A Birthday Blaster of 2021 Topps Archives: A True Bullseye

 

So...I'm not collecting Archives this year.

I've made it a point to collect the base sets of every Archives set Topps has put out, mostly because I like the concept and the relative collectibility. For years I've begged Topps to take away the needless SPs that make the set even harder to complete, and for the 2021 set they finally did.

However, it's 2021, and it's impossible to find affordable cardboard anywhere, especially on retail shelves. I'm collecting the 2020 set, but I got a cheap enough hobby box of it last year, and attacked singles online. I don't think I can do that this year, so I'm just gonna collect what I can. I'm getting my Yanks and Phils thanks to a recent group break, that'll be the extent, I guess. 

This has nothing to do with hell occasionally freezing over, though.

My dad was in Target the other day and he found a blaster of Topps Archives...just sitting there. Unattended. No gun-toting southerners, no mandated abstinence. You could just...buy a box of Topps product at a Target. Imagine!

So he got it for me, cause I had a birthday coming up, which is tomorrow. And he figured that'd be a good enough pick me up. The man had no idea what lay inside this retail blaster. And I was very grateful once I found out what was.

Of course I'm showing this off to y'all, you deserve to see it. We've got 7 packs of 8, and a few packs of 9. Let's eat 'em up.

Pack 1- Eight designs instead of 3. That kinda threw me off. And they're not evenly cut in the base set as well. It's kinda tricky. Hey, whatever they want.

It's Archives, so it should be a well-oiled machine by now. The 83s work, the 91's are excellent likenesses, and the 73s are slightly flawed, but work. Plus, cool pulling a New York Giant in 2021.

I think they did a good job with the 62s, and both the 2001s and 2011s are recent enough to look cool. Especially the 2011s. But mostly it's just cool to pull new cards of Ozzie and McCovey.

Pack 2- The 57s are a bit too minimalistic imo. But the occasional cool photo selection, like Cain's can save it. Great to see Molitor as a Blue Jay in between his many Brewers modern issues. 

Inserts! Pache's is a Pop Up insert, which they had in Heritage a few years back. Could have used someone who could stay up in the majors, but hey, still cool. And Story's is a retail-exclusive 89 Big Foil, which is a nice design homage with some requisite shininess. 

Three more HOFers. Always great to pull a Clemente. Killebrew's is a Topps 2091 subset, a very silly idea that's cooler than one might expect. It honestly looks like a lost Topps Bunt design, if that set hadn't turned into Topps Big League [sidenote, when is 2021 Big League releasing? Next decade?]. 

Pack 3- Business as usual, aside from Votto's look of seduction. Adames is proof of updated uniforms in this set, something that not even Topps Update could muster. 

Three Hall of Famers and a Mariners rookie. Carew and Murray look awesome on the 2001 design.

Pack 4- Deivi Garcia may never pitch like we wanted him to, which is sad. Dallas Braden became such a fan favorite as a baseball personality and broadcaster that he landed in this base set, which is cool. Do Phil Hughes next. Always a joy pulling a Michael Jack, especially an early-70s one.

So we hit a parallel in this pack. Yes, it's a Cardinal, which...my luck, of course it is. But it's at least a respected, long-standing veteran Cardinal in Paul Goldschmidt. It's a green parallel, #'d to 125. Not bad at all. Those come 1:62 retail packs, so I beat the odds. Which would have been nice enough. 

And my second 89 Big Foil was someone who I respect less than Goldy, and that's Alex Bregman.

A HOFer and two rookies that barely played this year polish off the pack. 

Pack 5- Three retired stars, and also a very awesome photo of Lourdes Gurriel and his blue hair. Lincecum's inclusion in this set I can see, but this is 2012-era, post-awesome Lincy, rather than shaggy haired Lincy. Maddux and Chippah in the same pack feels right.

There was an insert here, a 91 Shining Stars of Andrew Vaughn, but it's not exactly a huge hit. So I looped it with the rest of the base from this pack, including a cool Dale Murphy. 

Pack 6- Vaughny shows up again, alongside some standard picks, and also the Iron Horse, fitting pretty well in 91T.

They made the Posters inserts rather than SPs, which works, though they're now multi-player, and therefore harder for me to collect. This was a cool one for the 80s Cubs, though. And my 3rd and last 89 Big Foil was Brooks Robinson, a great subject for one.

Some pedestrian choices to round out the penultimate pack. 

Pack 9- Easy ones. I like the India, and the Moran choice, but these were the kind of cards I expected out of something like Archives.

...and then,

So.

