Ok, here we go…
Hi there and welcome to Stadium Fantasium! Here from time to time I will be sharing my passion for MLB Baseball (mostly the Los Angeles Dodgers), baseball cards (mostly Topps), fantasy sports (mostly baseball) and the local (Southern California) sports teams (again, mostly the Dodgers). On today’s menu is my jumbo box break of 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards along with two Topps Silver Packs that I got when I purchased my jumbo box from Hall of Fame Baseball Cards in Arcadia, CA. Yeah, I know this post is kind of late to the Topps box breaking party but who has never been late to a party? So, let’s keep the party going and show off some of the cards I got…
Some Base Cards (and a Short Print!)…
So the first 2018 Topps cards I pulled was the Pirates’ John Jaso. I do like the design of the base cards although the waterslide element does remind me of the artwork from one of Topps other card products, Wacky Packages. And just in case you didn’t know, the bottom right card is the short print version of Adrian Beltre card #254.
Some Parallel Cards (Topps Gold)
I also pulled a number of rainbow foil inserts but won’t show them here since the foil effect doesn’t scan well. Suffice to say that my most notable rainbow foil card is a Manny Machado #25.
Some Insert Cards (Some #’d Even)
Of the tougher inserts to pull, I ended up with a Superstar Sensations Blue Jose Bautista SSS-7, 1983 Topps Black Victor Robles 83-85 #’d to 299 and a MLB Awards Black Austin Hays #’d to 299.
The Hits!
The Posey Major League Materials card that I pulled features a piece of bat. I saw the same card pulled on a video box break but that one featured a white jersey swatch. The Aaron Nola MLB Spring Training Logo Patch is the blue version and serial #’d 63/99. I’d have to say these are some pretty decent hits out of my jumbo box.
Silver Packs (Would You Believe I Actually Pulled an Auto?)
The Victor Robles auto is #’d 29/99.
What next?
Overall, I’m pretty happy and satisfied with this box and the silver pack cards. I’ve glanced at a few other online box breaks and some of those were a bit meh. None of the inserts/hits are for trade/sale. I’m not much of a trader and I have never sold any of my cards (but I will post a tradelist of dupes I’d like to trade). I still need to inventory the base cards on an Excel spreadsheet to see how close I am to completing the set and then create a wantlist along with a few other things to grow the blog. The long-term project is to gradually inventory the rest of the sets I’ve collected over the years (including some vintage baseball and vintage football) and post wantlists for those sets.
And of course I’ve got to figure out what fantasy baseball leagues I want to join (or maybe even create a league). I’m considering trying a variety of head-to-head money leagues (categories overall win, categories multiple wins and points). Normally I try to do my fantasy baseball drafting during the last week or so before the MLB season starts.
Stay tuned…