Two Blasters of 2022 Stadium Club [Part One]

 

The bad news is I'm probably not gonna continue my tradition of breaking a hobby box of Stadium Club this year. Just can't make it work this year.

The good news is I did manage to find two blasters of the stuff on Topaz's website, and I suppose that'll have to suffice. I've been excited for this year's edition of Stadium Club for a while, due to its really awesome base design, handful of nice cards I'd spotted online, and probability of finding a damned Julio Rodriguez card. I'll post one of the blasters today and the other tomorrow.

Each blaster comes with a fuller-size Artist's Proof base variation in the style of 1993 Topps, which is a nice touch. Posey was a pretty great choice for one.

Pack 1- Already we have two 2022 Phillies in Castellanos and pre-trade Marsh, a HOFer in Edgar, and a decent rookie in Baz.

Since this is a 2022 product, here is a Wander Franco card. I think these are still worth something. As you'll soon find out, Team of the Future is one of the better insert designs we have this year.

Pack 2- The best photo obviously goes to Ian Anderson, on the search for Yogi Bear from the looks of things. 

Our one-per-pack orange/sepia parallel, and it's of a guy I don't collect with a photo we've seen a ton of times.

Pack 3- Another 2022 Phillies in Schwarber, a great dramatic shot of Ortiz, one of a few pitchers in batting position photos in this set of Waino, and a good Seager shot from circa May.

Best card in the set. The MVP gets a beaut. No notes.

Pack 4- Here's the other MVP, one of two Cardinals here. I love the Murray one. Also good that A.) Topps got Kimbrel's full lunge B.) in a Dodger jersey. 

Pack 5- Muncy's is the best shot in the pack, though I like Gurriel's, and I love getting a Sox Fisk.

Pack 6- Two HOFers, and Dawson's Expos duds stand out the most. Franmil's is slightly outdated but I love that Little League Classic jersey of his. 

So uh...Power Zone sucks this year. This is a design I'd expect from modern Topps. I assume that with COVID delays they had to choose an insert design that had as little foil as possible, so we get this uninspired one. Lovely. I wish I'd be happier about pulling a Griffey card. 

Pack 7- More good stuff, including a third 2022 Phillie in Harper, a Hall of Famer and a future Hall of Famer.

Also slightly disappointing this year are the triumvirates. Photo choice, design simplicity. Down several pegs from where we were when this set came back in 2014. Vladdie is a good pull though.

Pack 8- Dylan Carlson's got a ton of great outfield shots, it seems. And that is a Lodolo rookie, which is one of the more high profile rookies that landed in these.

And we end with a nice chrome version of Mike Trout's base card. No complaints here.

Tomorrow I'll post the results of the second blaster.

Box Break: 2021 Topps Stadium Club [Part Two]

 

Yesterday, I threw down the first 8 packs of my 2021 Stadium Club box. Some decent inserts, some awesome base cards, but none of our promised 2 hits yet. Typically I pull farmhands I've never heard of, or players for teams I don't like, but last year my luck began to change, with a Rhys Hoskins insert auto #'d to 10. So maybe these ones will be more like that.

Onto the last 8 packs:

Pack 9- A dupe, and a Rays reliever. 

Now we're back in business. Fairly basic shots, but a Frazier for my Yanks collection, and a Molina for my future HOFers binder. Lux and Gio aren't too shabby either.

And these two are the best shots in the pack. GOSH THAT CONTRERAS. That is MASTERFUL. Even the Jeffers looks dramatic. This is why I love these sets.

Pack 10- The Dalbec was our box topper, but these three horizontals aren't too bad either. Glasnow's is a Spring Training one, and I like McNeil's slide.

A bit more static, but the Gordon looks poignant. Also, Cutch. Yes for Cutch. We love Cutch.

DAMN that Reggie. That's an 80s A's Reggie, man. That's cool as hell. I love it.

Pack 11- Yes more rookies, but two awesome OF shots of them, along with a black parallel of an awesome OF shot of Laureano. No complaints here.

And some killer horizontals all around. That Albies is a classic SC wide shot, and I'm glad they've gotten back to it. The Martinez and the Mattingly seem to have the same theme. Fried's is a cool horizontal as well.

