REVIEW:2016 Topps Apex MLS Soccer (AUTO GIVEAWAY)

Last years collector's favorite Apex soccer makes its return again. This time bringing back some of last years favorites and new twists to this years.

This is my very first break of it and my thoughts on it are something you are going to have to READ ON to see...

In every 2016 Topps Apex Soccer hobby box are two mini boxes. A hobby box comes with 2 autographs and one Crest jumbo relic. However, if you were to buy just a mini box it would come with a variety of two hits or one. Hobby boxes of this product are very reasonable for $40 per so I expect more hobby boxes to be bought then mini boxes that are $22-$25 each. Each mini box comes with one silver pack of 32 cards.

The base cards are a combination of Topps Fire and Topps Valor in my opinion. The artsy brilliance that Topps Fire provided is an eye catcher on these and the combo of a rough background feel and glossy player in the forefront gives us the Topps Valor appeal. Overall, this looks great.

There are 100 base cards to collect with rookies including 2016 MLS SuperDraft #1 overall pick Jack Harrison (pictured below) and league's biggest stars and MLS newcomers.

Also look for various Rookie Short Prints featuring 1st round draft picks from the 2016 MLS SuperDraft! These will be cards #101-110.

 

It wouldn't be a Topps product without some parallel fun. This is a blue parallel /99 and these seem to be one per pack.

Other parallels you can find are...

• Green Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5
• Purple Parallel: numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1.

Inserts like these fall 3 Global Influence per pack. Gotta love the design of these with the players flag in the background. There are autograph versions of these too.

 

Golazo is the other insert set. Looks like one per pack.

 

These have parallels

• Green Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5
• Purple Parallel: numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1.

There are also Kick Exclusive Redemption Cards that you can unlock in the app. These cards are numbered to 25.

 

Now onto the hits! One mini box had one auto and one parallel. The other had one auto parallel and the memorabilia card.

For the first time in a Topps MLS set, there are some on-card autograph finds.

These are the base autographs I pulled.

 

This is a blue parallel /99

These have other parallels too.

• Green Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5.
• Purple Parallel: numbered 1/1.

There are also other autographs to find in the product. Here they are:

2016 ALL-STAR AUTOGRAPHS feature Members of the MLS squad who shirted up against Arsenal in July 2016

MATCH DAY DIE-CUT RELIC are tough pulls at 1 per hobby case. They also have a Red Parallel numbered to 5 and a Purple Parallel numbered 1/1.

Dual Autograph Cards featuring thematically paired MLS superstars

And my final hit is a really cool one, nice swatch /50

 

 

There are tons of other fun swatches to find too.

• Red Patch Parallel numbered to 5.
• Red Collar Parallel: featuring a prime multi-color piece from the jersey collar.
• Purple Shield Parallel that features the miniature MLS shields from the back jersey number tat are numbered 1/1
• Purple Team Parallel features a multi-color patch piece from the team name logo on jersey neck and are also numbered 1/1
• Purple ADIDAS Parallel is pretty obvious as it features the Adidas logo. These are also numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates feature a multi-color patch piece and are 1/1's.

My overall thoughts are simple. I like it. Great price on the product, nice looking cards and possible big hits waiting to happen. I think it's worth the risk and if you love MLS and collecting the cards, this is definitely a way to go. I have heard many other collectors rave about the Apex product and haven't seen any complaints.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Win this autograph card:

RULES:

1. Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to host this/these nice giveaways with. Follow them on all social media sites and visit their site, HERE, as well.
2. ***VERY IMPORTANT***MUST BE A U.S. RESIDENT to enter or have a shipping address in the U.S. Shipping costs have gone haywire and I can't afford to ship everywhere.This is always hard to do as I appreciate all readers but I hope you all understand non-U.S. readers.
3. Random winner will be chosen after 7 randoms
4. Card may be shipped PWE. I like to forewarn on this.
5. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW telling me ONE PRO AND ONE CON OF THE PRODUCT.
6. EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY FOR SHARING THIS CONTEST ON YOUR BLOG AND/OR ON TWITTER. Make sure to leave your link in comments too so I can count it. If not, I won't be able to give you the credit. Commenting with it is very important or you WILL LOSE OUT an extra entry!
7. Sport Card Collectors or it's owner (person who runs the blog), WILL NOT be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged mail. Sorry had to add this in since someone tried to scam me once about this.
8. Contest starts today, ends on October 1st 2016. Winner will be announced in a separate post on  October 2nd 2016
9. Don't forget to thank the above sponsor of this contest and I won't mind a thank you as well :)

Good luck to all that enter and thanks for reading!

REVIEW:2016 Topps Soccer And Autograph Giveaway!!

