Category Archives: Hobby Box

2020, Baseball, Hobby Box, Topps Big League

2020 Topps Big League Hobby Box Break

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This entry level product returns for another year, after a bit of a delay due to the global pandemic. It’s the same basic card set, but this time the complete base set has been reduced to 300 cards. The configuration of the box has also changed a bit. Instead of the standard 24 packs per box from years past, this year we see 18 packs of 10 cards. The price seems to have dropped a similar amount, so all is not lost.

There are possible hits in this product, but that’s not really what drives it. A hobby box does not contain any hits, but it does come with a few parallels and insert cards. Overall, it’s a fun little set to collect that won’t set you back nearly as much as most of the other regular releases.

This box contained:

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2020, Baseball, Hobby Box, Topps Stickers

2020 Topps MLB Stickers Hobby Box Break

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This is an interesting release. There was a lot of confusion regarding this release. and the released checklists don’t really seem to address the questions very well. The box mentions 237 stickers to collect, and that’s true, but also a bit misleading.

The majority of stickers are full card sized, with a player card on the back. Some, such as those featuring trophies, have two stickers on one card, while the mascot stickers are one quarter of the size of the card. The original checklist also has four numbers not listed. It turns out these four stickers are included in the sticker album, and not available in packs. There are no hits or other inserts in this set. It’s a basic level set, that can be collected for the stickers in the album or for the cards on the back. It appears that a given sticker always has the same card back, but the numbers do not match.

A box advertises 50 packs with 4 stickers per pack. If they’re going to advertise the set as 237 stickers, that is pretty misleading. A pack contains 4 cards with up to 4 stickers on each card.

This box contained:

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2020, Box Break, Hobby Box, Star Wars

2020 Topps Star Wars Women of Star Wars Hobby Box Break

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The global pandemic has delayed a lot of things, including many trading card releases. For me, this release wasn’t delayed, but the local store was shut down preventing me from picking it up. So this will be a little bit late, but the release looks worth the wait!

This wasn’t a surprising release from Topps, given their success with WWE Women’s Division cards, but it’s something new for Star Wars. I initially wondered how they were going to fill out a set, not realizing the cartoons were included so there was a very wide range of characters available.

The release features a 100 card base set, along with a few insert sets. Each has its own array of parallels. A box contains 7 packs with 8 cards per pack. One autograph is guaranteed per box, with possible sketch cards being an addition to these. It’s a fun release and can provide a lot of hits you don’t often find in other products.

This box contained:

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2020, Baseball, Hobby Box, Topps Opening Day

2020 Topps Opening Day Hobby Box Break

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Topps Opening Day is being released just about a week before when Opening Day for major league baseball was originally scheduled to happen. Due to a worldwide pandemic, that event is not going to happen as scheduled. All major sports were shut down for the time being, while Americans are being advised to avoid even minimal sized crowds. The start of the major league season has been indefinitely postponed, and it’s clear it will not happen any time soon, now.

It’s not clear what future releases will look like at this point, but Opening Day was released on time. This release follows the standard format. This smaller set is uses this year’s flagship design, with a more accessible price tag. It averages about one insert per pack, There are parallels, but not to the same extent as many of the other releases. This is also one of the few products to not guarantee any sort of hit in a box. That’s not to say there aren’t some available, but they are generally very rare. That’s one of the big trade offs for having the low price tag.

A box advertises 36 packs with 7 cards per pack.

This box contained:

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2020, Baseball, Donruss, Hobby Box

2020 Donruss Hobby Box Break

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Once again, Panini returns with their flagship baseball offering. While Topps has an exclusive deal with major league baseball, Donruss can still offer baseball cards licensed by the players association, even if none of the cards are able to feature team logos or names. It can be striking at times, as you notice jerseys and hats are altered to not show team related icons, but you get used to it.

The general format of this set will feel familiar. There are 260 base cards, 2 SPs, and 2 additional Rated Rookies at the end, to bring the set to 264 cards. There are also a lot of base card variations, with pictures, nicknames, and more. You also see long time insert sets like the Elite Series and Dominators. Most of these also come in a large variety of parallels, including base parallels featuring emojis. As in recent years, this release also pays tribute to an old Donruss release from the 80s. This time, it’s 1986.

A box contains 24 packs of 8 cards. It advertises 3 autographs or memorabilia cards per box on average. This box contained:

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