2023 Topps Heritage Hobby Box Break

The Topps Heritage release, normally out early in the year, makes it debut in late May this year. This year, it features a set in the design of 1974 cards. We find the normal set of variations, but now something new, as well, taking after the Flagship release from earlier in the year. Every card in the release has a black & white version. I would hesitate to call this a parallel, as much as a variation, as the image itself is changing.

The set again features 400 base cards, with an additional 100 SP cards running from 401-500. A hobby box contains 24 packs with 9 cards per pack. A box also guarantees one autograph or relic. The autographs tends to be much more rare than the relics. Even at the price, this is more of a set collectors release, but many boxes are required for a base set, and good luck getting all the SPs in packs.

This box contained:


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2023 Topps Series 1 Jumbo hobby Box Break

As the calendar turned to 2023, there were lots of questions about this release. Stores really weren’t sure what to expect for series 1, even to the point of not being sure they would be able to order it. In years past, Releases were often ordered six months ahead of release time. Now, coming up on the expected time for series 1, and that clarity wasn’t there. Perhaps this is the new Fanatics way, as the next expected release doesn’t seem to be offered yet, but series 1 seemed to work.

There is a rather big shake-up with this release compared to previous years. While there is the normal 330 card base set, along with a lot of parallel options, it takes a new approach to short prints. Gone are the days of three or four levels of short prints, featuring primarily stars and rookies. Instead, this year, we see a super short print version of every base card. It will be interesting to see how that plays out over time.

A box features 10 packs with 46 cards per pack. Each box also includes 1 Autograph and 2 Relic cards, along with two silver packs of 1988 Chrome cards, and an oversized box topper.

This box contained:

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2022 Topps 206 Star Wars Wave 4 Hobby Box Break

Wave 4 brings the conclusion of the 206 Star Wars run for 2022. This wave has a print run of 11097 packs. Once again, we see the same parallels, as well as short prints involving image variations and home worlds. New to this wave is the inclusion of a small insert set featuring Crests.

A box advertises ten cards, which includes two parallels.

This box contained:

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2022 Topps 206 Star Wars Wave 3 Hobby Box Break

Wave 3 arrives for the Topps 206 Star Wars release, but I can’t help feeling like it’s missing a bit of the charm of the baseball release. Rather than having different advertising backs, which would change between waves, these features a fixed set of different border colors, along with one alternative back design. Each wave also features ten alternate image short prints, along with ten variations showing the subject’s home world.

The wave had a print run of 13318 packs, which is down a little bit from wave 2 and just over half as much as wave 1. Each box contains ten cards, which is eight base along with two parallels.

This box contained:

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2022 Topps 206 Wave 5 Hobby Box Break

Wave 5 of Topps 206 arrives in mid December, and completes the 500 card base set for the year. This wave features Hindu and Honus Wagner backs, along with many of the others included throughout the series. Once again, there are some short prints as well as autographs possible as part of the release. This wave has a print run of 9433 packs.

Each box contains at least ten cards, including eight base, and a couple of parallels. Some of the special cards are included as extra cards in the box. Each wave this year features one hundred base cards, so you need quite a few of these to complete a set.

This box contained:

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