For the first time in my hobby career, I take a dive into a full hobby box of soccer cards. Now, it's not like I haven't ever opened soccer cards as I have opened plenty of packs before, but never a full box.

Let's see how things went.

 In every box of 2016 Topps soccer you should find the following,

• 24 Packs Per Box, 8 Cards Per Pack
• Insert per pack
• Two Autograph Cards per Box
• One Jumbo Relic Card per Box
• Boxes just under $75

Usually, I am not a huge fan of base cards designs like this with the player name in the middle of the card. But, with it being Soccer and the excitement that it brings fans and the announcers, I can feel the game with it being done this way. It's bright and bold.

 

I am a big fan of the open photography and team logo slant at the bottom of the base.

There are 200 cards in base set featuring veterans, rookies, team cards and “24 Under 24” up-and-coming players.

 

Topps also has a few subsets in the base set. These are the rookies

 

Here are the 24 under 24. This one is ranked #1

 

Team cards are here.

 

It also wouldn't be a Topps product without some form of base card sp's especially photo variations. These ones were easy to spot in packs as they were face down as you went through each card. They also fall roughly 3 per box or 1:8 packs. I think it's a nice addition and not really overdone.

 

Up to this point, I am pretty happy with what I see til I realized this whole time I was skipping over the parallels. I found these to be unnoticeable and really hard to distinct in the packs as the only thing separating them from the base was a shade of color in the background. Some of the backgrounds I really found myself looking because the photo angle had some purple or blue in the back adding on an extra challenge. In the end with comparing base and supposed parallels I got it figured out. I think either an added foil or changing the border on the bottom would have helped make these be a bit more distinct.

Here are the parallels you can find:

Blue: sequentially numbered
Orange: numbered to 25 (I pulled a rookie one below)
Red: numbered to 5  (only in retail so it adds a fun chase there)
Black: numbered 1/1
Printing Plates: numbered 1/1

 

Now onto the inserts. Last years product included the All-Stars in the base set as Sp's. I liked that more but these still work. My favorite design of the group was Presence Of The Pitch. Really like the stadium excitement in the background.

Just like the base cards, the inserts as well have parallels.

Here ya go:
Orange: sequentially numbered
Red: numbered to 5
Black: numbered 1/1
Printing Plates: numbered 1/1

 

I didn't find any in this box break.

Now onto the hits!

There were two autographs per box and I got just that. Both were base card ones and one was a parallel. Yes, the autographs have parallels too.

 

Green: sequentially numbered
Orange: sequentially numbered
Red: numbered to 5
Black: numbered 1/1

 

This is a green numbered parallel.

 

You can also find Admired Alumni Autographs and Focal Point Autographs and parallels.

 

Every box also has one memorabilia card. Great pull here of Clint Dempsey and it's also a patch (some dirt on it) and it's orange parallel #d to 25. 

 

Parallels for these memorabilia cards include:
Orange: sequentially numbered
Red: numbered to 5
Black: numbered 1/1
Printing Plates: numbered 1/1

 

Other memorabilia cards you can 
Team Colors: Designed to showcase a prime patch piece of the MLS Shield. HOBBY ONLY.
Sketch Patches: Artist-drawn player sketches that feature a multi-color jersey piece. Numbered 1/1.

Overall, there could be some value to find in here with the price point, three hits per box the Sp's and multiple parallel levels. If you are a fan of soccer, this is a good place to start collecting.

 

Now onto the contest.

You are entering to win THIS CARD:

 

IF WE CAN GET 25 ENTRIES ON THIS, A SECOND PLACE WINNER WILL TAKE HOME SOME PARALLELS/INSERTS

 

Now onto the small print.

1. Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to host this/these nice giveaways with. Follow them on all social media sites and visit their site, HERE, as well.
2. ***VERY IMPORTANT***MUST BE A U.S. RESIDENT to enter or have a shipping address in the U.S. Shipping costs have gone haywire and I can't afford to ship everywhere.This is always hard to do as I appreciate all readers but I hope you all understand non-U.S. readers.
3. Random winner will be chosen after 7 randoms
4. Card may be shipped PWE. I like to forewarn on this.
5. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW telling me your thoughts on this product
6. EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY FOR SHARING THIS CONTEST ON YOUR BLOG AND/OR ON TWITTER. Make sure to leave your link in comments too so I can count it. If not, I won't be able to give you the credit. Commenting with it is very important!!
7. Sport Card Collectors or it's owner (person who runs the blog), WILL NOT be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged mail. Sorry had to add this in since someone tried to scam me once about this.
8. Contest starts today, ends on Saturday, MAY 7TH 2016. Winner will be announced in a separate post on Sunday MAY 8th. 
9. Don't forget to thank the above sponsor of this contest and I won't mind a thank you as well :)

Good luck to all that enter and thanks for reading!