Topps Chrome 2010 Baseball: 1 Box Break

This is it! The last of what I broke open from my boxing day bonanza at my local card shop! Lots of success from these breaks that left me yearning for more. This is easily the weakest of the products I busted, but it still had a few gems. In respect to the 2011 Topps Chrome product, this 2010 box pails in comparison for the quality of the cards and the number of hits I received. Click here to see my review of the 2011 Topps Chrome product.

This is the first box of Topps Chrome 2010 I have bought and is only the second Topps Chrome product I have ever purchased. What this box showed me is that the 2011 product is far superior to the 2010 product and that I am better off spending my future pennies on the 2011 product. In the end I should count myself lucky I received a few good cards from this product and leave it at that!

The biggest problem with the 2010 Topps Chrome cards is that the cards were poorly made. The chrome makes the cards severely bend to the point it becomes difficult to stack them. The images on the front are also not nearly as clear as the 2011 product. The players on the 2010 product have an almost double image around them from the application of chrome that makes the whole image blurry. Additionally, the chrome is not always evenly covering the cards, leaving globby bits on some places on the card's front. 

Another problem is that the cards were often poorly packaged. Often the back card would have an impression left from the wrapper's seal. The worst was in one of the autographs I received had a scratch down the middle of the auto from the wrapper's seal. Another card (the Derek Jeter shown here) had a line running down the back of it, presumably created from when the pack was mechanically sealed. There were also a number of packs at the bottom of the box that only contained 2 cards, both of which were base. I have never seen a trading card product with this many problems and TOPPS should have RECALLED their product.

Despite the numerous manufacturing problems, the 2010 Topps Chrome set does have some attractive features. The base cards feature a similar design to the 2011 product and have some satisfying action shots. The backs of the base set also have a healthy amount of text and stats. The rookie cards follow the same format as the 2011 product in that they are the high numbered cards in the base set. These cards are distinguished by a RC on the front.

The common base card parallel is the refractor. These parallels look identical to the regular cards except they have a silvery tint and extra gloss to the fronts. On the back of the card, the word refractor is printed around the card's number on the back. These cards look nice, but not nice enough to build an entire set of. They are also not serial numbered, unlike the blue parallel that I found 1 of. This blue parallel is identified by its blue border and is serial numbered on the back to out of 199. 

I pulled 3 subset cards out of this box. I feel that this is a really low number of subset cards as I pulled about twice that in the 2011 box. The fronts of the cards are especially glossy and reflective, with each card featuring a particular outstanding player of that season. The backs of the cards have a retro look with cardboard backs and a classic text font. Each of the cards are serial numbered out of 1961, 999, and 499. If it wasn't for how much the chrome makes these cards bend, I'd be much more inclined to collect these.

I pulled two autographed rookies, neither of which were serial numbered. One of these was Jenrry Mejia and the other was Jon Jay. The autos were signed in blue ink and look pretty nice except for the bending. I feel that any card that is autographed should be serial numbered, but there are a lot of products out there that refuse to do this. The biggest problem with the autos is that the Jay auto has multiple scratches down the center, along with a smudge just below. This is all from the packaging process as the auto cards were put face up towards the package's seal. I have no idea how Topps thought this would be a good idea.

The Cardinals are my favourite team, so I am over the moon with a Jon Jay rookie auto. However, the numerous damages and card bending left me deflated over this product. There is a chance that I pulled a bad box, but I have read elsewhere that the 2010 product had severe bending. I would not recomend this product unless I can buy it on sale, which is perhaps why the box I bought was on sale. I give the 2010 Topps Chrome product a half eaten soggy pickle!

Upper Deck ICE 09 /10: 2 Box Break

Upper Deck Ice had been one of my consistently favorite hockey card products because of its beautiful design, rare and uniquely designed rookie cards, and generally fantastic hits. The boxes also have a reasonable price tag, which allows everyone to afford a few boxes. The 09 /10 Ice product is perhaps the weakest of the product's line due to the ghastly looking base set and what seems to be poor hits per box. The lineup of rookies in the 09/10 season was also not extremely strong, and while beyond the control of UD it did not help the attractive value of the Ice product as their main selling point are their rookie cards. As it would turn out, the 09 /10 Ice would be the last year this product would be sold in boxes as the 10 /11 season would see individual packs of the products inserted into the UD SPX boxes as a bonus.

