Trader's Retreat - 2 Box Break and Review!
2015 Topps Series 2 Baseball and 2015 Topps Stadium Club Baseball!
by Jim Van Nest
July 8, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com


Hello, good people, and welcome back inside the Trader's Retreat. We're trying something a little different this week and that is putting multiple Box Breaks inside one article. Bottom line, I only have so much space to work with here and I have more outstanding product than space, so we're gonna try doubling up. So, for this Review, page one will be Topps Series 2 Baseball and page two will be Topps Stadium Club Baseball!

2015 Topps Series 2 Baseball

Configuration: 36 Packs, 10 Cards per pack - Total of 360 Cards

Set Breakdown
350 Card Base set (#'d 352-701)
PARALLEL CARDS: Rainbow Foil - 1:10 packs, Gold #/2015, Snow Camo #/99, Black #/64, Pink #/50, Framed #'d - 1 per case, Clear #/10, Platinum 1/1, Printing Plates 1/1
2 Different Variation Sets - at least 25 different cards in each set
Variations: Sparkle and Photo variations
25 Card Baseball Royalty Set - 2 per Hobby Box
Parallels: Gold #/99
15 Card Baseball Royalty Relic Set - #/25
10 Card Baseball Royalty Autograph Set - #/10
10 Card Baseball Royalty Autographed Relic Set - #/5
25 Card Birth Year Coin and Stamp Set - #/50
Versions: Quarter, Dime, Nickel, Penny
8 Card Birth Year Coin and Stamp Autographed Set
43 Card Career High Relic Set
54 Card Career High Autographed Set
25 Card Commemorative Bat Knob Set
Parallels: Black #/99, Pink #/25
25 Card Commemorative Patch Pin Set - #/199
10 Card Eclipsing History Set - 1:10 packs
5 Card Eclipsing History Dual Relic Set - #/50
5 Card Eclipsing History Dual Autographed Set - #/25
5 Card Eclipsing History Dual Autographed Relic Set - #/10
10 Card First Pitch Set
20 Card Heart of the Order Set - 1:6 packs
10 Card Heart of the Order Relic Set - #/99
10 Card Heart of the Order Autographed Set - #/25
20 Card Heart of the Order Autographed Relic Set - #/10
30 Card Highlight of the Year Set - 1:4 packs
10 Card Highlight of the Year Relic Set - #/99
10 Card Highlight of the Year Autographed Set - #/25
9 Card Highlight of the Year Autographed Relic Set - #/10
20 Card Stepping Up Set
10 Card Stepping Up Relic Set - #/99
10 Card Stepping Up Autographed Set
10 Card Stepping Up Autographed Relic Set
21 Card Strata Signature Relic Set - #/25
30 Card Strata Cut Signature Set - #1/1
15 Card 'Til It's Over Set - 1:8 packs
10 Card 'Til It's Over Relic Set - #/25
5 Card 'Til It's Over Autographed Set - #/10
15 Card 'Til It's Over Autographed Relic Set - #/10
25 Card Bunt Player Code Cards Set
Stamped Buy Buck Cards - 2 per box

The flagship is back with Part 2 of its annual Baseball set! Great parallels, hot inserts and one auto or relic per box!!

Base, Variations and Parallels


Is it really time for Topps Series 2 baseball already?? Must be, because we have a big fat box of it and it's awesome. As they do every year, the style of the cards is the same as Series 1 and the photography is top notch. As you can see in the scan, we scored probably the biggest card in the set and that's Kris Bryant of the Cubs. Of the base set, we pulled 297/350 cards (84.9% of the full set) with NO duplicates. This is one of the biggest things I like about how Topps does business. In a box with 360 cards, we pulled no duplicates. There are two types of variations in Series 2. The Sparkle variation is back, but alas, we didn't pull one. They're hard to spot as the only difference between the Sparkle and the base is a little spark of light somewhere on the card. We did pull one Photo Variation, though. As you can see above, we pulled two Andrew McCutchens. The best way to tell whether your card is a photo variation is that the variation cards are generally not in-game action shots. So the card with McCutchen swinging is the base and the one where he holds the picture is the variation.