Pack 12- There is some really good stuff in this batch, including HOFers like Mike Piazza and Eddie Murray, and favorites like Ohtani and LeMahieu. They're just all kinda basic verticals.

And some more awesome verticals. The star power in this pack alone is insane. And yes, I am a fan of the Sixto card. I'm still waiting patiently for him to get activated. 

Pack 13- Mookie Betts, our presell sheet boy, Corey Kluber as a Yankee, and a beautiful Berrios. And we're just getting started.

Both of these two are awesome, and dramatic, even if McKay isn't deserving of a shot like this yet. Tatis definitely is. 

This Jeter is part of the reprint retrospective SC is doing this year. I have this card IRL, but sure, I'll take a reprint of it. You never see much 1997 SC anyway..

Oh yeah, and we got our first hit in this pack, too:

Yeah, honestly I think I did pretty well.

Barry Zito has become a legend prestige pick for Topps since his retirement, and has been in modern products quite a bit. He was an incredible pitcher in his prime, and I saw him pitch a gem in San Francisco a decade ago. So I am very much down with pulling an auto of him. No complaints here.

Pack 14- Kind of basic choices here. Rasmussen's already in TB.

I love both of these, happy static shots. 

Player collection corner. Yes, we've already seen the Cutch last post, but I'm still happy to pull his cards, along with Matsui.

My one-per-box Chrome parallel was of ROY Kyle Lewis, with a wonderfully posed shot. And I pulled a Virtual Reality insert, which I love the design of, of my main man Louis Linwood, LUKE VOIT. Good to see him heating up again as I write this. 

Pack 15- A dupe, a ARENADO CARDS CARD from his first Spring Training game as a Cardinal, and a Joey Gallo. 

I love both of these cards. That is a big bat for Babe, and Cronenworth needed the whole horizontal card for his action.

Another SC reprint of 1999 Rickey Henderson. I actually don't have the original version of this somehow, and will gladly take this.

And we got to our second hit:

Not as good as the Zito, but Tarik Skubal certainly isn't bad. He's struggling a bit so far this year for the Tigers, but he's primed to be a part of a Hydra-esque youth rotation formation with Mize and Manning, and so I have high hopes for him. Not a bad hit, and this could aid me if he gets really good.

Pack 16- Mismosh of stuff. Happy Dans. Great action shot of Clevinger. Bold rookie choice for Kaprielian. And a very nice dramatic shot of JaCoby Jones, who's since been released.

I love all three of these. Kershaw finally gets his trophy. Rickey in 1980 stealing a base. JOHNNY BENCH WITH A TIE AND A BUNCH OF BALLOONS. Again, I love this set so much.

And we end on another Virtual Reality insert of the wonderful Fernando Tatis Jr. No complaints here either.

Yeah, a great box of this. I liked both my hits, there's a lot of great base and inserts in here, and there were only a few dupes. If this is the only taste of this set I get this year, which, knowing the market, is likely, I'm fine with it. 

Box Break: 2021 Topps Stadium Club [Part One]

 

You can see where my priorities lie. I haven't even found any Series 2, but Stadium Club is an opening day break for me.

I'm lucky in the fact that I've come to identify more with the Topps sets that the dudebro massive of 2020-on collectors don't always go for. I like Stadium Club, Big League and Archives. The chuckleheads who pull out firearms at Target could care less about that shit. Yes, it comes with 2 autos, but generally Stadium Club base cards sell for less than Topps flagship base cards [generally, I have to see what the Bryant RC is going for these days]. 

So...while Big League takes its sweet-ass time getting pushed because of random bullshit, I went and preordered a box of Stadium Club, it arrived on the day of its release, and I busted it. Was this box as good as last year's tremendous SC hobby box? No, no it wasn't. But...it wasn't bad AT ALL.

You know the drill: 16 packs a box, 8 cards a pack, I'll do 8 packs per post. 2 Autos each, though that's not why I buy Stadium Club. 

On we go:

My box-topper was, sadly, a Boston Red Sox. Yes, this is a very good photo of a rookie Red Sox, but I'm not of the opinion that Bobby Dalbec's gonna have much legs as a Sox power bat. Maybe I'm wrong, but...I'm not seeing many dimensions here.