What I pulled:

Rookies: The reason why Ice is an attractive product to invest in is because of their rookies. You average around 6 per box, each embossed with a serial number. There are a few levels of rarity in the rookies cards, ranging from print runs of 1999 to 99. The cards feature great looking silhouette photographs of the players on top a clear acetate card, which is a feature not found in any other product. Another positive note is that a small bio is presented on the back of the cards. While I prefer to see some stats, a bio is nonetheless appreciated as so many other rookie cards in other products do not list anything at all. From the two boxes I did not manage to pull any low numbered rookies, but did pull a couple solid names such as James Reimer and Cody Franson.

Materials: I pulled two Fresh Threads jersey cards; one card in each box. These are the same idea as the rookie jersey cards from the series 2 UD products, except with slightly larger jersey swatches. My problem with the 09 /10 design is that the backgrounds are far too dark. While the blue motif is logical and easy on the eyes, they should have used lighter shades of the color and perhaps one other color (sparingly) to add a bit of contrast. The cards are also not serial numbered, which is a shame because the rookie cards are. For these cards I pulled a Sergei Shirokov and Jakub Voracek Fresh Threads.

I also pulled two Frozen Fabrics jersey card, and again these were found 1 per box. This line of jersey card features classic or current star players instead of rookie players like the Fresh Threads. The Frozen Fabrics cards are similar to the Fresh Threads in that they have a similar sized swatch of jersey and are not serial numbered. However unlike the Fresh Threads, the Frozen Fabrics have a better design because a contrasting color to the blue was used here (that being red). Also, the background to the player's photo is ghosted, allowing the player himself to pop forward while still retaining the context of the shot. Very nice cards, in which I pulled a Pavel Datsyuk and Steve Shutt. Two very good names to pull.

Autographs: From each box of Ice you can average 2 material cards and 1 autograph card. Off E-Bay I scored two very cheap autograph cards to add to my meager collection of 09/10 Ice. These two auto cards belong to the Glacial Graphs series, which are an absolutely beautiful set of autographed cards. First off the autos are hard signed; no stickers here! The cards are made of acetate like the rookies, which has a great look for showcasing an autograph. The photos are crisp and silhouetted atop a geometric background and ghosted background image from the original photograph. Further, the autos themselves were signed in blue ink, which is always more interesting than the generic black. The only downside is that again no serial number was provided for these cards. It seems that Ice is very reluctent to provide serial numbers except for their rookie cards.

Notice how the auto blends into the blue of the flag?

I pulled 'The Champions' auto from the first box I had picked up of Ice. This series of autographs feature hard-signed autos from Olympic Athletes that are not serial numbered. Some card fans were upset about pulling these autos as it frequently featured people who did not play hockey. Personally, I think it's a pretty neat idea as the Olympics occurred the year before and provides you with an autograph of someone you would rarely obtain one of. That being said, I do wish that these would be a bonus autograph because I do agree that if UD says you will receive at least one autograph per box then at least one of those autographs belong to an NHL hockey player. From this box I pulled a Natalie Darwitz auto, who is the captain of the US women's hockey team (not bad at all really). The auto looks great, but I do wish they had provided a larger light colored space for the auto as it could be much more prominent in comparison to the background.

The final hit I have came from the second box. This is a mammoth, case break hit of a Signature Swatches of Mario Lemieux. This is an absolutely beaut of a card with a huge black swatch of Lemieux's jersey with his autograph in silver laid over top. The card design is perfect  and I couldn't be happier. On second thought there are two things that would make me happier. One is that again there is no serial number which is completely unacceptable for a case break hit. Second is that the auto has a small smudge on the 'L', which shows a lack of care in UD's part during packaging. Nonetheless, this is a beautiful card that is one of the best in my hockey card collection.

