Card of the Day: Darin Ruf 2022 Topps Update Series #106

2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition Update Series Baseball Box Break & Review

Collector Type: Set/Rookie/Parallel Fan

I had never opened a Sapphire product until now. In the past I have purchased various Sapphire products to flip.

When the regular 2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition Baseball was released it debuted at $249.99/box. That was a bit too expensive for me considering there aren’t any autographs. So I made the decision to skip it.

After hearing that 2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition Update Series Baseball included on-card autographs everyone expected the price to be very high. Turns out that wasn’t the case. Boxes debuted at $129.99. Topps can be all over the place when it comes to pricing. Sometimes its high. Sometimes its low. Sometimes its right on.

The base set consists of (330) cards. Parallels include Green #’ed/75 (1:9), Gold #’ed/50 (1:13), Orange #’ed/25 (1:26), Purple #’ed/10 (1:64), Red #’ed/5 (1:127), Superfractor #’ed 1/1 (1:1,598), and Padparadscha #’ed 1/1 (1:1,039).

Autographs are #’ed/25 or less. Parallels include Orange #’ed/25 (1:817), Purple #’ed/10 (1:2,043), Red #’ed/5 (1:4,085), Superfractor #’ed 1/1 (1:20,013).

The autographs are difficult to pull. But at least this product has them. And with a small autograph checklist when one is pulled it is usually of a top rookie.

On-card autographs are always better than stickers. Collectors were hoping not too many of them would be packed-out as redemption cards. So far the only redemption autograph looks to be of Jeremy Peña.

Each box should contain at least (2) parallels. I’ve seen some with (1) and others containing (3).

I bought this box because it had a reasonable debut price, and wanted to open a Sapphire product. The chance at pulling an autograph was also a nice bonus.

Seeing that this is the only product where you can find on-card Sapphire autographs of top rookies from 2022, box prices could skyrocket if any of them work out. On the other side those players could flop, and box prices could tank.

No Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., or Spencer Torkelson rookie cards found in my box.

As I mentioned before, this is the first Sapphire product I’ve opened. This is also the first time I’ve seen Sapphire cards in-hand. I can see why collectors go crazy for them.

2023 members of the Topps 582 Montgomery Club will receive (1) 20-card set, and the factory set this year. It would be really cool if that 20-card set would be printed on Chrome Sapphire card stock. The set should consist of subjects that haven’t had Chrome Sapphire cards made yet. Off the top of my head Mickey Mantle, Phillie Phanatic, and Mike Schmidt would make great additions.

Checklist

Here is what I pulled:

Parallels:

• Adam Frazier Gold Refractor #’ed/50
• Hunter Renfroe Green Refractor #’ed/75

Rookies:

• Jason Krizan RC #US65
• Felix Bautista RC #US225
• Ryan Pepiot #US109
• MacKenzie Gore RC #US81
• Brendan Donovan RC #US150
• Jack Suwinski RC #US236
• Shane Baz RC Rookie Debut #US240
• Nick Allen RC #US117
• Bryan Lavastida RC #US317

Base:

• Nick Castellanos #US266
• Garrett Stubbs #US315
• Michael Lorenzen #US84
• Andrew Stevenson #US173
• Matt Chapman #US235
• Cole Sulser #US103
• Sergio Romo #US322
• Sean Manaea #US48
• Jace Peterson #US12
• Drew Smyly #US138
• Opening Day Bronx Bash #US45
• Boston Flex #US11
• Cole Irvin #US292
• Luis Guillorme #US107
• Robert Suarez/Steven Wilson #US239
• Jurickson Profar #US69
• Archie Bradley #US98
• Andrew Knizner #US329
• Brad Miller #US91
• Kyle Cody #US96
• Adam Engel #US323

Card of the Day: Benny Parsons 1996 Maxx Premier Series #195

Under The Tree: 2012 Hot Wheels Monster Jam Series w/ Topps Trading Card

Hot Wheels began to make their Monster Jam series of trucks in 2000. This partnership between Hot Wheels and Monster Jam lasted 18 years and concluded in 2018.

The 2012 set in my opinion is the most interesting. (80) monster trucks make-up the set. (7) subsets cover the (80) monster truck set – 1st Editions, Hot Wheels Originals, Edge Glow, Spectraflames, Monster Jam World Finals Deco, Mud Trucks, and Standard. The “Standard” designation does not appear on any of the packaging like the others do. Its just the name given to those trucks which do not fit in any of the other categories.

2012 was the 30th anniversary of Grave Digger. The packaging for each monster truck contains a special 30th anniversary logo celebrating this achievement.

Packaged with each monster truck is a Topps trading card. The card matches the monster truck it is packaged with.

Card of the Day: 1991 Tuff Stuff World Series Lonnie Smith/Brian Harper #5

Under The Tree: Base Wars: Cyber Stadium Series

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Welcome back to the Under The Tree series of blog posts. These holiday season write-ups pop-up each week during the month of December. Each post highlights an old sports-related toy that probably was hiding under the Christmas tree at one point in time.

This year we will start off with Base Wars: Cyber Stadium Series for the NES.

Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1991, Base Wars: Cyber Stadium Series is a baseball game that takes place in the 24th Century. Human ballplayers have been replaced with robots. Why? Because humans began demanding too much money ($23.4 billion per year for a .250 hitter). Team owners rebelled and replaced them with mighty programmable machines built for combat.

Cyborg, tank, flybot, and motorcycle are the four types of robots that you can play.

All of the normal elements of a baseball game are here – pitching, hitting, fielding, and base running. You’ll also find one-on-one battle royales for base possession using laser swords, fire guns, and various forms of ammunition. Having the most runs after nine innings guarantees a win. A win can also happen if you destroy three of the other opponents robots.

The more you win the more money you will make. You can then use that money to repair and upgrade your robots with all sorts of toys such as hyper engines, ultra shoulders, and iron gloves. All of these fun items will give you an unfair advantage over the opposing team.

Card of the Day: Jeremy Peña 2022 Topps Update Series #276

Card of the Day: Nick Maton 2021 Topps Chrome Update Series Sapphire Edition #US251

Card of the Day: Ken Griffey, Jr. 1990 Donruss Learning Series #8

Pin Pickups From The 2022 Little League World Series

Williamsport, PA and the surrounding areas are buzzing right now. Little League players from all over the world are currently playing in the 2022 Little League World Series. Collectible lapel pins are everywhere.

At one point in time I would head over to the Little League complex to visit the corporate booths to obtain pins for my collection. I haven’t done that since 2018. Little League has really made those free pins strictly for kids.

The Topps Truck made a visit to Little League this year. I don’t believe they had any pins made to distribute. That’s a missed opportunity in my book.

Around town many businesses have pins. That’s where my focus has been for the last few years. From Dairy Queen to Long John Silver’s I was able to round up about (30) new pins for my collection.

Dugout 75th Anniversary pin found at the Chamber of Commerce

Bullfrog Brewery

Genetti Hotel

Dolly’s Diner

Taber Museum

The Clothier

Taco Bell

Ozone Toys and Collectibles

Long John Silver’s

Lycoming Candy

KFC

Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships