REVIEW:2021 Topps Chrome Baseball

For days now I will admit I have been sulking over the news of Fanatics taking over the card world grabbing up all of the licenses like they were the Grinch at Christmas time. I just hope their heart isn't two sizes too small and that they will give us what we all want, more Topps and especially more Topps Chrome. How they will be able to do that, well that's easy, buy Topps. If you want to keep long time collectors like myself happy, it's the best decision you can make.

I am not sure how I feel otherwise about one company monopolizing the hobby I am ever so passionate about. It's probably comparable to how I felt when Upper Deck lost all of their licenses, which made me feel like a little kid who had lost their favorite stuffed toy. I am still sad about that.

All we can hope for is the best from all of this news as the hobby has been in my life and probably yours a long time. Rooting it on otherwise would mean you aren't a collector in the first place. We want only success here.

In the meantime, I am going to try and enjoy my favorite Topps and Panini products like they are on their last life. And one of those products I get to review today in Topps Chrome.

Topps Chrome has been a yearly staple in my house since 1996 and it's a product my wife has heard me talk her ear off about since we got married. It's like that one favorite family member you look forward to seeing every year.

In every box of 2021 Topps Chrome baseball you will find yourself immersed with 24 packs of 4 cards. Hobby boxes like this one come with 2 autographs and boxes currently run around $220.

BASE:

Topps Chrome is simply chromed up Topps flagship cards, just a much more shortened checklist. It involves veterans and

Rookies in it's checklist. Topps Chrome rookies have been my favorite rookie cards, move over Bowman Chrome, since 1996.

There is 220 cards in this years base set to chase.

PARALLELS:

If you collect Topps Chrome, you know as well as I do, it's all about the refractors and this years edition there is no shortage of them.

Find the following parallels, Refractor, Sepia, Pink, Prism, Negative, Magenta /399, Magenta Speckle /350, Purple /299, Aqua /199, Aqua Wave /199, Blue /150, Green /99, Green Wave /99, Blue Wave /75, Gold /50, Gold Wave /50, Orange /25, Orange Wave /25, Red /5, Red Wave /5, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Refractor

Blue Wave /75

Purple /299

Magenta Sparkle /350

Prism

INSERTS:

Have you had enough refractors?? Most likely not, so here are some shiny inserts with the following parallels you may find! Green /99, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Prismic Power falls 1:24 packs with 15 cards to chase in the set

Future Stars fall 1:8 packs and has 20 cards to collect. These are probably my favorite insert from Chrome every year.

1986....yawn....inserts again fall 1:6 packs. There are 25 to collect if you aren't sick of their over usage yet lol.

And finally, a new Chrome insert in Beisbol that falls 1:12 packs with 15 cards to chase.

HITS:

2 autographs and they were....

Both rookie pitcher autos....sigh.....at least one was a refractor /499.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

For $220 this box fell way short of value, but it was so much fun to open. I hope to find some retail which is a cheaper option for that thrill.

Or you can jump in on a box break and land the team of chrome you want, may I suggest a breaker? Try out Coffee Breaks and save $10 off when you use the code, CoffeeBlog.

I sure hope to continue to see more Topps Chrome in my life. You got a friend in refractors.

Leave me your thoughts on the Fanatics deals and/or my box break below!

REVIEW:2021 Topps Allen and Ginter

Okay, okay, okay. I expect all of the hate to flow in on this one, but to be honest, that just means there is more for me. Give me all of your Allen and Ginter!

This product isn't about the baseball cards to me, this is about the oddity stuff.

It's about the non sport guys for me. The quirky inserts. The sometimes wacky base cards such as Egg, etc.

And for me, 2021 didn't disappoint in that nature.

In every 2021 Allen And Ginter is 24 packs of 8 cards. Each box has three hits and 24 mini parallels and boxes currently run $150.

Also inside of every box is a N43 Boxloader

And this was mine.

Can't say I was an overly huge fan of the box topper or design of it. I think a chromed box topper is much more interesting.

BASE:

The base set for Allen Ginter this year is built up of 300 cards and 50 short prints.

Players include legends of the game

Players of the future

and players of now.

And of course my favorite part of Allen Ginter,

The non sport guys. I was happy to find two (Biggs and Garlin) of the four I really wanted. Still need a Kevin Nehgandi and especially a Mark Anthony. Have one? Let me know!

