Box Break: 2010 Topps Triple Threads

With my tax refund I decided to splurge a bit and bought two boxes of cards from Dave and Adams Card World. I had already decided on a box of 2013 Topps UFC Finest and since they were offering free shipping plus bonus items if I topped $150 I added on a box of 2010 Triple Threads Football, which was on sale for $90. I have always wanted to open a box of Triple Threads but with prices topping $150 (usually more) I wasn’t going to buy in but with this sale price I figured what could go wrong plus I would scratch off another goal of my personal collecting.

Each box contains 2 packs and each packs contains 3 base cards, 2 parallels and a Triple Relic card. So I pulled 6 base cards, 4 parallels and two Triple Relic cards.

I love the base cards, they are well designed and Topps used some nice player images. The backs contain the previous year’s stats and some tidbits about the players. The base cards are #/1350 and there are five parallels; Sepia (#/499), Emerald (#/299), Gold (#/99), Ruby (#/25) and Platinum (1/1). I pulled two Sepia parallels (Kevin Kolb & Ronnie Brown), one Emerald (Calvin Johnson) and one Ruby (Chad Henne).

I also pulled a Ben Tate rookie card, the rookie cards contained an autograph and three relics and they were #/99 or less. There were 7 parallels plus printing plates. Tate spent the past 4 years with the Houston Texans, though he was injured his first year in the league. He is an average backup, never topping 942 yards in his three playing seasons. He is currently an unrestricted free agent and he has made it clear he will not return to the Texans. His name has been rumored with both the Browns and the Falcons.

My second Triple Relic card is a gold (#/27) triple card of Arrelious Benn, Eric Decker and Mike Kafka. The term says “College Face Off”, I had to look in to it to figure out the three players have a Big Ten connection. This card was kind of a kick in the nut, even in 2010 this was a crappy card.

Arrelious Benn was originally drafted by the Buccaneers in 2010, he has a career total of 862 receiving yards, including a whopping 26 yards in 2012. He was traded to the Eagles prior to the 2013 season but was injured and spent the entire year on the IR. His contract will be up this year (March) and his future is uncertain.

Eric Decker was drafted by the Broncos in 2010, he was a little used receiver until Manning showed up in Denver in 2012. In the past two seasons he has 2,352 yards and 24 TDs (he had 718 yards and 9 TDs the previous two years) and now that he is a free agent he is looking to make a nice paycheck off of his two explosive seasons. Rumor is that he is looking for a contract that will pay $10 million a season.

Mike Kafka was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2010 and since then he has played for 4 teams, signing with his 4^th team (Buccaneers) just last week. Saying he played for 4 teams is a stretch, he has played in a total of 4 games (all for the Eagles in 2011), he has 11 completions for 107 yards, no TDs and 2 interceptions.

I can understand why people are so tough on Triple Threads, the quotes sometimes do not make sense without explanations and the price point is significantly higher than the value that most people will pull. I am not saying that every box needs to be a winner but if you look at what I pulled, it may be about $20-25 worth of card sales while the box costs $90. Could you imagine someone paying $175-200, we are talking a major disparity between cost and value. In the future I will stick with hunting for the singles that I like instead of buying a box, unless I can find a box for $50 or so.

I will cover my 2013 Topps UFC Finest box break next week, to spread the breaks out a bit. The UFC box was significantly better, including nice cards from my two favorite fighters.

 

WOW! A Sweet Lou Gehrig Relic... But For Real This Time

Last September a Topps Triple Threads 1/1 Lou Gehrig relic (bat knob and dual relics) was posted up for auction and many collectors noted that the dual relics appeared to be made of a polyester fabric and not wool like the uniforms that Gehrig would have worn during his playing days. Polyester did not even make it in to player’s uniforms until the 1970s, well after Lou Gehrig had died so there was not even the chance this was an Old-Timers Game uniform or a Tribute worn uniform.

