Show Box #3- 2015 Topps Finest

I bought two boxes from my favorite dealer, who I always try to buy something from at these shows. The first of the two boxes is 2015 Topps Finest. 

These Generations inserts look awesome in hand.

Short print

I like this base design a lot better than last year's.

Prismfractor

186/250

134/150

55/99

WOOOOO!!!!! CASE HIT!!!!

Great box!!

Show Box #2- 2013 Topps Mini

This was an odd box for me to buy, really. I stated before how much I dislike mini cards. I hate having to deal with all the minis you get when you bust GQ, A&G and the mini inserts Topps has put in flagship before. I already have the regular version of the card, why would I want another one but in miniature form? They just create storage problems. So obviously it is odd that I would buy this box. But after I had purchased everything I wanted I still had $25 left. Some people might just put it back in their pocket and leave or search out a few singles but not me. I want wax. Cheap wax in this case but wax nonetheless. One of the dealers that's always in attendance and I often buy from usually has some cheap older boxes. I noticed he had just one box of 2013 Mini with a price of $25. Nothing else on his table caught my eye and I was a little hesitant at first. But based on what I've see of the hobby box versions of mini it is an under-printed and also under-opened product. I say it's under-printed because low numbered parallels and printing plates are not difficult to pull. And of course Topps would keep a low print run for an online only product that they themselves have to sell rather than foisting it by the pallet load on to dealers and distributors. So I decided to go for the box. Afterall it guaranteed one hit and should contain a few parallels numbered under 100. It turned out to be a smart buy.

40/62

14/62

13/62

61/62

See what I mean? The gold parallels are the highest numbered parallels in the set at 62.

03/25

Each box contains one auto or relic.

Kinda boring for a hit but at least the jersey swatch has a pinstripe.

Oh an also..

I pulled a plate!!

Here's the back.

I own a couple others plates that I bought on eBay but this is the first one I've pulled myself and the second 1 of 1 I've ever pulled. 

So in conclusion I went into opening this box with low expectations and ended up quite happy with the results. This is actually kinda fun to open. The packs are not saturated with inserts like regular flagship. It's set up basically so that in every five packs you have three that are just base cards, one with an insert and one with a parallel. It reminds me a little more of cards around 2000 before you could buy a pack where only half the cards were regular base cards. 

This is not a product I would likely buy multiple boxes of because of storage limitations. But for a one off break it was enjoyable.

Show box #1- 2015 Topps Update jumbo

The dealer I bought this box from is usually $10-20 above Blowout prices. He didn't have a price on them and when I inquired about them he had to think about it. He said $89 a box. The current price on Blowout is $99.95. I got a good deal there. I didn't pull a case hit or anything but I still got some good cards.

Foil

31/64

48/50

I like how the borders on the color parallels are actually shiny.

The odds on the packs say that the Topps Originals stamped buybacks are seeded at 1:5 packs so I should have gotten two. Oddly enough I pulled seven of them, one in every pack that didn't contain a hit. I don't know if I just got a hot box for them, which seems kinda dumb, or if Topps just decided to put a lot more in after they had already printed the odds on the packs. Has anyone else run into this?

                                                 

This is my favorite insert set from Update. Baseball players are certainly known for having lots of funny and odd superstitions and this set highlights a few of them. For one, I had no idea that Chipper Jones would go into the clubhouse after batting practice and play computer solitaire until five minutes before game time and would do it before every single game.

Stats back variation

This card is HEAVY. And of course typical Topps putting the coin in crooked.

Topps is really good about filling flagship with autos from players I've never heard of. I think Johnny Cueto is the only good auto I've ever pulled from flagship.

47/50

Gold parallel, but a Yankee...meh.

And lastly..in one pack I pulled this card

Followed immediately by this card

This is maybe a $10 card at best based on eBay sales, but it was probably the best card in the box.

Black Friday Show

On Black Friday I went baseball card shopping at a card show. Like usual it was a blast! I love going to card shows. This time I only bought three singles, all relics.

This one fills both my Braves and my HoF relic PC. It's also abnormal in that it's a dual pitcher relic with bat pieces AND shows both of them batting.

Next up is another dual purpose relic for the Braves and HoF PC's.

We have a trend here.

Soon I will report on the boxes I busted, which all turned out well!

Redemption fulfilled

Awhile back I found a new LCS to check out and I bought the last pack from a jumbo box of 2015 Bowman Chrome. The pack contained a redemption for a James McCann rookie auto. Topps came through this week.

I wonder what the O in his signature stands for.