Card of the Day: Rhys Hoskins 2020 Topps Baseball’s Finest Flashbacks Gold Refractor Auto

2020 Topps Baseball’s Finest Flashbacks Hits A Home Run With Collectors

As a member of the Topps 582 Montgomery Club I was able to purchase (3) boxes of the new online-exclusive 2020 Topps Baseball’s Finest Flashbacks for $55/box.  The design pays tribute to 1993 Topps Finest which introduced collectors to the Refractor.

Not only is the design a nod to the original set, this new version also consists of (199) cards and contains (1) refractor per box.  With that being said, most people ripping find at least (2) refractors on average.  Parallels include Base Refractors, Gold Refractors #’ed/50, Black Refractors #’ed/25, Red Refractors #’ed/5, and Superfractors #’ed 1/1.  Even though the Base Refractors aren’t serial numbered, its speculated that no more than (50) copies exist for each card.

Opening a single box doesn’t guarantee an autograph.  Autographs fall about 1:6 boxes.  Base Autograph parallels include Base Refractor #’ed/20, Gold Refractors #’ed/15, Orange Refractors #’ed/10, Red Refractors #’ed/5, and Superfractors #’ed 1/1.  Base All-Stars Autographs are #’ed/20, and have parallels which include Gold Refractors #’ed/15, Orange Refractors #’ed/10, Red Refractors #’ed/5, and Superfractors #’ed 1/1.

Andre Dawson, Ivan Rodriguez, John Smoltz, Mark McGwire, and Roberto Alomar each have original Autograph Buybacks #’ed/20 or less.

Inserts come in the form of All-Stars Jumbo Box Toppers.

(18) packs come in a single box.

Pack Odds

Base Parallels:

• Refractor (1:18)
• Gold Refractor #’ed/50 (1:18)
• Black Refractor #’ed/25 (1:36)
• Red Refractor #’ed/5 (1:176)
• Superfractor #’ed 1/1 (1:880)

Autograph Parallels:

• Refractor #’ed/20 (1:296)
• Gold Refractor #’ed/15 (1:381)
• Orange Refractor #’ed/10 (1:573)
• Red Refractor #’ed/5 (1:1,138)
• Superfractor #’ed 1/1 (1:5,765)

The odds of finding an Autograph Buyback is (1:2,260).

Given that the odds of pulling a non-autographed Superfractor are (1:880) packs should tell you how limited this product actually is.  Normally that number is in the thousands.

This was a no-brainer buy for me.  Where else are you guaranteed (2) cards #’ed/50 or less for the price of $55/box?  The answer is nowhere.

Nostalgic design.  Colorful, low-numbered parallels.  On-card autographs.  It doesn’t surprise me that these boxes are selling for hundreds on the secondary market.  Nobody knows what the ceiling will be for these boxes.

Card of the Day: Sammy Sosa 1989 Donruss Baseball’s Best #324

Baseball’s Forgotten Rom Com – The Slugger’s Wife

Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Darryl Palmer.  He’s one of the most famous Atlanta Braves players of all time.  Palmer is right up there with the likes of Chipper Jones, Warren Spahn, and Greg Maddux.  Collectors stand in line for hours to get his autograph.

If you seriously have no clue who Darryl Palmer is, that’s alright.  He doesn’t actually exist.  Actor Michael O’Keefe (Danny Noonan from Caddyshack) portrayed the fictitious baseball player in the 1985 film The Slugger’s Wife.  The movie is a romantic comedy about a baseball player who falls in love with a singer (Rebecca De Mornay).  It was a box office flop, and has been long forgotten.  When you’re sitting around with your friends talking about your favorite baseball-themed movies, The Slugger’s Wife rarely comes up.

To go along with the movie, Topps printed-up a prop/promo card of the film’s main character – Darryl Palmer.  It was made using the classic 1984 Topps Baseball design, but isn’t part of the main set.  This card stands alone.  On the card’s back is a made up story about the character.

The Slugger’s Wife may have bombed, but this card sure didn’t.  You rarely see it popup.  Collectors have been known to spend crazy amounts for it.  Way more than what any standard 1984 Topps Baseball card is worth.  That’s including the Don Mattingly rookie card.  I highly doubt we’ll be seeing The Slugger’s Wife cards make their Archives debut anytime soon.

Card of the Day: Old Hoss Radbourne 1976 Shakey’s Pizza Baseball’s Immortals #25

Card of the Day: Cal Ripken 1992 Topps McDonalds Baseball’s Best

Baseball’s True Rookie Card

When it comes to researching the origins of the game of baseball, your most likely going to come across some grey areas.  This is common among a lot of things that don’t seem historically important in the beginning, especially a long time ago.

One of the most historical cards to be made this year comes from 2010 TRISTAR OBAK (no surprise).  What surprised me is that its not included in the Game Changers portion of the set.  The card I’m referring to is of Col. John Stevens III.  This is the man who first owned Elysian Fields where on June 19, 1846 the Knickerbockers played the New York Nine in the first organized game between two clubs.  To me, this is the true rookie card of the game of baseball.

On the reverse side, there is a picture of Elysian Fields.