2019 Topps High Tek Baseball Hobby Box Break & Review

Topps Tek made it’s debut to the world in 1998.  The various background patterns gave collectors what seemed like an endless amount of cards to collect.  Some of these patterns are much more difficult to obtain than others.  I’m sure there are collectors still attempting to finish their sets they started over twenty years ago.

I’m so happy that this brand got an overhaul compared to it’s recently revived predecessors.  Over the past few years trying to follow which patterns and parallels go with each player got a bit confusing.

What’s changed?  A lot.  Instead of getting (1) pack with (40) cards and (2) autographs, we now get (3) mini-boxes containing (6) cards and (1) autograph per mini-box.  Less cards, but more autographs.

Only (3) patterns highlight the base set.  There is a different pattern for rookies, current stars, and retired players.  Each have the same parallels.  In my opinion, this makes things so much easier.

The 2019 Topps High Tek base set consists of (112) cards.  Parallels that you can pull include White (1 per pack), Blue (1 per pack), Green #’ed/150, Purple #’ed/99, Pink #’ed/75, Black #’ed/50, Orange #’ed/25, Red #’ed/10, and Gold #’ed 1/1.

Autographs include High Tek Autographs, CelebraTEK Autographs, Future TEK Autographs, PortraiTEK Autographs, ReflecTEK Autographs, and TEK Buyback Autographs.

Inserts include CelebraTEK, Future TEK, PortraiTEK, and ReflecTEK.

I’m a sucker when it comes to on-card acetate autographs.  Not only is the 2019 format easier to follow, but for the same price as previous years you get an additional autograph.

Checklist

Here is what I pulled:

Autos

• Lance McCullers Jr. High Tek Red Auto #’ed/10
• Brad Keller RC High Tek Purple Auto #’ed/99
• Elvis Luciano RC High Tek Auto

Parallels

• Mookie Betts Black #’ed/50
• Miguel Cabrera Purple #’ed/99
• Jacob deGrom Green #’ed/150
• Jose Ramirez Blue
• Jose Ramirez White
• Touki Toussaint RC White

Base

• Jose Ramirez #16
• Anthony Rizzo #71
• Justin Verlander #24
• Paul Goldschmidt #108
• Andrew Benintendi #6
• Nolan Arenado #77
• Derek Jeter #38
• Christin Stewart RC #19
• Javier Baez #72

Puig ’19 Topps Heritage High Number Relic Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to bbcardz on being the lucky winner of the Yaisel Puig 2019 Topps Heritage High Number Clubhouse Collection Relic.  Once bbcardz sends me their mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Puig ’19 Topps Heritage High Number Relic Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Yaisel Puig 2019 Topps Heritage High Number Clubhouse Collection Relic.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, November 1, 2019 @ 8:00 p.m. EST.
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post.
• You can enter once per day.
• The winner will be selected at random.
• Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering.
• U.S. residents only.
• The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over.
• The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again.
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!

2019 Topps Heritage High Number Baseball Hobby Box Break & Review

Last October while diving into my box of Heritage High Number I was greeted with a Shohei Ohtani Real One RC Auto.  Trust me.  I did not see that coming.  Sure it was always a possibility, but the odds of pulling one were incredibly rare.  But that’s proof big hits can happen anywhere and to anyone.

Hobby boxes of 2019 Topps Heritage High Number cost about $100 right now.  Every box has (24) packs and a box topper.

Continuing where the regular Heritage set left off, Heritage High Number goes from #501-#725.  The last (25) cards are Short Prints.

Parallels include Black Border #’ed/50 (Hobby), and Flip Stock #’ed/5 (Hobby).  Those Flip Stock parallels are the easiest ones to miss.  That’s why you need to take you’re time with a product like this.  A Flip Stock parallel could easily end up being the big hit of the box.  CMP codes don’t apply to them either.  Feeling the front and back of each card is a must to be sure the sides aren’t reversed.

Outside of the Black Border and Flip Stock parallels there are a bunch of cards that can be pulled where the CMP code does come in handy:

• Base (#501-#700) – #321
• Base SP (#701-#725) – #329
• French Text – #322 or #330
• Silver Metal – #340
• Error – #341
• Trade – #342
• Throwback – #343
• Action Image – #344
• Team Name Color – #345
• Nickname – #346

Minis #’ed/100 and Chrome cards are also possible pulls.  The Chrome cards have Hot Box Purple, Base Refractor #’ed/570, Black #’ed/69, Gold #’ed/5 (Hobby), and Superfractor #’ed 1/1 parallels.

Inserts include 1970 Topps Candy Lids (Target only), 1970 Topps Cloth Stickers (Walmart/Meijers only), 1970 Topps Player Story Booklets (Retail only), 1970 Topps Scratch Off, Award Winners, Combo Cards, Now and Then, Rookie Performers, The Hammer’s Greatest Hits, 1970 Topps Super Baseball Box Topper, 1970 Topps Poster Box Topper, and 1970 Topps Originals Box Topper.

Hobby boxes each contain (1) autograph or relic.  Most of the time you’re hit will be something from the Clubhouse Collection.

Relic types include Clubhouse Collection Relics, Clubhouse Collection Dual Relics, Clubhouse Collection Triple Relics, Clubhouse Collection Quad Relics, Clubhouse Collection Autograph Relics, and Clubhouse Collection Dual Autograph Relics.

Autograph types include Real One Autographs, Real One Dual Autographs, The Hammer’s Greatest Hits Autographs, and 1970 Cut Signatures.

