The print run for Wave 8 rebounds slightly from Wave 7’s series low, but still comes in at 8,752 packs. Maybe the fatigue is starting to set in with so many waves this year. It really does resemble its namesake, in being a monster of a set. Sweet Caporal returns to replace Tolstoi after one wave.
These boxes contain a single pack, containing ten cards, eight of which are base, while two others are parallels. Much to my surprise, it seems this hard and fast rule may not always be the case.
This box contained:
9 Base 1 Base Piedmont Back 1 Base Sweet Caporal Back
Wave 7 hits a new series low for print run, with 8,130 packs. I’m a bit surprised to see it dip so far, but maybe it’s related to the delays we’ve seen for delivery of some of the earlier waves. This time, Cycle is back replacing the Blank Back, and the first appearance of Tolsoi, in place of the Sweet Caporal for this set.
A box includes a single pack of ten cards, eight of which are base, along with two parallels.
The print run is heading down once again as 2021 Topps 206 enters Wave 6. We see 10,473 packs for this series, which is second lowest print run this year. This time, a blank back parallel replaces the Cycle backs from the previous series.
The box still contains one pack of ten cards, featuring eight base cards, along with two parallels.
Wave 5 rebounds a little bit, but its 11,144 pack print run is still the second lowest in the 2021 release. This wave sees Lenox Brown backs return to replace Drum. We also see a handful of rare image variations for some stars who are not otherwise included in this wave.
A box contains ten card, including eight base and two parallels.
Wave 4 of Topps 206 drops to a new release low below 10,000 for the first time at a print run of 9,927 packs. There was also a long delay with this wave coming out, but that happened after all the orders had been placed. It will be interesting to see if that has any affect on future waves. In this series, Sovereign returns replacing Polar Bear backs, and Drum (#/10) replaces Lenox Brown for the first time.
The standard configuration continues in Wave 4, with ten cards per box/pack. this includes eight base cards, along with two parallels, at least one of which is a Piedmont back.
