2018 Topps WWE Heritage Hobby Box Break

Topps WWE Heritage follows a similar pattern to baseball, but it is not quite as constrained.  While baseball follows year by year, 50 years in the past, baseball seems to skip around a little bit not.  In recent years, we’ve seen 1985 style, leading to 1986 and 1987.  This year, however, they skip 1988 and go right to 1989.  They even add in a little surprise.

While it was in the middle of the junk wax era, the 1989 Topps design is still pretty popular for it’s clean layout. It really brings something to this release.  The base contains 110 cards, plus an additional 9 updated roster cards, found only in retail.  The original design for team leaders is including as an insert set consisting of tag teams and stables.  We also see a small insert set for 2017 Rookies.  Perhaps the best part is an insert set I didn’t expect.  The set features legends on the Topps Big style from that period.  It really adds something to the set, with a design that doesn’t feel as overused as a lot of the others.

Continue reading 2018 Topps WWE Heritage Hobby Box Break

2018 Topps Chrome Hobby Box Break

It feels a little bit like Topps Chrome is getting away from being a truly unique release, and instead being almost a re-release of Flagship now.  The Ohtani craze is still going on, which is causing this release to be at a bit of a premium right now, but it seems to be waning a little bit.  When compared to some of the recent releases, this one seems almost reasonable.

The base set features 200 cards including hot rookies and veterans.  It mirrors the regular flagship release, but has different images.  There are a large number of parallels, as you would expect with a Topps release.  Most of the insert sets included also parallel inserts from the base release, including 1983 Topps, Future Stars, and Superstar Sensations.   A hobby box advertises 24 packs with 4 cards per pack, including 2 autographs per box.

This box contained:

Continue reading 2018 Topps Chrome Hobby Box Break

2018 Topps Allen & Ginter Hobby Box Break

The 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter release follows the same pattern that we’ve come to expect.  It features old time players, current players, and an assortment of pop culture figures, things, and places.  I’ve heard some rumbling about how some of the relics available in the release are not actually real (like one from the Kraken!), but they seem popular none the less.

The set is the same format once again, containing 300 Base cards and an additional 50 SPs (301-350).  Unlike a lot of other releases, while these SPs are shorter, they’re still attainable falling one in every two packs.  You’ll also find a random assortment of insert sets featuring the likes of the World’s Hottest Peppers, the World’s Greatest Beaches, and Baseball Equipment of the Ages.

Continue reading 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter Hobby Box Break