2017 Topps Tier One Box Break & Review

Don’t you hate it when you keep pulling cards of that amazing rookie?  This dude Aaron Judge keeps following me.  I guess there could be worse problems to have 🙂  I’ve never pulled so many cards of a hot rookie in my life.  My jaw literally dropped after opening this box.  Another awesome pull from a Topps product.

Tier One doesn’t mess around with base cards, short prints, and photo variations.  It gets straight to the point quickly.  Boxes are on the high-end costing about $140.  Inside each box you should find (2) autographs and (1) relic.  Some boxes will come with a bonus “hit”.

Given that there really isn’t a base set, 2017 Topps Tier One is broken down into the following areas:

• Tier One Autographs
• Dual Autographs
• Triple Autographs
• Break Out Autographs
• Clear One Autographs
• Cut Signature
• Cut Signature Relics
• Prime Performers Autographs
• Prodigious Patches
• Prodigious Patches Autographs
• Signature Tools Autographed Relics
• Tier One All-Star Patches
• Tier One Bat Knobs
• Tier One Autographed Bat Knobs
• Tier One Limited Lumber
• Tier One Autographed Limited Lumber
• Tier One Relics
• Tier One Legends Relics
• Tier One Autographed Relics
• Tier One Dual Autographed Booklet Relics

For the most part, autographs are on-card.  Cards signed in paint pen continue to be my favorite.  All of these cards look really great.  Many products on the market today are high risk and reward.  Tier One is probably at the top of that list.  The 2017 rookie class is packed with fantastic players.  Some of the best we’ve seen in years.  Box prices this year are reflecting that.

Here is what I pulled:

Autos

• Aaron Judge Break Out RC Auto #’ed/140
• Mark Mulder Prime Performers Auto #’ed/300

Relics

• Albert Pujols Tier One Jersey #’ed/331
• Luke Weaver Tier One Jersey #’ed/331

Card of the Day: Jose Fernandez 2016 Topps Tier One Game-Used Bat Knob

2016 Topps Tier One Baseball Box Break

Yet another box break from the 2016 National.  I purchased all my boxes from Marty’s Sports Card Exchange.  His prices were the most reasonable, and he always knocks a few more dollars off.

Here is what I pulled:

Autos

• Aaron Nola Breakout Auto #’ed/299
• Lucas Duda Prime Performers Auto #’ed/249

Relic

• Ichiro Tier One Jersey #’ed/199

Cubs ’16 Topps Tier One Auto Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to Barry on being the lucky winner of the Jorge Soler 2016 Topps Tier One Breakout Auto #’ed/199.  Once Barry sends me his mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Cubs ’16 Topps Tier One Auto Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Jorge Soler 2016 Topps Tier One Breakout Auto #’ed/199.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, July 1, 2016 @ 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!!!

2016 Topps Tier One Baseball Box Break & Review

Its incredibly impressive to see how many products Topps can release that contains so much on-card autograph content.  Topps tries their best to get as many on-card autographs in a product.  Whether that product is super high-end, or one of the lower cost options, Topps wants to get them in there because they know that’s what collectors want.  Listening to your customer base can only improve the quality of your products.  It would be nice if some other manufacturers did the same.  2016 Topps Tier One packs quite the punch by having a ton of nicely designed cards, but it’s a real gamble.

On-card autographs is the heart and soul of this brand.  There are a couple of sticker autographs, but that seems to be mostly isolated to some of the multi-signed cards.  As expected, they all look really well done.  One autograph insert did catch my eye though.  The Tier One Autographs which are numbered to (99) or less and are case ‘hits” can be a little difficult to see.  I’m a big fan of the use of paint pens for signatures, but the type of background these cards have camouflages the autograph in some cases.

When it comes to relics, bat knobs and barrels rein supreme.  These cards contain some of the most unique bat relics found in the hobby.  Orioles center fielder Adam Jones has a neat bat knob relic this year that displays the entire “Bird” mascot.  Including Josh Gibson was a nice touch by Topps.  Bat relics of modern day players are fairly common, and don’t command too much unless they’re low numbered and/or autographed.  Josh Gibson’s plain bat relics numbered to (75) sell for almost $100.  Congrats to the person who pulled the one-of-one bat knob of him.  Its nice to see a player that can still do that.  There is only a select group of athletes who’s high-numbered basic relics still reach those dollar amounts.

Topps tried something that has never been done before.  I wasn’t sure what to think of the cards that contain the pen tip used for autographs.  Each card is a one-of-one, and collectors seem to really like them.  It wouldn’t surprise me if we see more of these down the road given the response they’ve been getting.

Like almost every product today, there is a big gamble if your looking to get your money back.  Tier One can be one of the bigger gambles out there.  Picking up singles or taking part in group breaks might be the best way to go.

Here is what I pulled:

Autos

• Jim Rice Prime Performers Silver Ink Auto #’ed/10
• Jorge Soler Breakout Auto #’ed/199

Relic

• George Springer Tier One Jersey #’ed/199

Card of the Day: Johnny Cueto 2015 Topps Tier One Limited Lumber Game-Used Bat Plate

Stanton ’15 Topps Tier One Jersey Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to James Sanders on being the lucky winner of the Giancarlo Stanton 2015 Topps Tier One Jersey #’ed/399.  Once James Sanders sends me his mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Stanton ’15 Topps Tier One Jersey Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Giancarlo Stanton 2015 Topps Tier One Jersey #’ed/399.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, June 12, 2015 @ 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!!!

2015 Topps Tier One Baseball Box Break & Review

2015 Topps Tier One Baseball is just my style.  No base.  It gets straight to the “hits”.  This is actually my first time opening a box of Tier One, and man does this stuff look nice.

I wish every single product in the world could be configured like Tier One.  I’m not someone that needs all that excess base which will end up sitting in a box for years collecting dust.  I like cards that have some use to them.  Inside each 2015 Topps Tier One Baseball box you’ll find (2) autographs and (1) relic card.  One in every four packs contains an additional relic.  It reminds me a lot of their Supreme brand.

Where Tier One shines the most is in it’s high-end “hits”.  Prodigious Patches contain a jumbo piece of patch.  Autographed Prodigious Patches have a jumbo patch and a on-card autograph.  Platinum versions of these exist limited to five copies.  Limited Lumber cards have a huge colorful part of the bat inside and are all numbered 1/1.  Bat knobs are back too with autographed versions as well.  You can even look for jumbo patch cards featuring All-Star Game relics.

The high-end cards aren’t the only good looking things in here though.  Almost everything is signed on-card, except for the Autographed Tier One Relics.  Those do use stickers.  Where Topps really came through though are the Clear One Autographs.  These look super nice!!!  The layered acetate look came out well.

Boxes cost about $92.00 right now.  It was a fun and fast break.

Here is what I pulled:

Autos

• Joc Pederson New Guard Autographs #’ed/349
• Jose Abreu Tier One Autographs #’ed/99

Relic

• Giancarlo Stanton Jersey #’ed/399