In sum, the UD Ice 09/10 product is a solid product that has a few problems. While not shown here, the base card design is poor in comparison to previous years. The lack of serial numbers are also frustrating but become more so on the case hit. On the positive side I received some good hits from my two boxes, and the rookie cards again deliver some of the best looking and most unique looking cards out of any product on the shelves. The rookie cards are the reason to pick up the Ice product, and for that reason alone the 09 /10 Ice product is worth putting some cash down on the counter for. Ice is still a cold and crisp pickle!

Ultimate 10 /11: 2 Pack Break

Ultimate 10 /11 is a far superior product than the 08/09 & 06/07 products that I had ripped in previous years. The latest product features a sharp design, and even better, the product is loaded with big hits. The two packs I opened are proof of the big hits and make you salivate for more!

What I pulled:

Base: Ultimate 10/11 has a small run of base cards, from 1-60 with many of these featuring classic players. The cards are numbered out of 399 and have a great gray tone design that makes the color photograph of the hockey player pop. I pulled a Ron Hextall and Ron Francis cards. The Francis card is pretty interesting since I don't remember seeing a retro Francis card before in any previous UD set.

Rookies: I unfortunately did not pull any big name rookies, despite there being a lot of big names in the 10/11 season. There is an autographed and non-autographed version of the rookie cards, with the autographed versions having print runs of either 299 or 99. Both my rookies did not have an autograph and are numbered out of 399. I pulled a Jamie Arniel and a Matt Hackett rookie. Despite the lack of auto and that these are not first rate rookies, the cards are still very sharp looking and include the player's stats on the back.

Materials: I pulled one Debut Threads jersey numbered out of 200. The card is of Justin Falk and is of one color. The jersey window is massive as it takes up around 1/3 of the card and has a nice looking gold foil border. The design of the card again is quite sharp and despite it not featuring a big name player it still adds some depth to the pack.

In addition to the jersey, I also pulled a Debut Threads Patch. This is a beautiful looking card with the patch being the same size as the jersey in the previous card. The patch has three breaks and four colors! The card is numbered out of 35 and belongs to Kevin Shattenkirk, one of the better rookies of 10 /11. This was pulled from the first pack and made it all worthwhile.

Autograph: From the second pack I pulled the mother-load of autographs, Bobby Orr. I have never pulled a Bobby Orr autograph before and I was shocked to the say the least when I did here! The card is unfortunately not numbered. It has a beautiful design and the auto was signed in blue. As the guy at the shop said when I pulled the card, this is to be a cornerstone of my collection!

I also pulled a redemption card for an autographed debut thread jersey, numbered out of 50. I'll post about this card when it arrives in the mail.

Overall the Ultimate 10 /11 product is absolutely stellar and is hands down my favorite of the season. The cards look really sharp and each pack seems to sport at least one really tremendous card. Online it seems that every second pack has a patch in it too, suggesting UD ramped up the number of hits per case! This product deserves a big ol' sweet and perfectly chilled pickle!

Ultimate 08/09: 1 box /pack

A few years ago I picked up 1 pack (a pack per box) of Ultimate 08 /09. This was the second time I purchased this product, with the first being a pack of Ultimate 06 /07 which was discussed in the previous blog post. In comparison to the 06/07 product, the 08/09 cards have a much better design. The color scheme is brighter and more engaging. The players are again silhouetted against a background of geometric shapes, which I find myself torn on whether I prefer seeing the background of the original photograph or if I like the silhouette approach.

What I pulled:

Base Card: Paul Kariya base card numbered out of 299, which is a downsized printing run of 400 in comparison to the 06 /07 series. The lower printing run always makes a series more interesting because it obviously becomes more rare. As said above the design of this product is quite nice, and unique to the base cards is that the lower image of text that displays the name "Ultimate Collection" is pressed into the card in silver foil. The lettering could be brought forward more by the use of a different color against the silver background, but I really like the idea of the shaped area around the text being pushed into the card, providing some depth.

