Thursday, November 14, 2013

2013 Topps Inception Football Cards Box Break Recap And Review


I was brutal last year during our review of Topps Inception Football giving it one of the worst ratings we’ve ever handed out. While the cards were great looking and it was a fun break, dealing with the delicate edges negated most everything because in card collecting condition is king.  Most of the cards had cornering and chipping issues straight out of the pack. The major point I was trying to make was Inception Football would never achieve its full potential until Topps devised a plan to protect the edges of the cards.

With the 2013 version of Inception, Topps has resolved these issues and even tweaked some of the design elements to make this release the comeback product of the year.  This is a fantastic looking set of cards with great on-card and jumbo swatch hits with smooth surfaces and sharp edges and cornering.

Inception Football falls into our premium cards category.  Each hobby box contains 1 – 7 card pack with 1 memorabilia and 2 autograph cards per box.

Here is a look at the cards we pulled.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

2013 Topps Finest Baseball Cards Box Break Recap and Review


Topps has been tweaking and refining Finest Baseball over the years.  For the 20th anniversary edition, 2013 Topps Finest Baseball has continued making changes, jazzing up the base cards, while throwing back to 1993 with Baseball’s Finest inserts to go with the returning die cuts while adding new Finest Masters in insert and autographed versions, All Star Autographs in addition to the returning Autos.  All of this added value is a good thing because from a design level, the base cards leave something to be desired which might alienate collectors who look to Finest for their multi-color refractors needs.

While Finest Baseball falls under our classification of premium cards, there is enough here to keep set builders interested so there is some cross over into our trading cards category.  Hobby exclusive master boxes contain 2 mini boxes, with each mini containing 6 - 5 card packs.  Each master box contains 1 On-Card Autograph Rookie Refractor and 1 Autographed Jumbo Relic Rookie Card.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

2013 Topps Chrome Baseball Cards Box Break Recap and Review


Topps Chrome Baseball returns for 2013 with a familiar configuration, subscribing to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” theory.  As usual Chrome provides rainbow collectors plenty to chase with refractors of different colors and some of the best looking die cuts to come along this year.

Topps Chrome Baseball falls under our trading card category.  Each box contains 24 - 4 cards per packs with a promise of 2 autographs per box.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

Monday, November 11, 2013

2013 Topps Prime Football Box Break Recap and Review


Topps Prime Football is known for its full bleed photo base cards and multi swatch relic autos.  The hit concentration leans heavily towards the Rookie class in various auto, auto relic booklet cards and multiple tier level hit forms.  Still there is a nice base of 25 veteran autographs including names like Andrew Luck, Frank Gore, RG3 and Jimmy Graham. 2013 Topps Prime Football should be looked at as a hybrid release that works for set builders and premium hit collectors alike.

Topps Prime Football falls under our premium cards category.  Each box contains 10 - 6 card packs and promises 1 Autograph, 1 Autographed Relic and 2 additional Relic cards.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

Topps Releases Skylanders QUBI Today

Starting today, November 11, fans of the very popular Skylanders series will be able to find their favorite characters in QUBI form.  Topps is releasing the all-new Skylanders QUBI - a unique, patented, collectible toy that combines a transparent cube with real images of Skylanders characters along with their catch phrase and a rubber stamp.

There are 38 different Skylanders QUBI’s to collect including Trigger Happy, Stealth Elf, Hot Dog, Spyro, Chop Chop and many more.

Each Skylanders QUBI comes in a blind-purchase foil bag with an SRP of $2.99, and includes a checklist of all 38 QUBI’s in the line.   They can be found nationwide in retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us.  

In additional to the Skylanders and the previously released MLB QUBI, Topps plans to launch other QUBI products this year with NFL QUBI launching November.  All lines will be available at major retailers across the country.