Old Fashion Buddy Box Break

I absolutely love 2022 Topps Opening Day.  It has nothing to do with the design.  It's all about it taking me back in time to an era when collectors actually had access to baseball cards in stores and the packs were reasonably priced.

Two weeks ago, I saw that Target had blasters of this stuff on their website.  At first I thought about grabbing just one to rip open on Opening Day or something.  But after clicking on the item, I quickly discovered this year's blaster contains a whopping 22 packs... each containing 7 cards.  That's a total of 154 cards... which is twice as many as last year's Topps Opening Day blasters.  I've complained about Topps and their cash grab products on numerous occasions over the years... and honestly can't remember the last time Topps offered up something with so much value.

I was so excited, I texted Ryan (SumoMenkoMan) and even told him about it.  Each of us grabbed three blasters.  A few days later, my boxes arrived in my mailbox.

The following week Ryan was in town on a business trip, so we met up for dinner.  He suggested bringing a box and having an old fashion buddy box break.  We originally planned on opening them in the restaurant, but without even saying anything to each other... we decided it was probably not the right atmosphere.  It happened to be pretty cold that night, so sitting at one of Japantown's outdoor tables was out of the question, so we settled for my car.

Can't remember the last time I opened up a box of cards with a friend, but it's been at least a few years.  Ryan actually brought two boxes, so I helped him open his second box.

Due to a really painful gum infection, I was out of commission for the next few days... so I didn't get around to opening up my last two boxes until yesterday.  We figured between three boxes, we should be able to complete one set and and have a second starter set... which we'd be able to help each other out with.

Unfortunately... the only downside to my blasters was collation.  I fell fourteen cards short on my first set and fifty-one cards short on my second set... which sent me back to Target's website to grab one more blaster.

Ryan and I noticed there was definitely a pattern in the way Topps inserted cards into packs.  I'm hoping the fourteen cards I need for my first set will be part of the box I just purchased.  In the meantime, I figured I'd show off five of my favorite cards from the first three boxes...

2022 Topps Opening Day #50

Topps continues their tradition of utilizing nice action shots on Fernando's flagship base cards.  This one is a little awkward since it's mid-swing, but I'll take this over your standard portrait shot any day of the week.

2022 Topps Opening Day Triple Play #TPC-8ABC

One of my biggest complaints about today's inserts and parallels is that card companies are flooding the hobby with them.  I wish they'd make less sets and lower the production rates... which would give collectors more base cards and less clutter.  However with a budget product like Opening Day, I think it's okay to have a plethora of inserts... especially when they're interesting like these Triple Play cards.

They are obviously based on the 1980-81 Topps basketball cards.  But Jim over at cards as i see them pointed out last week that Topps also utilized part of their 2008 baseball card design using the dip in the top of the photo to place their logo.

My only complaint about this card is their decision to add Hosmer to this card.  The Padres have been trying to trade him for awhile now.  If it were me, I would have replaced him with Jake Cronenworth.

2022 Opening Day Luck of the Irish #LI-4

Speaking of lower production inserts, Topps did produce three insert sets that have pretty steep insertion rates... and I managed to pull one of them.  The Luck of the Irish inserts are inserted at a rate of 1:1,698 packs or approximately 1:77 blaster boxes.

If you're wondering, this is indeed an insert and not a parallel.  Here's Luke's base card for comparison:

2022 Topps Opening Day #137

And here's a look at the back of the insert...

I wasn't familiar with Luke Williams until yesterday, but it looks like he was traded to the San Francisco Giants last week.  Can't say I'll be rooting for him, but if he does have some success at the MLB level... maybe this card will help pay for the four blasters I purchased.

The other insert set I was hoping to show off in this post was the Mascots.  Unfortunately, I didn't pull Stomper or the Swinging Friar out of my first three boxes.  Hopefully they show up in the 4th.

So I'll show off two awesome action shots instead...

2022 Topps Opening Day #67

And my favorite action shot of the set...

2022 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil #38

Hey Ryan... it was fun busting blasters with you.  And Jim... hopefully we'll be able to meet up in a few weeks.  If we do, maybe we can open up some packs while we eat.

Everyone else...

What are your thoughts on this year's Topps Opening Day?

Did you buy a blaster?

If so, I should have a bunch of extras... even after building my second set and helping Ryan out.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!