Group Break RECAP: 2020 Topps Stadium Club (Box Break #1) (including a 1:95 pack Ted Williams #/50!)

 Yesterday, I did the full group break recap for the first half of last Saturday's group break extravaganza.  Today, it's time to look at the second break from that evening:  2020 Topps Stadium Club (box #1).  Before I get to this box, I should note that there is a second 2020 Stadium Club group break that will be happening this coming Saturday.  That break is already full and I might do a third box of 2020 Stadium Club if the interest is there (let me know in the comments)!

Now, without further delay let's jump into this particular group break box.  We begin with the box topper:

Shohei Ohtani oversized boxloader!  The Angels went to Jeff B. in this break and I can promise now that this isn't the last time I'll mention Jeff's name in this particular group break recap.

As usual with Stadium Club, the main draw (at least according to me) are the awesome base cards.  I have to say, the 2020 set is full of great images, it's clearly a "fun loving" set and you can't help but smile as flip through a stack of cards.  

Picking my favorites was impossible so I simply scanned a few base cards that I jumped out at me while I flipped through the stack looking to see if we had any of the rare image variations (I don't think we did but those cursed itty-bitty printed codes on the back aren't easy to read on this set at all)!

We also pulled a Luis Robert rookie card which is one of the "chase rookies" for 2020 sets!  Congrats to Jeff L. who had the White Sox, I imagine this card made the break for you regardless of what else Chicago ended up with!

Moving on to the parallels, the red parallels are seeded 1:3 packs and we pulled six in our 16 packs which put us a bit ahead of the pace I guess.  

Obviously, I was happy to land a parallel of Barry Larkin!  That was certainly a fun surprise for me (and it made the break worthwhile for me - it's the little things sometimes)!

The black foil parallels are seeded 1:8 packs and we got our two as expected.  

Both the Astros and Cardinals were "chosen" teams (as opposed to random teams) so that should mean that both of these cards will end up with owners (Julie and Kerry) that will love and cherish them.

And finally, a "sort of" parallel - the one per box Topps Stadium Club Chrome card.

The Yankees are usually one of the first teams claimed but for this break I believe they were the 15th and final team claimed...the remaining 15 teams were all randomized among each of the team slots.  Julie also had the Yankees in this break so I think she made out quite well!

Moving on to the inserts next, we begin with the 1:16 pack (box hit) In the Wings of Yordan Alvarez.

I'm not sure why this insert gets the rookie card logo on it while other inserts don't (at least in previous years) but then again, I can't keep up with the rookie card logo rules as it is.  Still, it's another nice card for Houston out of the box!

Next up, a trio of 1:8 inserts (each of which we got two cards from as expected).  We begin with the Power Zone, my least favorite of the insert sets that we pulled from the box.

There's nothing terribly wrong with the design, it's simply not my taste I guess.  I was happy that the Rockies got a card here though because up until this point Colorado had been shut out in the break (including all the bonus packs which I didn't show off at all in this post)!

The next 1:8 pack insert set is the Bash & Burn set.

The Brewers don't always get a lot of love in insert sets so it was fun to pull a Milwaukee insert here.  I like the Bash & Burn cards which celebrate home runs, stolen bases, runs, and RBIs.  These sort of look like Topps Fire rejects (for being a little bit too subdued for that mess of a set).  I think they work fine in Stadium Club, especially as a rather limited insert set.

And finally, the last of the inserts is the third 1:8 pack set:  Emporers of the Zone.

We don't get a ton of pitching-centric insert sets these days so this is another kind of refreshing set.  The design is alright I guess though I think the "crest" takes up a bit too much real estate on the card.

In a normal box, that would simply leave us with our two autographs but we beat the odds here and pulled one other special card.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this might be the true hit of the box:

That's a blue foil parallel of Ted Williams #35/50 on the back. The blue foil parallels are seeded 1:95 packs so this is quite rare indeed!  A huge congrats goes out to Ben Morris who ended up with Boston in this particular box break!

Finally, we reach the two promised autos.  Both of our autographs were of the standard rookie variety but as I said during the break, you never know with rookie cards.  One (or both) of these could become great, who knows?!

Remember how I said Colorado didn't get any base cards in the break?  Well, an insert of Nolan Arenado and then an autograph pretty much turned that team slot right around, didn't it?  Congrats to Jeff B. for having the Rockies in the break.

Last but not least, our second auto of the box (and the final scan that I need to do for this particular box):

That's Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks (claimed by Shane M.).  Both Shane M. and Jeff B. bought multiple spots in this particular break so I like seeing each of them "rewarded" with autographs!  

Overall, this was definitely a fun break and I can't wait to rip box #2 of Stadium Club for next Saturday's break.  As I said at the outset, I'm debating about doing a third box as well since I do have it in hand (originally I had bought it for myself but if there is enough interest I'm perfectly content to use it for another group break box).  Let me know what you think (and if you are interested in my group breaks in general, the best place to find out information is on my Facebook page dedicated to group breaks).