Series 2 has plenty of parallels. Not as many different parallels as something like Chrome, but you get more of them in your box. In our box, we pulled 11 different Gold parallels. As is the case every year, the Gold are numbered to the year, so #/2015. The 11 players we pulled are Danny Duffy, Anthony Gose, Jake Marisnick, Drew Smyly, Brett Cecil, Ken Giles, Rookie Jose Pirela, Michael Brantley, Jose Fernandez, Jarrod Parker and Rookie Rafael Ynoa. What I like about these is that not only are the cards bordered in gold, it's sort of foil-ish. As you get to the bottom of the card there's also some design down there...so they're very nice looking cards. The next parallel is the Rainbow Foil parallel. Promised at a rate of 1:10 packs, we pulled three of these in our box. And these are really pretty sweet looking. They're not exactly chromed, they're more like reflectors and when moved in front of the light, you see the rainbow effect. The three cards we pulled in our box are Jaime Garcia, Gerrit Cole and Yan Gomes. These cards are not numbered. Our final parallel is a Snow Camo parallel of Padres utility man Alexi Amarista. These cards have a blue and white camouflage border and is numbered 61/99 in silver foil on the back of the card.

Inserts



Inserts are usually where it's at in the flagship sets and Series 2 is no different. We have eight different types of insert cards and three different kinds of "enter the code" card. All told, we have 49 insert cards. At 1:4 packs, the Highlight of the Year insert set is the most prolific. This horizontal card set highlights a season and an event of significance. As an example, we have a card commemorating Mariano Rivera's 500th save in 2009. The other eight cards are for Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Rickey Henderson, Ozzie Smith, Bob Feller, Mark McGwire and two different Babe Ruth entries. Next up at 1:6 packs is the Heart of the Order set. This horizontal set focuses on the sluggers in the middle of the lineup. Hank Aaron makes an appearance in this set, too. We also have Yasiel Puig, Edgar Martinez, Chipper Jones, Jose Canseco and Jeff Bagwell.

The next set is also 1:6 packs and is called Stepping Up. This vertical set features those guys that always step up in the clutch. We pulled six of these: David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera, Corey Kluber, Ryan Howard and Johnny Podres. After that comes the First Pitch set which continues from Series 1. These cards show some of the celebrities that throw out the "first pitch" in their home towns. In our box we pulled Stan Lee and Metallica's Lars Ulrich throwing out the first pitch for San Francisco. Chelsea Handler and Kevin Hart both throw out first pitches in Chicago. Handler for the Cubs, Hart for the White Sox. We round it out with Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias tossing the first pitch for his hometown Miami Marlins.

The next two sets both come in at 1:9 packs, giving us four cards each. They are the Eclipsing History set which highlights players who overtook legends. We have Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock commemorating Rickey breaking Lou's career stolen base record. We also have Jim Rice/Nomar Garciaparra, Darryl Strawberry/David Wright and Sandy Koufax/Nolan Ryan. The final horizontal set is the 'Til It's Over set. This set features players who took part in some of the most amazing comebacks in the history of the game. We pulled David Freese, which cites Game 6 of the World Series where the Cardinals just refused to lose. Also pulled in our box is Willie Mays, Evan Longoria and Omar Vizquel.

The final two insert sets are promised at two per box. The first is a really sexy set called Baseball Royalty. These are thicker card stock featuring some of the greatest players in the history of the game. In our box we pulled Jackie Robinson and Randy Johnson. The pictures are in a nice sepia tone with gold foil logos and text. Beautiful cards. The other set is the Stamped Buybacks. These are a great feature in Topps sets. These cards are old school cards, but stamped with foil linking them to this set. In our box, we pulled a 1979 card of John Wathan and a 1973 card of Roger Metzger. Love seeing the old school designs showing up in a fresh box!

The last insert cards in the box are all contest cards where you have to go to a website and enter a code for a chance to win prizes or play games. IN our box we pulled four Babe Ruth Call your shots cards, four Topps Bunt 2015 cards and three MLB 15 - The Show cards.

