Product Highlight: 2003 Topps Kanebo Baseball Series I & II

Kanebo sounds like the name of a character you would see on a Mortal Kombat player selection screen.  “Kanebo Wins!”, “Flawless Victory Kanebo!”, “Kanebo Finish Him!”.  In reality, its the name of a Japanese gum manufacturer.

Topps and Kanebo Foods came together in 2003 to bring collectors this crazy set.  It’s official title is 2003 Topps Kanebo Baseball, and is split between two different series.  Series I contains (55) cards.  The design is identical to that of the regular 2002 Topps Baseball flagship set.  On the back is the main difference where everything is written in Japanese.  Randomly inserted are Silver and Black parallels.

Don’t let the design fool you.  They look like 2002 cards, but all of the cards from Series I have a 2003 copyright date.  This can be extremely confusing when it comes to rookie cards.  Luckily, Topps and Kanebo only used two players in their Series I set that actually had real rookies in 2002 – So Taguchi and Kaz Ishii.  Neither of these players have much demand today, so their rookie cards from 2002 don’t hold much value.  But its still nice to know the difference between a 2002 and 2003 card.

Series II was issued a little later on is a bit easier to follow.  Not only was it issued in 2003, but it also utilizes the 2003 Topps Baseball flagship design.  The size is doubled compared to Series I, and comes in at (110) cards.  You’ll find Series II cards much more difficult to locate, and they have Copper and Silver parallels.

Hideki Matsui has very few Topps rookie cards from 2003.  Most of them come from Upper Deck, Fleer, and Donruss/Playoff.  His 2003 eTopps card is the main Topps card you see from that year.  Matsui didn’t have a rookie card in the 2003 Topps Baseball flagship brand, but he did get one in the Series II Kanebo set.

Phillies 2020 Topps Series 1 Relic Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to Dan Horton on being the lucky winner of the Rhys Hoskins 2020 Topps Series 1 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Relic.  Once Dan Horton sends me their mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Card of the Day: Rob Manfred 2020 Topps Series 1 – No Number

Phillies 2020 Topps Series 1 Relic Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Rhys Hoskins 2020 Topps Series 1 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Relic.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, February 28, 2020 @ 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!!!

Card of the Day: Hector Neris 2020 Topps Series 1 #204

Card of the Day: Bryce Harper 2020 Topps Series 1 SSP #250

2020 Topps Series 1 Baseball Hobby Box Break & Review

Collector Type: Set/New Rookie Card Hunters

A new baseball season is upon us.  The trucks are being unloaded.  The bubble gum is ready to be chewed.  The players are arriving.  Spring Training gives teams the opportunity to stretch their legs, and showcase some of their young talent.  Who’s going to be the surprise stars?  Which prospects will get the call to the big leagues?  Who’s going to the World Series?  These are all questions which will be answered in the coming months.  One thing is for sure.  Topps will be there to cover it all.

2020 Topps Series 1 Baseball kicked-off with a Million Card Rip Party at AT&T Stadium.  Some of the best and well respected group/box breakers in the hobby gathered together for a massive Rip Party.  The party went late into the night until one million cards had been opened.

2019 National League Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso arrived to open the first pack.  Topps even had specially made Pete Alonso autograph cards for the event’s participants.  These feature the 2020 Topps flagship design, are serial numbered to (100) copies, and have the Topps Million Card Rip Party logo in the upper-right corner.

Throughout this historic event Topps interviewed Pete Alonso and various other breakers.  When you’re opening that many boxes some awesome cards are bound to be pulled.  Chris Justice of Cards Infinity pulled an insane Mike Trout/Ken Griffey, Jr. Baseball Stars Dual Autograph #’ed/5.

A lot of collectors have been eagerly awaiting this latest Topps flagship set.  Aristides Aquino, Gavin Lux, Bo Bichette, and Yordan Alvarez are just some of the players who have their first RC logo cards in here.  Yordan Alvarez has both the RC logo and Gold Cup logo on his base rookie.  That’s something you don’t see often.

Inside a hobby box such as this you’ll find (24) packs with (14) cards per pack.  The second you open the box you’ll be greeted with a special Silver Pack.  Housed inside that pack are 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Chrome cards.  If you’re lucky you might pull a parallel or autograph.

The base set consists of (350) cards.  Parallels include: Yellow (Walgreens), Purple (Meijer), Rainbow (1:10), Gold Foil (1:2 Jumbo), Gold #’ed/2020, Advanced Stat #’ed/300, Vintage Stock #’ed/99, Independence Day #’ed/76, Black #’ed/69 (Hobby/Jumbo), Mother’s Day Hot Pink #’ed/50, Father’s Day Blue #’ed/50, Memorial Day Camo #’ed/25, Platinum #’ed 1/1, and Printing Plates #’ed 1/1.  (100) cards have Clear parallels #’ed/10.

It wouldn’t be a flagship set without photo variations.  There are tons to look for.  Over (100) to be exact.  I’ve always found checking the CMP codes to be the most efficient way in identifying them.

• Base – #269
• SP – #284
• SSP – #285

Technically considered a parallel compared to a photo variation, the CMP code for the Advanced Stat cards end in #283 and are #’ed/300.

Many of the photos used for the base set are quite fun.  Some look as if they’ed be used in Stadium Club.

The hobby box format comes with (1) autograph or relic.  Jumbos guarantee (2) relics and (1) autograph.

I’m happy to see Turkey Red make a comeback as retail exclusive inserts.  You can even find Chrome Turkey Red cards.  Mixing the artistic filter with chrome technology was a wise choice.

Another new thing I like are the Rookie Card Retrospective RC Logo Medallion Manufactured Relics.  Little RC logo medallions are embedded into classic Topps rookie card reprints.  They just look really cool.

Topps knows that collectors enjoy special experiences.  Lucky collectors can pull certificates for the “Celebration of the Decades” event.  According to Topps, “Winners will be invited to an exclusive experiential event that will be talked about for decades!”

The 2020 baseball card collecting season has begun!

Here is what I pulled:

Relic

• Rhys Hoskins 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Relic

1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary Chrome Silver Pack

• Jesus Luzardo RC
• Dustin May RC
• Kris Bryant
• Whit Merrifield

Parallels

• Randy Johnson Topps Choice Black #’ed/299
• Yuli Gurriel Advanced Stat #’ed/300
• Anthony Rendon Gold #’ed/2020
• Randy Arozarena RC Gold #’ed/2020
• Big Air, Big Hair Rainbow
• Danny Hultz RC Rainbow
• Tyler White Rainbow

Inserts

• Pete Alonso Home Run Challenge
• Justin Verlander 2019 Topps Now Review
• Cal Ripken Jr. Topps Choice
• Austin Riley Decade’s Next
• Orlando Cepeda Decades’ Best
• Max Scherzer Decades’ Best
• Stan Musial Decades’ Best
• Houston Astros Decades’ Best
• Rod Carew 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary
• Wade Boggs 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary
• Trevor Bauer 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary
• Alex Young RC 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary
• Ronald Acuña Jr. 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary
• Mookie Betts 1985 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary

Notable Rookies

• Aristides Aquino RC #20
• Yordan Alvarez RC #276
• Gavin Lux RC #292
• Bo Bichette RC #78