Category Archives: Non-Sport

2019, Hobby Box, Topps WWE SummerSlam, Wrestling

2019 Topps WWE Summerslam Hobby Box Break

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This is a new release for 2019, as part of a revamped WWE lineup from Topps. Earlier, we saw a Raw release essentially replacing the WWE flagship. Now we’re stepping in to a release for a specific pay per view. They already have the Road to Wrestlemania early in the year, so it’s not completely out of the blue with SummerSlam was one of their big yearly shows.

This is a new release, but it’s a familiar layout. The base set consists of 50 roster cards and 50 matches and moments. These have a normal set or parallels. There is also an assortment of parallels included. On an initial pass through, it wasn’t always obvious to me which were inserts and which were base moments. The designs are a bit similar. One selling point for this release is that most of the autographs are on card, rather than stickers.

A box advertises 24 packs with 7 cards per pack. This includes 2 hits per box, one of which is an autograph.

This box contained:

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2019, Box Break, Hobby Box, Topps WWE, Wrestling

2019 Topps WWE Raw Hobby Box Break

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While I guess this is technically a new release, it seems to really be splitting how the long time flagship release worked. In years past, the main wrestling release featured all the current brands on cards using the same style as the flagship baseball release. It gave the wrestling release a big time feel, to be sure.

Those days are now gone. Rather than include all the brands, as in previous years, this set focuses on the Raw roster, along with 205 Live. It also uses a different design from the flagship baseball. This, coupled with the lack of some big names seems to hurt this release. We’ll see if it grows on me over time, but right now, it feels like a disappointing set.

The box contains 24 packs of 7 cards. Each box advertises 2 hits, with one of those guaranteed to be an autograph.

This box contained:

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2019, Hobby Box, Star Wars, Topps

2019 Topps Star Wars Black & White The Empire Strikes Back Hobby Box Break

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As a follow up to the A New Hope release from 2018, Topps releases a new set featuring The Empire Strikes Back. When it first showed up last year, I wasn’t sure what to really think of it, but over time the release grew on me. The black & white photos bring a less familiar feel to the thirty-six year old images.

It follows the same format as last year, with a 150 card base set, parallels, and a few insert sets. There is nothing really surprising, but this is more about the images than anything else. This is going to be a tough set to put together from packs, however. A box contains 7 packs with 8 cards in each. Each box also advertises one autograph or sketch card.

This box contained:

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2018, Box Break, Hobby Box, Star Wars

2018 Topps Star Wars The Last Jedi Series 2 Hobby Box Break

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This release has been sitting on a shelf for quite a while just waiting. I think it may be partially the hang over from the movie, and partially just being overloaded with releases this year. But now, some time has dulled my view of the movie a little bit, and that shouldn’t hurt the cards, right?

The second series restarts the card numbering back at 1, and this time features photos from action in the movie. It’s a small base set of 100 cards, but there are a number of insert sets, as well, sometimes falling as little as once per box. The base set has a set of parallels available. Many of the insert sets also feature parallels.

The box has a fairly standard configuration, advertising 24 packs with 8 cards per pack. Each box also includes two hits, one of which is an autograph.

This box contained:

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2018, Box Break, Hobby Box, Star Wars, Topps Star Wars Galaxy

2018 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Hobby Box Break

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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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