2021 Topps Gold Label Baseball Hobby Box Break & Review

Collector Type: Set/Autograph

The base set consists of (100) players. Those (100) players are spread across three different classes – Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3. Class 1 being the easiest cards to pull, and Class 3 being the most difficult. Each Class has the same (100) subjects. The only difference are the photos. If you put the entire set together it would technically be (300) cards.

Class 1 Parallels:

• Black 1:2
• Blue #’ed/150
• Purple #’ed/99
• Red #’ed/75
• Gold #’ed 1/1

Class 2 Parallels:

• Black 1:6
• Blue #’ed/99
• Purple #’ed/75
• Red #’ed/50
• Gold #’ed 1/1

Class 3 Parallels:

• Black 1:20
• Blue #’ed/50
• Purple #’ed/35
• Red #’ed/25
• Gold #’ed 1/1

Autographs include Framed Autographs, Framed Dual Autographs, and Auric Framed Autographs.

Autographed/Relics come in the form of Golden Greats Framed Autograph Jumbo Relics.

Relics include Gold Prospect Relics, and MLB Legends Relics.

Lots of foil and on-card autographs. The metal-framed cards which have been a staple to this brand for some time continue to look great. Every hobby box should contain at least (1) autograph.

One thing I noticed is that the Black parallels seem to be losing their ink. Its really noticeable on the Class 1 Black parallels. Not so much on Class 2 and Class 3. The ink on the front seems to easily leak on to the back of the other cards. Perhaps the ink wasn’t dry enough before the pack out. If picking up singles (especially online) be sure to see all sides of the cards.

Checklist

Here is what I pulled:

Auto:

• Joey Bart RC Framed Auto

Parallels:

• Ichiro Class 1 Blue #’ed/150
• Alex Bregman Class 1 Black
• Pete Alonso Class 1 Black
• Trevor Bauer Class 1 Black
• Chipper Jones Class 2 Black
• David Ortiz Class 2 Black

Base:

• Shane Bieber Class 1 #16
• Yordan Alvarez Class 1 #45
• Brady Singer RC Class 1 #58
• Xander Bogaerts Class 1 #62
• Bo Bichette Class 1 #27
• Joey Bart RC Class 1 #98
• Nolan Arenado Class 1 #71
• Andrew Vaughn RC Class 1 #4
• George Springer Class 1 #77
• Anthony Rendon Class 1 #100
• Juan Soto Class 1 #30
• Yadier Molina Class 1 #50
• Kyle Lewis Class 1 #35
• Joey Gallo Class 1 #18
• David Ortiz Class 1 #93
• Austin Meadows Class 1 #23
• Mike Trout Class 2 #52
• Ronald Acuña Jr. Class 2 #55
• Javier Baez Class 2 #83
• Roberto Clemente Class 2 #42
• Freddie Freeman Class 2 #92
• Tony Gwynn Class 2 #12
• Xander Bogaerts Class 3 #62
• Tarik Skubal RC Class 3 #79
• Cal Ripken Jr. Class 3 #32
• Casey Mize RC Class 3 #68

2018 Topps Gold Label Baseball Hobby Box Break & Review

Its not Bronze Label.  Its not Silver Label.  Its Gold Label.  Topps first introduced us to Gold Label in 1998.  Between 1998 and 2002 it was a regular release.  Then it took a long break before Topps brought it back a few years ago.  Gold Label is structured, and reminds me a lot of Fleer’s Flair Showcase.

The 2018 Topps Gold Label set consists of (300) cards.  There are only (100) players, but each one has multiple cards among the three classes – Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3.  Class 1 cards are the easiest to pull, and Class 3 are the most difficult.

Among Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3, there are (4) parallels you need to watch for.  They are Black, Blue, Red, and Gold.

Black

• Class 1 – 1:2 packs
• Class 2 – 1:6 packs
• Class 3 – 1:20 packs

Blue

• Class 1 – #’ed/150
• Class 2 – #’ed/99
• Class 3 – #’ed/50

Red

• Class 1 – #’ed/75
• Class 2 – #’ed/50
• Class 3 – #’ed/25

Gold

• Class 1 – #’ed 1/1
• Class 2 – #’ed 1/1
• Class 3 – #’ed 1/1

Packed inside every box is (1) Framed Autograph, Golden Great Autograph Relic, or MLB Legends Relic.  I like the on-card autographs, and metal frames.  Those two together make for some classy looking cards.

Maybe its just my eyes, but I had a difficult time telling the base apart from the black parallels.  The coloring isn’t that much different.  Having them serial numbered would have helped.

If you’re both a set collector and someone who enjoys the thrill of a quick break, Gold Label might take care of that fix.

Here is what I pulled:

Auto

• Alex Verdugo RC Auto

Parallels

• Don Mattingly – Class 1 Red #’ed/75
• Ted Williams – Class 1 Blue #’ed/150
• Eric Hosmer – Class 2 Black
• Paul Goldschmidt – Class 1 Black
• Trey Mancini – Class 1 Black
• David Ortiz – Class 1 Black
• Greg Maddux – Class 1 Black

Notable Base

• Cal Ripken Jr. – Class 3
• Miguel Sano – Class 3
• Aaron Judge – Class 3

Card of the Day: Mark McGwire 1998 Topps Gold Label Home Run Race #HR2

Card of the Day: Dan Marino 1998 Topps Gold Label #30

Card of the Day: Marcos Scutaro 2001 Topps Fusion Gold Label RC #244

Flashback Product of the Week: 2000 Topps Gold Label Baseball

While trying to stay out of the heat today, I decided to go through some of my old cards I haven’t looked at for awhile.  In the middle of my digging, I came across a few cards from 2000 Topps Gold Label Baseball.  I forgot how much I enjoy the look of this set.  There are three classes of 2000 Topps Gold Label, and you can look for gold parallels of each card which are limited to 100 copies each.  Every base looks like a refractor and the card stock Topps used is extra thick.  Topps even had Derek Jeter sign 1,000 uncut Gold Label sheets which were provided to collectors who collected all the letters to spell G-O-L-D-L-A-B-E-L.

Allen & Ginter’s WARNING Label

Well its official.  This year’s Allen & Ginter is out and collectors are going nuts over it as always.  Each year A&G has something new to offer collectors.  This year one of the biggest things I’ve noticed doesn’t deal with the cards at all, but instead its the box.  Maybe its just me, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a choking hazard sign on the front of a box before.

Does anyone else find this a little disturbing?  Were that many people trying to eat the mini cards which made Topps have to put a WARNING label on the box?  I guess you can’t blame collectors for wanting to take a bite.  Just look at the cereal I’ve been eating for years 🙂