Pack 1- Okay, I like this base design a lot. Of the entirety of the new-SC run, this design might be the closest to the previous era of Stadium Club, and this design fits right in with the 2000 and 2003 designs. It's minimalistic, but not quite as minimalistic as a few earlier designs, and it's striking enough to really grab me. These are some pretty standard base cards, though seeing Khris Davis in a now-outdated Rangers uniform is a nice touch. Brandon Nimmo's is a red parallel, those are the most popular of the box.

Obviously this set's strength is in its horizontals. Aguilar's is the most normal here, but that Daulton Varsho diving catch one is excellent, and the amount of elements in Freeman's is very fun and impressive. I'm glad the photography in this set has remained as good as it was when we started.

And rest assured, there is still legends representation in this set. I am a bit puzzled by the colorization of Ted Williams' card, and think the bill's a bit orange for my tastes, but it's still a great card. And I'm never gonna say no to a Randy Johnson issue. 

Pack 2- Luis Patino, a very smart addition by Topps, is our red parallel. Bregman and Anderson have standard shots [Anderson previews the return by Topps to the field play shots that Night Owl was just talking about earlier], and Robles' is another winning diving catch.

More winning horizontals. Perez's is a great hero shot, Olivares' has a lot of depth, and Griffey's works because it's a solid early-era Griffey card.

Lord almighty I love this card. Might be my favorite in the set so far. 

Pack 3- We already have two doubles, and this pack also illuminates one of the main developments with this set- A SHITLOAD OF ROOKIES. Some, like Spencer Howard, Alex Kirlloff and William Contreras, seem appropriate, but a lot of these are making up for a 2020 season where a lot of the rookies used are already back in the minors. So a lot of these guys aren't great choices for base anymore.

Of course, I did get some much-needed faves content. Didi still looks great as a Phillie [even if he's still hurt], and I'm never gonna pass up a Lou Gehrig card. 

Pack 4- Some pretty standard base here, but I did really enjoy the photo for Donaldson's card.

This is more like it. Both those Mariners shots feel like classic Stadium Club. Conforto's gives enough field depth. I'm down with all 3 of these.

Oddly enough, Pack 4 came with a ninth card, and it was a decent ninth card to pull:

Yes, a Pete Alonso Triumvirate insert, the middle piece. I haven't pulled one of these in a few years. Alonso is a pretty cool choice, too [I always seem to pull Mets Triumvirates for some reason]. I will say that this is one of the duller Triumvirate designs that I've seen, but I'm not complaining. 

Pack 5- Here is where the rookies began to tick me off more and more. It's almost half the pack. And yes, pulling a Jazz Chisholm rookie is fine by me, as well as a very suggestively placed Jo Adell catch [that's quite a third, um, appendage he has there], but Adell's still in the minors, and Lewin Diaz isn't much of a factor either. 

These three are cool, though. Muncy looks ecstatic. Votto looks royal. 

These two dugout shots caught my eye the most. Ryu just looks dramatic there, but Buehler's came after a...HIT? THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE 2020 SEASON...

Pack 6- Another dupe, two moderately good rookies, and the AL MVP. 

GIO. Gio looks great here, as does the wide Franimal pic. Madrigal's is the coolest, most poignant card here, and I think they knew they needed to make a NickMad rookie card look good.

At long last, another insert. This was a staple of some of the 90s sets, a Superstar Duos card. The front is, of course, the legend, Mike Trout,

While the back is a fairly boring Shohei Ohtani static shot. I could have used a second action shot, like the old Superstar Duos cards

Pack 7- Two dupes and an Ian Happ red foil.

Again, this photography is just as good as ever. Miguel Rojas's is another one that'll satisfy Night Owl's need for plays in the field. Flaherty and Paddack's are just good mound shots

And these two are solid legends issues. I prefer the Larkin, just for that 90s grain feel to it.

Pack 8- MORE ROOKIES. Other than Singer, I wasn't really asking for any of these.

So, this pack was our trade off for the 9-card pack in Pack 4. Cause we only got 7 here. I checked for any variation codes or any misplaced mojo, but it was just a 7-card pack. The box giveth and the box taketh away. These three were decent base cards, though I still don't understand Topps' infatuation with Will the Thrill. 

Tomorrow night, you'll get to see the remaining 8 packs. Both hits are in there, as well as some more fun stuff.