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!

Mosaic

Sometimes desperate times in the hobby, calls for desperate measures. Sometimes those measures can be costly, but still feel worth it.

That's where today's blaster box of 2021 Mosaic baseball comes into play.

I really enjoyed the design and jazz the football and basketball versions brought, so when I saw this blaster box of Mosaic sitting on the Walmart shelves, I had to give it a go. Well, honestly that's a lie. I spotted these three times at Walmart. The first time I saw the price tag of $35 and kept walking. The second time I felt a little itch and at least picked up the box to look at but then set it down and kept walking. The third time I took some Dramamine to prevent myself from throwing up to pay the $35 for a blaster box.

And here we are.

Each of these 2021 Mosaic blasters comes with 7 packs of 4 cards. Then an extra pack of four cards which are Mosaic Blue Camo Parallels along with one Silver Prizm and One Mosaic Parallel. There is also Green Parallels too. I won't mention the price....holding back throwup....again..

I waited a few days on this blaster at home before having one of those rainy days where I craved to open it.

The base set looks like the football and baseball ones. Very chromed and nice if you can push past the non-logos.

Here were my Silver (Freeman) and Silver Mosaic (Karinchak). These look really good.

The green parallels I found were the following,

I can't complain about a rising player and the league's MVP.

My inserts were the following,

Big Fly Goldschmidt and Debuts Madrigal (yes Oren, this is heading your way)

Will To Win. There was a green Mike Yaz.

Producers and Vintage

Hot Sauce

Aces. What a great looking insert and kind of a throwback to the 90's.

But what makes them even better, is when they are parallels.

Speaking of parallels, the last pack in the box was the Blue Camo parallels,

 

These look even more stunning in hand. The lightbox did a decent job though at capturing them for the most part.

And that's it. $35 well...sp..spppp..sppppppppeee.....well $35 spent. I will say it was fun though.

Let me know in comments your thoughts on this product, the cost of it and if you have busted any.

Cardboard Review:2021 Topps Update Hobby Box

Baseball season is over, but not the baseball card releases which is great news for collectors!

Today I am breaking a box of 2021 Topps Series 3..I mean Update.

In every hobby box of 2021 Topps Update baseball has 24 packs of 14 cards. Each box has either an autograph or relic and box prices run around $80.

Each box also comes with a hobby exclusive silver pack that has more of those 86 Topps designs.

Here are the parallel offerings,  Black /199, Blue /150, Green /99, Purple /75, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Pulled a nice Black parallel of KeBryan Hayes! Other than that, not much to show.

BASE:

The base set is built up of 330 cards and uses the same design as Series 1 and 2. Players who were traded are also updated in their new uniforms.

 

As always, Update brings the fun with it's subsets.

 

Here's another. There are also All-Star and No Hitter subsets

To go along with Rookie Debut and of course the best part for me in Update, the rookie cards.

PARALELLS:

You can find the following parallels for Topps Update,

Rainbow Foil, Gold Foil, Gold /2021, Green Foil /499, Advanced Stat /300, Orange Foil /299, Red Foil /199, Vintage Stock /99, Independence Day /76, Black /70, Platinum Anniversary /70, Mother’s Day Hot Pink /50, Father’s Day Powder Blue /50, Memorial Day Camo /25, 70th Anniversary 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1

 

Rainbow Foils fall 1:10 packs

Gold /2021

Orange Foil /299

Green Foil /499

INSERTS

Topps Black Gold. There are 25 cards in the set to collect and they are niiiiiiiiiiiiice.

More 1986 design to celebrate 35 years of it. I feel like this insert has gone on for 35 years. There are 50 cards in this set to collect.

70 cards, 70 years, this set has it all

 

There are 20 cards to collect in Platinum Players die cut.

HITS:

Just like my luck with both flagship series, I hit a relic. Which is what you will find 9 out of 10 times unless you decide to go Jumbo that actually guarantees autographs.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Just like my thoughts with flagship, I am not a fan of the hobby box layout with only one hit and that one hit being a relic most of the time. Steep price for it as well. With that being said, I have always preferred retail blasters for both flagship series and update. It lands me the rookie cards I want for my collection which is what these types of products have always been about.

One more thing, NO MORE 86 TOPPS!

