2021 Topps Gold Label: Box Break Review!

I recently opened a box of 2021 Topps Gold Label as part of a group break but I thought it'd be fun to use that box for another Box Break Review here at Nachos Grande.  I'd definitely like to get back into reviewing boxes - it's been quite some time since I've reviewed something "current."  

Don't mind the "X" on the box, that's from when I opened it during the group break!

The box of 2021 Topps Gold Label contains seven packs (with 5 cards per pack unless the pack has a "special card").  In total, you should get 33 cards per box (with the note that if the box contains a relic then you get only 31 cards instead).  Spoiler alert:  We did not find a relic so we had the promised 33 cards total. 

Of the 33 cards, 16 were the standard base cards (called Class 1 in Topps Gold Label).  

We had a nice mix of rookies, current stars, and retired stars.  Personally, I love the look of the Gold Label base cards.  Sure, they are foilboard (which I generally don't care for) but in this case the design works great with the extra shine!  Each base card has two images along with a large team logo in the background - add in a few diagonal line "flourishes" and you get a nice, classy looking base card.  

Topps Gold Label is essentially broken into three "tiers" called Class 1 (common base cards), Class 2 (uncommon), and Class 3 (rare).  Our box produced six Class 2 cards.

To finish off the regular base cards in the box, we found four different Class 3 cards:

Obviously, the Dodgers were the big winners here as far as the group break went...then again, maybe pulling a Trevor Bauer card isn't exactly a way to be declared a "winner" these days (we also found a Class 1 Bauer card in this box for what it's worth).

Now, to the parallels:

Black parallels are the most common and (except for one) were the only parallels we found.  The Class 1 Black parallels are seeded 1:2 packs.  We found three total which is within what you'd expect out of seven packs.

Our Class 1 parallels included a nice Jose Abreu and a pair of Indians (soon to be Guardians).

The Class 2 black parallels are seeded 1:6 packs.  We found our expected one - a nice Luis Robert!

The White Sox, in particular, look great with the Black parallel treatment thanks to the white and black uniforms.  Kind of interesting that our first four black parallels were split evenly between the White Sox and the Indians...AL Central represent!

Finally, the Class 3 black parallels are seeded 1:20 packs and here we lucked out and found a super nice one of retired great Rickey Henderson!

Rounding out the parallels, our last one is a Class 2 purple parallel (seeded 1:39 packs) of Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers.

Yep, once again my "Dodger pulling magic" shows up during a group break!  The Bellinger is numbered 11/75 on the back of the card.

Last but certainly not least, each box of 2021 Topps Gold Label promises a framed autograph.  Our autograph as a Framed Black parallel autograph numbered 32/75!

That's a gorgeous looking Jose Garcia rookie auto.  The Class 2 Framed Black autos are seeded 1:61 packs!  While I did have the Reds in this particular group break, I decided (in real time after opening the pack) to randomize the Jose Garcia autograph out to a random group break participant.  After the randomization, it was Andy Shafer who ends up walking away with this beautiful on-card signature!

That basically does it for the 2021 Topps Gold Label box.  With only 33 cards in a box, it's a fast rip - and at around $130 per box, it's not exactly a cheap rip.  Thus, the last thing we need to do is give the box a proper score:

Overall, I give the 2021 Topps Gold Label the following rating:

Set Design:  A+

Collation:  A 

Opening Thrill:  A

Overall:  A-

I love the design of this set.  The three tiers make for fun collecting (both for set collectors and player collectors) without being completely overwhelming.  Collation was perfect in our box and each pack was exciting to open.  You can easily argue that not every autograph will be worth the cost of the box - but that's part of the gamble of ripping boxes...and at least the 2021 Gold Label set does have a number of super great autographs that are possible to find (including dual autographs and autographed jumbo relics)!  Based on our box, it feels like a box like this shouldn't cost more than around $100 so I did have to ding the final score a tiny bit.  Still, overall this set is an easy recommend from me!