Relic

The final card in our box is the one hit promised. In our box, we pulled a Career High relic of the Mets' David Wright. This card highlights his 2008 season when he tallied a career and team high 124 RBIs. This horizontal card is a thicker stock card with a nice bright orange swatch of game used jersey on the left side. The card is not numbered.

Final Thoughts on 2015 Topps Series 2 Baseball

Priced around $65, you know what you're getting with Topps Series 2. You're getting a high quality, lower end set. The cards are great; the inserts are great. This is not a set for someone looking to score that huge hit or turn around and make a profit. Topps has plenty of those (Tier 1, Museum Club, etc.) The main brand always needs to stay affordable and feature a lot of cards for those set, team or player collectors out there. And Series 2 does just that. We completed almost 90% of the set and brought in over 60 inserts and/or parallels in our box. Any baseball set collector has to bring in all three of the main Topps set and this is the second. So go out there and get a box...by the time you're done ripping it and organizing, it might just be time for the Update Series for 2015.

If you'd like to see the live break of the box that accompanies this review, well, just click Right Here!

Ratings

Innovation: 3
Fun: 5
Value: 5
Rebuy: 4

Total– 17/20 - I'd rate 2015 Topps Series 2 a B+!

NPN Information

NPN 2015 Topps BB Series 2
PO BOX 2220
Duryea, PA 18642

Limit – 1 Request Per Household

Postmarked by: September 2, 2015
Received by: September 9, 2015

For our Canadian collectors, your entry will need to be accompanied by the answer to this skill question: 12 x 4 + 3 – 7 = ?

2015 Topps Stadium Club Baseball

Configuration: 16 Packs, 8 Cards per pack - Total of 128 Cards

Set Breakdown
300 Card Base set
PARALLEL CARDS: Gold Foil - 1:3 Packs, Black Foil - 1:8 Packs, Black and White (with orange foil) - 1:46 Packs, Foilboard - 1:65 Packs, Members Only - 1:207 Packs
75 Card Base Autograph Set
PARALLEL CARDS: White Foil #/50, Gold Foil #/25, Orange Foil 1/1
25 Card Contact Sheet Set - 2 per box
PARALLEL CARDS: White Foil #/99, Gold Foil #/50, Orange Foil #/25
9 Card Co-Signers Autograph set - #/5
10 Card Crystal Ball Set - 1 per case #/70
PARALLEL CARDS: Gold Foil #/25
10 Card Legends Die-Cut Set - 1 per box
PARALLEL CARDS: Gold Foil #/25
12 Card Lone Star Signatures Set
PARALLEL CARDS: Gold Foil #/10, Orange Foil #1/1
30 Card Triumverates Set - 10 groups of 3
Tiers: Luminous - 1 per box, Luminescent - 1:4 boxes, Illuminator - 1 per case
25 Card True Colors Set - 1 per box
PARALLEL CARDS: Refractors - 1:4 boxes, Gold Refractors - 1:5 boxes, Electric Refractors #/25
15 Card True Colors Autograph set - #/5
1992 Autographed Buybacks Set - #/5

Back for the second season after a long hiatus, Stadium Club has gone back to basics. A larger base set and two on-card autographs are the features here. Further, a set known for its photography only gets better on that front!

Base and Parallels



One of my all-time favorite sets is back and better than ever! 2015 Topps Stadium Club is here and it's fantastic! This set is known for its photography and 2015 upholds that tradition. A prime example is the Lou Gehrig card scanned above as well as the George Brett Gold. You just don't see these kinds of shots in other sets. This is a 300 card base set, and in our box we pulled 110 of those cards with no duplicates (37% of the base set).

As you can see, this year's set is a nice mix of rookies, veterans and legends. There isn't much for parallels in this set, but there are a few, starting with the Gold Parallels that are inserted 1:2 packs. In our box, we pulled eight, just as you would expect. Along with the four pictured above, we pulled Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, Roger Clemens and Rookie Guilder Rodriguez. The only difference in the parallels is the color of the foil decorations. The base cards are lined with silver foil.