On a positive note, I really like the parallels in Update. They are shiny and attractive. There are also plenty of great photography in the base and subsets that helps bring you closer to the game. Or me at least who hasn't been to a game in almost 10 years.

Your thoughts below on Topps Update are welcomed below!

Cardboard Review:2021 Topps Museum Collection Baseball Master Box

Baseball season is chugging along and so aren't the baseball card releases.

A few products have already dropped this month and none of them excited me more than seeing Museum Collection.

I haven't had a lot of luck with the product in the past, but let's see how it goes this time.

 

In every master box of 2021 Topps Museum Collection, there are 4 mini box packs per master with each one coming with 5 cards and 1 hit. Each master box comes with one of the following:

On-card Autograph
Autograph Relic
Relic
Quad Relic

Each Master Box is $320 or so.

BASE:

The base set is the standard design of Museum Collection, not much has changed in years.

It includes veterans, legends

And rookies of the game. The base set overall is 100 cards.

PARALLELS:

Parallels are found in pretty much every product these days, so even a high end product like Museum has them.

But, unlike a lot of other products there aren't so many offerings. You can find the following, Copper, Sapphire /150, Amethyst /99, Ruby /50, and Emerald 1/1.

Copper

Sapphire /150

 

Amethyst /99

INSERTS:

50 cards make up the only insert set in Museum Collection in 2021 Reproduction Canvas Collection. I got a "Big Hurt" with my pull :)

HITS:

The main basis of a high end product like Museum Collection are the hits and there are plenty to find.

And boy did my Master Box start off HOT! Beautiful 3-color swatch of Superstar Fernando Tatis Jr.

Then, it was a drop off from there. At least to me.

Quad relic of Brewers /25

Dustin May autograph (pitcher auto, ugh)

Nate Pearson on-card autograph (another pitcher auto, double ugh. But this guy has been stalking me in 2021)

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Well, I was feeling good about the start of this break until I opened more than one pack. Haha! Even though I have never faired that well with Museum, I still like the product a lot. Solid design, some amazing hits to be found with a great autograph checklist.

I know most will immediately turn their heads when they see the price point, but this is one of those products I would suggest jumping in on a box break for.

I welcome your thoughts below.

Breakin' Wax:2021 Diamond Kings Baseball Four Hanger Boxes

 Playing the game of toggle on the blogs and taking my mini vacation has led me to being way behind on posts.

Whether those posts are trades, pickups or even box breaks, I am behind.

So let's catch up on a few of those starting today with four hanger boxes of 2021 Diamond Kings baseball.

We all know how hard it is to find retail now-a-days and how if any of us who actually buy retail to open it find any, we buy it. That was the case with the Diamond Kings for me. I am not actually an overly huge fan of the product, but it was sitting there and everyone says hangers are better than blasters so I grabbed em.

Each hanger box of 2021 Donruss Diamond Kings comes with 20 cards per hanger box. The boxes come with an exclusive red border parallel per hanger and each hanger if I remember correctly was $11 each.

The base set for Diamond Kings comes with 170 with a mix of 

Legends of the game

Veterans and Short Prints (Cal Ripken)

along with future stars.

And of course some actual Diamond Kings. These definitely are not the ones from the 90's.

There are not a lot of parallels in Diamond Kings, but a few. Each one of my Hangers came with an Artist Proof and Red Border.

Here are the overall parallels,

ARTIST PROOF PARALLELS: AP Blue, AP Gold /49, Litho Proof /25, AP Masterpiece 1/1.
FRAMED PARALLELS: Blue, Gray, Plum, Red, Wood FOTL /15, Black Masterpiece 1/1, Litho Proof and Black Masterpiece 1/1.

This is an Artist Proof which is just a stamped Artist Proof on the card.

Red Bordered.

There are a handful of inserts in Diamond Kings and I found a variety of them in each hanger.

Gallery Of Stars (solid names)

Legacy Lithographs (once again, not bad names)

Aficionado

Artists Palette (my favorite design of the inserts)

And I was hoping for a huge memorabilia hit or an autograph of a superstar in those four boxes,

 

But one of that happened. At least I pulled a hit and it does have a stripe in the relic. Card also looks nice that's always an extra bonus.

That does it for four hangers worth of Diamond Kings. There's not a lot of big finds there but it was fun being able to open some.

Let me hear your thoughts on the break and the product below in comments!