CARDBOARD REVIEW:2019 Topps High Tek Baseball

We are not only creeping towards the Christmas season, we are also creeping towards the end of the 2019 Topps Baseball Card season. Can't believe another year will be soon and gone.

One of the late season releases I look forward to is Topps High Tek. I love acetate and foil designs even if I can't figure out what level they are til I do lots of research. The design is just appealing.

The latest groovy High Tek just released so let's give it a look.

 (yes I know the background behind the box may be too festive for some too early in the month) In every master box of 2019 Topps High Tek baseball there are three mini boxes. In every mini box there are six cards including one autograph. There are three autographs per master box. Boxes are roughly $115 per.

BASE CARDS

The base set is as confusing as usual. There are 112 cards in the base set, what an odd number, with a mix of legends, rookies and veterans. How this base set is broken down other than the fact the base cards have three different versions and each version has their own parallels.

PARALLELS: 

Overall look at the parallels:

White, Blue, Green /150, Purple /99, Pink /75, Black /50, Orange /25, Red /10, and Gold 1/1. 

White background falls 1:1 packs even though this is the only one I found. Not a bad one to find however.

Blue also fall 1:1 packs. I assume the blue now must replace the white when you don't pull one of those. A nice PC Griffey Jr card find here.

 Green parallels fall 1:4 mini boxes. Solid pull here.

Pink falls 1:7 packs or mini boxes.

Black falls 1:10 mini boxes.

INSERTS:

Inserts have the following parallels,
Orange /25 and Gold SpecTEKular Diffractor 1/1. 

PortraiTEK Set Checklist. I don't remember inserts in the past for this product. But, if they all look like this Ripken Jr, they are beautiful! This one falls 1:49 packs or mini boxes. So pretty much 1:16 master boxes.

HITS:
ON CARD autographs throughout with mix of vets, rookies and legends. All you can hope is that you can land one.

Autographs have the following parallels,
Purple /99, Pink /75, Black /50, Orange /25, Red /10, and Gold 1/1.

 McCullers auto

 Keller rookie auto

Lindor redemption auto. Best hit of the box was a redemption. I do wished Lindor would stop stalking me. How come Mike Trout or Ken Griffey Jr can't???

Other hits not found in my box but could be in yours includes,

• CelebraTEK Autographs
• Future TEK Autographs
• PortraiTEK Autographs
• ReflecTEK Autographs
• TEK Buyback Autographs

Find the complete checklist for 2019 Topps High Tek, HERE.

Here is the odds information,

OVERALL THOUGHTS:Well, my hits weren't the greatest, but I sure do love the look of this product and it is fun to open. I think the three packs format instead of the 40 cards honestly isn't as much fun. I liked digging through a big stack to find it's creamy center. I think for me, this is more of a player collecting product. So I would look at grabbing all of the Ken Griffey Jr's and parallels, variations, etc.

There are also a ton of big hits and I have seen a few pulled on Twitter in Trout and Ichiro.



If you want in on a box break without paying box prices, I suggest Midwest Box Breaks as they pull fire!

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to add more cards to a future giveaway I will be hosting. Please follow me there to enter @SportCardCollec. Also follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well  

REVIEW:2018 Topps High Tek (GREAT BREAK!)

Bringing back those late 90's feels, Topps High Tek returns again for 2018 and I have no complaints about that. Well, except trying to figure out all of the pattern madness which is something I am still working on since the 90's.

This break was a really good one and you will see why as you read on!

 

In every box of of 2018 Topps High Tek baseball you will find 40 cards in one pack. There are two autographs and boxes run just under $100.

I can't explain the base card patterns. But, I have pictured the different ones I found in my box including the diffractors. There are four total designs for each AL and NL making up a grand total of 8 different base card level finds. If that makes any sense to you.

I suggest checking out Cardboard Connection HERE for more help on these.

Overall the base card set contains 112 cards of legends, veterans and rookies.

From my research, this appears to be a High Tek Pattern Variation of Ronald Acuna Jr from the NL design. Not a bad player to find like that and not the first you will hear of this name in this break.

Other rookies I found in the box,

Parallel finds in this box provided some serious heat!

Here is the overall look at the parallels and how they line up,

RAINBOW FOIL PARALLELS: Blue#/150, Green /99, Black /50, Orange /25, Red /10, and Gold 1/1.

MAGMA DIFFRACTOR PARALLELS: Green /99, Black /50, Orange /25, Red /10, and Gold 1/1.

ORBIT DIFFRACTOR PARALLELS: Black /50, Orange /25, Red /10,and  Gold 1/1.

