Lets Play Ball!

What better way to celebrate Opening Day than opening packs of baseball cards?

 

 

Two 2014 Topps Series 1 hanger boxes and a 2014 Topps Heritage blaster

 

Both products have been covered quite extensively since their respective releases so I will just point out my highlights. I was initially was just going to go with the Series 1 hanger boxes but when I saw the Heritage I figured I would grab one to add a bit of variety. Apparently the Heritage blasters are pretty difficult to find right now, my Walmart just got a case in Friday so I guess I was pretty lucky to find this one.

 

The Mariners open up tonight against the Angels, hopefully my overabundance of Mariners cards are a good sign for the season. There is no doubt that the Mariners have a solid young core and the addition of Cano may just bring the team the extra power that they need to make it to the playoffs this year.

 

I got a nice selection of Mariners this time, normally when I open packs I end up with Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, which isn’t bad but when every pack/box contains only those two it gets frustrating. This time I got a variety of Mariners which is pretty cool even though some of the players are in a bit of flux with injuries or assigned to Tacoma (Triple-A).

 

I was happy to pull two Taijuan Walker rookie cards plus a couple of Future Stars in Zunino and Franklin. Nick Franklin is actually starting the season in Tacoma after being displaced by the Cano addition and is rumored to be on the trading block. I think he has a solid future, I just wish it is with the Mariners in some capacity.

 

I also pulled a collection of Diamondbacks, plus two players that have since been traded (Skaggs and Holmberg).

 

A couple of Red Hot Foil parallels of a player no longer with the Dodgers and a player with the Mets Triple-A team in Las Vegas.

I finished the Series One boxes with four yellow parallels and a couple of minis

 

 

My Heritage blaster was pretty decent. I think Zunino is going to be the solid backstop that the Mariners haven’t had since Dan Wilson manned the plate. Of course you can never complain if you get the guy who wears his sunglasses at night. (1980s reference for Corey Hart).

The D-Backs #1 Starter

 

A Longoria Blue parallel

 

And finish with a hit from the Crime Dog

 

This was a pretty fun break, lots of Mariners and some Diamondbacks start off the new baseball season.

 

 

 

I close with a bit of humor, Coco Crisp on a good hair day and a bad hair day.

 

Preview: 2012 Topps Baseball Series One

Scheduled Release Date: 1/29/14

Box Configuration:

36 packs/box, 10 cards/pack (Hobby)
10packs/box, 50 cards/pack (Jumbo)
SRP: $55-60 (Hobby) $100 (Jumbo)

 

 

Box Break:

1 Auto or Relic (Hobby)

1 Auto and 2 Relics (Jumbo)

 

 

What to Expect:

Series One will consist of 330 base cards made up of veterans and rookies with each base card 8 parallels. The parallels will be Red Hot Foil (1/6 packs), Gold (#/2014), Camo (#/99), Black (#/63), Pink (#/50), Platinum (1/1), Printing Plates (1/1) and a new hobby only Clear parallel (#/10). There will also be silk versions (#/50) for 100 players.

 

Relics will be made up of manufactured relics and standard game-used relics. The popular Strata autographs will make an appearance as a hobby only insert. There will be two promotional programs, one will be a Pennant Chase card that can be redeemed for prizes after the 2014 and one Spring Fever redemption card will be included in each box which can be exchanged at participating hobby shops.

 

 

My Thoughts:

This set is a standard Topps set; basic base cards with tons of parallels, inserts and subsets will be loaded in to the boxes. Oddly the set designs have changed very little since Clay Luraschi’s “Game Changer” announcement a couple of years ago. It seems that with exclusive baseball license Topps has become complacent. For decades Topps design changed from year to year, some worked and some did not but no matter what Topps designers tried, now it seems like the designers take a blank design, add a whoosh and a couple of lines and they call it a base card. Toss in some minis, reprints and redemption cards and you have a set.

 

On the flip side, it is a cheap set and it is easy to complete a set. If you are a fan of parallels and minis, you will be satisfied and getting a hit in a box for less than $60 is not something to complain about.

 

 

Pros:

Reasonable Price

One Hit (3 in Jumbo boxes)
Easy Set to Build
Tons of Parallels (If you like parallels)

 

 

Cons:

Similar Design to Previous Years

Tons of Parallels (If you do not like parallels)

 

 

Rating:

To be fair I will give the 2014 Topps Series One Baseball release 4 out of 5 because it is a complete set with positive attribute.

 

Sometimes ratings are difficult for me because my personal feelings will step in and sway my initial rating and this would be one of those sets. I am disappointed that the design has stayed stagnant but there are positives to the release.