I mentioned sometime last year how rare it is for me to not only pull autos out of retail, but to pull autos out of retail of people who play for my teams and are actually good, well-tested players. Pulling a Hoskins auto out of 10 out of Stadium Club last year fell into this category. I pulled a Joe Pepitone auto out of Archives a few years ago, and a Polanco auto last year.

This...is a little different.

Greg Luzinski isn't just a Phillies hero, he's a Phillies legend. Played for some epic Phils teams back in the day behind Mike Schmidt, hit a ton of homers for us, nearly got an MVP in 75. Legendary. He has his own BBQ stand at Citizens Bank Park, Bull's BBQ. Admittedly never had any. Boog's I've had, but not Bull's. 

So pulling a Bull auto, in the Philly area, being a Phils fan...that's just nice. And for my birthday. AND out of a blaster my dad found when he wasn't expecting to.

There's a 1:73 chance of pulling an auto out of a blaster of Archives. Combine that with the green parallel means that this blaster was a 1:4526 find. Not quite the one in one and a half million SC box from last year, but still really damn good. One heck of a hit, and something that made it all worth it.

Oh yeah, rest of the pack,

Trio of rookies. Of the three, I think Weathers might have the longest career, though I'm still holding out for Mickey Moniak to be anything like what we drafted him for.

And that's the blaster. One heck of a find, right? A killer parallel, an AWESOME auto, and lots of fun base things. Worth everything. Might not find an Archives blaster as good as this one.

Box Break: 2020 Topps Archives (Part Two)

Yesterday I posted the first half of a break of 2020 Archives, getting my relatively good hits out of the way. While I do like this set from a collectability standpoint, and I'll foreshadow again that there were absolutely no dupes in this box, the design  and execution is a bit more flawed than the last few, insanely strong renditions of this set. The 74s are off, the 02s are slightly off, and the 55s aren't too exciting to me.

Nevertheless, I've still got 12 packs left to cover. There are still some inserts and SP-types we've yet to hit...possibly due to the surprisingly organized manner of this box. So we trudge on:

 Pack 11-
02s: I find it very funny that, as punishment for not making any cards of him last year, Yordan Alvarez probably won't play at all during the year of all his rookie cards. AKA the Chipper Jones effect.
55s: The Aquino rookie was in the press release, and he's got a similar deal in 2020. Glavine and Aaron are good Braves picks.
74s: More HOFers, though Stargell's red font on the team does look jarring for someone who was in the set.

 We have our  first 1960 Combo card, 4 per box, and...this is a pretty nice one for me to pull, as I love both these guys.

 Pack 14-
02s: modern Marlins colors look weird in 2002 Topps.
55s: GEORGE KELL IS IN THIS SET. COOL! Carter and Brantley I'd expect
74s: More insanely valid HOF picks.

 Another 60T combo [again, they're all well-organized!]. These two...aren't as well-liked as the Hoskins and Harper combo in this house.

 Pack 15:
02s: ECK AS A RED SOCK? COOL! Don't see that often.
55s: Can't argue with these three.
74s: We've been on a streak of solid HOF 74s, which I can't argue with, as I've been consistently getting two 74s per pack, and getting HOFers means I have to spend less money to get the remaining singles.

 60T Combo #3- Another one I'm perfectly fine pulling. Of course, both are injured right now...but that's Yankee baseball, it seems.

 Pack 16:
02s: No real notes hear.
55s: K-Lew and two Hall of Famers. This is cool.
74s: Fred McGriff has a card in this set. It's like Topps KNOWS I'm gonna get some of it.

 Our last 60T Combo is of two Dodgers who aren't hitting for average right now.

 Pack 17-
02s: No real notes here either
55s: Impressive HOF selection. Doby being here is nice, as is Big Jim.
74s: With that photo, Rhys Hoskins does look a lot like Phils-era Jim Thome.

 And now we get the first of our four 1960 All Star Rookie Team cards, starting with last year's Orioles starter breakout, John Means.

 Pack 18-
02s: JUDGE. That makes that easier.
55s: AND SANCHEZ. Man, they knew I'd be opening this one.
74s: Two rookies I won't need to search for.

A former Phillie, and current battler of COVID, Jorge Alfaro, is the latest ASRT insert.

 Pack 19-
02s: While I disagree with Roger Clemens' inclusion in this set, at least  it's Jays Clemens.
55s: Babe Ruthh is the first card in this set, so that's cool. I also disagree with Will Clark's inclusion in this set.
74s: I DO NOT, on the other hand, disagree with Roberto Clemente's inclusion in this set.

 Another belated Alvarez card in 2020 for the pile.