GALACTIC DIFFRACTOR PARALLELS: Orange /25, Red /10, and Gold 1/1.

Ozzie Albies who also could have been ROY, green /99

I told you we weren't done with Acuna, Black /50!

And if that wasn't enough for you, here is a red /10! Whoa~! These were found back to back in the pack.

A couple other parallels in the box in blue Dejong and green Mays.

Now onto my autograph finds,

Aaron Altherr was my first one.

And then this Red Orbit Diffractor autograph of Yadier Molina /10!!

Other hits not found in my box but could be in yours,

• Black and White Image Variation Autograph
• PortraiTEK Autograph
• PyroTEKnics Autograph
• Rookie TEK Autograph
• Tek Buyback Autographs
• PortraiTEK
• PyroTEKnics
• Rookie TEK

OVERALL: Well, not sure if all boxes provide the boom like this one did with the Acuna parallels and the autograph /10 but I am pretty pleased with this break to say the least. The black Acuna parallel probably makes up the box value on it's own. Same goes for the Molina as well.

There are lots of big names in the autograph checklist  with legends, veterans and rookies included. Lots of valuable parallels to chase to. I think the only downside for me is once again the base cards where I can't tell the differences very well. I will probably need to do more serious studying on it.

I suggest if you like Tek before, you will definitely again.

If you can't afford to break a whole box, I suggest getting into a box break and I suggest using Midwest Box Breaks who pull the big cards. They have Topps High Tek one going on now and have affordable prices. Did I mention they always pull the heat? Your mail box will burn down with these guys fire.. Go grab yourself a spot in their 2018 Topps High Tek break HERE.

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 Topps Of The Month promotion. Enter now!.  Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well.

REVIEW:2017 Topps High Tek (BONUS AUTO!)

Not along ago, a prospect focused Bowman High Tek was released and now it's time to get the veterans and rookies from 2017 their due in Topps High Tek.

Topps High Tek brings all of the foil patterned fun and packs it into a 40 card box. So let's take a dive in for this Topps latest product.

 

In every box of 2017 Topps High Tek baseball, you will find 40 cards. Two of those 40 will be signed on-card and there will be 4 others that are blackout parallels. Boxes run over $120 currently. 

Here is the complicated part of the product. The base set has many levels of rarity and patterns for its 112 cards. In this one box alone, I found 12 different patterns.

Your best luck to spot the differences like I did is to use this guide on Cardboard Connection to help you check out the differences. You can find that HERE.

As for the look, I really dig the design on these with rainbow acetate and foil patterns. But, the best part is the added photo sideways pic. It just adds to the overall appeal.

 

The man! I have two of many but it's a great start. Some of the coolest looking juniors I have added this year.

 

Here are the backs of the cards. I don't normally point out card backs, though I do appreciate them, but had to show you how great these look as well.

 

The base set also has 5 Sp photo variations that are called Clubhouse Image Variations. These are numbered to 50. There are autographs of those as well.

 

Now time to talk parallels. If you liked the base, the parallels are an amped up version of the base.

Tidal Diffractor /250:

 

Green Rainbow /99

 

Blackout parallels which are 4 per box and look even sweeter than the base. These stand way out when you pull them out of the box.

 

Here are the backs as you would expect they are blacked out.

 

Other finds for parallels include, Blue Rainbow /75, Orange Magma Diffractor /25, Red Orbit Diffractor /10, and Gold Galactic Diffractor 1/1.

Now time for the autographs that added a bit of a surprise.

My first autograph is of David Price. It's a Blackout parallel /50

 

My second Autograph is of rookie Christian Arroyo

 

Then a couple of base cards later and I found this sweet bonus! This was only my second ever redemption card find from Topps unlike Panini where I have had 20+.

 

 

Other parallels for the autographs include, Green Rainbow /75, Blue Rainbow /50, Orange Magma Diffractor /25, Red Orbit Diffractor /10, and Gold Galactic Diffractor 1/1.

 

Other hits not found include, Jubilation, Jubilation Autographs, Rookie Tek ,Rookie Tek Autographs, TwiliTEK , TwiliTEK Autographs and Tek Buyback Autographs.

 

OVERALL, even with the tough-to-tell-the-difference patterns, this was probably one of my more fun breaks this year. I enjoyed looking at every card spotting the fun patterns and the players. I really like the players chosen for the set as it's a great mix of old and new.

I do think a lot of collectors will be turned off by so many variations and then parallels in this product as that's always a concern with collectors I have seen on forums and Twitter.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review as they help provide prizes for me to giveaway in a new promotion coming up soon for the holidays! Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well