2017 Topps Pro Debut Baseball Box Break & Review

Tim Tebow is a marketing machine.  The way collectors eat up his cards is mind blowing.  He never gives up and will forever be cemented into pop culture.  His name is catchy too.  It almost sounds like a superhero – Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Susan Storm, Reed Richards, Doctor Doom, Stephen Strange, and Tim Tebow.  I think it has a lot to do with the fact his first and last name both start with the same letter.

Topps makes two MiLB products per year.  I believe they have to as part of their agreement with Major League Baseball.  Those two products would be Pro Debut and Heritage Minors.  With the Mets giving Tim Tebow a contract, Topps jumped at the opportunity to make his first MiLB licensed card.  Tim Tebow had baseball cards prior to the one found in Pro Debut, but none of them received this kind of attention.  The media was all over this card.  Its great to see the hobby get such widespread positive media coverage for once.  Topps made the excellent decision not to overproduce the card either.  They made it one of the most difficult cards to pull.  Although it looks like a regular base card, it is anything but that.  You’d almost need to open (500) packs just to find one.  Treating as if it were a normal card would have driven the price way down.  At it’s height, prices reached $400.  Since this product’s release, prices have calmed down to around $150.

Baseball can be very gimmicky at times.  This is very true when it comes to the minor leagues.  With inserts such as Ben’s Biz, Fragments of the Farm Relics, Promo Night Uniforms, and Promo Night Uniforms Relics, Pro Debut really taps into the cool things minor league baseball does in order to bring fans to the ballpark.  For me, its fun to see cards of the Williamsport Crosscutters in here.  Local MiLB teams have die-hard followings.  Shortly after this product came out, I purchased a Fragments of the Farm Williamsport Crosscutters parking lot banner relic.  I remember seeing these banners last summer.  Its this type of connectivity that draws collectors to this brand.  Being able to connect a memory with a card can make all the difference.

The 2017 Topps flagship design carries over to Pro Debut.  (200) cards make up the base set.  Parallels include Green #’ed/99, Orange #’ed/25, Red #’ed/10, and Black #’ed/1.  Photo variations are kept at a minimum.  The CMP code for variations ends in #4214, versus base cards with #4204.  These too have Black parallels #’ed/1.

Of all the Pro Debut releases, 2017 has gotten the most attention thanks to Tim Tebow.  This year’s set had a fairly low print run.  Fun break!

Here is what I pulled:

Autos

• Kyle Lewis Auto
• Patrick Weigel Auto Green Parallel #’ed/99

Relics

• Columbus Clippers Fragments of the Farm Game-Used Base from Huntington Park
• Riley Pint Pennant Patch Red Parallel #’ed/10

Parallels

• Ben Bowden Red Parallel #’ed/10
• Austin Meadows Green Parallel #’ed/99
• Jen-Ho Tseng Green Parallel #’ed/99

Inserts

• Promo Night Uniforms – 50 Seasons In Reading Night
• Promo Night Uniforms – Home Improvement Night
• Promo Night Uniforms – Top Gun Night
• Promo Night Uniforms – Hockey Jersey Night
• Ben’s Biz – The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor #4
• Ben’s Biz – Erik The Peanut Guy #2
• Ben’s Biz – Todd “Parney” Parnell #13
• In The Wings – Dylan Cozens
• In The Wings – Ozzie Albies
• In The Wings – Gleyber Torres

Notable Base

• Cody Bellinger #145
• Nick Senzel #150
• Clint Frazier #174
• Gleyber Torres #124
• Ian Happ #24