Within a week the news was all over the blogosphere (I found out about it while reading Sooz’s post on her blog A Cardboard Problem) and other hobby outlets. Some were claiming it was simply a mistake (Really, a mistake with a 1/1?) and some claimed it was an altered card by the collector who was fortunate enough to own this beauty but no matter what anyone believed the major question on everyone’s mind was “What will Topps do?’

Fast-forward three months and we find that Topps has stepped up to correct the problem, removing the questionable fabrics and replacing them with a Lou Gehrig cut-signature. I applaud Topps for doing the right thing. Topps has yet to explain how the problem happened in the first place but I figure we will never hear the truth on that one.

WOW! A Sweet Lou Gehrig Relic... maybe not...

First I would like to thank Sooz from A Cardboard Problem for bringing this auction to light (courtesy of @JuddFamily Stone on Twitter) but it appears that once again Topps is giving collectors a middle finger followed up by a “Suck It!”

In the 2008 Topps Triple Threads release Topps included a fake Ruth/Gehrig autograph card:

 In the 2010 Topps Sterling release we saw this beautiful game-worn Honus Wagner polyester jersey card:

Now let’s fast forward about 10 months and take a look at this sweet Lou Gehrig 1/1 Bat Knob card (which would have been awesome on its own) but to make it even more awesomer (Is that even a word?) Topps adds in two game used relics including a pin stripe. How fucking cool is that?

Here is a close up of the game-used relics:

…Oh wait… aren’t those relics… um…polyester? Why yes they are…but didn’t polyester uniforms show up in the 1970s some 30+ years after Gehrig died? Why yes, you are correct again.

I expect to once again hear crickets coming from Topps corner when people start asking for an explanation. I do like the addition of “The Relics contained on this card are not from any specific game, event or season” as a way of CYA. Maybe they should consider adding in “Any specific player” to the list too to ensure complete coverage.

 If this card is indeed real and pulled from a sealed pack from Topps there is a serious problem, especially considering that it has happened before. Some sort of verification needs to be ensured with autographs and memorabilia and I thought cards like this were hand packed which means that it should have been caught during manufacturing or at least during the pack out. Anyone that spends any amount of time producing sports cards can tell you the difference between a polyester jersey  and a wool flannel jersey.

2010 Topps Triple Threads

Topps recently released a preview of the 2010 Topps Triple Threads Football. This year Topps is adding some interesting relics like Laundry Tags, NFL Shields and Jumbo Jersey Sleeve Patches.

Each box will contain two mini boxes, each containing 6 cards. Each mini box contains 1 Triple Relic #/99 or less, 2 base parallels #/525 or less and 3 base cards #/1350 or less. You will also find 1 Autographed Triple Relic per display box.

The release contains 10 Autographed Triple Relic insert sets, 9 Triple Relic sets, the XXIV set (each card contains at least 24 relics), Laundry Tag Book Cards set and a NFL Shield set. The base set contains 100 cards consisting of current players and legends and there are 5 different parallels for each base card- Sepia (#/450), Emerald (#/299), Gold (#/99), Ruby (#/25) and Platinum (1/1).

I am not a fan of the high-end sets, it seems like to often the cost outweighs the return and they are definitely not created for the set builder. I have to admit though; there are some very cool cards in this set. I love the Team Sleeve Patch cards and the Lombardi cut signature is a keeper, though I would have preferred to see the cut signature card just be the signature and not include the relics

Am I Wrong?

Topps Triple Threads is scheduled to be released this coming August and we are beginning to see previews as well as reviews around the blogsphere. While I am not a big fan of Triple Threads, I feel the cost versus reward is not balanced, I do not care for multiple parallels and the biggest turn-off is sticker autographs. Lick-em Stick-ems are bad enough but to use them on a high end product is just atrocious.

Now, having said that, am I a bad person for actually liking some of the hits? The Cut Above Relics set looks pretty decent; who wouldn’t want to pull a Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth cut signature and 3 relics? I personally do not like the books, they are difficult to display in a pleasant manor but it is a cool set nonetheless. Some of the All-Star sets are pretty cool too; lots of variety and the cards are not overflowing with die-cuts and miss-matched relics.