2011 Topps Baseball Series 1 Jumbo Case - Semi Live Break

I don't know if you guys read my post. I said I was done with cards, but I guess I lied. I was watching the momentum build up over Series 1 and Bowman Baseball, I couldn't stop myself from doing it. I bought 2 cases, but seeing how case prices spiked up, I might sell the second case. But I decided I HAD to rip one of the cases. I've only done one box so far, but it's been a good start.



Ignore the centering on the Strasburg, that's my scanner's fault.

I have to say, I really like these cards over last year's design. It just looks like Topps put so much more time and effort into making these cards this year. Lots of inserts...LOTS. It's probably my only complaint. There's just so much to look at. It's good in one sense, but bad because it's sensory overload. Anyway, I'm only one box in and I'm glad I decided to bust these open instead of selling the case.

I've been watching BrentandBecca's twitter feed and I'm curious about these diamond cards. I'm almost worried I'm going to miss it if I get one. I'm also worried about missing some of the SP. Last year, they were easy to spot. I guess I'll know when I see one. I did pull some other nice cards (the sparkly ones), but I didn't bother scanning them. Just the big hits.

Anyway, I'm headed back to ripping some more. I'll post my results when I'm done. If I have a good break, I may do the 2nd case as well. We'll see.

Good luck on your break! I am working on the diamond sparkle set, so let me know if you decide to move them. I'll be interested.

Here's the rest of my break. Recap after the scans.



2 Silk. Not sure how I feel about the silk cards. I pulled a few last year but they weren't popular.



I don't know what the odds of pulling these were. The hits were pretty random and didn't seem consistent from box to box. I think one box, I got 3 of these leather nameplates, some I didn't get any.





I received 5 total Autos. More on this later. Best on was Al Kaline. Pretty sweet.



This was one of the cooler things I pulled. Sure, it's just a drawing, but I thought it was neat.



I don't follow the whole "error card" fascination, but is this considered an error card? Or just a plain defect? It looks like the machine didn't put the silver foil in the lettering.

Recap:

So it was a fun break. I didn't see any of the SP diamond cards. I was trying to look for them, but it was hurting my eyes inspecting each and every card. I'll probably go through them again when I sort them out.

Which brings me to another problem. From the looks of things, poor collation strikes again. I don't know if I can make too many sets from this case. Towards the end of my break, I started to see names I didn't see in the first 4 boxes. Which made me worry about if I'll have tons of one player and only 2-3 of another. I guess I won't know until I sort the cards, but I have a bad feeling.

More on collation, I mentioned how things seemed really inconsistent with the hits. I was expecting 1 Auto/2 relics per box. What I found was far from that. I've had this discussion before on this forum. Most people believe that win some lose some. Meaning, sometimes you get the stated odds or better, and sometimes you don't. But the belief is that it all averages out.

I, on the other hand, believe in receiving what's owed to you. If you walk into a McDonalds, and they give you 8 chicken nuggets instead of 6, you most likely don't say anything. But if you come back and this time, get 4 instead of 6, do you say something? Anyway, if you noticed, I was shorted an Auto. I don't know what the exact pack odds were for the relics, but if it is anything like 2010 Topps update, then I think I was shorted some relics. Were the leather nameplates 1 per jumbo? And was it counted as 1 of the 2 included relics?

My final impression of this product. Topps has created something special with these cards. It's a great way to start off the Baseball card season. The cards look great, very few QC issues. Inserts are pretty slick too. But what takes away from the experience is the collation. This has plagued Topps products in the past. And it doesn't seem to have gotten better. I'd say A+ for product and design. C for execution.

Now the decision...do I open the second case, or offload it with prices spiking. I'll sleep on it.

I seem to be the only person posting in my own thread.

I decided to bust the 2nd case. No regrets even though I didn't get much to go crazy about.

This case we very different than the first case. It was VERY consistent. Gold card every other pack. Exactly 2 relics and 1 auto per box. Various SP inserted. Etc. The first case had like 5 hits in one box. I think the box where I was missing an Auto had several relics in it.

In my first case, I didn't see any of the diamond SPs. There may have been one in there, but I didn't see it. Nor did I see any of the Veteran variations.

In the second case, I got tons of vet variations and 2 diamond SPs. Go figure. On top of that, I got 4 black border (#/60) and also got 1/1 (Platinum border). So not too bad, but none of the Autos or Relics were all that exciting. I did get a Roberto Alomar bat relic.

I didn't bother scanning every hit this time because seriously, there's not much to see. But I scanned the 2 diamond cards, the plat card, and roberto alomar.

Nice breaks! It's too bad collation was so messed up on the first case, but it still looks like you had fun.

I'm not to fond of the leather inserts. If they were game used, that would be cool, but I don't like the idea of those taking the place of a relic or auto, not cool.

This looks like it's gonna be a hit with collectors. Congrats on the breaks and thanks for sharing with us!

The Jackie R. looks awesome.

Id be interested in trading for the Robinson for my Dodgers PC

THX for the scan & updates -
it's great to see what a whole cas yeilds ...

I had a jumbo case with some boxes w/ extra hits and others with less too. I did get a 1:36,000 (one in 600 jumbo cases) redemption for a 1956 Sandy Koufax original card, it says it's the 49th most popular out of the top 60 Topps cards made.. It was a hell of a case, the Koufax, a black border Hellickson, a Pujols sparkle SP, a black leather Strasburg and a Brandon Phillips In the Name letter P!

PM sent regard the Jackie sketch, please let me know.


thanks!


http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... on/Sketch/

Huge pull on that Varitek....I am sure there will be a few big fans bidding that one up.

Nice Kaline and Robinson as well, [reg] Topps seems much better than years past from what I am seeing.

Nice breaks, one of these days if I win the lottery I am going to have to bust a case of Topps!

coltsnsox07 said:

I had a jumbo case with some boxes w/ extra hits and others with less too. I did get a 1:36,000 (one in 600 jumbo cases) redemption for a 1956 Sandy Koufax original card, it says it's the 49th most popular out of the top 60 Topps cards made.. It was a hell of a case, the Koufax, a black border Hellickson, a Pujols sparkle SP, a black leather Strasburg and a Brandon Phillips In the Name letter P!

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That's awesome dude! I was hoping my second case would give me a surprise, but it was average. Pulling the 1/1 Varitek was cool, but I would be pretty stoked to pull that Koufax. Congrats!

darrend505 said:

Nice breaks, one of these days if I win the lottery I am going to have to bust a case of Topps!

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Why not just go into debt like the rest of us.

95vr4 said:

PM sent regard the Jackie sketch, please let me know.


thanks!


http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... on/Sketch/

Click to expand...

I need to put this in my signature. Even though I collect, I rarely do trades. So most of the cards are FS. I have no clue what this is worth and I don't have a whole lot of time to research. Make me an offer and I'll let you know. Thanks! And cool collection!