Product: 2015 Topps Archives
Break Date: June 11, 2015
Hit Breakdown: No guaranteed hits
Summary: Topps Archives has always been a fun product because of the nostalgia factor - they take a bunch of old set designs, insert new players, and release it to the public. This year was no different, except they have a few caveats that make the set a bit more fun (or frustrating, depending on your point of view).
#1 - Will Ferrell. During Spring Training, the comedian took the field for 10 teams in five games, and obviously Topps was smart to capitalize on it by making baseball cards out of it.
#2 - Short prints. And by short prints, Topps meant it. Out of the gate the prices on these things are pretty high because they're tough pulls - retail odds are 1 in every 47 packs. Not sure what the hobby odds are, but it makes putting the set together challenging.
Target got the blasters in, so I picked up a couple, and was pretty happy. I like the cards, and there were a good mix of current guys and historical legends. While I like getting the new guys, seeing Rickey Henderson and Ozzie Smith brought me back three decades to my youth. The design is fairly strong too - Topps went with designs from the 1957, 1976, and 1983 sets.
The first blaster was fairly pedestrian. I pulled the Ferrell card (1 per 8 packs, so basically one per blaster), and there was a silver parallel of Shelby Miller - numbered to /199. The nicest card out of the box was probably the 1968 Topps Game insert, Adam Jones.
The second blaster, though, was (pun intended) a home run. There was another silver parallel that showed up in the first or second pack, and another Will Ferrell. Then, in the next to last pack, I saw a silver border again, but this turned out to be an autograph – Bucky Dent. Pulling an auto would have been good enough, but a Silver version? Pretty long odds for retail - 1:111 packs (or something like that).
Then, to top it off, there was a short print in the box as well - Red Schoendienst. All things considered, this was one of the better blasters I've ever opened.
Archives is a fun product for nostalgic purposes for sure, and while set collectors may lament the difficulty of putting it together because of the short prints, a challenge is always fun – at least in my opinion.
Grade for the product: B+
Grade for the break: A+
Blaster 1:
Silver /199: Shelby Miller
1968 Topps Game: Adam Jones
Will Ferrell: WT-6
Presidential Chronicles: Gerald Ford
Blaster 2:
Silver Autograph /199: Bucky Dent
Silver /199: Matt Shoemaker
Short Print: Red Schoendienst
Will Ferrell: WT-1
Presidential Chronicles: Herbert Hoover
#1 - Will Ferrell. During Spring Training, the comedian took the field for 10 teams in five games, and obviously Topps was smart to capitalize on it by making baseball cards out of it.
#2 - Short prints. And by short prints, Topps meant it. Out of the gate the prices on these things are pretty high because they're tough pulls - retail odds are 1 in every 47 packs. Not sure what the hobby odds are, but it makes putting the set together challenging.
Target got the blasters in, so I picked up a couple, and was pretty happy. I like the cards, and there were a good mix of current guys and historical legends. While I like getting the new guys, seeing Rickey Henderson and Ozzie Smith brought me back three decades to my youth. The design is fairly strong too - Topps went with designs from the 1957, 1976, and 1983 sets.
The first blaster was fairly pedestrian. I pulled the Ferrell card (1 per 8 packs, so basically one per blaster), and there was a silver parallel of Shelby Miller - numbered to /199. The nicest card out of the box was probably the 1968 Topps Game insert, Adam Jones.
The second blaster, though, was (pun intended) a home run. There was another silver parallel that showed up in the first or second pack, and another Will Ferrell. Then, in the next to last pack, I saw a silver border again, but this turned out to be an autograph – Bucky Dent. Pulling an auto would have been good enough, but a Silver version? Pretty long odds for retail - 1:111 packs (or something like that).
Then, to top it off, there was a short print in the box as well - Red Schoendienst. All things considered, this was one of the better blasters I've ever opened.
Archives is a fun product for nostalgic purposes for sure, and while set collectors may lament the difficulty of putting it together because of the short prints, a challenge is always fun – at least in my opinion.
Grade for the product: B+
Grade for the break: A+
Blaster 1:
Silver /199: Shelby Miller
1968 Topps Game: Adam Jones
Will Ferrell: WT-6
Presidential Chronicles: Gerald Ford
Blaster 2:
Silver Autograph /199: Bucky Dent
Silver /199: Matt Shoemaker
Short Print: Red Schoendienst
Will Ferrell: WT-1
Presidential Chronicles: Herbert Hoover
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