This years also added some extra football guys which I believe started last year. I do find it odd for football to be included. This to me is a baseball/non sport/oddity product. I am not going to complain when you find young guys like Lawrence and Waddle. I would prefer a Topps football product in general though :) I miss those days and especially Topps Chrome.

And to end out my talk about the base, this card is just cool. Definitely a PC card.

INSERTS:

 

T51 Murad Reimagined has 50 cards to collect at 1:4 packs

Rallying Back has 10 cards to collect and falls 1:8 packs

Deep Sea Shiver has 16 cards to collect that falls 1:8 packs

Historic Hits falls 1:4 packs and has 50 cards to collect

Birds Of A Feather falls 1:8 packs and has 10 cards to collect

Arboreal Appreciation has 15 cards in the set that falls 1:8 packs.

Far Far Away mini insert falls 1:10 packs and has 15 cards to collect

World Leaders has 25 cards to collect and falls 1:50. One of the tougher minis to pull.

22 cards make up Mascots in Real Life and falls 1:50 cards.

Base mini cards fall 1 per pack

Allen Ginter back falls 1:5 packs

Black Border falls 1:10 packs

HITS:

I have never had much luck in finding more than relic cards in Ginter. I have NEVER EVER EVER PULLED a RIP card, that's a dream for me. And rarely ever have pulled an autograph.

Here are my hits this time which also includes a football one, 

(this is cool, material must be an suit?)

That's it for my hits. I wished I had pulled something non sport for them. Really want a Marc Anthony, Jason Biggs and a Jeff Garlin relic and auto.

Leave me your thoughts on this break below!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Ginter's price tag isn't really that bad considering other products on the market that promise three hits per. There are a lot of big hits to find including baseball and non sport.

I hope everyone keeps me in mind if they find any of the cards I am seeking out or even dupes of the non sport I already have.

CARDBOARD REVIEW:2020 Topps U.S. Olympic&Paralympic

I will admit I am not much of an Olympic watcher, so bare with me on this one.

But, that doesn't mean I don't root on our country participating in the big games and it doesn't mean I don't collect the cardboard from it.

So seeing Topps release another product based on the Olympics was an easy grab. Just like it was in 2016, which by the way, some singles from that set (specifically Simone Biles) go for a decent amount. These cards are nothing to shake off.

Let's see how I did,

In every box of 2020 Topps U.S. Olympic&Paralympic comes with 24 packs of 8 cards per pack. Each box comes with 3 hits, one guaranteed autograph, and boxes run $120 or so.

BASE:

The base set isn't like the regular flagship, which is nice. I like the design on this and think it fits perfectly for what they were aiming for.

There are 76 cards overall in the base set with some athletes getting two cards. It appears early on that the Nyjah Huston base card is going for decent amount.

PARALLELS

Just like in the 2016 inaugural edition of this set, there are parallels.

Here are this years offerings,

Bronze, Silver, US Flag /299, Gold /99, FoilFractor 1/1.

Bronze that falls 1 per pack

Silver that falls 1:4 packs. It was really hard to spot these unless you looked really close

THESE ARE AWESOME. American Flag parallel /299 fall 1:8 packs

I really dig the American Flag parallels, but think the 2016 parallels which were marked by a medal foil were much better.

INSERTS:

When you don't pull a hit, the packs are pretty standard in order. It goes 6 base, one parallel, then an insert or hit at the bottom of the pack. So if you are opening up the product and you are like myself and like surprises, don't ever look at the bottom card first.

Here are the inserts you can find.

New To The Games is exactly what it says. There are 13 of these to collect in the set.

Olympic Heroes celebrates 20 great athletes.

 

For Pride And Country was my favorite insert design of the group. I think the design is fun and there are 18 cards to collect.

HITS:

 

My first two hits are relics of fencing Alexander Massilass and of swimmer Ryan Murphy.

Speaking of Ryan Murphy, he was also my autograph hit.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

This was a fun break especially not knowing what to expect from it or what names I would see. I didn't actually even know this product was releasing after being delayed last year.

I think the price point isn't too bad looking at most products today with more than one hit. However, I will say there are quite a few duplicates you will get because of the small base card set.

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