Cardboard Review:2021 Topps Japan Edition

I am always interested in new products I may not always see where I live, this is where today's product Topps Japan falls.

I had heard of the product through tweets, but knew no details on this product until I did my research on it today.

So, if you haven't heard of this either, let's learn about this product together.

Every box of 2021 Topps Japan Edition comes with 24 packs of 10 cards. Each box has no guaranteed hits and boxes run about $90.

BASE:

The base set is the same as flagship, except much smaller at 220 cards and features the Japan flag on each base card.

PARALLELS:

You can find the following parallels including some new ones,

Cherry Blossoms /99, Jade Green /75, Purple /50, Gold /25, Red /5, and Platinum 1/1.

Purple /50 and Gold /25

Jade Green /75

Cherry Blossoms /99 (this is a cool parallel)

INSERTS:

You can find the following parallels,

Gold /25, Red /5, and Platinum 1/1.

MLB In Japan has 15 cards to collect

 

Japan Comes To MLB has 10 cards in all to collect

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Well, let's start with value as I always do as most collectors think about that first. Without a hit per box and it sitting at $90, it's not pretty when all you pull are a few parallels and inserts.

Thoughts outside of value, there was a ton of duplicates in my break. TONS. The base is kinda bleh with just a flag making the difference. I am happy though they came in with less parallels and even some new ones. It is also cool to see some new inserts and none using the 86 Topps design :) The parallels were nice; it just wasn't really that enjoyable as a break. I would prefer just picking up some of the parallels of my favorite players instead.

Comment below your thoughts on this product!

These Are Fun

 

I haven't opened much in terms of product in 2020, the biggest reason being the pandemic with crazy flippers and not doing reviews because of it, so when I get to see newer products its because of others.

I am very 50/50 on how I feel about products like Topps Archives when a companies take old designs and bring them back by putting newer players on them.

This years 2020 Archives was no different. It included Topps base card designs of 1955,1974 and 2002.

The one thing though that set this years apart from past years, is a subset known as Nickname Poster Cards.

When I found these in my box of goodies from Sport Card Collector reader Grady M, I was hooked. This is the kind of creativity I have been waiting for from Topps.

And calling them Poster cards is perfect.

 

I can picture going to a movie theater and seeing a movie poster hung up with the words, The Conductor starring Chris Sale.

Or one that says, Big Papi. One man's mission to over slug Fenway.

This is just a couple of the 14 card subset. Once again, a subset is a set within a base set. I just wanted to be clear these are not inserts.

Grady sent along a good portion of the subset and I was completely infatuated with them.

There are a few missing from the set and I hope to finish up the missing pieces. I want to get these updated on here soon.

Panini does a nickname parallel for their Donruss baseball but are not even close to as cool as these. I think this would make a great insert set and maybe a chromed version or foil would bring these even more to the next level.

I will say though, these seem like an odd fit for this product or at least part of the base set that built upon Topps history. As far as I know, I could definitely be wrong, I don't know of any nickname cards in 1955,1974 or 2002 Topps base sets.

What do you guys think of these? Cool? Nah? Ugly as sin? Mind blowing?

Fantastic Finish

And we have finally reached the end of the cubes sent by Wes from Area 40. Today's finale is a three cube break.

First cube topper is this sweet red sparkle parallel. Not sure why Topps stopped doing their parallels like this. They could choose a rainbow of colors and I would want to chase them all!

JFK,

And Screech. No, not that one from Saved By The Bell. The Mascot of the Nationals. There were tons of Mascot cards in these cubes.

Pope Paul kicks off the inner parts,

Followed by a Frank Thomas Score rookie

Then a 1996 Pinnacle Derek Jeter "rookie". I used to think these were real true rookies, but they are not. Jeter is a 1993 rookie.

First time I have seen one of these 90's parallels from Prism. Early cracked ice? Only 480 of these out there! That's not too many compared to today's bigger numbered stuff.

JFK. This time a framed parallel

More autograph love. Some good ones I know in here like Danny Graves and Andy Ashby

Michelle Steele relic. I am always looking to add to my non sport PC and even though a sportscaster, it counts.

John will...John will...ROCKer you! Guy was quite the personality if my memory serves me right. But, he was pretty good to.

Shiny Matt Cain rookie.

90's insert add! Not sure who Rob Deer is, but it works for my PC.

Mark McGwire Crusade. Some of Panini's best looking cards.

Ken Griffey Jr new adds,

This one was one of my favorite cards out of all of the cubes. Spectacular looking card all around.

And finally, my first time ever seeing one of these out of the hundred StarQuests I have in hand, this is one of the Rares. I literally have never seen one. Now I own one.

Well that does it. Thanks for this trip with me to see what fun was found in these cubes. Wes could very easily market these things with so much awesomeness inside.

