This year, the WWE releases have been few and far between so far, but it’s nice to get the NXT entry. I’m still not a fan of the format where the base cards are matches or other events, rather than wrestler cards, though. An insert set called “We Are NXT” fills the need for roster cards, however. This is a pretty basic release, but still nice to see.
A box features 18 packs, with 7 cards per pack. The configuration ensures you will not get a full base set with one box, however. Each box advertises two autographs, as well.
After many delays and cancellations, the long awaited 2020 Topps WWE Women’s Division release finally hit stores on May 14, 2021. It was clearly in the works the entire time, as the cards are dated 2020, as is all the associated art work. I think this is the last release coming from 2020 , but I guess you can never say never at this point.
The release has a familiar format, featuring a 100 base set showing some of the many of the big happenings from 2019. There are multiple parallels to these cards. Despite that being the base set, there is also a 60 card insert set featuring individual cards for the roster. These roster cards feel more important to me, as individual stars have a card all to themselves. There are also a few other inserts sets, along with a mix of autographs and relics to round out the release.
This is an interesting release, as it was delayed greatly from the original target date over the summer to December 30, just barely making it out during 2020. It took a bumpy route toward the end, too. A few weeks before release, Topps canceled the previous configuration, and opened up a new round of orders, for the final configuration.
When the release was first announced, it was going to be boxes of 24 packs with 7 cards per pack, as it has been in years past. This year, that was changed only a few weeks before release. While hobby boxes remained at the same price point with two autographs per box, they now included only 2 packs with 25 cards per pack. While it is nice not having as many packs to open, it feels like a lot of content is missing with so few cards in a box.
This is a release we were going to skip, but after seeing some of them, we decided to take the plunge. It comes fairly close to the Topps WWE Chrome release, and soon before WWE NXT. The base set features 100 Chrome cards of WWE superstars across Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and NXT UK. These also come in a variety of parallels, as well.
It’s a tough set to put together, given the configuration of the release. Each master box contains two boxes, which each containing six packs of five cards. In addition to parallels, there are also a handful of inserts set, along with one autograph per mini-box.
This release has long been delayed because of the pandemic. It was originally scheduled for July, I think, but many things from that period ended up being moved to later in the year. The end result of this delay is that a few of the people released back in April still find themselves in this release. It’s not that big a deal, but they do stand out a bit because of that.
This marks the return of this release after a five year hiatus. It hits a little bit different this year, as there wasn’t a planned “flagship” wrestling release to begin with. It doesn’t follow the previous format of using the baseball design for the cards this time. The design feels a little bit like Stadium Club to me, without the full bleed images.
