2010 Topps Series One has been out for not even a month, and Topps has already announced Series Two, coming out in May of 2010. Of course, we’re now accustomed to Topps base being three sets in length for 990 cards and this will likely continue with 2010. So far, I’ve been very happy with the 2010 base set, with a few issues, which I’ll go into further in my Field Level Review of the product later this week. For now, let’s look and see what Series Two has in store for us.
Release Date: May 24, 2010
Price Point: Approximately $2/pack for hobby, $1.99 retail, $10 HTA. $55/hobby box @ Blowout and $88/HTA box also @ Blowout.
Product Loadout: Hobby: 10 cards/pack, 36 packs/box, 12 boxes/case. HTA: 50 cards/pack, 10 packs/box, 6 boxes/case.
Hit Ratios: One autograph or relic per hobby box, one autograph and two relics per HTA box.
Product Information:
- 330 base cards (331-660; 255 veterans, 40 rookies, 15 team, 15 franchise, 5 Classic Combo cards)
- Topps Vintage Legends (25 cards; 1:4 hobby packs, 1:1 HTA)
- History of the World Series (25 cards; 1:6 packs, 1:1 HTA)
- The Cards Your Mother Threw Out (58 cards; 1:3 packs, 1:1 HTA)
- Legendary Lineage (30 cards; 1:4 Hobby packs, 1:1 HTA)
- Turkey Red (50 cards; 1:4 Hobby packs, 1:1 HTA)
- Peak Performance (50 cards; 1:4 Hobby Packs, 1:1 HTA)
- Topps 2020 (2o cards; 1:6 hobby packs, 1:1 HTA)
- Topps Attax Toppstown Code Cards (30 cards; 1 per pack)
- Red Hot Rookies (10 cards)
- Topps Million Card Giveaway (1:6 hobby packs, 1:1 HTA packs)
- Base card variations (20 cards, each limited to 3,000)
- Hall of Fame buybacks (500 cards)
- Topps Million Card Giveaway (1:6 hobby packs, 1:1 HTA packs)
- 1951 Topps Blue Backs (15 cards, Wal-Mart only)
- 1951 Topps Red Backs (15 cards, Target only)
- Cereal Box Chrome Refractors / Wal-Mart (10 cards)
- Cereal Box Chrome Refractors / Target (10 cards)
Parallels and GU/AU info:
- Silk Collection (Hobby/HTA only; 100 cards, #’d to 50)
- Platinum (1/1)
- Black (Hobby/HTA only, #’d to 59)
- Gold (1:6 hobby packs, 1:1 HTA pack; #’d to 2010)
- Printing Plates (4 of each, all 1/1; Hobby/HTA only)
- The Cards Your Mother Threw Out Original Back (58 cards, 1 per each hobby or HTA box, presumably 1:24 retail)
- Peak Performance Dual Relics (15 cards, #’d to 50)
- Peak Performance Relics (40 cards)
- Peak Performance Blue Relics (40 subjects, #’d to 99)
- Peak Performance Autographs (30 cards)
- Peak Performance Autograph Relics (10 cards, Hobby/HTA only, #’d to 50)
- Peak Performance Jumbo Relics (20 cards, Hobby/HTA only, #’d to 20)
- MLB Logo Man Manufactured Patch Cards (5 cards, #’d to 50)
- Sketch cards (1/1, hobby/HTA only)
- Cap Logos (160 cards, hobby/HTA only)
- Legendary Lineage Relics (15 cards, #’d to 50)
- 1962 Mickey Mantle Reprint Relics (#’d to 62)
- Baseball Legends Cut Signatures (15 cards, 1/1)
- Red Hot Rookies (10 cards, 1/box, hobby only)
- Throwback Parallel (330 cards, Target only)
- Black Background Parallel (330 cards, Wal-Mart only)
- Manufactured 4th of July Hat Logo Cards (160 cards, hobby/HTA only, #’d to 99)
- Manufactured Event Patch Cards (50 cards, 1 per blaster)
Again, the base Topps set is positively littered with inserts and relics, most of which the average collector will never see, and many of which will likely hold little value on the secondary market. You’re looking at 330 base cards again and 2410 parallels, which is average. However, you’re looking at a whopping 841 different inserts (291 without the buybacks, but if Topps is going to list them as inserts, so am I) and 512 relic or autograph cards, plus the 10 Red Hot Rookies and the unknown number of sketch cards. We’re positively being inundated with the non-base cards in a set that is primarily aimed at set-builders.
That being said, the first week this product is out, the eBay sales will be brisk, and then they’ll vanish for everything except the rarest items. I also presume that Wal-Mart and Target will have special items in blaster boxes and cereal boxes as well as the retail-specific parallels. New to the Million Card Giveaway are original T206 cards, which is definitely something different.
As far as the checklist goes, I’m going to be looking for Wandy Rodriguez, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence cards. There are silk cards of Bud Norris and Hunter Pence as well for me. There’s a Vintage Legends card of Nolan Ryan, as well as another Card Your Mom Threw Out of the 1969 Nolan Ryan, although I’d still want a 1968 version of that, so there’s that and the original back variant. There’s also a Nolan Ryan in Legendary Lineage again, this time with Justin Verlander. Hunter Pence has a Topps 2020 insert as well as the Peak Performance one while Lance Berkman has a Peak Performance Relic. Also, Hunter Pence has a Peak Performance autograph as well as an autographed relic. Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence both have Turkey Red Cards, and there are hat relics of Hunter Pence and Lance Berkman. There might be Astros rookie cards, or Red Hot Rookies as well, so I’ll have to wait and see on those. All in all, 2010 Topps Series Two will be a solid set, if over-burdened with manufactured patches and inserts. However, if you like those things, it’s right up your alley. We’ll see more of this in late May.
It’s hard to knock Topps Baseball as it’s one of the few products I don’t need to use my Home Equity Line of Credit to purchase. Ideal for young collectors, the box is loaded with fun parallels and contains an auto and 2 relic cards. In conjunction, there’s always the chance… however slim, of the REALLY sweet pull. The Million-Card giveaway is a great gimmick and affords collectors the opportunity to add much rarer cards to their collections as well.
I don’t mean to sound like a Topps spokesman, but I DO think the product consistently provides a solid bang-for-buck.