Rookies: I was very pleased with the two rookies I pulled. The first was of Petr Vrana of the New Jersey Devils, numbered out of 399, and features a prominent autograph signed in black ink. The design of the card is quite sharp and the auto has a nice frosted background to make it really pop. I also like the placement of the card's serial number which is placed on the lateral margin to the left of the auto. The only downside is that there are no stats on the back of the card, which is something I've ranted about in previous posts.

The second rookie is what made the pack worth it. This was a Jakub Voracek auto rookie numbered out of 99. The card has the same design as the previous Vrana rookie except that the red and blues were switched in the design.

Material: The final card pulled was an Ultimate Debut Threads jersey of Ilya Zubov, numbered out of 200. The jersey window is shaped like the Ultimate logo and is of a moderate size. The swatch features 1 color. A stock photo of the hockey player is featured to the left, where he is grinning maniacally. Really this is quite a nice looking card and the only drawback is that it features one of the no-name rookies of the 08 /09 season.

I enjoyed the 08 /09 Ultimate product, but this enjoyment hinged heavily upon pulling a case break card (the 99 serial numbered rookie). I would definitely try my hand at another pack of this product if not for the very sharp product design and the hope of pulling the big rookie of that year, Stamkos.

Artifacts 2010-11: Two 3-Pack Adventures!

On two separate occasions I picked up 3 packs of 2010-11 Artifacts. I really enjoy this product as it has a low price-point that produces a hit per pack that could either be a serial numbered card or a material /auto card. Also, the cards look really sharp with a flashy foil accents on the borders.

The hits I pulled:

Legends: Pulled 1 Cam Neely Legends card numbered out of 999. The card is without auto or material attributes, but nonetheless is a nice looking card. The card is not part of a subset but rather belongs to the regular set which is broken into base cards, rookie cards, legends cards, and stars cards. This is the same organization as the previous years' Artifacts product.

Rookies: Pulled 2 rookies, both numbered out of 999. The rookies weren't big names (Tokarski & Hamill), but the cards are still sharp looking serial numbered rookies that always adds depth to a card collection.

Jersey Cards: I pulled a base card parallel where two small swatches of jersey were placed at the bottom, and the card numbered out of 150. This is a great way to produce a base card parallel, and while the jerseys are white and the player is not a big name, the card is still very sharp looking and a fine addition to the collection. The second jersey card I pulled was of Roberto Luongo and is also numbered out of 150. The card belongs to the Frozen Artifacts subset and features two square jersey swatches, with one above the other. Not a bad looking card of an A-list player.

Patch Cards: This is perhaps the best patch card I have ever pulled from an Artifacts product. This is a duel patch card of the Tundra Artifacts Tandems subset and features the two A-list players of Henrik Lundqvist and H. Zetterberg. The card is numbered out of 15. The patches are of the same size and shape as the jersey cards: two squares over top one another. The patches are really unique as the Lundqvist patch is all white, but the material is looks like looped wool; really neat looking. The Zetterberg patch is also very nice looking, with a seem on the left side, showing a splash of red along the squares border.

Overall I felt I did quite well with these 6 packs. Artifacts continues to be a strong product, but I do wish they would make the jersey and patch windows a bit bigger.

SP Authentic 2010-11

SPA is one of my favorite products every year because of its great design and solid output of autographed rookie cards, plus the occasional pull of an auto-patch rookie. However, with this year's product there are a few negative points that make it not the strongest product of the year.

In comparison to other products brought out this year, SPA did not appear to increase the quality or quantity of their hits. When Paninini re-entered the hockey card market I was worried it would flood the market and devalue cards much like what happened in the 1990's. Instead, I am finding that card value has remained constant but the quality and frequency of pulling hits has increased, which is a definite win-win for the consumer. Further, while UD has not decreased their price tags, Paninini is offering a product that is slightly less or comparable in quality to UD's but with a 1/3 to 1/2 the sticker price. SPA however, did not pick up on this trend of lower price tags and more /better hits. Instead, SPA is offering fewer hits at the same price as every other year's SPA set. Specifically what is missing from SPA are the parallel cards that are serial numbered. Granted they do have an enlarged patch /auto collection this year, but with their insertion rate of 1 per case good luck finding one! The parallels were always nice because you knew you'd pull one per box and there was always a chance it would be a low numbered rookie.

