2011 Topps UFC Finest Box Break Recap and Review

The UFC continues to grow in popularity and major corporations are taking note. FOX broadcasting has just signed a seven-year broadcast deal with the UFC that will bring MMA to major broadcast television four times a year in addition to regular Friday Night fights on FX.  So if you haven’ shown an interest before in UFC trading cards, now would be a perfect time to check out 2011 Topps UFC Finest.  Not just because values of UFC cards should start to rise with mainstream exposure, but also because this is a great release of cards. 

This set falls under our classification of premium cards. Hobby exclusive boxes of 2 mini box contain 6 hits in total with 2 Autograph Cards, 2 Fighter Relic Cards and 2 Autograph Relic or Jumbo relic cards.

Here are some of the cards we pulled from our hobby box.

 Jon Fitch base, front and back

 Anthony Njokuani, Chad Mendes and Chris Weideman Debut cards

Georges St-Pierre UFC Unlocked Code Card

 Frankie Edgar and Dan Hardy Diecut Atomic Refractors

Kenny Florian #/888, Rich Franklin #/888, Jorge Santiago #/888

Jake Ellenberger #/888, Donald Cerrone #/888

 Randy Couture #/888, Alessio Sakara #/888

 John Hathaway #/388, Stephan Bonnar Finest Moments #/388

 Mauricio Rua Finest Moments #/288

Michael Bisping #/88

 Evan Dunham regular and Kenny Florian Finest Threads jumbo Fighter-Worn Gear

Urijah Faber Finest Threads Fighter-Worn Gear Refractor #/188

Diego Sanchez Jumbo Fight Mat from UFC 121

 Erik Koch On-Card 1st Autograph and Stephan Bonnar Finest Moments Auto #/188

 Brock Lesnar Black Printing Plate 1/1

Overall Look

UFC excels under the “Finest” treatment with lots of shiny.  Photography is excellent. Bold lines keep with the Octagon theme right down to the Atomic die cuts. These cards look great.

Quality and Variety of Players

This is a tight checklist of the best the UFC has to offer.  Makes sense for a product called “Finest.”

Do the Hits satisfy?  Are the cards too base heavy?

On card autos, mat relics identified from specific matches, jumbo swatches... it is all here.  Base cards feel like hits so you will want to collect those too.

Will you keep coming back for more?

UFC fans will gobble this up, multiple times and those just learning about this MMA sport will find this a great starting point.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Topps UFC Finest is an excellent addition to the growing line of Topps UFC cards.

2011 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball Box Break Recap and Review

For collectors who concentrate on minor league baseball alone, Topps Pro Debut was the only game in town.  The set did a good job of condensing the complexity of the entire minor league system down to one attractive set.  Now there is another set for fans of the MiLB to chase, 2011 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball.  For the most part, it is very much like this year’s Major League set, but there are some noticeable differences.

This set falls under our classification of trading cards.  Hobby Boxes contain 24 – 9 card packs and feature two autograph cards and one relic card.

Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled from our hobby box.

 Bryce Harper base, front and back

Jesus Montero, Aaron Hicks, Yasmani Grandal

Gary Brown, Matt Moore, Manny Machado

Mike Trout, Michael Burgess, Michael Choice

Jurickson Profar, Jesse Biddle, Shelby Miller

Short Prints

Starling Marte, Gary Sanchez, Mike Trout

Alex Wimmers, Derek Norris, Austin Romine

Green Tints #/620

 Daniel Fields and Dimaster Delgado

Blue Tints #/620

Chevez Clarke, Alex Wimmers and Danny Duffy

Red Tints #/620

Kyle Higashioka, Brett Lawrie and Nate Baker

Black Border #/62

Anthony Gose

Memorabilia

Adys Portillo Red Tint #/99

Autos

 Brad Chalk #/861, Francisco Martinez #/861 and Robbie Shields Blue Tint #/99

Overall Look

Same design as this year’s Heritage, which is based on 1962 Topps Baseball cards.  The big difference between this set and the MLB edition is the photography.  While the MLB Edition had specific photography that mimicked the 1962 release, this MiLB edition does not.   That is not to say there is something wrong with the photography, in fact the photography is excellent, but it is not stylized.   Inserts, for the most part, work nicely and hits are attractively laid out.  The tint cards, especially the red series, do not have the finesse of the MLB edition, but they are numbered which is appreciated.

Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.

There is a different checklist from the Pro Debut release earlier this year, so there is even more to collect from this set.  Just like Pro Debut, there is a tight mix of quality players and new talent.

Do the hits hold up?

Really nice group of hits here.  The auto cards seemed to have been designed for on-card autos, but the clear stickers work well.

Will you want to collect them all? 

Set builders will find this very collectable. If you have a minor league in your back yard, these cards are great for autograph hunters, even better than the Pro Debut cards.

Rating

 

4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball takes its place as the premiere MiLB set to collect this year.


Review box provided by Topps

Allen and Ginter Goes Glossy In A Limited Edition Complete Set Box Found Exclusively Online

Allen and Ginter has become one of the premiere chase sets for collectors.  For the first time Topps is making Allen & Ginter Baseball available in complete set form.  But the cards found in this set box will be different from those that can be purchased in retail packs and hobby boxes.

Limited to 999 copies, all 360 cards of the Allen and Ginter base set will be glossy coated, just like the Topps Tiffany sets from the 1980’s, and each card will be sequentially numbered in gold foil.  The complete set box will also contain 10 cards not found in the original release of 2011 Allen & Ginter.  These cards include rookies Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Dustin Ackley.

These special edition sets will be available exclusively on Topps’ website ShopTopps.com at the price of $99.95.

2011 Panini NFL Stickers For Week 5 And Players To Watch This Week

We are in week 5 of filling in our 2011 Panini NFL Sticker Collection Album and the football season.  Our roll continued last week with our weekly players to watch having some great games.

Here are the three players to watch this week

 Fred Jackson of the Buffalo Bills could have a break out performance as he faces a Philadelphia Eagles defense that has shown some vulnerability against the run.  No guarantee of a win here for Buffalo because of the Eagles high scoring offense, but Jackson’s numbers could be explosive.

Ahmad Bradshaw of the New York Giants should see a lot of touches with Brandon Jacobs on the sidelines.  Match that with a struggling Seattle Seahawks defense and you’ve got the makings of a huge day for Bradshaw.

Brandon Pettigrew of the Detroit Lions has not had as great a year as his team but that could change as the Lions face off against the Bears on Monday Night. The Bears defense has been lacking against the pass and struggle the most trying to contain Tight Ends which could translate into some big numbers for Pettigrew.

In addition to the players to watch this week, her are the stickers going into our album.

AFC logo, Roscoe Parrish, C.J. Spiller

Devin McCourty, Jerod Mayo, Dustin Keller

David Harris, Jordan Shipley, Lawrence Timmons

Mario Williams, Robert Mathis, Daryl Smith

Champ Bailey, Kirk Morrison, D.J. Williams

Brandon Flowers, Eric Berry, Nnamdi Asomugha

Jacoby Ford, Antoine Cason, Bradie James

Mike Jenkins, Jay Ratliff, Terrell Thomas

Jeremy Maclin, Kevin Kolb, Chris Cooley

London Fletcher, Devin Hester, Curtis Lofton

Drew Brees, Jonathan Vilma, Mike WIlliams, Marcell Dareus

A.J. Green, Marshall Faulk, Shannon Sharpe, Hall of Fame

Be on the look out for more additions to our sticker album next week.