 Pack 20-
02s: I admire the 80s Astros logo for Biggio's.
55s: CATFISH!
74s: Why did they give the Rockies the pink color scheme? Does Bo know?

 The last of these 60T inserts is Miguel Andujar, which I'd appreciate if he was playing better.

 Pack 21-
02s: Good legends picks with Edgar and Dawson. Tim Hudson...after further review, does belong in a  set like this.
55s: Star cards.
74s: Josh Hader's looks cool. I love that Billy Williams is in this set.

 FINALLY. We get the first of our four short-printed 76 Traded cards, a set I know well, and am excited to see the inclusion of here. I love that they actually went into the effort of typing out a good headline, after the...underwhelming ones for 2012 Blockbusters. 'Braves Bag 20-year-old Phenom' is a good one, and would be in 76T. Also, Smoltz's picture here does look like the type used for the traded set, and it's better than an airbrushing. So I really like these, as the likeness is definitely there.

 Pack 22-
02s: JOE MORGAN AS AN ASTRO. NICE.
55s: Nomar has been in several of the last few Archives sets, which is...fine.
74s: Standard stuff here. At least Grisham's is a real Padres uniform.

 YES, THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. THESE LOOK GREAT! Robbie Alomar works for this set, and the picture fits. Good job, Topps!

Pack 23-
02s: Nothing too special here
55s: Pair of rookies
74s: Springer's photo looks cool.

 Granted, the use of an action shot is jarring in this set...but with the goodwill these have built up, I'll allow it. Besides, it's 1989-era Randy Johnson, which is already pretty cool.

 Pack 24-
02s: Two great pitchers and another press release mockup
55s: JETER. Of course Jeter's here.
74s: I do love that Topps has continued making Bob Feller cards.

This is probably the best one, because the shot they chose for Ryno looks dramatic, and it works for 74 as well as for an 82 photo. So I did well with my four 76Ts.

So...not a perfect set, and some design issues with the 74s, but I still enjoyed the break, I got great hits and inserts, I did INSANELY WELL dodging any doubles, and I got a good chunk of this set before searching for the rest.

This is a fine set. Not as good as last year's, but good enough to hold me over until Stadium Club.

Box Break: 2020 Topps Archives (Part One)

2020 is going to go down as the single most depressing card-collecting year in recent memory.

Just going to Target to check for cards depresses me. There's nothing there, everything having been picked clean by supercollectors with mojo tendencies, leaving nothing for collectors who only get to big box stores every so often. Essentially, collecting from Target and Wal-Mart has been made tougher than it needs to be, especially when new products are released.

Which is to say...I just ordered a box of Archives from Dave and Adam's cause I didn't want to haggle for products that I'm not certain will be on  shelves.

Like every other year, I'll be collecting the  base set this year, and my wants for this product are already on the sidebar, in my wantlists. Again, I need to get better at trading, and disciplining myself towards that kind of stuff past the fear of people not liking what I send. But that's a subject for another post.

24 packs, 8 cards per pack, 2 autos per box, and a box topper, and mine was...

Yeah, the Red Sox one. Of course.

This is still pretty cool though, and if I were a Sox fan I'd probably hang this on my wall.

 Pack 1-
These are the 2002 Topps ones. Likeness isn't bad, especially foil usage. Cardstock is uniform throughout, I think, as these have rougher backs than 2002T had.
Common base choices.

 55s look good. Not a 50s cards guy, so they could have screwed it up and I wouldn't have noticed. These look cool though. LeMahieu is a nice early inclusion.

 74s is where I have the most design critiques, including fonts and colors on specific ones throughout this. These ones are mostly fine, but that name font just doesn't look right to me.

And my insert was a 1955 Bowman Archives insert of Indians rookie Logan Allen, Cena-approved. These are 1:8, so three-per-box.

 Pack 2:
02s: Glad Topps knew Santander was gonna be big this year. Fingers and Gehrig are welcome.
55s: Standard star cards
74s: Putting an actual 74 star points out how weird this design looks compared to the original. Seaver and Luzardo aren't exactly kindred...yet.

 So Pack 2 had my first 'what the hell' moment of the break, with this Cepeda parallel. It's a foil board parallel, numbered to 75 copies, which is already pretty cool. BUT...it's seeded 1 every 265 packs. Meaning this was something resembling a case hit...which is pretty damn cool. AND it's of a Hall of Fame I'm perfectly fine pulling cards of.

