Field Level Box Break / Review: 2011 Topps Pro Debut Baseball

Release Date: June 1, 2011
Price Point: Approximately $3 per pack or $49 per box from Blowout Cards.
Product Loadout: 8 cards per pack, 24 packs per box, 12 boxes per case.
Hit Ratios: 2 autographs and 2 relics per box

Product Information:

• 330 card base set
• Single-A All Stars (45 cards)
• Double-A All-Stars (45 cards)
• Triple-A All-Stars (10 cards)

Autographs, Relics and Parallels:

• Blue Base Parallel (#’d to 309)
• Gold Base Parellel (#’d to 50)
• Printing Plates (1/1)
• Red Base Parallel (1/1)
• Solo Signature Autographs (26 cards)
• Solo Signature Blue Autograph Parallel (#’d to 199)
• Solo Signature Gold Autograph Parellel (#’d to 50)
• Solo Signature Autograph Printing Plate (1/1)
• Solo Signature Red Autograph Parallel (1/1)
• Side-By-Side Dual Autographs (11 cards)
• Side-By-Side Gold Dual Autograph Parallel (#’d to 25)
• Side-By-Side Red Dual Autograph Parallel (1/1)
• Side-By-Side Printing Plate Dual Autograph Parallel (1/1)
• Debut Cuts (13 cards, #’d to 130 or less)
• Single-A All-Star Printing Plates (1/1)
• Double-A All-Star Printing Plates (1/1)
• Triple-A All Star Printing Plates (1/1)
• Minor League Material Relics (20 cards)
• Minor League Gold Material Relics (#’d to 50)
• Minor League Red Material Relics (#’d to 5)
• Minor League Red Oversized Patches (#’d to 5)
• Minor League MiLB Logoman Patch (1/1)
• Minor League Material Printing Plates (1/1)
• Bryce Harper Cut Autographed Baseball (1/1)

Box Contents:

• 191 total cards
• 162/330 base cards, 0 doubles (Including Bryce Harper)
• 6 Single-A All-Stars (J.J.Hoover, Jonathan Villar, Brad Brach, Max Stassi, Chun-Hsiu Chen and Brandon Short)
• 6 Double-A All-Stars (Brett Lawrie, Johnny Giavotella, Steve Clevenger, John Drennen, Adron Chambers and Chase D’Arnaud)
• 2 Triple-A All-Stars (Doug Deeds and Jose Constanza)
• 7 Blue Parallels (James Robinson 48/309, Chris Archer 29/309, Rancel Ravelo 155/309, Tyler Skaggs 18/309, Kevin Kiermaier 54/309, Jordan Cooper 78/309 and Wes Hodges 183/309)
• 1 Gold Parallel (Casey Kelly 2/50)
• 2 Solo Signatures (Kyle Greenwalt and Thomas Field)
• 2 Minor League Material Relics (Josh Vitters and Tony Sanchez)
• 3 base, the James Robinson blue, Jonathan Villar insert and Kyle Greenwalt autograph kept for PC)

Card Design:

This is the base 2011 Topps design, that we’ve seen three times at this point (Series 1, Opening Day and Pro Debut).  What’s odd is that while Series 1 had black ink for the parallels, Pro Debut uses gold foil.  There’s not really any reason that I can tell for this change, but I do like having it.  The blue parallels don’t show up very well because the player’s name still is hard to read.  Also, there’s no stats on the back.  While this might be interesting in some cases, when you’re tracking minor leaguers, it’s helpful to have it.  Outside of that, the only really bad thing is that they use semi-glossy card stock.  The main reason people get this product is for in-person autographs.  A matte card stock like Topps Heritage (or the upcoming Topps Heritage Minor League Edition) would be perfect in that case.

Score:  3/5

Collation:

Going to a larger set size means that it’s a bit harder to get a set out of a single box.  I would have liked to see the pack size go from 8 cards to 12, but either way you’re looking at multiple boxes for a set.  The good news is, though, that there aren’t any doubles, and everything came out like it should.  Sure, I would have loved to have gotten a big hit, but no doubles and what was promised is not a  bad thing, in my mind.

Score:  3/5

Pizzaz:

The base cards in this set are boring, simply because they blend in with every ‘base’ product Topps does that isn’t Heritage.  Changing Pro Debut to a matte surface with a different card design would go a long way to making this set stand out a bit more.  The use of minor league jerseys (presumably) is something different, even if it is your standard single-color relic.  The ‘cut’ autographs are back from last year, and are as ugly as ever, and while the base autographs are still stickered, they’re on clear stickers this year that don’t stand out nearly as much as the horrendous ones from last year.   Essentially though what this set is is ‘average’.  It does what it’s supposed to do with little in the way of frills, which may be why box prices have dropped significantly over the past few months.

Score:  3/5

Overall Score: 3/5

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