Category Archives: Non-Sport

2018 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Hobby Box Break

This is a new type of release for me.  I have dabbled in some other Star Wars releases, but never Star Wars Galaxy.  I wasn’t very familiar with the previous releases, but decided to take the plunge.  Galaxy features contains cards of various artwork, rather than images directly from the source.  While it gives you some fun re-imaginings, not every piece is a win.  Overall, it’s a very fun release, though.  

The first thing to really jump out at me is just the size of the box.  It seems with modern releases, a sealed box is a fairly compact unit.  This is not.  Instead of a small footprint, this is a similar size to an 80s wax box.  There’s a lot of air inside the box, but the packs are presented more than just packed in.  

The release contains a number of parallels, plus a handful of insert sets, all featuring artwork.  Each box contains 24 packs of 8 cards.  It advertises 2 hits per box, including 1 autograph.  The autograph checklist is rather large, so you may dig pretty deep with your hit.  

This box contained:

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2018 Topps WWE NXT Hobby Box Break

This is a little bit of a different release for me.  I generally like the NXT brand and previous card releases, but this year it seems to be focusing on a much higher price point.  It features two 50 card subsets, one concentrating on the roster, with the other looking at Matches and Moments from the year.  

In previous years, you could find this release in blaster boxes at retail.  This year, however, it is a hobby only release.  At $200 per box, it seems like it may be difficult to find true value in this release, but it advertises an incredible 10 autographs per box.   While NXT definitely has its following, this seems more like a prospects release where you really won’t know the full potential of some of these characters for a few years.  Even the big names will probably get much bigger once they hit the grand stage of the main roster.  

This box contains 10 packs, with 7 cards per pack, including a total of 10 autographs.  This box contained:

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2018 Topps WWE Then Now Forever Hobby Box Break

The Then Now Forever release, essentially series two for the flagship release of Topps WWE cards, rounds out the year’s big four releases.  It’s not just the base set that continues the same numbering as previous releases.  There are also many tribute sets adding additional cards to earlier sets.  These are usually exclusive to some store or type of pack.  

The base set contains a mix of Smackdown, Raw, 205 Live, NXT, and Legends to round out the wrestlers featured. It features many debuting athletes, along with the flagship rookie card for Ronda Rousey. You also get the regular complement of parallels, to go along with insert subsets paying tribute to the 25th anniversary of Raw and Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper. Each box advertises two hits, including one autograph.

This box contained:

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2018 Topps WWE Women’s Division Hobby Box Break

Much like the growth in the WWE Women’s Division itself, the trading card release is also getting a higher profile. In years past, we’ve seen a retail release, but now we’re seeing a full hobby release.

The set itself doesn’t seem to have changed very much,  though,

with a small roster set, as well as a Matches and Moments set featuring Raw, Smackdown Live, NXT, and the Mae Young Classic. We also see insert sets focusing on the Mixed Match Challenge, Power Couples, and the first women’s Royal Rumble.  We’ve also come to expect the usual assortment of relics from a WWE release, including pieces of the mat from various events, t-shirt swatches, and manufactured relics of the Women’s championships over the years.  Each box contains 24 packs with 7 cards per pack and advertises 2 hits per box, one of which is guaranteed to be an autograph.

This box contained:

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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.

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