Other Problems: The design of the set is very crisp and dynamic, but the set layout is the same as every other year. By set layout I mean what types of cards are included, which in this case you get base cards, sp notables (serial numbered), non-auto rookies (serial numbered), auto rookies, and the subsets. I suppose making the layout the same brings the SPA line together as a cohesive product but I would like to see it take some level of a different form in next few years, otherwise it will become dry. The other problem is that you only receive three auto's per box on average. That's it! Compared to other products with a similar price tag there should be at 2 more autos per box! A third problem is that the serial numbered cards should have much lower print runs. The auto rookies are numbered out of 999, which is a huge number considering how many auto rookies you can pull in a box (at best 2!). A print run of 999 for the non-auto rookies is more than fair, but an auto rookie should have a print run of less than 750.

What I pulled from the boxes I bought:

Notables, Front

Notables, Back

SP Notables: I averaged 4 Notables per box. The cards have a very nice design, however the image of the player could be in more focus. The cards are numbered to out of 1999. The 'notable' players are notable and feature the greats of the current and past game. Fun to pull.

Non-Auto Rookies: I averaged 1-2 of these per box. The cards are numbered out of 999, which I think is a fair print run for a non-auto rookie card in a mid-range priced box of cards. The design of the cards is sharp and the best part is that the player's stats and draft info is listed on the back of the card. I don't know why it has become more and more uncommon to display this info on rookie cards, but in my opinion you shouldn't call a card a rookie without having some stats on the back. But I digress...

Auto-Rookies: I averaged 2-3 per box. The front design for the auto vs. non-auto rookies is almost identical but for the deletion of the team logo from the auto rookies, which I prefer being included. The back of the cards (much to my chagrin) is missing the player info /stats and instead has the UD generic 'congratulations' for pulling an auto that you already knew you were getting (it's not actually like you won something here UD). The autos themselves are nice as there is a generous white area for autos on the cards, providing some medium to large autos. The autos were also done with blue markers, which makes it pop off the card. The biggest down side is that the cards are numbered out of 999, which as I said previously should be lower.

The two best auto-rookies I pulled was a Seguin and Subban. Subban's auto looks pretty nice but came as a redemption; however, I only had to wait 2 months for the card which is uncommonly quick for UD redemptions. The Seguin card is also nice but the auto is pretty skimpy. The card is numbered 172/999 but by the shape of his signature I would say the guy had been signing a few thousand cards before getting to sign the one I pulled! Nonetheless, two great rookie cards!

Sign of the Times (subset): I pulled at least 1 Sign of the Times per box. These are auto cards with no information on the back of the card, and tend to feature last year and this year's rookies. The cards have a great design and have ample room for the autos, which again are signed in blue marker. The cards are unfortunately not serial numbered. The vast majority of the cards I pulled were of recognizable players, which makes it worth pulling (such as Hamill, Eller, Kadri, & Couture pictured here). However it seems to be incredibly difficult to pull any of the cards with more than one auto, as I pulled only one and it was a redemption. This year's redemptions do not list the name of the players who will sign your card, but instead list it as a mystery redemption  (fingers crossed for Crosby!).

HOLO FX front

HOLO FX back

HOLO FX (subset): I pulled at least 2 of these per box. Not serial numbered or autographed. This subset has been included in every SPA product and they are a fun pull. The cards feature great photos of some great present and past players. The shiny background could have a bit more style to it (other than a repeated SPA logo), but nonetheless looks really sharp. The back of the cards also list some simple stats such as their weight and height. Cool and fun to pull cards.

So in sum, SPA is a decent product but not the year's best. The loss of parallel base cards from last year is a strike, as is the high print runs of the auto-rookies. Another strike comes in comparison to other products this year that seem to give you a bigger bang for your buck. However, you still get some great looking cards and autos of some of the best players in the game. Really, it's just a soggy if still sweet pickle.