Thursday, June 4, 2015

2015 Topps Pro Debut

I ordered a box of these from Blowout Cards over the weekend and they arrived today.
Aside from the 2015 Topps hanger box that I bought a few months ago, this was the first box of cards that I have bought in nearly 20 years. I think my last box was most likely a 1996 Fleer Excel.

I was eagerly awaiting the delivery of this box and couldn't wait to open all those packs.
The first pack gave me the poster child of the product, Seattle Mariners prospect, Alex Jackson.
The second pack gave me my first New York Met, Noah Syndergaard.
Here's my third pack. All 2 cards. I call this my Sox pack. A Boston Red Sox relic and a Chicago White Sox base card.
I know people seem to like relic cards, but if I bought a single pack of cards, I'd expect the number of cards stated on the pack, and would be disappointed to open a pack of cards with only 2 inside it.
The box promises 2 relics, so I know what to expect now.

Autographs are promised, too. Here's the first of 2 that I got, Washington Nationals prospect, Stephen Perez.
How exciting! Stephen signed a sticker which someone else affixed to this card.

My first non-promised insert was this card of Los Angeles Dodgers prospect, Grant Holmes.
I was confused at first with the heading of the card, which reads, "Topps Instant Winner." I thought I won something, but it turns out it's just a headline for this card about Grant's debut.

This pack was interesting. Out of the 8 cards in the pack, 3 of the players were ones I already have autographs of. 
This guy's name sounds awfully familiar.
My second promised autographed card sticker is Cincinnati Reds prospect, Tanner Rahier.
Tanner hasn't played this season because he has been suspended. In March, he was intoxicated and arguing with a woman outside of a pizza restaurant. He ended up throwing a rock at her, knocking her unconscious.
I'm guessing the decision to include his autograph in this set was made before the arrest.

Finally, an insert I can be excited about. New York Mets prospect, Michael Conforto.
The lone parallel in this box was a gold one, numbered 41 of 50 of Boston Red Sox prospect, Trey Ball.














Some more inserts that I pulled were of Nick Gordon, Kyle Freeland, Alex Verdugo, and Tim Anderson.



Here's a nice string of base cards that I pulled in consecutive packs. Kris Bryant, Michael Conforto, and Joey Gallo.


The penultimate pack revealed my second promised relic. Just like the first relic pack which seemed to have a theme, this one did as well. My Dodgers pack.
At least this relic is a little better, numbered 10 of 50.

Sadness is looming as I've reached the end.
Overall, I'm very pleased with these cards. Out of this whole box, I don't think there were any duplicates. I found that to be very impressive.

6 comments:

  1. Very cool. Keep in mind that this set does have a few photo variations, you might've been able to pull someone better than base card.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip. Since I didn't get any duplicates, I'd have no way of knowing which one is the variation.

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  2. Topps usually has a disclaimer that packs with relics may contain fewer cards.

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  3. Thanks for sharing! I was toying with the idea of buying a box myself... In past years, I'd just load up on whatever base cards I could find in dime boxes and the like, but more of my sources are drying up and I enjoy having cards of minor leaguers to fill out my binders organized by 40-man rosters.

    The Cardboard Connection has a variations guide you might find helpful. They also mention that the "product code" for the variations (in very small print on the back) ends with 114 as opposed to 102 for the regular base cards.
    http://www.cardboardconnection.com/2015-topps-debut-baseball-variations

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  4. That Urias relic is a good pull. I like the minor league sets. Last year I bought a box of Hertiage Minors and was pleased with it.

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  5. Busting packs is always pretty fun! Also, no duplicates is pretty good for a newer Topps Product. If I am remembering correctly, the Heritage Minors box I bought last year had zero doubles as well - maybe they pay more attention to collation on the Minors sets? The regular Topps series one had some issues with collation, I ended up with doubles often in those.

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