old Topps days and gold the names and logos. This background didn't work for me.
The foil Parallels are a bit different as they are easy to spot because of their shine.
Other parallels include,
- Vintage Stock Parallel numbered to 99.
- Independence Day Parallel numbered to 76.
- Black Parallel numbered to 67
- Mother's Day Pink Parallel numbered to 50.
- Father's Day Blue Parallel numbered to 50.
- Memorial Day Camo Parallel numbered to 25.
- Clear Parallel numbered to 10
- Negative Parallel
- Platinum Parallel 1/1.
- Printing Plates 1/1.
Now onto the inserts. Most of these have parallels of, Blue Parallel, Black Parallel ,Gold Parallel, Red Parallel and Platinum Parallel.
I really like the Superstar Sensations inserts. Great design. Something I could see being done with a base set down the road. Topps Fire maybe...These fall 1:8 packs
Topps celebrates the 35th Anniversary of this iconic design that fall 1:4 packs.
Topps Now celebrating the most sold cards from the program. Looks like they fall a couple per box.
MLB Awards capturing the players who won 2017 awards. Pulled a Judge! These fall 1:8 packs
Topps Salute that celebrates events during the 2017 season like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, top rookies and Jackie Robinson Day. I wasn't a fan of the design of these or the inclusion unless they were done differently. Felt like subset cards to me. I pulled a ton as well and they fall 1:8 packs. Felt more like 1:3
This is a pretty cool promo. Find one of these cards in packs,
Choose the game you think they will hit a home run. If they do, you win a prize and are entered into the grand prize drawing for a trip to the 2019 Home Run Derby. Pretty stinkin cool. Anyone want to help pick a game for Jake Lamb?
Now onto the hit,
I pulled a MLB ALL-STAR GAME MEDALLION CARDS of Mookie Betts, These actually fall 1:1000+ so it's a decent tough pull. Sometimes I prefer to see cards like this instead of the usual plain color game used swatch I normally land.
Other hits, all with parallels, to be found in here include,
TOPPS REVERENCE AUTOGRAPH PATCH CARDS:,MAJOR LEAGUE MATERIAL AUTOGRAPH 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, MLB AWARDS AUTOGRAPH PARALLEL CARDS
CUT SIGNATURE CARDS, 1983 TOPPS BASEBALL AUTOGRAPH CARDS, WORLD SERIES CHAMPION RELIC CARDS, POSTSEASON PERFORMANCE RELIC CARDS, IN THE NAME RELIC CARDS, SKETCH CARDS, MAJOR LEAGUE MATERIAL RELIC CARDS
and MLB SPRING TRAINING LOGO PATCH CARDS.
OVERALL: I can never truly tell how I feel about Series 1. My box probably didn't get full value back but I had a lot of fun and was ready to dig into the new baseball card season. Isn't that really what it's all about? It really isn't much of a gamble and is offered in many forms even if you don't want to gamble hobby box wise. I have seen some good retail hits as well.
I have also heard/seen collation in this years product is perfect. Not many doubles at all. Which makes a purchase even more valuable.
If you are one of the ones who protested this years design, I promise you it's not that bad and I think you will enjoy it. So listen to Troy who is pointing in the right direction so you will go grab yourself some.
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 a future to be announced baseball promo! Follow Topps on all social media sites and check out their website HERE for cards and more!
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