 Pack 3-
02s: RYAN HOWARD IN MODERN TOPPS. NOT BAD. Not bad at all. Fisk and Larkin are standard HOF inclusions
55s: Flaherty and Civale. I don't have a ton to say about the 55s, cause it's just sorta there.
74s: Snell's Rays one looks fine. Why go with the Padres colors for the Nats? I know you're trying to remind  us of the "Washington" chase hits from 74T, but the Nats can have their own colors if the Rays do. Jeez.

 Another cool parallel. This Jose Ramirez is a blue parallel, numbered to 25 copies. I've been pulling a lot of /25 cards lately, so hopefully it doesn't mean that they're less valuable now. Ramirez is not a bad pull for these either.
These are 1:83, so less rare than the foilboards? Interesting.

 Pack 4-
02s: Vlad fits in this design, because of course he does.
55s: Should Mallex Smith be in this set?? He's just been optioned.
74s: The new Padres uniforms look good here. Bucs cards have red lettering, which is bad.

 This lux is a 1990 Rookies insert, which come 1 per hobby box, so that's a cool hit there.

 Pack 5-
02s: Bench, Reggie, Yadi. Yadi's a future HOFer, so this is a good grouping.
55s: Two mega-hitters. They look good here.
74s: D-Backs design here is...fine, but looks slightly weird. Good I pulled the Tatis rather than having to overpay for it.

 We now see this poster in card form, where it still looks awesome, and Sale does fit well here. These are the 1st 15 short printed base cards, so I've gotta grab 'em all, and they only fall 4 per hobby box.

 Pack 6:
02s: Cueto's looks like a 2002 card of someone with a new team.
55s: YAY FOR LEFTY. Lux ain't bad either.
74s: Not much to say about these two.

My second poster SP is of, of course, Hammerin' Hank. This one's cool, but hampered by the lack of authentic photo choice.

 Pack 7:
02s: I think it's genuinely cool that David Wright has a card in this set. Also, nice to have the Yelich
55s: Yeah, these two are fine
74s: Gibson's actually works in this design because  the photo likeness is good. Gwynn...is a Gwynn card. So I like it.

 ...10/10
I wish this had been my box-topper. THE MIGHTY THOR. AMAZING.

 Pack 8-
02s: Jansen, Keller, Thor making a victory lap
55s: I see Topps also got the bad info that Jake Fraley would be starting in the majors.
74s: YOSHI!

 I also adore this one. Yes, again the photo's not natural, but...the nickname pops. It's very Brooklyn, and very kind to baseball history. So I guess I'm happy with my 4 SPs.

 Pack 9-
02s: ANDY PETTITTE AS AN ASTRO? WOW.
55s: Greinke's feels very 04 Heritage. Maybe cause he was around back then. Arenado and Trout are great  pulls.
74s: Rookie unknowns.

 Another of my three 55 Bowmans this box. K-Lew, as he's burning  down the league this year, is a nice pull.

 Pack 10-
02s: I love the Mays. LOVE the Mays.
55s: Cease's rookie is nice. I don't think Tim Lincecum needs to be in this set, but Al Kaline sure does.
74s: I, like everyone else, am not a fan of the cityless Angels in the 74 design. Looks...odd. I-Rod as a Tiger is a good touch though.

And my last 55 Bowman is of, you guessed it, Dylan Cease. 

 Pack 11-
02s: Not much to say about these two, except I'm sad the Mets had to postpone their sweeping for a bit.
55s: Two HOFers and a future Cy Young  winner. Not bad.
74s: Two shortstops.

We get to the first hit, and...

 I like this a lot.

First of all, I like this as a Phillies fan who watched Polanco play, and watched him excel for us on  two separate occasions. I also like this because it's clear Polanco is in 2010-era Phils colors, so this is from his  second tenure, with a bit more postseason success. And, really...it's an on-card auto of a Phillie I've seen play. So I'm down with Placido Polanco here.

 Pack 12-
02s: Ramirez back again. Closest thing in this box to a dupe.
55s: This is a murderer's row right here. Votto, Soto, Betts. Pitchers wouldn't dare. Also, Betts looks great in actual LA colors.
74s: Solak and LOU BROCK. Well then.

And...we also get our second and last hit here:

Pete Harnisch isn't as good as Placido Polanco for me, but he's still one of the three huge pieces of the Glenn Davis deal, he's still a great, consistent 90s pitcher, and it's still an on-card auto of someone who was good at baseball for a while. Last year I pulled one of Rick Honeycutt out of retail, and this feels a bit like that. Heard of him, decent pull, but dwarfed by Polanco for me.

With both hits out of the way, that leaves more base, inserts and SPs for the second half, and that'll be up within the next few days.