The Golds are, obviously, lined in gold. The Black, inserted two per box, are lined with black foil. As you can see, we pulled Black versions of Joey Votto and Tyson Ross. Our final parallel is called a "Black and White" parallel. These hard to find cards are black and white versions of the base card and they're lined with Orange foil. These parallels are listed with odds of 1:46 packs, so we did real good with this version of the Angel Pagan card.

Inserts


There are five different insert sets in 2015 Stadium Club. One of those sets is called Crystal Ball and they are a case hit and #'d to only 70. We did not get lucky enough to pull a Black and White parallel and a Crystal Ball. We did, however, pull versions of all of the other four sets. The first, which is promised at two per box, is the Contact Sheet insert. As you can see, we pulled Evan Longoria and Jason Heyward versions of these cards. The back of these cards gives you some impressive stats about the player on the front of the card. This is the only set that is not chromed or metallic in appearance.

The next three sets are all quite nice and all promised at one per box. Let's start with the Legends Die-Cut insert set. As you can see, we pulled a Randy Johnson version of this card. This card is not exactly chromed, it's more metallic or reflector looking. The die-cutting is really nice on this set and the back of the card just gives some info as to why The Big Unit is a Legend. The next set is also a die-cut set and it's a mainstay in the Stadium Club set - it's the Triumvirate set. For anyone that doesn't know, these cards come in three-card sets that are all die-cut to fit together like a puzzle. These cards are also Tiered.

We pulled a Luminous (the most common Tier - promised 1 per box) of the Kansas City Royals Salvador Perez. The chrome and the die-cut on these cards are not done justice in my scans. This is a beautiful card. The final insert set in 2015 Stadium Club looks like a card straight out of Finest. This is the True Colors set. The background of the card is rainbowed and the chroming on this is amazing. The back of this card gives a little blurb about the player on the front, Mike Trout, as well as listing a 2014 Statistical Breakdown. There may not be many inserts in this box, but you definitely get bang for your buck as these cards are REALLY nice looking.

Autographs

The final two cards in our break are the promised On-Card Autographed cards. What's that, you say? Yes! On-Card autos are being featured in 2015 Stadium Club! We pulled two base autos in our box. As you can see, they are of Alex Cobb and Rookie Rymer Liriano. I love how they've handled these cards this year. There's no box and they don't even fade the card out. The players just signed toward the bottom of the card. It's almost as if you met the player and he just signed your card for you. Very cool. Word of advice, I skimmed right past one of the autos in my actual break - so be on the lookout, the signatures can blend right into the card sometimes.

Final Thoughts on 2015 Topps Stadium Club Baseball

At a mere $73/box, Topps Stadium Club is one of the bargains of the new baseball season. The inserts are absolutely gorgeous and the autographs are very nice. Plenty of rebuy value as it'll take at least three boxes to complete the base set. And of course, with two more boxes comes two more Triumvirates. So you'll need to complete those puzzles as well, so you may as well just get a case. :) Anyway, this is a fantastic-looking set and well worth the price of admission and I would suggest jumping on it.

If you'd like to see the live break of the box that accompanies this review, well, just click Right Here!

Ratings

Innovation: 5
Fun: 5
Value: 5
Rebuy: 5

Total– 20/20 - I'd rate 2015 Topps Stadium Club an A+ - my favorite product of the season so far!

NPN Information

NPN 2015 Topps Stadium Club BB
PO BOX 785
Pittston, PA 18640

Limit – 1 Request Per Household

Postmarked by: September 23, 2015
Received by: September 30, 2015

For our Canadian collectors, your entry will need to be accompanied by the answer to this skill question: 3 x 5 + 12 – 22 = ?

Once again, thanks so much to our sponsors at Topps for giving us the opportunity to review these great new products. For more information on all of their products, you can check them out at www.Topps.com. You can also follow them on Twitter: @toppscards. For all the great new trading card updates coming to BOP, be sure to give me a follow as well: @vannestjc. 'Til next time, take care.