I Want You To Open My Box Of 2012 Topps Tier One Baseball Cards

2012 Topps Tier One Baseball cards are booming with Bat Knob cards going for $1,000 and more.  We realize not everyone will have the chance to open a box so I'm giving you the opportunity to open mine... virtually.

To do this box break, click on the box which will open it.  I've already taken off the celo wrapping for you because we all know how difficult it can be.  You're welcome.  Continue to click on the images to get through the entire break.

Rising Rookies Set To Rock Major League Baseball And Autograph Topps Rookie Cards

Rookies Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish have been making waves, both in the MLB and with collectors, but there are some other notable rookies that could be the next sensation.  They also happen to be signing autographs for future Topps Baseball Card releases.

Trevor Bauer, Diamondbacks, P

Just featured in our 2012 Topps Pro Debut box break recap and review, Bauer has been making a big impression on minor league fans, not only with his 11 – 1 record this year, but for his pregame warm-up routine that includes foul pole to foul pole tosses.  He got “called up” and will join the Diamondbacks tonight in Atlanta for his MLB Debut.  

Bauer’s first Autographed Rookie Cards will be in Topps Finest. Future signings include Topps Chrome, Triple Threads, Bowman Chrome, Topps Updates, Five Star and Bowman Sterling.

Will Middlebrooks, Red Sox, 3B

Middlebrooks was just named the AL player of the Week after hitting 2 HRs and 9 RBIs with a .348 batting average for the week.  add to that the recent departure of Kevin Youkilis and it looks like Middlebrooks will own the hot corner at Fenway for some time to come.

Middlebrooks has been announced as the 2012 Bowman Lucky Redemption # 3 that will be redeemed for the on-card auto pictured above. His autograph will also be in the upcoming Topps Finest, Bowman Chrome, Topps Updates, the all-new Five Star and Bowman Sterling.

Anthony Rizzo, Cubs, 1B

Rizzo went 2 for 4 and drove in the go-ahead run in his first game with the Chicago Cubs, who rallied for a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night. 

You can find his autographs in the recently-released Tier One and the upcoming Triple Threads, Topps Updates and Five Star.

2012 Topps Pro Debut Baseball Box Break Recap And Review

If you are a fan of Baseball and you live within driving distance, you owe it to yourself to get to a Minor League game.  Even though the Dodgers and Angels are closer to where I live, I still make the effort to get out to the various MiLB stadiums of the teams playing in the California League. 

Recently I went to see the Lancaster Jet Hawks.  For twelve dollars, I sat five rows up off the field, right behind home plate.  Just behind me was Ron Brand, longtime scout for the New York Yankees.  He couldn’t have been more kind, talking baseball with me when he wasn’t busy using his radar gun or taking notes on players.  He even let me have a close look at his 1998 Yankees World Series Ring, very impressive for this life long pinstripe fan.  But the main reason I was at the game was to watch the players.  Young, raw talent, some of whom I have been tracking for a while and some who are destined to get the call up to “The Show.”

Topps captures the essence of the MiLB experience with 2012 Pro Debut Baseball cards.  For a reasonable price you get a great representation of the some of the best the minors has to offer in a streamlined set with the possibility of pulling a really nice hit, of which the full impact will be determined further down the road.

This set falls under our classification of trading cards. Hobby Boxes contain 24 – 8 card packs with two autographs and two relic cards per box.

Here are some of the cards I pulled from a hobby box of Pro Debut.

Base Set

 Bryce Harper, front and back

 Billy Hamilton, Gary Brown, Michael Choice

 Trevor Bauer, Joe Panik, Shelby Miller

 Manny Machado, Sean Gilmartin, Cory Spangenberg

 Jameson Taillon, Bubba Starling, C.J. Cron

 Jurickson Profar, Javier Baez, Matt Harvey

Base Set Parallels

James Allen - Gold #/50,  Cory Spangenberg Photo Variation SP

All Stars Inserts

 Manny Machado, Scooter Gennett

 Andrelton Simmons, Julio Rodriguez, Mike McDade

 Rymer Liriano, Trevor May, Will Middlebrooks

The Hits

 Manny Machado Game Used Relic, Cory Spangenberg Manufactured Cap Logo Patch

 Kyle Waldrop Autograph, Allen Webster Autograph

Overall Look

The design of the cards is based on 2012 Topps MLB cards which I happen to like this year. The bonus is you get all the players in their Minor League uniforms. The gold border cards work well and the All Stars inserts look really good.  The Autograph cards are smartly designed with slight fading for the signature area.  The cap logo cards look great. 

