In an age where high-end hits continue to be the main focus of box breakers, Stadium Club aims to change that. I’m going to say this right now. Every Stadium Club box opened is a good box. There isn’t a bad one in the bunch.
2019 Topps Stadium Club continues the tradition of superb and unique photography. That’s what Stadium Club is all about. The photos Topps uses are so entertaining to look at. I truly believe this brand could survive without any hits at all just because of the photography. That’s saying a lot, especially today.
When diving into a hobby box, you’ll find (16) packs with (8) cards inside each pack. Sitting on top of the packs is an oversize box topper. Some of these box toppers can be found with autographs and numbered to (10) copies or less.
The base set consists of (301) cards. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. made it in with card #301. Full bleed photographs without a border really makes the pictures do all of the talking. The checklist covers rookies, veterans, retired stars, and Hall of Famers. Parallels of the base set include Red Foil (1:3), Black Foil (1:8), Sepia (Retail), Black/White (1:48 Hobby), Rainbow Foilboard #’ed/25 (1:147), Members Only (1:256), 1st Day Issue (1:367), Photographer’s Proof (1:513), and Gold Rainbow Foilboard #’ed 1/1 (1:1,808 Hobby).
SP Photo Variations are a bit more difficult to pick out because of all the unique photos used in the base set. CMP codes can help:
- Base – #768
- SP Photo Variation – #805
What could make these base cards look better? How about printing some on chrome stock? That’s exactly what Topps did. (90) Stadium Club Chrome cards can be pulled and have the following parallels: Refractor (1:64), Orange Refractor #’ed/99 (1:124), Gold Minted (1:257), and Superfractor #’ed 1/1 (1:5,976 Hobby).
Like I mentioned earlier, I strongly believe this brand could standalone without any hits. But the on-card autographs do look really good. Each hobby box should come with (2) autographs.
Autographs that you can get include Base Autographs, Base Chrome Autographs, Beam Team Autographs, Co-Signers Autographs, Emperors of the Zone Autographs, Lone Star Autographs, and Power Zone Autographs.
Inserts include Beam Team, Emperors of the Zone, Instavision, Power Zone, and Warp Speed. Instavision inserts return as case hits. Its fun to see the attention they receive on the secondary market considering they aren’t autographed.
I think its time we see some exclusive Stadium Club cards made for the National Sports Collectors Convention. Its been years since that’s happened. That concept could be taken in all sorts of directions.
It doesn’t matter if your two autographs are super valuable or not. Once all of the packs are ripped, you’re going to be left with a nice selection of cards featuring memorable photographs.
Complete Checklist
Here is what I pulled:
Autos
- Stephen Tarpley Base Auto Redemption
- Ramon Laureano Base Auto
Parallels
- Javier Baez Warp Speed Red Foil
- Charlie Blackmon Black/White
- Yadier Molina Stadium Club Chrome Orange Refractor #’ed/99
- Ronald Acuña Jr. Stadium Club Chrome
- Javier Baez Black Foil
- Chris Taylor Black Foil
- Corbin Burnes Red Foil
- Albert Almora Jr. Red Foil
- Niko Goodrum Red Foil
- Matt Chapman Red Foil
- Robbie Ray Red Foil
- Ramon Laureano Red Foil
Inserts
- Juan Soto Oversize Box Topper
- Christian Yelich Beam Team
- Mookie Betts Warp Speed
- Byron Buxton Warp Speed
- Nolan Ryan Emperors of the Zone
- Trevor Bauer Emperors of the Zone
- Matt Carpenter Power Zone
- Miguel Andujar Power Zone
Favorite Card
Christy Mathewson attended Bucknell University, which is just a few miles away from where I live. He’s buried in a cemetery next to the school. Pretty neat considering he’s a member of the first Hall of Fame class. Depending on the year, he’ll either have a bunch of cards made or none at all.
Filed under: Reviews | Tagged: 2019, baseball, box, break, club, hobby, review, stadium, topps | 1 Comment »
