Koufax deGrom And Vargas Are The 2014 Topps Finest Autographed Rookie Redemption Cards

If you watched our video box break of 2014 Topps Finest Baseball you saw that in addition to pulling the promised one autograph per mini box we pulled a special Rookie Autograph Redemption card, redeemable for an exclusive autographed card. But until now, the subjects of these redemption cards were unknown. Topps has just announced the three Redemption subjects, with one special inclusion.

Rookie Redemption 1 – Sandy Koufax

Rookie Redemption 2 – Jacob deGrom

Rookie Redemption 3 – Kennys Vargas

Sandy Koufax’s Autographed Rookie Redemption card commemorates the upcoming 60th Anniversary of his 1955 Topps Rookie Card. Topps Baseball Brand Manager Zvee Geffen gave the company's reason for using Koufax instead of another rookie from this year. “As Koufax is commonly regarded as one of the best pitchers in baseball history, we wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his rookie card by recreating it on modern day chrome technology.”

deGrom, a leading contender for NL Rookie of the Year, is coming off a start in which he tied the modern-day MLB record for most consecutive strikeouts to begin a game.

Vargas got off to a torrid start in his first month in the Majors, racking up 38 hits and driving in 24 runs, bettered only by legendary slugger, Joe DiMaggio, in his rookie year.

Now the only mystery that remains is will Koufax himself go retro and sign his name 'Sanford Koufax" as he did back in 1955.

Topps Finest Baseball is in stores now.

For more info on Topps Finest Baseball and other Topps products you can keep checking in here at the blog, follow Topps on Twitter @toppscards and Instagram @toppssports

2014 Topps Finest Baseball Video Box Break With Case Hit

"It ain't over 'til it's over!"

2014 Topps Finest Baseball contains some of the names I personally would love to add to my autograph collection.  Mariano Rivera, Mike Schmidt, Ozzie Smith, Ernie Banks just to name a few.  So when I hit an auto in my first pack the mystery was over. I just about gave up on the rest of the mini box, but I kept at it because I was videoing it and figured I might as well have something for the blog. And then the surprise hit.

Watch this video all the way through to see what caught me off guard.

Making All About Cards More About You

Life happens.

And that's a good thing.

But sometimes that means other things get neglected.  I started this blog to recount some stories of my collection and it evolved into a space for quick information.  My goal was to tell you in 5 minutes or under everything you would need to know about new releases.  I was tired of sifting through sites of information and sitting through 25+ minute breaks to see exactly what is in these enticing new boxes.  So this site served as help in making my purchasing decisions as much as it was to inform others.

Of course the one thing you start to notice as you take the task on of compiling information on every release, even if it is not on your purchasing radar, is that you actually spend MORE time than you would have in the first place.  But it was, and still remains, fun to put these posts together.

I will not stop doing what I do, reviews and other box break goodies will still be featured, but what I would like to do is make this blog more inclusive.  Open it up.  Make it more of a community.  I think that is one aspect of the hobby that is getting lost, the community of card collectors and traders.  Seems to me it is a lot more about ripping and flipping at this point.

To open things up I'm going contact collectors who actually collect, the people who hold onto to cards more so than hoping to bust a box and flip a sick one.  By doing profiles perhaps we can get to know each other in a more meaningful way.

I'm also willing to open up Box Break Recaps and Reviews that perhaps cover some of the releases you haven't seen featured here to some of you, in particular to any of you Upper Deck fans. From a practical level, that doesn't mean providing everyone with boxes. But there might be some of you, from time to time, that feel compelled to write about a release of a box but don't want to keep up the task of reviewing everything or running a blog. The only thing I ask of you is to think about is using the guidelines I use in my reviews.

If anyone would like to be featured in any of these profiles, or reviews, please feel free to contact me. Hopefully this might be a step in the right direction to bring some of the interactive nature of collecting back to the hobby.

Let me know what you think.

2014 Topps Tier One Baseball Cards Box Break Recap and Review

This year’s edition of Tier One Baseball from Topps feels very familiar.  Boxes generally follow the pattern of relic, rookie auto, box hit. As with years past, if you look at our post “How we review and classify cards,” by definition, collectors who go for an Ultra Premium box of cards should understand “these are "High Risk, High Reward" cards” and “not every box will be a winner.”  While it would seem about 1 in every 6 boxes contains a really nice hit, and one rather  large hit lands once in every 12 boxes, which is a good ratio for ultra premium cards, it’s the in between boxes this year that don’t seem to match up with years past.  With numbering like #/254 for single swatch relics of players that can be found in practically every other Topps release this year and previously, and some box hit player autographs that are better suited for fan favorites found in Topps Archives, the content of 2014 Topps Tier One brings the franchise down just a little from previous years instead of excelling or even maintaining its reputation as a great quick hit of a product.  But Tier One is still priced at a point the allows those normally out of the price range of an Ultra Premium product to get in.

Each box of Tier One Baseball contains 3 cards, two autographs and one relic card.  Certain boxes will contain an extra relic hit for a total of 4 cards.

Here are the cards we found in our box.

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Video Box Break

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen has been released and we have the Speed-break to prove it.  Watch this video as we show you the entire contents of a hobby box in about 4 minutes.   See a card you want to look at a little longer?  Just pause the video at that card for as long as you like.

2014 Topps Heritage Baseball Video Box Break

King of the throwbacks, Topps Heritage Baseball returns for 2014 with the familiar configuration but with a subtile, but significant tweak.  Check out our Video Speed Break below to find out.

2014 Topps Museum Collection Baseball Cards Box Break Recap And Review

Topps Museum Collection Baseball cards have quickly become a collector favorite.  2014 Topps Museum Collection Baseball doesn’t disappoint, providing sharp design and a nice variety of great looking hits, and a cohesive set that does justice to it’s Museum moniker.

Museum Collection fits nicely into our Premium Cards category.  Each Master Box contains 4 mini-boxes with 5 cards per mini.  Each Master Box will contain 1 on-card autograph, 1 autograph relic, 1 quad relic, and 1 jumbo relic.

Here are the cards we pulled from our box.