Thanks again Wes for this mail day. I am still blown away by all of it and revisiting it through posts took me back through it all over again and I loved it as much the second time.

I Love It When You Call Me Big Papi

Well, I showed off Cube 2 earlier this week from my box of goodies from Wes and said maybe next week for Cube 3.

After looking at what my options were for posts this week, well, I didn't have any. I had no incoming mail days. I have some trades in the works, but none are in stone. So until something comes in or I get inspiration to write another Origins post, I will be posting more of the cubes til then.

Today's cube had a nice ending to it but let's check out what was between the cardboard.

This was the card on top of the cube. Autographed so a good start.

Big Unit! I was always a fan of his and in the mid 90's when Randy had his long hair whipping around all sweaty he reminded me of my father when we would play baseball together. My father had let his hair go for awhile and his facial features and lanky body were just like Randy's. Of course my father's arm was nowhere near Unit's.

Another Scherzer rookie in these cubes.

A few other rookies including Carlos Beltran. We all know I dig my rookies.

A couple of David Ortiz cards.

There's another chicken find in here!

Liked the micro-etching on this Schmidt/Carlton. Very cool looking card.

Ichiro and a Moose. Fun photo.

A few more autographs including the card on the top of the cube.

Cosart All Star game material. I like the fun not your average jerseys.

And to end this cube, yes, your eyes are seeing what I see. A 1997 David Arias (Ortiz) rookie card! I have been wanting one of these for some time and that's coming from a Yankees fan. I sometimes wonder if I had one of these at one point as I bought ton of Ultra back in the day but probably got misplaced in a few moves. But, now I know for certain that I do!

That's it for Cube 3. Remember when I show these off, I am only showing off the key cards from each and not everything or this post could go on and on.

Another cube reveal coming up tomorrow!

First Trades Are Always The Biggest

@StephenJFurlong, and I have been Twitter buddies for awhile now. Fellow NY Giants fans too.

Recently he was moving some cards and contacted me about a possible trade. I wasn't sure what to expect him to pull out and offer my way but when I finally saw the gallery of magic, I knew we would have to work out a major trade.

So we did.

In this trade, I hit major PC areas, crossed a major autograph off from my want list (posting tomorrow) and grabbed some fun cards just because.

So let's take a look at the big chunk of the mail day today and lead up to the bigger "meats"of tomorrow.

Chipper and Vlad. I really liked Vlad and can't explain why so when I saw this bat relic I grabbed it. As for Chipper, I wanted it to use as a trading piece.

Same goes for these Red Sox cards even though I did like the Ortiz bat relic. But, I have a major trade going on with a Red Sox fan and needed more pieces for the trade to try and complete it.

Two more players I enjoyed from the 90's. My father-I wonder if I have a picture-looked like Randy Johnson from the 90's with the longer scraggly hair and he is a bit tall. Gwynn I just enjoyed because he was a great player that didn't get enough recognition.

I always like adding a guy's autograph in Cooperstown and a new Yankee relic add with a pants swatch from Reggie. Love my pinstripe relics.

 

Another fun vintage add. Well, vintage player. I like older player relics.

I really liked this Jorge Posada relic. I didn't have a relic of his besides a bat one. The Manny relic is for my Sox fan.

Eddie George was another one of those 90's guys. Maybe I should just start a 90's guys PC after this mail day. I just snagged them for fun.

Stephen threw a bunch of extras in the trade which I didn't separate out on here. Examples are of former Giants like Derek Hagan. My first autograph of his.

More 90's guy love

And some more former NY Giants adds. I like the Pascoe and Hixon autographs.

Travis Beckham looked good the few times he played. Just never completely panned out at TE. I always kept him on Madden and used him because of his 84 Spd.

A couple more former Giants. Thomas was an on and off player and Rivers only played a little while for the Gmen. I was pretty happy to have him the short time they did. This dual relic is pretty sweet.

Warrick was a huge name back when he was drafted but never quite lived up to all of the hype not like Jevon Kearse. Offenses feared him. This is my first relic of his.

more freebies Stephen threw in. Owens, Roy Williams (safety), Steve Smith (Panthers WR, and Antonio Gates relics.

A few more freebies along with an Alstott that I claimed. I just wanted a relic of his and hopefully an autograph one day. 90's guy.

90's autographs, just 'cause.

Kevin Faulk was the best of the 90's autographs I grabbed. He had a few decent seasons in New England. I always had a thing for the '99 Collectors Edge Advantage.

And for the finale of part one, some more 90's freebies! Maybe I should add the Powerdeck disks to my Sets Of My Childhood.

 

If you enjoyed Part 1 gallery, well, stay tuned for Part 2 as that is going to get even bigger.