2019 Topps Heritage High Number is one that most set collectors should enjoy.  The mix of parallels, variations, and new rookies gives you plenty to look for outside of the main hit.  Its a relatively small set you should be able to put together quickly.  Former Phillies Manager and current Hitting Coach Charlie Manuel’s rookie card comes from 1970 Topps.  I wonder if any of those made it into the 1970 Topps Originals Box Toppers?

We have one more set this year to feature the 1970 Topps design – 2019 Topps Heritage MiLB.  Then we move on to the 1971 Topps design.  1971 Topps is one of the most condition sensitive sets ever made because of the black borders.

Checklist

Here is what I pulled:

Relic

• Yaisel Puig Clubhouse Collection Relic

SP Photo Variation

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. RC Action Image

Parallels

• Alex Wood Black Border #’ed/50
• Carter Kieboom RC Chrome Refractor #’ed/569

Short Prints

• Chris Paddack RC #703
• Victor Robles #701
• Adam Jones #705
• Luis Cessa #724
• Mychal Givens #721
• Cameron Maybin #710
• Hunter Strickland #712
• Thomas Pannone RC #715

Inserts

• Jack DiLauro 1970 Topps Originals Box Topper
• Salvador Perez Scratch Off
• The Hammer’s Greatest Hits – Hank Aaron #10
• Lorenzo Cain/Christian Yelich Combo Card
• Keston Hiura Rookie Performers
• Jon Duplantier Rookie Performers
• Fernando Tatis Jr. Rookie Performers
• Zack Greinke Now and Then
• Cody Bellinger Now and Then
• Khris Davis Now and Then
• Shohei Ohtani Award Winners
• Alex Bregman Award Winners
• Steve Pearce Award Winners

Astros ’18 Topps High Tek Auto Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to kinkinsley on being the lucky winner of the J.D. Davis 2018 Topps High Tek RC Auto.  Once kinkinsley sends me their mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Astros ’18 Topps High Tek Auto Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a J.D. Davis 2018 Topps High Tek RC Auto.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, December 14, 2018 @ 8:00 p.m. EST.
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post.
• You can enter once per day.
• The winner will be selected at random.
• Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering.
• The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over.
• The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again.
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!

2018 Topps High Tek Baseball Box Break & Review

Acetate stock, on-card autographs, and a quick-thrill (1) pack per box configuration.  Yes please.  Sign me up!

Don’t let the (1) pack fool you.  2018 Topps High Tek is for both fast ripping thrill seekers, and collectors looking to complete that ultimate rainbow.  At first glance the patterns and parallels can be mind bending, but after awhile you’ll understand how things flow.

(112) cards make up the base set.  The National League and American League each have (4) distinct levels of pattern rarities.  Patterns 1-4 will look a certain way for NL players, while AL players will have their own set of patterns.  #1 is the easiest, while #4 traditionally is the most difficult.

Packaged inside every (1) pack box are (40) cards.  Yes, I said (40).  That’s quite a brick.  When breaking down the pack, you should find Rainbow Foils, Magma Diffractors, Orbit Diffractors, and Galactic Diffractors.  Each of these have their own parallels:

• Rainbow Foil – Blue #’ed/150, Green #’ed/99, Black #’ed/50, Orange #’ed/25, Red #’ed/10, Gold #’ed 1/1
• Magma Diffractor – Green #’ed/99, Black #’ed/50, Orange #’ed/25, Red #’ed/10, Gold #’ed 1/1
• Orbit Diffractor – Black #’ed/50, Orange #’ed/25, Red #’ed/10, Gold #’ed 1/1
• Galactic Diffractor – Orange #’ed/25, Red #’ed/10, Gold #’ed 1/1

(5) players – Aaron Judge, Kris Bryant, Mariano Rivera, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani have Black & White Image Variations #’ed/50.  You can also find Gold SpecTEKular Diffractors of these #’ed 1/1.  From the looks of it, the parallels only apply to the first pattern.  In other words, you won’t find an Orange Orbit Diffractor #’ed/25 featuring the NL or AL third pattern.

In the middle of the 40-card brick is all the good stuff.  Every box should come with (2) on-card autographs.  You’re most likely going to get (2) autographs from the High Tek Autograph checklist.  Parallels include Green #’ed/99, Blue #’ed/75, Black Orbit Diffractors #’ed/50, Orange Orbit Diffractors #’ed/25, Red Orbit Diffractors #’ed/10, and Gold SpecTEKular Diffractors #’ed 1/1.  All of them feature either the NL or AL first pattern.  No autograph will come on patterns 2-4.  Having parallels and autographs for each pattern would be way too much.

Other autographs besides the High Tek ones that you can pull include Black & White Image Variations, PortraiTEK, PyroTEKnics, Rookie TEK, and Tek Buybacks.  All of these except the Tek Buybacks have non-autographed inserts.

Its a lot to take in.  This product is heavily concentrated with patterns and parallels.  If you feel like busting a box and focusing on just the autographs and parallels, that’s perfectly fine.  Despite patterns 2-4 being more rare, they don’t command too much more on the secondary market.

Here is what I pulled:

Autos

• Mark McGwire
• J.D. Davis RC

Parallels

• Whit Merrifield Rainbow Foil Orange #’ed/25
• David Ortiz Orbit Diffractor Black #’ed/50
• Pedro Martinez Rainbow Foil Green #’ed/99
• Kris Bryant Rainbow Foil Blue #’ed/150
• Johnny Bench Galactic Diffractor
• Byron Buxton Orbit Diffractor
• Aaron Altherr Orbit Diffractor
• Bernie Williams Magma Diffractor
• Paul Goldschmidt Magma Diffractor
• Jordan Luplow RC Magma Diffractor

Notable Patterns

• Mike Trout #4
• J.D. Davis #4
• Tomas Nido RC #4
• Carlos Santana #4