Well… wasn’t that an entertaining box to rip open. Its the retro product of all retro products. I’m talking about Archives. Once again Topps utilizes classic designs from the past to create cards of today’s veterans, stars, rookies, and retired/Hall of Famers. The collection of notable and obscure players combined with all of the on-card autograph goodness has been a “Fan Favorite” for years.
A hobby box of 2019 Topps Archives will cost about $90 as of this writing. (24) packs come in a hobby box, and you’re guaranteed (2) on-card autographs.
If you’re looking to put the set together it consists of (300) cards. Designs from 1958, 1975, and 1993 are featured throughout the set. When it comes to the cards printed with the 1975 design be sure to watch out for the ones missing the facsimile signature. Also be on the lookout for 1993 Topps Gold cards. Both of these are subset parallels that aren’t easy to pull (1:207 packs). Other parallels include Purple #’ed/175, Silver #’ed/99, Blue #’ed/25 (Hobby), and Gold #’ed 1/1.
Base High-Number cards are like short prints and range from #301-#330.
Please check the card backs as you’re ripping through those packs. (10) photo variations are in here. Base cards featuring the 1958 design have CMP codes that end in #053. Base cards featuring the 1975 design have CMP codes that end in #058. Base cards featuring the 1993 design have CMP codes that end in #064. No matter the design, if you pull a photo variation the CMP code will end in #070.
Along with well-known names in baseball like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Sandy Koufax, Archives always comes with a slew of what I call obscure players. These are guys who had successful careers in baseball, but just don’t have that many autographed cards. In fact, Archives can sometimes be the only product where they have autographs.
Autographs come in the following forms – Fan Favorites Autographs, 1978 Topps Record Breaker Autographs, 1994 Future Star Autographs, 50th Anniversary of the Montréal Expos Autographs, Ichiro Retrospective Autographs, Topps Magazine Autographs, and Topps Originals Autographs.
Inserts include 1975 Mini, 1994 Topps Future Star, 50th Anniversary of the Montréal Expos, Ichiro Retrospective, Topps Coins (Blaster box), and Topps Magazine.
I’m always interested to see if any Phillies players from the past received the Archives autograph treatment. This year one did. Former Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal has a Fan Favorites autograph. Very cool! When I began watching the Phillies he was their starting catcher. I even met him during a few autograph signings in Harrisburg, PA. During his playing career he had some autographed cards issued. But nothing recently. Its great to see his name popup again.
Another area of interest to me are the 50th Anniversary of the Montréal Expos inserts. Some of these players use to play for the Harrisburg Senators AA team. The first professional baseball game I went to see was in Harrisburg. Including guys like Cliff Floyd and Rondell White bring back a lot of memories.
Curious to known whether or not the Topps Magazine was real. It was. Topps Magazine ran from 1990 to 1993. Fun to see this make a comeback in cardboard form.
I say this every year, but I’m going to continue to do so until it happens. Current Phillies radio broadcaster and former pitcher Larry Andersen needs to have an autograph in here. Its the perfect product for him to be in.
Tons of nostalgic designs and on-card autographs. Awesome box!
Checklist
Here is what I pulled:
Autos
- Ken Griffey Jr. Fan Favorites Auto
- Coco Laboy 50th Anniversary of the Montréal Expos Auto
Parallels
- Lucas Giolito Silver #’ed/99
- Lou Gehrig Purple #’ed/175
- Ichiro Retrospective #I-15 Green #’ed/99
Base High-Numbers
- Luis Urias 2019 Rookie #325
- Pete Alonso 2019 Rookie #330
- Kyle Wright 2019 Rookie #329
- Josh Hader 1975 Highlights #313
- Kris Bryant 1975 Highlights #318
- Derek Jeter 1975 Highlights #311
- Chris Sale 1958 Sport Magazine All-Star #305
- Javier Baez 1958 Sport Magazine All-Star #303
- Nolan Arenado 1958 Sport Magazine All-Star #307
Inserts
- Pedro Martinez 50th Anniversary of the Montréal Expos
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Future Star
- Pete Alonso Future Star
- Ichiro Retrospective #I-4
- Ichiro Retrospective #I-8
- Cal Ripken Jr. Topps Magazine
- Ronald Acuña Jr. Topps Magazine
- Shohei Ohtani Topps Magazine
- Aaron Judge Topps Magazine
- Barry Larkin Topps Magazine
Filed under: Reviews | Tagged: 2019, archives, baseball, box, break, hobby, review, topps | 2 Comments »
