Product of the year. That’s how I’d sum up 2018 Topps Stadium Club. I wouldn’t make a very good box breaker to watch on YouTube. I don’t move the fastest to begin with, but when it comes to products that look like this I really like to take my time. For a box that only has (16) packs, it took me a few hours to open.
What makes Stadium Club so special today is exactly what made it special when it arrived in the early 90’s. Great photography! At (300) cards strong, the base set has what I believe to be the best photographs that we’ll see on a product all year long. No fancy borders or designs. Topps allows the unique photos to do all of the talking.
Now it wouldn’t be a modern day set without parallels. Some of these are easier to pull than others. While opening your box keep an eye open for Red Foil, Black Foil, Sepia, Black/White, Rainbow Foil #’ed/25, First Day Issue #’ed/10, Member’s Only, Photographer’s Proof, and Gold Rainbow Foil #’ed/1 parallels. From a pure numbering standpoint, the ideal parallel to pull would be the Gold Rainbow Foil because its numbered 1/1. From a visual perspective I like the Red Foil and Black/White. Because the player’s name and Stadium Club logo is in orange, the Black/White parallels always remind me of Halloween.
Not only are the Stadium Club photo variations difficult to pull, you might have a hard time spotting them. Given this product’s unique photo selection, what might look like a variation could just be a simple base card. The CMP codes come in handy. Base cards end in #31, whereas photo variations end in #67. The odds of pulling one are about 1:109 packs.
Of all the inserts, I enjoy the Stadium Club Chrome ones the best. (90) cards from the base set got chromified. There are also Refractor, Gold Minted, and Superfractor parallels. Autographed versions too. I actually think these came out better looking than Bowman.
With a price of about $80 per hobby box, terrific photography, and (2) on-card autographs, you can’t go wrong. Topps made sure those three key elements lined up perfectly with Stadium Club.
With the National Sports Collectors Convention rapidly approaching, I’d like to see Topps issue some specially made Stadium Club cards for the show. They did this in 1992. In recent years Allen & Ginter, Bowman, and Gypsy Queen have been the main subjects of their wrapper redemption program. I think its time for Stadium Club’s return.
Product of the year in my opinion. Reasonable price, cool photos, and eye appealing on-card autographs.
Here is what I pulled:
Autos
- Amed Rosario
- Phillip Evans
- Cam Gallagher
Photo Variation
Parallels
- Max Fried Black/White
- Whit Merrifield Black Foil
- Stephen Strasburg Black Foil
- Frank Thomas Red Foil
- Max Fried Red Foil
- Jim Thome Red Foil
- Nolan Ryan Red Foil
- Will Clark Red Foil
- Kyle Farmer Red Foil
Inserts
- Randy Johnson Stadium Club Chrome
- Giancarlo Stanton Beam Team
- John Smoltz Never Compromise
- Manny Machado Never Compromise
- Rafael Devers Power Zone
- Joey Gallo Power Zone
- Bryce Harper Special Forces
- Joey Votto Special Forces
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