Quality and Variety of Players

220 base cards make this a streamlined checklist that includes the top prospects and some players who are showing some early potential. 

Do the hits hold up?

In short, yes.  The best of the bunch are the dual autos or Jumbo Patch cards.  But here is one instance where I wish Topps had numbered certain cards, just to show off their rarity.  After looking at the odds, if my math is correct, the cap logo patch card would have been numbered to 49 and the photo variation SP would have been number to just 26.  If you pull one of these and your player breaks into the Majors, you could have a huge hit on your hands.  So, clearly, I'm pulling for Cory Spangenberg to get called up by the San Diego Padres and have a major impact in the MLB.

Will you want to collect them all?

This is a set you will want to complete.  It appears there are under 10,000 boxes of Pro Debut, a very limited print run compared to other releases, like Topps Baseball, so there are probably only about 7,500 sets that can be put together, about 1,500 sets if you include the All Stars inserts.  So if pulling together a set of Pro Debut is of interest to you, I would go for it sooner than later.

Rating

5 out of 5

If you appreciate Minor League Baseball, 2012 Topps Pro Debut should be a part of your collection.


Review box provided by Topps

2011 - 12 Panini Past & Present Basketball Cards Box Break Recap And Review

Nostalgia is trending in sports cards.  Anything that causes seasoned collectors to flash back to the glory days when it seemed like everyone was involved in the hobby tends to cause a flurry of excitement.  For the most part, these retro releases have been gobbled up by the collectors of today.  Perhaps it is the manufacturers reconnecting with the spirit of a simpler time when it was just plan fun to collect that is driving these modern day homage cards towards superior heights. 2011 - 12 Panini Past & Present Basketball brings a new twist to this trend.  As Panini describes it, Past & Present is designed to show the extreme difference between vintage cards and cutting-edge print technology and they pull this off quite nicely..

Past & Present Basketball falls under our classification of Premium cards. Hobby Boxes contain 20 – 8 card packs with 3 Autographs and 1 memorabilia card per Hobby.

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

Base Set

 LeBron James, front and back

 Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade

 Jerry West, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson

 Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce

 Bob Cousy, Rick Barry, Walt Frazier

Base Set Variations

Amar'e Stoudemire

Inserts

Fireworks

Chris Paul, Dwight Howard

Changing Times

Al Attles, Artis Gilmore

 Bobby Jones, Billy Cunningham

Raining Threes

 LeBron James, Robert Horry, Steve Nash

Breakout

 Brook Lopez, Danilo Gallinari

 Eric Gordon, Jrue Holiday

"Bread For" Diecuts - Bread For Energy

 Anderson Varejao, Carmelo Anthony

 Corey Maggette, Deron Williams

Bread For Health

Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Monta Ellis

Bread For Life

 Pistol Pete Maravich

The Hits

 Hassan Whiteside Gamers Memorabilia

 Thurl Bailey Elusive Ink Autograph, Bob Love Elusive Ink Autograph

 2011 Draft Pick Autograph - XRCR

 Overall Look

No question, the base cards evoke a retro feel.  There are four different varieties of designs for the fronts of the base set, but the same back for all of them.  I’m kind of on the fence between liking that choice because it lends a cohesion to the set and wishing there was a different type of back for each style, especially since each design appears sequentially together in 4 separate groups.   The retro inserts are great but the modern cutting-edge print technology really shine, most notably with the Fireworks cards.

Quality and Variety of Players.

This is a nice mix of the old and the new.  Panini offers a nice work around for a strange basketball card season by offering future rookie cards.  All of the heavy hitters are here, but the really fun part of the list is the elusive players who are rarely seen elsewhere.

Do the hits satisfy?

Yes they do.  There is every chance to pull a huge hit from this product. With the addition of the Elusive Ink Autographs, there is the chance to pull some rare names from the past, which will most likely appeal more to the seasoned collectors.  The Gamers memorabilia cards are generous but seem unnecessary in this product unless you are lucky enough to hit one of the low numbered prime swatches.

Will you keep coming back for more?

If this strikes you in the right way, you could easily go for a few boxes, maybe even a case.

 Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

2011 - 12 Panini Past & Present Basketball is true to its name, striking the right balance between nostalgia and modern innovation.



Review box provided by Panini