30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, July 8, 2016

Digging Into The Archives

In the spirit of Flashback Friday, I figured I'd flashback to a few weeks ago when I busted a box of 2016 Archives baseball.


I normally don't buy hobby boxes of newer product, but when it comes to Topps Archives... I'll usually make an exception.  Year in and year out, I look forward to seeing which designs Topps chooses and which players they include on their Fan Favorites autograph checklist.


By now you probably seen enough posts about this product to realize the base set was divided into three designs:  1953, 1979, and 1991.  Although none of these set designs are considered my favorites of all-time, I don't dislike them either.  I scanned these three because... Altuve is one of my favorite current players, I really liked the action shot of King Felix, and seeing Carter's smile brought a smile to my face.

The Fan Favorites autographs are the main reason I bust a box of this product every year.  I've never been disappointed in their checklist... and all of the signatures are on-card.  This year I was very happy with both of my pulls, even if one of them was a redemption card.


Like many of the players who signed Fan Favorites autographs, Tito is one of those guys who will never be considered for Cooperstown, but had very solid career numbers nonetheless.  He's also known for being the father of current Cleveland Indians manager... Terry Francona.


I had mixed feelings about pulling this redemption card.  On one hand... it's for Kyle Schwarber, who could eventually turn out to be a beast in Chicago.  On the other hand, he is out for the season and it's a stupid redemption card, instead of an on-card autograph.  Oh well... it's better than pulling a Jose Vizcaino.


By the way... kudos to Topps for the quick turnaround time on redeeming the Schwarber.  I received the card within two weeks of redeeming it.  

Moving on...


The 1985 Topps #1 Draft Pick cards were one of my favorite subset designs back in the day... so it was nice to see Topps include them as inserts this year.  I'm glad I pulled the Griffey, because that was one of the cards I really wanted from the product.

All of the other insert sets are okay, but nothing too special in my book:



Topps incorporated another 1985 subset design with their Father/Son inserts... which was just in time for this year's Father's Day posts.  These are suppose to fall into one out of every twelve packs, so it looks like I beat the odds by pulling three.


I really like Bull Durham, but these inserts just don't captivate my attention as much as their Major League and Will Ferrell counterparts.


When I was a kid, I found a bunch of 1970 and/or 1971 Topps Supers in my grandmother's cabinet, so I've always had a soft spot for these oversized cards.  On the other hand, I didn't even realize that Topps made Supers back in 1969.  One thing I do like about the three cards I pulled is the excellent posed photography.

Next up are my colored bordered parallels...


The blues are numbered out of 199, while the red Don Sutton is numbered to 50.  And wrapping up the post is the one short print I managed to pull:

2016 Topps Archives #303

Overall... I was happy with my box.  Was it worth the $85 I paid?  In terms of cardboard value... not a chance.  However... it's important to factor in the hour's worth of entertainment this box brought me.


By the way... I purchased another box of singles from my buddy at the Serramonte Card Show in hopes of completing the set.  Unfortunately I fell eight cards short of completing the base set.  If anyone else is building this set and is interested in trading, I have about 100 doubles available.

Okay... that's a wrap.   Have a great weekend.  Happy Friday and sayonara!

10 comments:

cynicalbuddha said...

I guess the one upside to Schwarber being injured he's got time to sign cards.

gcrl said...

I'm glad to see Sutton in this set the last couple of years, as well as lopes, russell, and garvey as short prints. I'm hoping the penguin gets a turn next year.

Anonymous said...

Man, if I were going to pull a Bull Durham character who didn't rate a last name, I wish I'd pulled "Millie" instead of the "Tony" I got.

FYI, the 1969 Supers were a "super glossy" test issue, not the super-sized cards of the following 2 years. One of these days, Topps is going to issue an "Oversized Archives" set that features new versions of 1965 Topps Giants, 1970/71 Supers and the 1980/81 5x7 sets. Dream on, Joe, dream on...

Bulldog said...

The Carter card is a favorite of mine and I'm also a fan of the Draft Pick cards. I was lucky enough to pull a Harold Baines who is one of my all-time favorites. Nice cards and great post. Thanks.

Adam said...

I grabbed my favorites of the base set at a card show last month. I'm starting to like those Supers so I may have to go back and grab some at some point.

Jeff Jones said...

Welp. Another Sutton to acquire

Jeff Jones said...

Nice pulls I like Archives but it's too pricey for me

night owl said...

Jose Vizcaino is shown with the Astros on his Archives card, so point taken, but if that was a Dodger Vizcaino card, it would demolish that Schwarber pull.

Man said...

Tiiiitoo. Former Redbird-whose son so much resembles. Thinking for my bday I will bust a box too

Fuji said...

cynicalbuddha - now that's some positive thinking

gcrl - it would be really cool if they could include all four of those guys in a future fan favorites set... with the 1975 design. the 76 design would be pretty cool too.

shlabotnikreport - thanks for the heads up. had never even seen those 1969 supers before i looked them up for this post.

bulldog - such a great design. love the bright red, blue, and yellow colors.

adam - i looked into master sets and discovered the insert sets are pretty reasonably priced on eBay.

jeff - yeah... not really worth the price of the box. but it rarely is unless you pull something huge. at least it provided a little entertainment.

night owl - lol. hmmm vizcaino on the dodgers or schwarber on the cubs. close call... but i'll stick with my schwarber.

brady - best of luck if you do. i just bought a blaster of this stuff, so hopefully i can wrap up my set. my extra cardinals are yours.