If you are anything like me, you probably have a difficult time keeping track of all of the baseball card releases. For myself, I generally have no idea about any of the high-end releases (they are always out of my price range) and only sometimes do I hear about the mid-range releases. I used to at least keep up with sets that were released in retail stores, but ever since my local Wal*Mart decided to barely carry baseball cards (8/9 of the card "aisle" is filled with Pokemon stuff) I've even lost track of retail sets.
So, all of that lead to me being totally surprised when I saw 2017 Topps Gallery cards on my local Wal*Mart's shelf the other day. As someone who enjoyed the Gallery brand back in the day (though I only acquired cards from the various sets after-the-fact), I thought I'd give this year's edition of Topps Gallery a chance. After all, the blaster ($20) promised me it would deliver an autograph* plus Artist Proof parallels.
*It is here that I should note that the box most definitely does NOT promise me an autograph. This is how out of touch I've been... I read "look for Rookie Autograph" cards as "find one per box" which is obviously wrong. In fact, the most common of all autographs (Topps Gallery Autographs are seeded a whopping 1:69 packs so basically I'm an idiot).
With that out of the way, I thought it'd be fun to share my blaster opening experience with all of you...and who knows, if you are anything like me this might be your first time learning about the 2017 edition of Topps Gallery as well. I plan to post the contents of the packs over the span of the week - that way I can include scans and (hopefully) look up anything I need to about the set and report my findings to you, my loyal readers.
Ready for this? Here we go!
Pack 1:
20. Evan Longoria
Alright, so starting off with a Rays card (the dreaded, un-trade-able team) isn't a great to begin the blaster. Also, kind of weird that we can't see Longoria's face in the sketch.
111. Ryan Braun
From Rays to Brewers, I'm really knocking off some of the "valuable" teams in the early going, aren't I? Actually, truth be told, I appreciate Topps including cards from teams other than the usual Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs!
143. Cody Bellinger
Ok, there's the requisite Dodgers card. At least it is a rookie card of Bellinger, probably one of his nicer ones this year.
Hall of Fame insert: HOF-27. Ernie Banks
And there ya go, a Cubs card! The Hall of Fame Gallery cards are seeded 1:4 packs which makes this the most common insert set to find (I believe). There are 30 total cards in the insert set (plus a bunch of rare parallel versions that I most likely won't find in my single blaster so why worry about it).
That's it for pack 1. With only 4 cards per pack, you don't really get a lot of bang for your buck (each $20 blaster has a total of 32 cards, but 4 of those are in a special Artist's Proofs parallel pack so good luck completing the base set everyone). Oh yeah, did I mention that the last 50 cards in the 200 card base set are short printed (and seeded 1:20 packs?!). Seriously, good luck putting the full set together.
I'll reserve my full judgment on the set until I rip open a few more packs. Still, that was a nice beginning (even if, as a set collector, I'm disappointed in learning just how impossible this set will be to actually build).
So, all of that lead to me being totally surprised when I saw 2017 Topps Gallery cards on my local Wal*Mart's shelf the other day. As someone who enjoyed the Gallery brand back in the day (though I only acquired cards from the various sets after-the-fact), I thought I'd give this year's edition of Topps Gallery a chance. After all, the blaster ($20) promised me it would deliver an autograph* plus Artist Proof parallels.
*It is here that I should note that the box most definitely does NOT promise me an autograph. This is how out of touch I've been... I read "look for Rookie Autograph" cards as "find one per box" which is obviously wrong. In fact, the most common of all autographs (Topps Gallery Autographs are seeded a whopping 1:69 packs so basically I'm an idiot).
With that out of the way, I thought it'd be fun to share my blaster opening experience with all of you...and who knows, if you are anything like me this might be your first time learning about the 2017 edition of Topps Gallery as well. I plan to post the contents of the packs over the span of the week - that way I can include scans and (hopefully) look up anything I need to about the set and report my findings to you, my loyal readers.
Ready for this? Here we go!
Pack 1:
20. Evan Longoria
Alright, so starting off with a Rays card (the dreaded, un-trade-able team) isn't a great to begin the blaster. Also, kind of weird that we can't see Longoria's face in the sketch.
111. Ryan Braun
From Rays to Brewers, I'm really knocking off some of the "valuable" teams in the early going, aren't I? Actually, truth be told, I appreciate Topps including cards from teams other than the usual Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs!
143. Cody Bellinger
Ok, there's the requisite Dodgers card. At least it is a rookie card of Bellinger, probably one of his nicer ones this year.
Hall of Fame insert: HOF-27. Ernie Banks
And there ya go, a Cubs card! The Hall of Fame Gallery cards are seeded 1:4 packs which makes this the most common insert set to find (I believe). There are 30 total cards in the insert set (plus a bunch of rare parallel versions that I most likely won't find in my single blaster so why worry about it).
That's it for pack 1. With only 4 cards per pack, you don't really get a lot of bang for your buck (each $20 blaster has a total of 32 cards, but 4 of those are in a special Artist's Proofs parallel pack so good luck completing the base set everyone). Oh yeah, did I mention that the last 50 cards in the 200 card base set are short printed (and seeded 1:20 packs?!). Seriously, good luck putting the full set together.
I'll reserve my full judgment on the set until I rip open a few more packs. Still, that was a nice beginning (even if, as a set collector, I'm disappointed in learning just how impossible this set will be to actually build).
I found out about Gallery about a week and a half ago, and I've struck out at the three different Wal-Marts I went to (one had an empty display, the other two had bugger all). At 60+ cents per card my rational brain says I could find better uses for my money, but I'm still anxious to find some.
ReplyDeleteNice find in Bellinger. He and judge are always tough to find I packs
ReplyDeleteI've always liked the set, but there's too many things keeping me from collecting this... starting with the maddening SPs. ARGH!
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post about Gallery saying the same thing (where was I when they announced this was going to be a set now?). ... Four-card packs, oof.
ReplyDeleteHe Chris if you aren't putting the set together I'd be interested in any of the Brewers or your dupe Brewers and really interested if you pull any Younts.
ReplyDelete